Hole In The Sky Festival- 26-29, 2009- Bergen, Norway

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Hole In The Sky Festival- 26-29, 2009- Bergen, Norway

Written by Scott Cameron

Sunday, 01 November 2009 17:40

I have always wanted to check out this small festival in Norway ever since it’s first inception in 1999. But, Norway is very expensive and so I have not been fortunate enough to make it over.   I attended "Inferno Metal Festival" in Oslo, twice in ’02 and ’04.

Hole in the Sky was named after the Black Sabbath song from the Sabotage album, in 1999 and the festival was created in memory of Erik “Grim” Brødreskift, ex member of Borknagar, Gorgoroth and Immortal. A fund in his name, the Erik Brødreskifts minnefond, was established at the same time, and the profit of ticket sales goes into this fund. The purpose of the fund is to promote activities related to metal music in the Bergen area.
I was pretty stoked to be going this year, because the line up was amazing. The special surprise guests were just that, a special surprise. This was the 10th year anniversary of Hole in the Sky and this headbanger made a journey to Bergen, Norway.

My flight from HELL began on August 25th at 12:55pm from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. It was a direct flight to Amsterdam with connecting flight to Bergen, arriving at 11:15am on August 26th.   During the 9 ½ hour flight from Seattle-Amsterdam, I was lucky if I slept for 2 hours. There were screaming babies and so I turned Behexen on my iPod and cranked it and tried to lose myself in the music. Arriving safely to Flesland Bergen airport, I stumbled off the plane and grabbed my super heavy and large suitcase. What a stupid fucking fool to bring so much shit to Norway!   I met some dude named Jessie who was on my flight from Amsterdam. He was from Brooklyn and seemed pretty cool. We finally hopped on the Flybussen and headed into Bergen. I had to find the hotel as I was the first to arrive. Jessie was meeting some people he met at some online website where people let you crash on their couch (couchsurfing.com) and so he got off the same stop as I did “Bryggen” right at the Fish Market. He was going to help me find my hotel and then call his parties. So we found the street Kong Oscars and walked about 10 blocks and could not find the Hotel Victoria. The luggage issue was about killing me. Finally, Jessie asked a little old lady where the hotel was and she led us right to it!! What a fine outstanding citizen this lady was!! Very nice! I should have asked for a metal picture with her!

So our room was not ready but the front desk clerk allowed me to stash my totally insane luggage in the room. She asked if I would like a balcony and I said yes. I guess there are only 2 rooms with a balcony out of the 43 rooms the building hosts. So, our room became the party room. After waiting for a couple of hours outside the hotel (there was a little table and two chairs) and watching traffic, my party from Oslo arrived! They checked in and stashed their luggage and we went down to the fish market to get something to eat. I got fish ‘n chips and it was fucking killer. Wandered a bit and then we headed back to the hotel to shower and then start the pre party! As we began to party, another arrival made it to the hotel room. Herb Burke of Drawn and Quartered from Seattle. We split the room so it was not as damaging on our wallets. Still $353.00 per person for 5 nights in the heart of ....Bergen.... seemed like a “steal”.

After we got good and buzzed, we made the 10 minute walk to the “Garage” club. This is where the festival was held for the first two days. And also the pre party w/Sahg on Tuesday night. But I decided to just attend the festival from the 26th-29th.   The Garage was pretty cool. There was a nice cozy bar upstairs with tables and chairs and pool tables. Downstairs is where the stage was and it seemed very small. I understood that the capacity was 350 people. But it seemed so small.   Thursday was sold out so it would prove interesting. Kicking things off on Wednesday evening were “Faustcoven” from Norway. I had heard a few songs from them that I listened to online and thought they sounded pretty cool. Well, I was pretty much unprepared for the blackened doom that Faustcoven manifested. The sound at the Garage was amazing. Faustcoven were a great kick off to the festival for me personally. As I am a fan of both black metal as well as doom metal. I will be looking for material from these guys.

