Inferno Festival Canceled for 2021, Dates for 2022 Announced


Sad news as the 2021 edition of the legendary extreme metal annual event Inferno Festival in Oslo, Norway has been canceled due to the ongoing  covid-19 outlook and restrictions this spring. The festival has put out a statement canceling, offering to roll over tickets and offer a refund period as well. Bands booked for 2021 that have reconfirmed for 2022 include Kreator, Mayhem, Venom, Ihsahn, Kampfar, Ved Buens Ende, Vreid, Cadaver, Myrkskog, Entombed AD, Asphyx, Benighted, Bølzer, Dark Fortress, Tulus, Whoredom Rife, Djerv, Hamferd, Dyscarnate, The Great Old Ones, 1914, Sylvaine, Asagraum, Nyrst, Isvind, From The Vastland, Regarde Les Hommes Tomber, Nachash, Ulvehyrde, Kosmos Brenner, Sovereign, Gnida, Eridu, Zifir, Solbrud, Xenoblight, Oranssi Pazuzu. Read the statement from the festival here:

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Inferno Festival 2020 Has Been Cancelled Due To Coronavirus Restrictions


Sad news as one of the greatest metal festivals in the world, and a favorite of Ghost Cult, Inferno Festival 2020, set to take place in Oslo, Norway has been totally canceled. The fest was to feature Kreator, Mayhem, Triumph of Death, Amorphis, Venom, Gorgoroth, Marduk, Ihsahn, Kampfar, and many more! According to a message from the festival, “all public events in Norway are banned until the end of April, and this period might be extended. The health authorities estimate 4-5 months. So, there are no chance that we can make Inferno happen this year.” See a message from the fest here: Continue reading


Triumph of Death, Amorphis, Asphyx, Oranssi Pazuzu, and The Great Old Ones are The Final Bands Booked for Inferno Metal Festival 2020!


Events Center, Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV 8/17/19

Inferno Metal Festival has booked its final five bands for the 20th anniversary in 2020, and they are all legends. Triumph of Death (Hellhammer/Celtic Frost band led by Tom G. Warrior), Amorphis, Asphyx, Oranssi Pazuzu, and The Great Old Ones will perform at the fest in Oslo, Norway next spring, on 9-12 of April. The full lineup and details can be found below. Continue reading


Inferno Metal Festival Loses Madder Mortem, Adds Sarkom And Slegest


Abbath, by Jonathan Arevalo Photography

Inferno Metal Festival, Europe’s longest running and most extreme black and death metal festival arrives again next April in Oslo. The fest has announced a change to their Dark Essence sponsored Stage with Madder Mortem dropping off and Sarkom and Slegest jumping on the bill.Continue reading


Great Northern Distribution Partners With Inferno Festival 2017, Books Club Night


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Inferno 2017 has announced a partnership with The Great Northern Distribution to present The Great Northern Distribution Stage at Pokalen on the Club Night, Wednesday 12th Of April. Continue reading


The Official Ghost Cult Writers Albums of the Year Top 50: 50-41


It’s hard to believe we’ve already reached the end of another year packed tighter than Joey de Maio’s loincloth with incredible genre-pushing, eardrum-violating, neckache-inducing metal. 

So we can begin to tell the story of a year which saw us give more top marks than any other year so far (and more 2’s and 3’s out of 10, too!), a year that left us inundated with so many great releases, we sought the opinions of our esteemed and respected writing team and we offer forth their albums of the year.  

The countdown to the Official Ghost Cult Magazine Album of the Year for 2014 has commenced. Please consume and enjoy the results of our 2014 Writers’ Poll. We hope it will introduce you to some of the incredible works of art you may have missed that we have had the immense pleasure of listening to and writing about this year.

In our first installment we bring you albums 50 through to 41.

 

 

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50. HARK – Crystalline (Season of Mist) 

Genre-bending aggression with doses of Doom, Prog, Psychedelia and Hardcore. Heavy as a very heavy thing.

