PP2Part 2 Sunday 6 October 

Sunday came, and the first band to perform was Malicious Dream from the host country. Every year the organisers pull impressive local bands out of the bag. This, unfortunately, wasn’t one of them. The music wasn’t bad, mind, but there just didn’t seem to be the inspiration. The set started in a steady death metal style, growly and operating at a nice pace, a bit like Agalloch. An interesting addition was the “pagan” vocals, which later transformed into a goth/indie style. A long and wandering end section took us nowhere, and I was woken up by some more steady death metal, which slowed down and allowed in the pagan voice, which was well done. “Let yourself go” suggested the singer. Unfortunately this wasn’t going to happen from a standing start so unsurprisingly no-one reacted. An Opeth-like passage took us to the land of nowhere again. The next song “Mind’s Projection” worked its way into a melodic frenzy and the alternative vocalist had a spoken part. This worked better as a song. Then “Asynchrony” started in the tones of “Demon of the Fall” but then set off on a familiar dreary route. There was a tempting instrumental passage but it just ended suddenly and without rhyme or reason. I’d had enough by this point as I just found it too monotonous and tired. I was told afterwards that the band in fact performed a cover of Opeth’s “Demon of the Fall” and it was the highlight of the show. I missed that but I would say that Malicious Dream need to concentrate on their own direction, and in terms of live performance assess what they need to do to make their live show uplifting.

Ramage Inc from Edinburgh came on next. I was struck immediately by the lively and melodic heavy rock style and the big hooks. The singer Bryan Ramage had a strong and clear voice with plenty of passion in it. The bass line was powerful and well distinguished in the sound mix. Starting with “Don’t Bring Me Down”, each song had well-structured content which was brought to life by the ferocious delivery. I realised that I was listened to something I liked. This was four likeable guys with catchy songs, a heavy undercurrent of sound and working as a complete unit. “We’re an unsigned band”, announced Mr Ramage without self-pity. “Feel the Waves”, the title track of their album, had a djenty feel. They could do dark passages well, but as they showed on “As The Wind Blows”, they specialised in sophisticated rocking songs. “So Far Away” was a touching song with a pop-type structure and funky riff. The bass sound was as chunky as the bassist himself. As well as the big sound and movement, the Ramage people had great presence and exuded joy. By “Gave Up My World”, I’d got the pattern: strong vocals, strong everything. This was a series of rich and colourful songs, easy to engage with yet sophisticated. This is excitement and adrenaline music. Let’s rock. I heard them described as similar to Devin Townsend and there are similarities in style but I don’t care. Ramage Inc are braw. Sign them up, please.

Post rock was next on the agenda. The band in question was Toundra from Spain. I reviewed their instrumental album “II”, since when there’s been “III”, and enjoyed it very much. There is a big difference between this and other post rock/metal bands, and that distinction was made was clear this afternoon. Unlike many of their counterparts who think it’s their job to bow their heads and be as miserable as hell, these gentlemen smiled, faced the audience and clearly enjoyed themselves while presenting their musical expressions. The result was a stellar performance. Pop pop, went the drum. Even when a guitar became unplugged, the energy continued. Stormy clouds gathered and thunder could be heard. The response of Team Toundra was full-blooded. Unlike “normal” post metal, this was born of hyperactivity. The young guitarist in the blue shirt threw himself about exuberantly, supported at the front by his bearded colleagues who were living and breathing every moment of this music, which was the sort to imagine and dream to. I dreamt a wondrous experience. I sensed a similar buzz in the crowd around me. There was urgency about this hypnotic post metal. The band members smiled. Everyone smiled at the blurred images of these musicians who kept us gripped with their massive build-ups, constant motion and big progressive sounds from a world which they created for them and for us. It was not a gloomy world, even when patient passages turned into storms. This was full of energy and life. The crowd clapped as another monster passage approached. Sometimes it was like Opeth. Much of the time it was like the dramatic theme music for a constantly moving, cerebral film. Complex and technical rhythms poured out from all sides. The guitarist in blue danced, yet doom wasn’t far away. But this was the music of dreams and moods and crashing power. This performance for me was about joy and life. The music did the speaking. There was no need for words. These four Spanish gentlemen sent out big messages and gave the post metal genre an unusually exotic edge. The musicianship was excellent. The energy was astounding. Toundra left to prolonged applause. The band had given their all and hugged each other in celebration. That’s how much it meant.

