DJERV - Oslo

Internasjonalen

The bar Internasjonalen is practically a metal virgin - in the sense that rather few metal shows have been held here. But no worries, on paper, this looks good: They have one of the most equipped bars in town, and the stage is upstairs with large windows overlooking ruins of the Governmental Quarter destroyed in the terror attacks and drunk people roaming like horny zombies in the mating season between the surrounding bars.

Tonights menu: Djerv (NO) + Gerilja (NO).

Gerilja (NO) is a fairly new acquaintance for my part, they're Oslo-based and have fallen for the temptation of juggling as-many-assumingly-contrasting-labels as possible when describing their music: They play rocktrashfunkpsychedelic, and they have people talking well about them here and there on Internet. The visual esthetics of these guys slightly resembles the bands like The Darkness (UK) and their kind, but without the full blown ironical façade. Luckily Gerilja's musical orientation is healthier: It's like the bastard child Dave Mustaine and Marc Bolan, or something, the songs have screamy heavy metal riffs, but somehow twisted into really chill-out summer metal. Nice catchy, instant-hit song structures. If you're headed to the sunny park with 12 beers to spend some quality time, this is probably one of the best choices of music. Its metal, but not scaring women and children in the surroundings. In a good way. The setlist included some nice & catchy stuff, which the already sworn fans cheered their ass off to:

-          The Source

-          Elevate

-          Ligthning Death

-          Pink Twillight

-          The Bomb

-          New Life in the Blast Zone

-          Animals.

Proof of concept is the fact that at least two drunk up&coming groupies threw themselves at the band. I would definitely recommend people top check these guys out. They have one album out, I think. (http://www.tigernet.no/shop/release.php?code=128850)

Maybe not perfect music when desecrating graves or burning human remains, but suitable for inducing that sweet feeling of combining metal and outdoor summertime.

As the evening proceeded, the metal DJ played a surprisingly consistent set of metal tunes - and that's actually critical when hanging out on concerts.

The merch had all the usual crap you want to see: T-shirts, hoodies, vinyls.

Also worth mentioning is that there has been this open competition where one band is given the chance to play with Behemoth (PL) Vreid (NO) Kampfar (NO) 28.06.12 in Oslo @ Rockefeller. The winner was announced. Sindre Solem from metalthrash maniacs Necromantheon (NO) and representative of the Kolbotn Thrashers Union took the stage and said that the jury had landed on Cockroach Agenda (NO, from Bergen). Lucky guys. Hope they make the most of this chance.

Cockroach Agenda is still unsigned, and some of their stuff can be found here: (http://www.nrk.no/urort/Artist/CockroachAgenda/default.aspx)

-          Only I exist

-          Ladder to the Moon

-          Gruesome Twosome

-          Blind the heat

-          Abmuse

-          Immortal

-          Ashes to Ashes

-          Bowling Pin

-          Madman

-          Headstone

After the show, the band made their way to the merch stand to hangout and sign stuff. I shortly talked to Erlend Gjerde (drums), and he said they are preparing for a new album this fall.

The debut album: http://www.tigernet.no/shop/release.php?code=132392

Overall, the Fire Walk With Me Metal Club concept is strongly promising. Internasjonalen is a quite good venue, despite the brutally designed bar upstairs and the massively oversized PA-speakers. The mood is good, and barkeepers are friendly. Oslo has a growing metal scene, so a venue and club with a slightly lower threshold than the established venues could be a perfect opportunity for upcoming bands - as well as seeing bigger bands play on a small venue. A number of concerts are scheduled, and I'm keen to see where this goes - and if the metal crowd in this city backs up this initiative.

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