As it would, the addition of Swedish outfit Besvärjelsen brings a new breadth of atmosphere to the lineup for Høstsabbat 2020, with the added bonus that it’ll be the band’s first time in Oslo. Their 2019 EP, Frost (review erereview here, saw their particular emotionalist ambience take on a woodsy spirit, and though I was pleased to be able to write the liner notes for the limited Postwax release thereof, the release still offers surprising depth when I put it on to listen, as I might, say, when writing about the band being added to Høstsabbat and going to Norway to play it. Go figure.

This festival, by the way, is going to sell out. You should go. I hope to go again as well, but whether I do or not, I can only recommend it on a life-experience level. The setting, the atmosphere, the sound and the visuals are all stellar and worth the trip from wherever you might be making it. Just a side note. Word to the wise, as it were.

I didn’t write the announcement below, but I did tweak the copy before it went out, so at least there’s that. Still, I cut and pasted it from the festival’s social media — as opposed to from my .txt file — so here it is in PR wire blue:

Høstsabbat 2020 – BESVÄRJELSEN (SE)

Let’s head back to Sweden.

Besvärjelsen is a relatively fresh band, but their debut LP, 2018’s ‘Vallmo’ — released through no less than the reliable source that is Suicide Records — launched the quintet into the Swedish and European stoner rock scene with full force. They were highly acclaimed for their Swedish lyrics and inspiration from folk music — as well as for featuring ex-Dozer members Erik Bäckwall (drums) and Johan Rockner (bass) — but to be honest, the album flew a bit under our radar at Høstsabbat. Not for long.

Their 2019 ‘Frost’ EP, out on Blues Funeral Recordings, hit like a tornado with undeniable groove and constant forward push. The sound and riffs came on tight and clever, reflecting on the darkness of nature of the endless woods in their home area of Dalarna.

This ethereal spirit and the coinciding haunting melodies of Lea Amling Alazam’s vocals put Besvärjelsen in a league of their own. Their sound crafted with finesse to the point that it’s hard to put their records aside. They just get stuck on repeat.

Are Besvärjelsen the next big thing from our neighbouring Swedes?

Høstsabbat is proud to present this stellar band for first time in Oslo.

TICKETS
http://bit.ly/hostsabbat2020

HØSTSABBAT 2020 SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
http://bit.ly/SFhostsabbat2020

NEWSLETTER
http://bit.ly/NLhostsabbat

Artwork: Trine Grimm Tattoo / Linda K Røed

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http://hostsabbat.no/

You thinkin’ new Conan record this year? Me too. They’ve done no shortage of touring to support 2018’s Existential Void Guardian (review here), and already last year they were dropping hints of more to come, so yeah, it doesn’t seem beyond the realm of possibility.

They’re already slated to play Desertfest London in Spring, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a tour around that, and the announcement they’ll be at Kulturkirken Jakob in Oslo for Høstsabbat 2020 makes me think they’ll be out in Fall as well. North America sometime between? South America? Japan? Australia? Mars? Hell, I don’t know. Is there anywhere Conan haven’t been yet? If so, you have to imagine they’ll book it sooner or later.

You know what I love though about them joining the Høstsabbat lineup? Aside from the fact that they’ll absolutely fill that church with massive fucking riffs one after another in pure pounding fashion and I’m planning on being there to witness it — yes, aside from that — there’s the fact that the previous Høstsabbat announcement was for Causa Sui. The festival did an excellent job in 2019 in creating a flow across its component stages. But how awesome would the total 180 of putting those two bands back to back be? You’d absolutely blindside people one way or the other. I can’t imagine that’s how Høstsabbat‘s organizers will roll it out, but golly that’s a fun thought.

Here’s a handy poster to share and official word:

Høstsabbat 2020 – CONAN

Boom!

Conan is finally back on Norwegian soil.

It will be four years since they last came to Høstsabbat, appearing at our fest in 2016.

The guys in Conan were rising stars already then, and have only strengthened their position since. There are some bands in our scene going the extra mile, and Conan is definitely one of them. They tour relentlessly on all continents of our globe, and always have new recordings and projects in sight – always moving ahead and leaving devastation in their wake. They’ve crafted a one of a kind sound and their intensity is unwavering.

One can only imagine how their caveman battle doom will translate to the altar stage.

