On September 29th, 2023, it was a special Friday at the Felleshus of the Nordic Embassies in Berlin – it was the closing day of the DER HARTE NORDEN exhibition, curated by well-known music journalist and author Ika Johannesson. The evening program included a live acoustic performance by Norwegian musician SYLVAINE, as well as a panel with honorable guests such as black metal historian Finn Håkon Rødland, Torgrim Øyre (manager of Beyond the Gates Festival), Ivar Bjørnson from ENSLAVED, Ika Johannesson, and Kathrine Shepard (SYLVAINE) with Toby Schaper as the interviewer.
The event was delayed by nearly half an hour, because of the massive line outside. Unfortunately, the auditorium was too small to host all the guests, so monitors were installed in the hall where the exhibition was to livestream the event. The evening opened with the representative of Iceland giving a small speech about how extreme metal became part of their Nordic culture and reading a poem in Old Norse. It was time for SYLVAINE‘s performance. The auditorium was a typical university-type space, not fitted for a concert, which is why SYLVAINE performed some of the songs only with her guitar. She was dressed in an elegant black gown with a black hairband, which contrasted with her milky hair. Her presence was empowering, and the performance emotional, she instantly created an ephemeral mood in the auditorium, many people closed their eyes to fully immerse themselves in the show, and some had tears rolling up their eyes. She performed “Mørklagt” and closed with an old Norwegian folk song “Eg Er Framand.” What was truly fascinating about her performance was how she touched the thin fibers of the soul with her emotional delivery and using a bare minimum of instruments, it takes great talent to do so.
After a trip to the eerie Norwegian scapes, the panel was next. All the guests took their seats. In this hour-long discussion, many interesting topics were discussed, but I will share some highlights. One particular topic was about the future of metal in the upcoming ten years and who has the potential to headline big festivals. The opinions were divided, but one thing was clear, to this day, we have the old guard still going strong like IRON MAIDEN, KISS, METALLICA, and THE ROLLING STONES and those musicians will die on stage. The newer generation doesn’t seem to have these potentially strong bands, but among the bands proposed were GHOST and GOJIRA. They also discussed that their generation is the last to remember the 80s and 90s aesthetic of vinyl and tapes because there is no physical attachment to the artist in the time of streaming. Some interesting stories were shared; Ika Johannesson shared how she crashed her car while struggling with a tape in her car’s recorder, and Ivar Bjørnson shared his memory of how they were circling Oslo listening to MAYHEM demos. They remembered how black metal was shunned and feared by the “Bible blue-haired grannies” and how local newspapers portrayed them as terrorists, and now they were hosting an exhibition in an Embassy. A question from the public was about new bands the guests discovered recently – SYLVAINE recommended an artist called HELGA because of her experimental sound, Finn Rødland recommended MARE, and Torgrim Øyre shared that he was impressed by MANBRYNE from Poland.
After the panel, the panelists and guests went into the exhibition hall to chat, have a glass of wine, and enjoy the exhibition one last time. The artifacts presented there were truly a part of history, meticulously gathered together to tell a story, from the original pass of the MAYHEM‘s show in Leipzig in ’89 and letters from Euronymous to stage prop pieces, it was an impressive display. Unfortunately, a day before, somehow, a DARKTHRONE vintage long sleeve was stolen from its display. It was an unforgettable evening filled with history, people with a passion, and cultural exchange. It was truly fascinating to see how the Nordics embraced extreme metal and acknowledged it as part of their cultural heritage.
Photos by Alexandra Aim
