All good things must come to an end. Such is true of the 2024 edition of Beyond The Gates festival in Bergen, Norway. After three incredible days of musical extremity, it was time to strap on the boots and battle vests for the big finale over at Greighallen, the venue that hosted the final two days of BTG. Our day started with a jaunt over to Apollon Records, the famed record shop down the street from the venue, to partake in their excellent lineup of craft beer and peruse their meaty selection of metallic vinyl. It seems many had the same idea, as the place was packed with metalheads looking to fill their bellies full of beer and fists full of vinyl. Satisifed, we headed over to the venue to catch the first act of the day…

VEMOD
The ‘dark etheral metal’ of Norway’s Vemod was the perfect soundtrack to the rainy, gloomy afternoon… a far cry from the sunshine and warmth experienced the previous three days of the festival. Vemod seem to be one of those bands that fly under the radar, when compared to many of their peers in the Nordic scene. That being said, those in the know are well aware of the exceptional talent of this seemingly humble band. With only two full-length albums to their name, you can literally count on two hands the number of tracks in their repertoire. Today, we were treated to four of these tracks. The first three songs were culled from this year’s excellent, The Deepening. The first two songs of the set, ‘Der Guder Dør’ and ‘True North Beckons’ were chock full of beautifully sung clean vocals and synthesized choirs, while the incredible acoustics of Grieghallen amplified the atmospheric black metal backbone that is the ethos of the band’s core sound. The guys then launched into ‘Inn i lysende natt’, a song that showcases the progressive/psychedelic rock side of the band in stunning fashion, particulary in a live setting. The final track, ‘Venter på stormene’, was pulled from their 2012 debut album of the same name. The song clocked in at a little over thirteen minutes of vicious second wave-inspired black metal with contemporary stylings of the atmospheric kind.

Setlist
‘Der Guder Dør’, ‘True North Beckons’, ‘Inn i lysende natt’, ‘Venter på stormene’

VREID
Birthed from the ashes of the legendary Windir (after the untimely death of frontman Valfar), Vreid was formed by three former Windir members and a new guitarist, Ese (who was then replaced by former Windir guitarist Strom in 2010), making the connection with Windir even stronger than before. Tonight, that connection proved to be the strongest yet, with the brother of Valfar, Vegard, making a special guest appearance on vocals to a backdrop of the Windir logo. Very fucking cool.

The band kicked things off with the tracks ‘Into The Mountains’ from their last studio album, Wild North West, and ‘Pitch Black’ (from the 2006 album Pitch Black Brigade). It is worth noting that Vreid does an incredible job evoking the Nordic wilderness, even from the confines of a music hall in the middle of a large city center… there is a magic to their music that trenscends all space and time. This energy continued into the tracks ‘Flammen’ and ‘Blücher’ (with the former being a one-off single released last summer). It was at this point that the band invited Valfar’s brother, Vegard, onto the stage to run through a rendition of the classic Windir song ‘Saknet’. The band ended their spectacular set with the triumvirate of ‘Helvete’, ‘Lifehunger’, and ‘Journey To The End’. It goes without saying that the Vreid fans in attendance witnessed an incredibly special set, one that will live on in the memory bank as an absolute highlight of Beyond The Gates 2024.

Setlist
‘Into The Mountains’, ‘Pitch Black’, ‘Flammen’, ‘Blücher’, ‘Saknet'(Windir cover), ‘Helvete’, ‘Lifehunger’, ‘Journey To The End’

SATYRICON
The legendary duo of Satyr and Frost hit the stage for a second time at this year’s BTG, following-up their fantastic set from the night before. If there is any band outta Norway that can fill two nights of quality material it is Satyricon. Like the night before, the band tackled a hodge-podge of songs culled from the entirety of their massive catalog. Unlike last night’s collection of more familiar songs, tonight’s set included some less familiar tracks, such as ‘Forhekset’ and ‘Transcendental Requiem Of Slaves’ (both from 1996’s Nemesis Divina). The guys also tossed in a jam of a theme from 2022’s Satyricon & Munch (the soundtrack that accompanied the art exhibition that ran in the summer of 2022 at the Munchmuseet in Oslo, Norway). Another fantastic set that will certainly be remembered as one of the defining moments in Beyond The Gates history.

Setlist
‘To Your Brethren In The Dark’, ‘Forhekset’, ‘Now, Diabolical’, ‘Black Crow On A Tombstone’, ‘Deep Calleth Upon Deep’, ‘Die by My Hand’, ‘Transcendental Requiem Of Slaves’, ‘To The Mountains’ (preceded by a jam of a theme from Satyricon & Munch), ‘The Pentagram Burns’, ‘Fuel For Hatred’, ‘K.I.N.G.’

BLOOD FIRE DEATH (A TRIBUTE TO BATHORY)

What do you get when you gather the very best of black metal elite on the same stage with the album art from Bathory‘s classic album Blood Fire Death hanging behind them? Well, you get a once in a lifetime Bathory tribute experience! Once again, the organizers of Beyond The Gates have proven that they are among the very best at creating experiences that will live in the deep recesses of the memory for a very longtime. What made this particular performance so special is that each song featured a different vocalist tackling a classic Bathory song. Some examples of this include Gaahl on ‘A Fine Day To Die’, Satyr on ‘Raise The Dead’, Enslaved‘s Grutle Kjellson on ‘Call From The Grave’, and Watain‘s Eric Danielsson on ‘Blood Fire Death’.

The set started with the ominous sounds of the instrumental ‘Oden Ride Over Nordland’ from the legendary album, Blood Fire Death. An overwhelming swell of anticipation could be felt as the instrumental reverberated through the hall. As expected, the collection of musicians immediately jumped into ‘A Fine Day To Die’ with Gaahl behind the mic (as previously mentioned). Without hestitation, the collective launched into the songs ‘The Rite Of Darkness’ and ‘Possessed’ from Bathory‘s ’85 album The Return (both songs featuring Aura Noir‘s Appolyon on bass/vocals and Blasphemer on guitar, Djevel‘s Faust on drums, and Enslaved‘s Ivar Bjørnson on guitar).

The remainder of the set featured many of the Bathory classics that us metalheads have grown to love and appreciate. Without the forward-thinking of Quorthon, we might not all be gathered together in honor of all the incredible black metal bands that festivals like Beyond The Gates painstaking put together. There couldn’t be a better/more-fitting end to the festival. It’ll be hard to top this one, but I have utmost confidence that BTG 2025 will come through in spades!

Setlist
‘Oden Ride Over Nordland’, ‘A Fine Day To Die’, ‘The Rite Of Darkness’, ‘Enter The Eternal Fire’, ‘Raise The Dead’, ‘The Return Of Darkness And Evil’, ‘Shores In Flames’, ‘Call From The Grave’, ‘Total Destruction’, ‘Blood Fire Death’, ‘Hammerheart’