 

 

 

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49. THE HAUNTED – Exit Wounds (Century Media)

“The album is filled with urgency and manages to be relentlessly heavy without compromising on those insanely catchy riffs. The Haunted have come back stronger than ever…  easily the band’s best effort a decade” DAN SWINHOE 9/10  Full review here

 

 

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48. THE WOUNDED KINGS – Consolamentum (Candlelight)

“Favouring lengthy yet subtly evolving guitar workouts that never lapse into repetitive dirge territory,The Wounded Kings go about working their dark, smoky magic with grim elegance… Simply put, The Wounded Kings are the quintessential English doom band “ JAMES CONWAY 8.5/10 Full review here

 

 

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47. SCHAMMASCH – Contradiction (Prosthetic)

“The quality of this album is obvious right from the beginning. Schammasch have created a record both challenging and endlessly refreshing, a truly remarkable sonic journey from beginning to end.” CAITLIN SMITH 9/10 Full review here

 

 

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46. AUTOPSY – Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves (Peaceville)

Tourniquets… continues in gnarly, raw and near sludgy death metal vein, but maintains their run of high quality and in fact tops anything that has come from their return.” CHRIS TIPPELL 8/10 Full review here

 

 

 

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45. KROKODIL – Nachash (Spinefarm)

“With a heavy dose of Mastodon in its veins, Krokodil are a groove juggernaut that pummels all in its path with its three guitarists of fury” DAN O’BRIEN 9/10 Full review here

 

 

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44. INTER ARMA – The Cavern (Relapse)

“The sheer gravity and fulminating power of much of the music here is oppressive yet it carries the weight easily, this blend of raw animal force, aching melody and immeasurable creativity marks out this fantastic band” PAUL QUINN 10/10 Full review here

 

 

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43. DEVIL YOU KNOW – The Beauty of Destruction (Nuclear Blast)

“(with) all the promise of a powerhouse, and it delivers on all fronts. The songs are well-crafted, nicely developed and excellently executed.” LYNN JORDAN 9.5/10 APRIL ALBUM OF THE MONTH Full review here

 

 

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42.BLUES PILLS – Blues Pills (Nuclear Blast)

“…a record that understands and curates its heritage and lineage but is fresh, contemporary and massively memorable. This is the record that you’ll be recommending to your friends for months to come” MAT DAVIES 9/10 Full review here

 

 

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41. ARTIFICIAL BRAIN – Labyrinth Constellation (Profound Lore)

“Technical death metal with sci-fi themes, brilliant, utterly amazing, breath-taking and challenging from the first to the last second.” TIAGO MOREIRA 9.5/10 Full review here

 

 

 

 

 

Compiled by Steve Tovey


Krokodil – Nachash


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For the past few months UK based riff lords Krokodil have been making all sort of headlines, most involving people referring to them as “Slipknot’s new bassist’s other band”, which is completely unjustified and harsh as it is hardly judging the band on its own merits. With all the coverage, the eyes of the metal world are on Krokodil as they prepare to unleash their debut album Nachash (Spinefarm) so it’s a very good thing that the album is rather bloody brilliant.

The band, which contains members from a menagerie of great British bands such as Cry For SilenceSikth, Gallows and of course the mighty A, as well as now Iowa’s own metal behemoth Slipknot, Krokodil sound like a well oiled riff making machine and from the sounds of Nachash the machine has been working overtime on this release.  With a heavy dose of Mastodon in its veins, Krokodil are a groove juggernaut that pummels all in its path with its three guitarists of fury, a decision that usually over complicates the material but in this case triples up the guitar tracks, like Helmet making it sound as heavy as a ten ton rhino that’s thinking of gaining a few pounds.

With a formula that blends groove based riffage with a later day Cancer Bats bounce and groove is a fantastic mix which keeps up the pace till the bitter end, this on top of the high quality production of the album which makes it sound colossal.  If the album does have a mild weakness it is that the vocals are a tiny bit one dimensional, the hardcore barks work well with the up tempo nature of the albums and work perfectly on the second track ‘Skin of The Earth’, but can come across as one note when the album gets into its final few tracks.

Overall, Nachash is a quality release from a band who deserve a lot more credit for their musical output and certainly do not deserve to be known simply as that other band with someone from Slipknot in, they’re not a DJ Starscream or Dirty Little Rabbits. As for this being the bands’ debut album, hopefully there will be even better to come from the band in the future, but for now Nachash is a cracking start to their career.  Its high tempo, riffy and most importantly contains quality throughout.

 

9.0/10

Krokodil on Facebook

 

DAN O’BRIEN