Their drop F heaviness will make Kulturkirken Jakob rattle like a snake, along with our intestines.

Please welcome Conan to church on October 2nd.

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Conan, “Volt Thrower” official video

So it turns out that life’s awesome. My proof, you ask? Well, Causa Sui are going to play Høstsabbat 2020. I’ve been invited for what will be my fourth trip to Oslo for the festival held at Kulturkirken Jakob and you bet your ass I’m going. After seeing Colour Haze and Ufomammut there this year and Elephant Tree, pre-album-release SÂVER and Slomatics, Conan and Siena Root in years past, I had my suspicions that maybe things weren’t as horrendously awful as I’ve always made them out to be, but I feel like the fact that I’m finally going to see Causa Sui play live confirms it. They’ve been a bucket-list band for me for years, and unless a piano falls on my head between now and then, it’s finally going to happen. I cannot wait.

They join recent-additions Novarupta as well as Mars Red Sky, Gösta Berlings Saga, Obliteration and Superlynx in the still-building lineup. Frankly, if it was just Causa Sui and Mars Red Sky, it’d still be worth the flight to Norway, but like the anticipatory days between now and next October, it’s just all the more to sweeten the deal. Get stoked. Get tickets. See you there.

Can’t wait:

Høstsabbat 2020 – CAUSA SUI (DK)

One more before the holidays!

Causa Sui has been on the Høstsabbat wishlist for quite some time now, and yes, it finally worked out.

The experience of Causa Sui stands in huge contrast to what we’re currently dealing with here in Oslo. Rain, fog and altogether shitty weather. Put on one of the 12 records released since 2005 by these Danish instrumental psych/kraut rock legends, and they will teleport you to a hot summer day, with a salty breeze following the waves rolling across the beach.

Causa Sui blends kraut, psych, boogie and classic-style riffs with a somewhat quintessential sound of what stoner rock used to be back in the desert generator daze. It’s hard to grasp that they’ve never been to Norway before, given that Causa Sui has taken part in pretty much every underground festival there is across Europe. Well, now they’re coming to Høstsabbat.

It’s with great pleasure we’re able to announce one of the most requested bands of our crowd.

From all of us to all of you, welcome Causa Sui.

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http://hostsabbat.no/

Gonna be crowded up on that Chapel stage with a 12-piece band at Kulturkirken Jakob, but the addition of Novarupta to Oslo’s Høstsabbat Festival is awesome news all the way around. It’s the second lineup unveiling from the Norwegian festival, set for next October, which already brought out Mars Red Sky, Gösta Berlings Saga, Obliteration and Superlynx in its first go. You can read a bit about who and what Novarupta is, but it’s way more of a project than a band. The 2019 debut album, Disillusioned Fire, on Suicide Records, is ambitious enough to round up seven different vocalists to take part, and the live incarnation of the band would seem to match that outright. No wonder there’s only been one show to-date where they’ve done it.

I won’t claim to know what Novarupta‘s up to between now and then, but if there’s nothing else, I guess Høstsabbat 2020 will be the second gig. Pretty awesome.

Check it out:

Our next band announcement is much more than a band.

Novarupta is the highly ambitious project of Alex Stjernfeldt (Let Them Hang, ex-The Moth Gatherer), where his mission was, and still is, to cleanse his soul and mind with post metal soundscapes, crushing riffs and oppressive heft, while gathering an elite of Swedish vocalist, each one of them performing on their own song. How the hell is this even manageable?

The crown of the cake for Høstsabbat, is that we have this non-live band performing the whole thing, with all vocalists present. This happened once, at HUS 7 in Stockholm, and lucky for us, Alex is bringing the whole circus to Oslo next October.

Guest vocalists star from Tomas Liljedahl (Breach, The Old Wind), Martin Wegeland (Domkraft), Jonas A. Holmberg (This Gift is a Curse), Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquility), Jørgen Sandstrøm (ex-Entombed, ex-Grave) and the list goes on.

The album “Disillusioned Fire” have made some serious waves in the post-rock/metal community as one of the absolute highlights of 2019, and the future for Novarupta looks more than bright.

It’s with humble gratitude we are able to welcome this 12-piece (!!) to the Chapel stage at Høstsabbat 2020.

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Novarupta, Disillusioned Fire (2019)

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…

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http://hostsabbat.no/

Mars Red Sky, “The Proving Grounds” official video