Competing with the attraction of the “Heavy Hoempa” band in the nearby village square and their lively renditions of Ace of Spaces and other classic metal songs, The Omega Experiment came on stage in the early Saturday evening slot. Like Ramage Inc before them, I was told there was something of Devin Townsend in this band’s music but I couldn’t see that. This was something different. There were however many familiar features which can be associated with a certain type of progressive metal. The sound was big, it was musically complex and the singer was intense and full-on. The Omega Experiment got into their stride with a fast, hard and heavy number, the appropriately titled “Furor”, but got out of their stride with self-inflicted interruptions mid-song by the lead singer. Why is it that US bands in particular do this? From an appearance angle, this was the polar opposite of Hacride. The Omega Experiment looked like they were cobbled together, with the keyboard player planted centre back of the stage like a spaceship which had landed, and the band’s bare-footed guitarist striking with his copious red hair and beard, turquoise-coloured guitar and peach-coloured knee length shorts. But he was a fine guitar player, the sort who makes the guitar talk, and once the introductory formalities were out of the way, I enjoyed “Gift”, a mobile song with nice progressive developments. The singer announced morbidly “I don’t suppose you like to dance” and then introduced “Paramount” as “what The Omega Experiment are about – overcoming adversity”. I learnt afterwards that this comment related to previous drugs problems, and certainly accounted for the very personal nature of these songs, but on a more parochial level, there had also been some adversity of a different nature to overcome. I found out that the guitarist had just come over from New Zealand, this was his first show with the band and the first rehearsal together had taken place that afternoon. Pulling off a performance of this complexity was therefore nothing short of awesome. What I couldn’t get to grips with, however, was the content. I didn’t find the songs natural. It kind of made sense when I realised they were personal but I struggled to keep up and couldn’t pinpoint any continuity as the set continued. It could be bouncy, the technical riffs were good, the emotional harmonies were strong and the chorus lines were hooky. Yet it didn’t add up to anything. I was finding it difficult and I realise it didn’t help that I didn’t know this band’s material, but I don’t think it was just this. The lead singer was the dominant party here, which detracted from the team effort, and there seemed to be an inordinate amount of knob-twiddling and sample checking, which could easily be accounted for by the band’s previous lack of togetherness. Credit is due for their experimental prog structures, even if I didn’t get the point behind them. The music didn’t stay still for long and some of the passages were magnificent. The set finished with a long dreamy passage, which turned out to be an improvisation but caught everyone by surprise when it ended and with it the show. With the interruptions as well, this performance never seemed to get going. There wasn’t much crowd reaction but I wouldn’t read too much into that as we were being let into someone else’s world. The problem was that I for one didn’t get it and generally found it a difficult set without much payback.

This was the fifth time that Wolverine had played at ProgPower Europe. I was here the last time when they played two utterly spell-binding sets. My and everyone else’s expectations were high. One shouldn’t take these things for granted. But of course Wolverine were once again a revelation. Stefan’s words are personal and recognisable. They are perfectly fused with the lush and melancholic instrumental work. After the magic of “House of Plague” came “Bleeding”. The lyrics are everyday but racked with mundane inter-human uncertainty: “I’ll stay for a while, if you like”. Stefan speaks to us. It’s all hanging in the air. Power and momentary anger develop. The air is then dreamy. Time is taken, and it is because of this and the heightening emotional pitch that “New Best Friends” is so epic. The soft lingering guitar at the end gives closure to a magnificent song. Acoustic replaced electric for two tracks. This is the perfect setting for Stefan’s calm voice. One of them was “Poison Ivy”, which is “about dark, twisted love”. I am often reminded of the soft and sad side of Green Carnation when I hear this one. The song sends shivers up my spine, and did here, as desperate sadness was re-created on stage. The bassist then took over and finished off the gloomy story. We needed a lift after all this epic melancholy, and we got it. But again whilst the physical power returned in the music, the theme of human frailty and uncertainty will always remain. It was “Your Favourite War” that cranked things up. Every word and every note has meaning hanging from it. “I want to ease your pain … you – can’t – find – me”. This is cranking things up? What is it with these Swedes?  Is this what they go around thinking about? But of course we all recognise this, and with master musicians providing the perfect pitch for these personal tragedies, it was just so powerful. The unmistakeable strains of the piano led us into the magnificent “Communication Lost”, notwithstanding a bit of extended tension, and we were back to lush rhythms and hopeless corners: “it seems there’s no way out of this”. What’s this? Whatever it is, it’s not good but it touches our nerves and hey, we all sang along. Dark lines are delivered with menace lyrically and musically. Never has failure, frustration, fear and anger been portrayed in such a rich and magnetic way (ok, Katatonia maybe). This is special. It is sublime. “His Cold Touch” isn’t my favourite Wolverine track but it has the ingredients. From softness, it explodes into the height of metal; and human emotion. The air was filled with atmospheric tension. There’s a rumbling crescendo and a guitar solo. The guitarist, who looks even older than I am, had played his part with quiet majesty, as had all the musicians. Now was his moment. It was complete rock n roll … party time. Stefan returns and tops up the emotional tank. His voice has clarity but it’s not just in the vocal sense but also in the way he articulates emotions. The delivery of “His Cold Touch” sums up Wolverine as a band. It’s not about individuals. In fact they are self-effacing as if they are not there, yet through the music the band manages to find the perfect co-ordination of metal and human emotions. Realising no doubt the enormity and popularity of the performance, the management allowed us an encore, and for one final time we heard in “And She Slowly Dies” a mix of sweet vocals, a heightened chorus and atmospheric instrumentals. Darkness met beauty. Emotion met passion. Wolverine’s performance was phenomenal.

