Grieghallen is a concert hall and cultural centre at Edvard Griegs plass 1 in Bergen, Norway. Named after Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, the building was designed by Danish architect Knud Munk and officially opened on 30 May 1978. Its distinctive architecture combines monumental concrete forms with large glass façades and weathering steel. The main auditorium, Griegsalen, accommodates 1,638 spectators in its standard concert configuration and is the home of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Grieghallen also hosts opera, ballet, theatre, conferences and other events, and was the venue for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1986.

For heavy metal, however, Grieghallen is particularly important because of Grieghallen Studio and producer and sound engineer Eirik “Pytten” Hundvin. During the early 1990s, Hundvin recorded and produced a remarkable series of albums that became central to the development of Norwegian black metal. His work at Grieghallen became associated with a spacious and atmospheric production style, often using the unusual acoustics available inside the concert hall itself.

Mayhem recorded “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” at Grieghallen during 1992 and 1993. For the drum recordings, Jan Axel “Hellhammer” Blomberg’s kit was placed on the main stage of Griegsalen inside a large enclosure made from stage curtains, allowing Hundvin and the band to make use of the concert hall’s natural acoustics. The album was eventually released in 1994 and became one of the defining recordings of Norwegian black metal.

Emperor recorded “In the Nightside Eclipse” at Grieghallen in 1993, with Pytten producing and mixing the album. Immortal also made extensive use of the studio, recording both “Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism” (1992) and “Pure Holocaust” (1993) there, followed by further work at Grieghallen during the following years.

Burzum recorded several important releases with Pytten at Grieghallen. The “Aske” EP was recorded there in 1992, while “Hvis lyset tar oss” was recorded in September the same year and released in 1994. These sessions helped establish Grieghallen as one of the central recording locations of the early Norwegian black metal movement.

Bergen band Enslaved also developed a long association with the studio. Their debut album, “Vikingligr Veldi” (1994), was recorded at Grieghallen in 1993, while “Frost” (1994) was recorded and mixed there the following year. During the “Frost” sessions, orchestral percussion from Grieghallen was incorporated into the recordings, further connecting the metal productions with the building’s original function as a classical concert hall.

Other important releases recorded at Grieghallen include Gorgoroth’s debut album “Pentagram” (1994), Borknagar’s self-titled debut (1996) and Aeternus’ “Beyond the Wandering Moon” (1997). Pytten continued working with numerous Norwegian metal bands, and the Grieghallen name became internationally associated with the distinctive sound of the Bergen black metal scene.

The building later gained another direct connection with extreme metal through Beyond the Gates. The Bergen festival uses Griegsalen as its principal stage for much of the event, bringing black metal, death metal and other heavy music into the same auditorium whose acoustics had been used during some of the genre’s most important recording sessions. Grieghallen is now firmly established as one of the festival’s main venues.

ADDRESS:
Edvard Griegs plass 1, 5015 Bergen, Norway

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