I went and grabbed a 10 dollar beer after that. Well, I think 44 Norwegian Kroner. Which is 7 dollars I think. Beers ranged from 39 Kroner to 64 Kroner at the bars I was at.   I tried not to think about the prices though.   Next up were Portrait from Sweden. I was very excited to see them for sure. I had just picked up their self titled a month ago and really liked their sound which is a mix of melodic heavy metal ala Mercyful Fate/King Diamond and Iron Maiden (among others). They did not disappoint. Portrait played loud and proud. They were a joy to watch and a headbanging good time. They all have such good energy. I was again happy that I got to see them perform. It seemed the festival was just going to get better and it was only the second band! Wolf went on next and I was real stoked for their set. I had seen them at Wacken years ago and had yet to hear the latest album but really like this band. They are from Sweden, and play old style metal with almost a NWOBHM feel to it. Fun stuff. And Wolf really looks like they had a good time up there. I enjoyed every part of their nice long set. I hope I can see them again soon!
Wolf setlist:
Speed On
The Bite
I Will Kill Again
Hail Caesar
Curse You ....Salem....
Voodoo
Genocide
Evil Star
Venom
Electric Raga
In the Shadow of Steel

Another expensive beer, and then on to watch a band that I had not heard of before “Negura Bunget” from Romania.

After a lengthy wait for them to actually start playing, the finally started. What a refreshing band to play Hole in the Sky! Besides the guitars, bass, keys, drums, they had authentic wooden instruments, i.e. panflute, oboe, and other stuff. From what I could gather they were a 6 piece with a female keyboardist.   I highly enjoyed Negura Bunget’s Wiccan fueled black metal. The main vocalist has some great vocals! Truly hellish sounding. They had a nice long set that seemed to go on forever. But it was very nice to see them play, as I am always enjoying stuff I have never heard or seen previous. I will be picking up material by Negura Bunget. They kicked ass. I heard from someone that they played majority of material from their “Om” album from last year.
The buzz from the beer was hitting me by now. As well as the jet lag from having 2 hours of sleep in 2 days. But we had one more band to go, fucking Sweden’s “Necrophobic”!!   I was really glad they got on the HITS bill. I was fortunate to see them at Wacken and Party San some years ago. They always put on a great show and Hole in the Sky was no exception. From the opening notes of “For Those Who Stayed Satanic” to the closer “The Nocturnal Silence”, Necrophobic tore through a good chunk of their long history. Headbanging ensued and many beers were drank. The crowd really liked the energy from Necrophobic’s set. The band also looked to be having a good time up there. The sound was loud and ear splitting. Just the way it should be.
Necrophobic setlist:

For Those Who Stayed Satanic
Spawned by Evil
Awakening
Into Armageddon
Revelation 666
La Santisima Muerte
Dreams Shall Flesh
I Strike With Wrath
Sitra Ahra
Celebration of the Goat
Nailing the Holy One
The Slaughter of Baby Jesus
Blinded by Light, Enlightened by Darkness
The Nocturnal Silence

After Necrophobic we went outside to mingle for a few minutes, before deciding that we would go back to the hotel and have an easy night as we were pretty tired from all the flying and then drinking. We still had 3 more days of metal! But then on the way back Linda suggested that we grab one of these massive hot dogs/sausages from the 24 hour stand down the road from our hotel. So we did. All the dudes got a hot one. With Chili Sauce. Ok, these dogs were totally killer. But by the end, my eyes were crying and my nose running. I felt like I could light a smoke with my breath. With that we stumbled into our rooms and turned out the lights

