INFERNO METAL FESTIVAL - Metal Travels

Inferno Metal Festival is an annual extreme metal festival held in Oslo, Norway. Founded in 2001, it takes place during Easter and has become one of the country’s most important gatherings for black metal, death metal, thrash metal, doom metal and other forms of extreme music.

The festival is closely tied to Oslo’s role in the history of Norwegian black metal, but its programme has always reached beyond one scene. Inferno combines Norwegian bands with international artists, bringing metal fans, musicians, press and music industry people to the city each Easter.

The main evening concerts take place at Rockefeller Music Hall and John Dee, two connected venues in central Oslo. This gives Inferno a compact indoor festival format, with the largest stage at Rockefeller and the smaller John Dee room downstairs.

Club concerts are also a fixed part of Inferno. These shows usually take place during the daytime, before the first bands start at Rockefeller, and have used smaller Oslo venues such as Rock In, Kniven, Vaterland, Brewgata and other rock and metal bars around the city.

Inferno usually presents around 60–70 concerts across the festival. The line-up covers established names, underground bands and newer acts, with black metal forming an important part of the identity alongside death metal, thrash, doom, progressive extreme metal and related styles.

Bands that have played Inferno include Emperor, Mayhem, Immortal, Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon, Gorgoroth, Enslaved, Taake, 1349, Abbath, Dissection, Behemoth, Watain, Rotting Christ, Obituary, Carcass, Necrophagia, Morbid Angel, Suffocation, Bolt Thrower, Opeth, Candlemass, Paradise Lost and Children of Bodom.

Inferno is also more than the concerts. Inferno Music Conference brings panels, talks and industry events to the festival week, while other side events have included metal markets, tattoo artists, art exhibitions, signing sessions, club nights and guided tours connected to Oslo’s metal history. The conference is now held at Clarion The Hub, which also functions as an important meeting point during the festival.