Mayhem in the Medieval Park

MAYHEM
VARIED FESTIVAL BILL

A hard-hittin’ act has been added to the Øya bill on Wednesday. Black metal legends Mayhem will be coming to the Medieval Park to take shake the foundations of the Oslo east side. Given this addition, the Øya Festival must surely now have the most varied bill among Norwegian festivals this summer.

MAYHEM (N)
There can hardly be a band in the history of rock with a background story as bloody as that of Mayhem – but they’ve nevertheless always delivered the goods musically and thereby maintained their position as one of the most reliable suppliers of brutal restlessness and liberating nastiness within the world of metal. The band has been at the crest of Norwegian extreme music ever since the start in the mid-eighties. In the beginning they were inspired by Venom from the UK, Bathory from Sweden, and Hellhammer from Switzerland (the predecessors of Celtic Frost). The band has contributed to the fact that Norway is the first thing to pop up in people’s minds when asked to define the term “black metal”, not least due to the well-documented upheaval that took place during the first half of the nineties. Along with a few other bands, one need only mention the name Mayhem in order to give metal lovers across the globe goosebumps. They’re responsible for genre-defining releases like ‘De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas’ from 1994 and ‘Grand Declaration of War’ from 2000. Musically, the band has held on to its roots in the primitive and original style from the early days of black metal, while at the same time proven able to challenge people’s perception of what black metal is. This they clearly demonstrated with their latest album, ‘Ordo Ad Chao’ (2007), which also brought them a Norwegian Grammy. Today’s line-up in this legendary band consists of singer Attila Csihar, bass player Jørn “Necrobutcher” Stubberud, drummer Jan Axel ”Hellhammer” Blomberg, and guitarist Rune ”Blasphemer” Eriksen. The concert at Øya on Wednesday Aug. 6 will be Blasphemer’s last appearance in Norway, as he will retire after 13 years of service in Norway’s most legendary band. Take this opportunity to see this Mayhem line-up one last time. We guarantee a gig that’ll be forged into your memory forever.

VARIED FESTIVAL BILL
As mentioned, the Øya Festival offers a highly varied bill this summer. Our festival program spans across the genres of i.a. electronica w/Cut Copy and Casiokids; reggae w/Fat Freddy’s Drop: post rock w/Mogwai and Isis; world music w/Konono No 1; hip pop w/Lightspeed Champion and Lykke Li; soul w/Jamie Lidell; doomsday noise w/Sunn O))); indie w/Sonic Youth and Yeasayer; wicked, hard-ass rock w/The Sword, Animal Alpha, and Coliseum; Okkervil River and My Bloody Valentine; club music w/Diplo and Buraka Som Sistema: jazz w/Elephant9; hip hop w/Kid Sister and N.E.R.D.; noise w/Supersilent and Health!; punk rock w/The Night Marchers and Turbonegro; garage rock w/The Sonics; and now also black metal w/Mayhem. In addition, we’re also going to book a few more acts.