ARCTANGENT FESTIVAL
The UK’s premier post-rock, math rock and prog festival is finally back! It’s been three years since ArcTanGent has graced Fernhill Farm, but thankfully the now four-day get-together is making up for lost time with its biggest capacity yet: a stellar 10,000 people. Everyone’s all smiles as the festival opens for a warm-up on Wednesday, and the joy refuses to fade until long after the entertainment wraps up on Saturday.
For prog fans, there are countless acts to catch across the weekend. Headliners Opeth bring their 70s-inspired grandeur to close the final day, and there’s also the psych-prog of Boss Keloid, Caspian’s fluttering post-rock, TesseracT’s off-kilter anthems, and Emma Ruth Rundle and AA Williams with their gorgeously experimental dark rock. The bill’s so stacked there’s scarcely time to top up your beer.
Arriving in the Elephant In The Bar Room after Dvne’s main stage metal attack, Worriedaboutsatan’s atmospheric and electronic post-rock is the ideal palate cleanser. There’s not much to see bar Gavin Miller fiddling with dials, but close your eyes and you’ll be dropped into a sound bath of gentle beats and clean guitar.
The atmospheric approach of Coldbones to today’s eclectic mix of bands is welcomed warmly. The three-piece make it so easy to sink into their progressive, metal and shoegaze cocktail – before long a sea of bodies is swaying along with this enlightening and emotional performance. The only criticism here is the need for a longer set.
Sadly, Boss Keloid don’t draw the biggest congregation to
ArcTanGent’s third stage. That should be a crime, considering the
Wigan quartet’s heavy prog mixes all the bounce of the genre’s greats with some psychedelic flair. Cuts from last year’s Family The Smiling Thrush dominate this triumphant set.
Swathed in black, AA Williams manages to create an atmosphere of intensity and darkness far contrasting to the blinding sunlight outside the tent at her relatively early spot in the daytime. Her presence demands respect before even uttering a word and the moody, minimalist progressive rock has everyone on tenterhooks.
Alcest’s Stéphane ‘Neige’ Paut’s soaring vocals combined with an experimental mix of black metal, shoegaze and progressive rock almost brings the tent to complete silence as the audience are simply in awe. Credited with pioneering this genre fondly dubbed “blackgaze”, French duo Neige and Jean ‘Winterhalter’ Deflandre are joined by the live bandmembers Pierre ‘Zero’ Corson on guitar and backing vocals and Indria Saray on bass to add an extra depth and dimension to Alcest that ensures their live show is not to be missed, nor forgotten.
There was a point where Prog thought it’d never happen again, but Leicester’s post-rock idols Maybeshewill have come to their home away from home for the fourth time, despite breaking up back in 2016. We have the 2021 reunion album No Feeling Is Final to thank for getting these heroes back, and a packed second stage shows its appreciation by roaring in delight when Zarah and Refuturing flaunt their beauty. Equal parts symphonic, electronic and post-rock music, they demonstrate why John Helps and co were so sorely missed. The quintet perform in the densest fog this tent can muster, to the point where Helps is essentially invisible. Although there’s still visual splendour to be enjoyed, it’s mostly courtesy of bassist Jamie Ward, who’s unafraid of a good spin kick to accompany his band’s biggest crescendos. Co-Conspirators, from 2009’s post-metal Sing The Word Hope In Four-Part Harmony, shows off a crushingly heavy prog bounce. Then comes He Films
The Clouds Part 2 for an awe-inspiring finale. The only track Maybeshewill play that has lyrics gets every word sung by a capacity crowd.
It’s a spectacle that’s well deserved. Welcome back, lads – now please never leave us again.
On a festival bill saturated by atmospheric, melancholy bands, Jakub Zytecki, who kicks off proceedings on the Friday, stands out as bringing upbeat fun to the festival. His joyous, meandering guitar work gets everyone’s feet moving and the soaring buildups to intricate, busy choruses are nothing short of stunning. A true highlight of today’s line-up.
Troubles during soundcheck delay Bruit <_ by 25 minutes, eating into more than half their allotted time. However, their very brief set is a snippet of symphonic post-rock at its heartstring-plucking best. Also, the mix is flawless. If and when they return to the UK, these Frenchmen are ones to watch.
ArcTanGent veterans Blanket bring intricate soundscapes and a melancholic atmosphere to today’s set, which sees their progressive post-rock blends lulling the crowd into an appreciative trance. The occasional loud guitar pierces their serenity, and particular praise goes to Aiden Baldwin, who absolutely perfects ambient drumming.
Alpha Male Tea Party almost had to pull out of today’s set on account of having all of their gear stolen mere days before the show, but thank fuck they made it happen. Their comedic stage presence seems a defensive front but it can’t cover up the math rock genius on display.