We were informed that two members of The Ocean had been delayed and arrived only ten minutes before the show. This was after three solid months of touring. It all pointed to lethargy but there was none of it here. Quite the opposite in fact as one of the late runners, the guitarist, proceeded to leap several times in wild enthusiasm on top of the drum kit, then jumped back down, flailed his guitar above his head before resuming his normal position. It was like watching an audition for the Milk Tray advert. These histrionics, which bore the hallmarks of a lack of time for a toilet break, were symptomatic of the show which was more post metal in outlook than the expected ambient. “Pelagial” was the content. With big structures and ponderous doom lining our journey, not only were there no whales but there were no wails either as this was an instrumental set. Floating and intimidating oceanic sounds were confined to the rare breaks between tracks, and was a watery soundtrack going on behind the drummer, but this was the Cult of Massive. My instinct told me this was about nature’s destructive forces. The drummer led the patient assault and battery as you’d expect, while Action Man on the guitar stood for violence, attacked his instrument and even broke his strap, presumably as a consequence of going on his wacky races. But it didn’t stop him. For over an hour we were presented with a breathtaking expanse of dark post metal. There was delicacy, there was flow, there was minimalism – The Ocean took care of it all. Pausing only briefly between sections, the depth and intensity continued in its mysterious way. It could be militaristic, particularly when the band launched into sombre marches. There was defiance and hostility but there was also sadness. The crash-bang-wallop gave way at one point to a lighter, airier passage where the sample in the background suggested the sound of the harp. A long concentrated passage followed before a build up again to more frantic action. Miraculously Action Man didn’t drop his guitar as looked likely during the flamboyant movements but he had to carry out rapid repairs on the naughty strap. Drums were struck heftily as the guitarists struck up a mysteriously dark tune. As the intensity rose, it was like a battle scene with high-pitched cries coming from the guitars. Then it slowed right down. It was now funereal. Crashing sounds emerged. This was pure doom, punctuated only by a short technical rhythm from Action Man. There were mysterious floaty sounds in the air but it was so heavy that we were being weighed down and tied to the bottom of the ocean. Action Man laid down his guitar and kissed it. A thunderously uncomfortable sound lingered in the background. It ended, but we wanted more and the second guitarist offered us some “old stuff”. To a deliberately murky orchestral sample, the drum and guitar launched into plodding doom, stepping up eventually to a raucous volley of post metal. It was even harsher than it had been earlier. The heaviness and constancy remained, with the odd technical solo thrown in. Action Man had the chance once more to throw his guitar over his head as the sound was heightened before a mechanical passage provided finality. The Ocean then had one final burst, playing at breakneck speed. The guitars rang out as this memorable frenetic piece of mayhem took us to the end.  Although not as cerebral as I expected, the final set of the festival was very atmospheric and powerful in different ways, demonstrating that The Ocean are masters of their trade.

And so another successful edition of ProgPower Europe came to a close. I could never thank Rene, Christian and Martijn enough for their hard work in putting it all together and for their attention to detail. Each year, I think it’s reached the peak of perfection and then some details are added – this year there was an additional selection of beers, voting for a band and a lovely orange t-shirt for the pre-booked weekenders like myself. We can’t expect this but it’s fantastic to be pampered this way. This is all about the people – the bands, the people who attend from all across the world and the people in the village of Baarlo who are so welcoming every year. Yes, we had a jolly nice time once again.

And finally, as always, a few personal “awards”:

Best act on Friday: Damian Wilson

Best act on Saturday: Haken

Best act on Sunday: (tough one, this) Toundra

Best act overall: Toundra

Service to Alcohol award: Norway, for having two separate hangover “incidents” over the weekend.

Culinary Contribution: “The Finnish Breakfast”. No fry-ups here, just a zillion percent liqueur to break one’s fast.

Most Spectacular Safety Violation: The Ocean’s Action Man. Tired, with a corded guitar over his shoulder and wishing to leap on a cylindrical object, he bold leapt where no man has leapt before. Maybe a sticker “Do not stand on this drum” might help. Ok, it won’t.

(Review Andrew Doherty)

(Photos with thanks Håkan Lundbom & Deb Halford)