Immortal - Mayhem - Enslaved - Virus - Helheim • Vomitor - Diskord - Nekromantheon

A Perfect Vision Of The Rising Northland

Saturday noon *sighs* Once again I decided for a short sightseeing trip instead of attending one of the showcases at Garage club. Sorry, But I so love that city ;) Almost on time I arrived at the dockyard rushing in way more easily. A peek into the merchandise room, I had a faint hope to find some Godflesh merch but fuck, no. As for that I was heavily tempted to get me hands on one of these handmade stave church candles, to burn them down for my own pleasure *laughs* Here I would like to warmly recommend the website of Bergen’s own (comic) artist :: Kim Holm ::. He made drawings and portraits during the shows from bands, musicians and the audience. Really amazing, awe-inspiring.

:: Fotos ::

Now it was up to :: HELHEIM :: to open the very last festival day of HOLE IN THE SKY. Once again nothing to see. Everything blurred behind wavy smoke. Only four songs were played, a mix from the most recent EP and the brand new record Heiðindomr Ok Mótgangr. More or less the same show as seen on Wednesday, musically speaking, but the one at Logen Teater was the better one way more special.
Setlist: Maðr, Åsgards Fall 2, Jernskogen, Dualitet Og Ulver

Hot on heels :: VIRUS ::: followed, the only band on this billing I didn’t know. Though its musicians are no unknown to me: singer and guitar player Czral (Carl-Michael Eide) played drums in almost every known Norwegian band; same goes for Einar Sjursø, who does the drumwork now in VIRUS. Still there were quite a few fans expecting British thrashers VIRUS on stage ;) However, Oslo-based band VIRUS completely differed from Thrash Metal; they actually play Avant-garde Prog Rock. Not that easy to access to be honest but it seems they are already much popular in their home country. The feedback from the audience was almost enthusiastic.
Setlist: The Agent, Archives, Carheart, Virulent, Black Flux, Road, Queen, Shame Eclipse, Chronium Sun

Aaaahhhh, once again :: ENSLAVED :: :) Every time I saw Primordial this year I saw ENSLAVED too ;) And I will do it again at the end of the year, of course once again together with Primordial *lol*, at Madrid Is The Dark Festival. And it seems with every new show ENSLAVED get better. I have to say tonight’s show was the best I have seen so far. And once again it was Grutle who outdid himself. I never saw him acting that lively on stage. He even stole Ice Dale’s platform for posing *lol* Also the setlist offered some really great delicacies. For the very first time ENSLAVED played a song from their new EP The Sleeping Gods live (Heimvegen) and Jotunblod from 1994s sophomore Frost was not that often to hear as of late too. Extraordinary great! :)
Setlist: Ethica Odini, Ground, The Voices, Jotunblod, Giants, Heimvegen, Immigrant Song, Allfadr Odin, Isa

Another Norwegian legend had to enter the stage :: MAYHEM :: They also played a best of set with some rarities. These days they sound much darker and more homogeneous as they did at their moving outset.
Setlist: Pagan Fears, Ancient Skin, My Death, A Time To Die, Illuminate Eliminate, Anti, The Freezing Moon, Death Crush, Buried By Time And Dust, Carnage, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Pure Fucking Armageddon

Before it was time for the headliner show the organizers entered the stage for a short speech saying thank you to the bands, fans and all these helpers and allies making this event possible and the last one even more special. Damn… I feel like crying…

*Sighs* No, no. no… we don’t want… not at all… But we had to face it: the very last band of the very last HOLE IN THE SKY FESTIVAL ever was about to enter the stage. Under a thundering intro Bergen’s own Black Metal legend :: IMMORTAL :: came to play the funeral march. A swan song that couldn’t have been any better, seeing the band framed by pure fire. The final show of a great festival with phenomenal dedication by the fans. Response is frenetic; and no one wants to leave, to say goodbye is sooo difficult.
Setlist: Intro, Mountains Of Might, The Call Of The Wintermoon, Sons Of Northern Darkness, The Rise Of Darkness, Damned In Black, Solarfall, In My Kingdom Cold, Tyrants, One By One, As The Eternity Opens, Battles In The North, Blashyrkh (Mighty Ravendark), Withstand The Fall Of Time // The Sun No Longer Rises

Over and done. That’s it :( Backstage the party goes on till curfew. But we don’t reach that rumbustious level anymore. Once again the organizers say thank you, once again they got flooded with thank you back. No one wants to leave. Our hearts were set on here. THANK YOU HOLE IN THE SKY, THANK YOU BERGEN! We will meet again!