Ahhhh, waking up at almost 1 pm to a knock at our door. Some friends in our party wanting to know if we wanted to go eat. We got dressed and went to a restaurant across from the Fish Market. So, it was Thursday and evidently, on Thursday only you can get this True Norwegian dinner called “Raspballen” or some shit. I asked "Is this a christian thing or something?" And so I thought “What the Fuck” and ordered one at 145 NOK. It was a ham steak; a small piece of what looked like Polish Sausage, two large dumplings filled with grease and mashed rutabaga! Mmmmmmmmm. Mmmmm! It was not the best meal I have eaten but not the worse. I felt refreshed from the good nights sleep!!! After we ate we headed out for the liquor store. We each stalked up on “Nogne- O”   A Strong Norwegian ale. We got the “Imperial Stout” which was 9 % Alcohol and the “Porter” which I believe was 7.5%. It was expensive beer, but damn good beer. Our partying antics were getting the best of us, because before we knew it it was 16:10 and "Behexen" from fucking Finland were opening the 2nd evening of debauchery at the Garage. Tonight's show was sold out months ago. There were "special guests" squeezed in before Niefelheim, the headliners, so anticipation was high. We high tailed it to the venue and got in and downstairs as Behexen were playing their first song! Oh well, at least we got there almost in time.

I think the first song was off "My Soul for His Glory", their last full length LP. Behexen were fucking awesome!!! They all wore grim paint and were in full ceremonial robes only adding to the blackness. I believe it was either the 2nd or the 3rd song they played when lead vocalist "Torog" loudly announced "This is called Mouth of Leviathan"!! I about shit myself. One of my favorite Behexen songs and the kick off to the most awesome split they did with "Satanic Warmaster" in 2008!! The opening riffs started and I thought I was in a dream! They played it perfectly. It's a 6 minute plus song and they played every note. I was banging my head and flashing the horns and screaming "Fuck Yeahhhhhhhhhhh". I just recently got into Behexen months ago, but I know they played "Born in the Serpent of the Abyss" and "By The Blessing Of Satan". Behexen were a highlight for me at Hole in the Sky. Very glad that they played. I hope I can see them again some day. And that goes the same for the next band "Necros Christos" black metal from Germany! I had only heard the one full length album from Necros Christos "Triune Impurity Rites" before heading to Norway, and I was really drawn to their style of black metal. They tore through a blistering and tight 45 minute set. The singer/guitarist had a close shaved head and wore a black shirt and black wrap around sunglasses. Another guitar player looked to have a priest collar around his neck and a leather jacket. Well they won me over for sure. I was stoked to be seeing them as well, because who knew if they would make it to the USA ever. They were loud and of course, very evil. The crowd enjoyed Necros Christos and so did my friends and I.

Necros Christos setlist:

Tormented Flesh on the Mount of Crucifixion
Red Wine Runs Out of the White Skull of Jesus
Baal of Ekron
Black Mass Desecration
Hathor of Dendera
Curse of the Necromantical Sabbath
Succumbed to Sarkum Phagum
Impure Burials Prevail

Went outside after Necros Christos to talk and get some fresh air. It was getting hotter and hotter in the basement of the Garage. Sweltering. And the next band were ready to douse us with petrol and strike a match. Norwegian Black Metal band "Koldbrann".   They took the stage and were dressed in full Black Metal armour and corpsepaint. The singer had these huge spikes on his wrists/forearms. I think if I recall all the members had spikes of some kind. As well as wearing inverted crosses, proudly denying the Christian god. Koldbrann are True Satanic Black Metal. They play loud and fast and furious. They had a new drummer and I guess he was "ok" but I was very very sad about seeing Koldbrann because my friend Fordervelse was fired from the band as long time drummer (since the beginning I think). I really wanted to see Fordervelse drum for Koldbrann. His work in the studio with them is amazing and their "Moribund" LP is a underground classic. There were a lot of headbanging and horn flashing during Koldbrann. I was sweating like a stuck pig bleeds so after they were through, I ran up the stairs of death and went outside for fresh air.

There was a buzz around the Garage of who the "Surprise Act" was. And a lot of names were thrown out there. I was quite curious myself. While I was outside my friend Mike told me that he knew who it was, but he could not tell me.   Frustrated, I went back inside and made my descent into the basement. I could feel the heat rising when I got about half way down the stairs. It was packed in there. And I ran into the old guitar player in Absu and he told me that he thought it was "Sodom", the legendary thrash band from Germany!   I looked and sure enough, it looked like their roadie on stage, and another dude was tuning up a bass with Angelrippers obvious bass strap.   I pretty much freaked out, grabbed a beer and made my way to the very front of the stage (on the right hand side). After a pretty uncomfortable 10 minute wait, some dude hopped on stage and made a introduction speech, about how this being the 10th anniversary of Hole in the Sky, that they wanted something very special and they got it. And were proud to present......"FUCKING SODOM.....WITCHING METAL". Chills went over my entire body in the 120 degree club as one by one each member of Sodom walked up onto the small stage. First was guitarist Bernemann, then Bobby Schottkowski- Drummer, and last but not least Tom Angelripper- Bass/Vocals. The crowd errupted into loud screams and yells and began to chant "SODOM".

