Do you want to dream with me for a while, or will it be too much of a downer? It’s okay. This one hits particularly bittersweet for me. I haven’t been to every Høstsabbat, but I’ve been to enough to see how the Oslo-based festival has grown and is growing, and the thought of not being there in a few weeks for this one is that much harder to take as the lineup is revealed today. Imagine the existential payoff of being engulfed in Mars Red Sky‘s melodic wash on the first night and obliterated by Conan the second, or seeing Greenleaf bring the blues of their latest album to life.

I’ve never seen Causa Sui. I’ve never seen Øresund Space Collective. These are bands I think and write about all the time. And newcomers like Slomosa, Jointhugger, Superlynx, Saint Karloff and Kryptograf, Hymn and Kite and Suncraft — these are some of the best up and coming acts the Norwegian heavy underground has to offer. Imagine being able to say you’ve seen Besvärjelsen. The thought of this happening and my not being there makes me genuinely sad.

It’s just a Fredag and a Lørdag, right? I could go! It could happen. It’s not a huge festival. I’ll mask up, of course… After a year and a half of so much bullshit, fear, sadness, ongoing, don’t I have to eventually just accept that this is what life is now and some things are worth the risk? That this is something I need to be the person I am? Who am I without live music?

And there you go. Bitter because I’m forced to reconcile myself to not seeing it. Sweet because I know in my heart these are good, passionate people who make this happen and because I believe in what they do, and even if I can’t/won’t be there to see it, it’s happening. I’m sorry to make this one about me. Really it’s about awesome bands and a righteous bill. If you’re going, enjoy. Live.

Full Høstsabbat 2021 lineup — though I’m hearing rumors about a Torsdag to-do as well — follows here:

HØSTSABBAT 2021 FULL LINE-UP ANNOUNCEMENT

In the spirit of optimistic caution and with safety precautions at the forefront of our minds, we step forward in preparation for our stages to resonate with the heavy once again! The riffs will rise from our home at Kulturkirken Jakob and our Norwegian stage at Verkstedet on Friday the 8th and Saturday the 9th of October.

Today we proudly release the full lineup and hope you are as excited as we are to come together again in celebration of the riff and all things heavy.

Daypasses and program will be out on Friday. Until then, get your festival ticket asap!

TICKETS: https://bit.ly/hostsabbat2021

Lineup HØSTSABBAT 2021 – October 8th-9th

– Mars Red Sky (fr)
– Øresund Space Collective (dk)
– Slomosa (no)
– Hymn (no)
– Conan (uk)
– Causa Sui (dk)
– Gøsta Berlings Saga (se)
– Greenleaf (se)
– Saint Karloff (no)
– Besværjelsen (se)
– Kryptograf (no)
– Kite (no)
– Sibiir (no)
– Orkan (se)
– Warp Riders (no)
– Jointhugger (no)
– Draken
– Gunerius & Verdensveven
– Superlynx
– U-Foes
– Shaving the Werewolf
– Suncraft

https://www.facebook.com/hostsabbat/
https://www.instagram.com/hostsabbat/
http://hostsabbat.no/

Høstsabbat 2019 official aftermovie

It’s been a little over the month since the end of Høstsabbat 2019 (review here), and it is with the overwhelming positivity of that experience still ringing in my ears that I’m happy to dig into the first lineup announcement for the 2020 edition of the Oslo-based festival. I don’t know if I’ll get to go next year — I never know these things, until I do, which is usually later on — but it’s always encouraging to see awesome events run by passionate people doing cool things, and that most definitely applies here.

Of particular note is the re-addition of Superlynx to the bill after they couldn’t make it this year last minute owing to a death in the family. That was a bummer that threatened to cast a pall over the weekend, but the fact that they’ll come back in 2020 is of course welcome news. Likewise the confirmation of Bordeaux, France, trio Mars Red Sky, who’ll make their first appearance at Høstsabbat playing at the Kulturkirken Jakob, which could hardly be more suited an environment for their soaring melodies and weighted tones.

Joining those two are Obliteration and Stockholm bizarro instrumentalists Gösta Berlings Saga, and tickets are on sale as of today. Fest is Oct. 2 and 3, as you can see below:

Høstsabbat 2020: OCT. 2-3

It is time! Høstsabbat is proud and eager to present the first bands for Høstsabbat 2020, spanning over a whole deal of what our festival stands for. After two sold out years, it’s a marvelous feeling to acknowledge the support from our crowd on so many levels. We hope all of you find these four bands as exciting as we do.

From the stoned and spacey, otherworldly dynamics of Mars Red Sky, to the cold, aggressive evilness of Obliteration.

From the soothing, meditative doom of Superlynx, to the experimenting, electric weirdo-jams of Gösta Berlings Saga.

We feel these four acts represents a vision of what Høstsabbat is trying to put out there. A collective sense of underground acts, juggling between the different aspects of heavy, located in our very own church of doom, in the centre of our vivid city that is Oslo. Even if fall just turned into winter, we can easily skip spring and summer to take part in what will be Høstsabbat 2020.

Høstsabbat 2020 will once again go down at our favourite venue, Kulturkirken JAKOB, October 2nd and 3rd. A stunning church in the heart of Oslo, with an atmosphere unrivaled.

After the sold out Høstsabbat festivals in 2018 and 2019 we’re ready for more. Over two days you will experience slow and crushing doom, heavy bluesrock, stoner, proto-heavy metal, psychedelic spacerock and prog over three stages.

Høstsabbat will showcase the best of the current underground scene of heavy music, bringing new talent as well as established names.

Summon the spirits, gather the souls…

https://www.facebook.com/events/431138574088425/
https://www.facebook.com/hostsabbat/
http://hostsabbat.no/

Mars Red Sky, “The Proving Grounds” official video