Caspian may be playing their first show outside of the US in more than three years, but the instrumental post-rockers show no sign of rust. The quintet are technically still on tour to promote 2020’s On Circles, but it’s 2009 cut The Raven that seduces ArcTanGent into their world, luring with ever-escalating arpeggios that peak in harsh, grinding riffs. An intermittent saxophone player is met with rapturous cheers whenever he rocks up, and injects extra emotion into what’s already a dulcet 50-minutes.
The last time MONO graced the UK, they had a string sextet behind them and Alcest supporting them. Their festival show doesn’t carry the same bells and whistles, although it’s instantly apparent they don’t need them when Ashes In The Snow opens. The instrumental giant, lifted from the marvellous Hymn To The Immortal Wind, is as utterly gorgeous as it is ear-splittingly loud. It sets the stage for a set chock-a-block with patient yet enrapturing post-rock. And, while there’s not much to look at bar four musicians on stage, close your eyes and you’ll be whisked away to the most majestic landscapes the mind’s eye can conjure.
For some reason, tonight seems to be more special than the average show for progressive metal titans TesseracT. Vocalist Daniel Tompkins addresses the crowd warmly, and the band hold expressions of admiration and gratefulness for the entire set. The light show is truly something else – rainbow laser beams are cast across the walls of the tent as the audience scream lyrics in unison and the feeling is that of utter unity and love for the band, the festival and the current company.
The trio of Concealing Fate parts whips the audience into a frenzy – one which TesseracT’s performance truly warrants tonight. Fresh from the writing process, the band treat their fans to a new track in the form of Natural Disaster, which combines all the best riffs, soaring vocals, polymeters and adventurous songwriting that TesseracT are most renowned for. This new material is fantastic, but still outshone by old favourites such as Singularity and Nocturne, which showcase guitarists Acle Kahney and James Monteith working in perfect tandem with one another. Following closing track Juno, when the crew begin to tear down the stage, there’s a sense of no one wanting to leave the remarkable experience they’ve all just shared. TesseracT have just set the bar for how to headline ArcTanGent.
Saturday openers Thumpermonkey clash with the progressive, psychedelic doom of Garganjua and, both musically and in crowd size, they just can’t compete. Their prog metal is enjoyably groovy but adds nothing new to the genre. On a bill with as many forward-thinking musicians as this one, it feels like their scene’s left them behind.
The Hirsch Effekt don’t draw a massive crowd either, with the trio not being as popular in the UK as they are in their native
“WHEN THE CREW BEGIN TO TEAR DOWN THE STAGE THERE’S A SENSE OF NO ONE WANTING TO LEAVE. TESSERACT HAVE JUST SET THE BAR FOR HOW TO HEADLINE ARCTANGENT.”
Germany. However, their marriage of math rock, punk, prog and jazz screams that they should be – and that they’re among the most inventive bands in the game.
On a mission to showcase exactly why the prog metal band’s explosion out of Finland has been so well noticed, Wheel confidently power through their set, jumping through time signatures as though they’re going extinct. Their explosive songwriting is the perfect accompaniment to the day’s feel-good vibes.
Some might be forgiven for lumping cellist Jo Quail into the classical genre, but the reality couldn’t be further removed. Her brooding layering of melodies is quite the spectacle and she paints with sound through the use of looping.
US singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle stripped her soundscape down to just acoustic guitar and piano on last year’s Engine Of Hell, and does the same when she plays the album in full at ArcTanGent. Using just her voice and one of two instruments, with no backing musicians or frills, she reduces the crowd to silence with just her gorgeously sullen voice. A guest spot from Jo Quail makes Citadel the set’s apex.
Without question one of the heaviest bands appearing at this year’s festival, Pallbearer take no prisoners when they descend on the stage. Do not make the mistake of dismissing them based on utter brute force though, as they exhibit sheer mastery with their progressive buildups and crushing choruses, and they show that their songwriting skills far exceed their reputation. The sheer volume emanating from the tent is astounding, but they take their audience on a meandering adventure through their sound that can only be truly understood when you’re soaking in the aura in the person. Norwegian art-rockers Leprous could be the best live band in this genre, and their 50 minutes on the second stage threaten to steal the weekend. Slave, The Price and From The Flame – all of which balance ridiculous time signatures with radio-worthy choruses – are the highlights of yet another indomitable performance.
Finally touring in support of 2019’s In Cauda Venenum after you-know-what put paid to their original dates, Opeth end this year’s ArcTanGent with a 90-minute prog extravaganza. The Swedish masters lack the light shows, fog and kitchen sinks of the festival’s two previous main events, although hearing time-tested songs that, over 30 years, have pushed this quintet to the forefront of their genre more than compensates.