Sodom wasted no time and tore right into "Ace of Spades", their killer cover of the Motorhead classic. I was actually almost pinching myself in sheer shock that I was witnessing fuckin Sodom in a club that holds 350 bodies. And they were tight, loud and fucking killer!!! Some of the high points for me were when they played "Obsessed by Cruelty", "Blasphemer" and "Remember the Fallen" and "Agent Orange" from the 1989 classic "Agent Orange". Between songs the crowd almost always starting chanting "Sodom". I was wearing earplugs, but my ears were throbbing due to the high decibels of this Sodom gig. Toms bass just ripped me a new asshole. Fucking brilliant and amazing and one of the highlights of the festival for sure. Thank you Sodom for playing Hole in the Sky and making my trip from the states WELL worth it.

Sodom setlist- (This was the set posted on the stage, but there were additions, deletions and songs moved around)

Ace of Spades
Napalm in the Morning
Outbreak of Evil
Fuck the Police
Wachtturm
The Saw is the Law
Sodomized
Iron Fist
Axis of Evil
Obsessed by Cruelty
Agent Orange
Witching Metal
City of God
Vice of Killing
M-16
Blasphemer
Aber Bitte Mit Sahne
Ausgebombt
Remember the Fallen
Stumme Ursel
Bombenhagel

After Sodom, I "poured" myself out of the Garage. My shirt soaked to the bone in sweat, steam was rising off the metalheads who just witness history as they stood out on the rainy Bergen sidewalk. The cooler air felt awesome after Sodom's set. I was also beginning to feel a bit drunk. Alas, it was time to head back down into the pits of hell for the headliners and closing of the first half of the Hole in the Sky festival! This would be none other than Nifelheim from Sweden. True underground Satanic blackened/death. A good way to sum this killer band up!! Grabbed a cold beer and secured a spot to where I could at least see, because it was packed like sardines for Nifelheim.   They came out in a blaze of fucking ungodly glory though. Opening up with "Demonic Evil" from their 1997 full length LP "Devils Force" and ending their over one hour long set with "The Final Slaughter" also from "Devil's Force" LP. It was nice to see songs from their self-titled debut included in their set. "Unholy Death" , "Sodomizer" (to which they dedicated to Sodom) and "Storm of Satan's Fire"! Yes, Nifelheim were excellent. They really had the crowd under their command. Drenched from head to toe in leather, spikes, chains, bullets and other assorted accessories. The singer, Per "Hellbutcher" Gustavsson was in fine form, with his trademark Skullet and painted black "wild eyes". Awesome. I think one of their guitar players the tall blonde guy was also in Necrophobic. At any rate, what a fucking great way to end the first half of Hole in the Sky festival!! Fucking Nifelheim!!!!!!! Arrrgggghh!!!!!

Nifelheim setlist-

Demonic Evil
Black Evil
Unholy Death
Infernal Flame of Destruction
Satanic Sacrifice
The Bestial Avenger
War of Doom (Armaggedon)
Storm of the Reaper
Sodomizer
Storm of Satan's Fire
Gates of Damnation
Insnyfter
The Final Slaughter

After Nifelheim, we moved upstairs to the upstairs bar and drank until they threw us out into the street. The upstairs bar was cool as fuck and they were playing pre Reign in Blood Slayer as well as old Iron Maiden and Motorhead...real cool.

So we stumbled back to the sausage/hot dog stand at around 3:30 in the morning and filled our guts with that before going back to the hotel and passing out. What a great two days of metal. I was having the time of my life and it was only going to get better.