Hjärtat Vet Vad Handen Gör opens in a march of off-kilter time signatures and sliding lead guitars – and, shockingly, is the only cut from Opeth’s latest album to get busted out this evening. Instead, Mikael Åkerfeldt et al quickly plumb from the classics, plucking Ghost Of Perdition from 2005’s Ghost Reveries. It’s a throwback that goes down a treat. Åkerfeldt’s opening roars of, ‘Ghost of mother! Lingering death!’ are returned in full force by a packed tent. And, whether he’s singing or growling, the frontman’s pipes could be in the finest shape of his career thus far. He also brings some top-notch banter between the band’s epic suites, begetting laughter with his ramblings about pig testicles and not knowing where the hell he even is.
The remainder of the setlist is an expert balancing act between Opeth’s classic prog metal and the softer, more 70s-indebted quirkiness of their later career.
“THE BILL’S SO STACKED THERE’S SCARCELY TIME TO TOP UP YOUR BEER.”
Considering its fourth iteration has been delayed for over two years, the Organ Reframed festival feels uniquely pre-ordained. Although Islington’s Union Chapel regularly hosts folk, rock and prog acts – Opeth, Goblin and Wardruna having played here in past years – its centrepiece rarely gets much of an airing. Boasting over 2,000 pipes, its organ was built back in the late 19th century, specifically for the venue’s spectacular scale and acoustics, and for two nights once more it’s host to a range of artists, commissioned and curated by Scottish experimental organist Claire M Singer, all willing to take the instrument to new levels of brain-rewiring grandeur.
Anna von Hausswolff might be the main draw on the opening night, but hers is the second of three pieces that form a greater whole. Composer Ipek Gorgun is sadly absent due to cancer treatment, so her electronic score forms the backing for organist James McVinnie, who’s tucked out of sight behind the stage’s ornate pulpit. He’s fronted by a violinist and cellist as they embark on an avant-garde journey that ranges from tentatively sparring strings through jarring, dissonant parps that sound like the human/alien signalling sequence from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind in an extended philosophical discussion with an industrial/ambient coda. The organ is a rich yet spectral presence throughout, disassociating but immersive too, taking you deep into the realms of the unfamiliar.
In fact, every subsequent piece feels like a coda to its predecessor, subliminally acclimatising you to an out-of-body experience. Anna von Hausswolff’s
As Much Below As Above features three string and brass instruments, a huge octobass setting a woozy undertow to a work of organic, gradually awakening wonder. There’s always been something exultant about von Hausswolff’s music, and tonight, that sensation becomes more diffuse and pervasive. The organ reaches a state of grace that’s tremulous and tantric, all the instruments blaring but unified to create a vast celestial shimmer, as though Judgement Day is upon us. As its title suggests, it’s both visceral and intoxicating, a near-death premonition of the ecstatic.
If Anna von Hausswolff’s piece is a rite of passage, drone-ambient artist Abul Mogard is the aftermath. Much like Bohren & Der Club Of Gore, his music operates at a pace below the body’s natural beat, dragging you into realms that feel extra-sensory. Trumpeters appear above among the chapel’s intersecting arches, and the glacial pace acclimatises the listener subliminally to an out-of-body experience, all of us leaving the pews afterwards as though reacquainting ourselves with actual limbs once more.
Kicking off this all-dayer, now in its second year, Scottish sextet Ebb deliver a polished and impassioned set of space rock, ballads, inventive grooves and straight-up rockers. Endlessly entertaining, the band embrace variety: the atmospheric intro gives way to hard-edged riffing in seven in Tension, Red Light starts with spoken word and finishes with a weird Take Fivesoundalike section, while unison guitar and tom phrases of Suffering battle with growling synths. Singer-guitarist Erin Bennett is a consistently assured and animated presence and drummer Anna Fraser dispatches thoughtful and brilliantly crafted parts. Surpassing many expectations, they set a very high bar.
Dutch combo Downriver Dead Men Go provide an instant contrast – their undeniably morose and downbeat style exploring far darker territory. With a vibe similar to Sigur Rós and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, theirs is a set of doom-laden textures, slow-building intensity and almost unrelenting tension. Guitarist Michel Varkevisser delivers some lovely fretboard manoeuvres, channelling Gilmour in opener Ruins, jangling Chris Isaac in Walking Away and going frenetic during the big set closer Stone In My Heart.
Representing possibly the nearest to classic symphonic prog on the bill and boasting both a new drummer and guitarist, The Gift turn in a set of fan favourites. Highlights include The Willows; keyboard player Gabriele Baldocci whipping out a keytar in Tuesday’s Child; the poignant ode to loss, The Tallest Tree; the hard-rocking Wild Roses (possibly the greatest song Thin Lizzy never wrote), and their anti-war epic, Awake And Dreaming.
With hellhounds on their trail, Pearl Handled Revolver take The Bedford back to the late 60s with their sludgy proto-metal and psychedelic blues. Taking cues from The Doors, Can and early Sabbath, it’s a heady and mesmerising recipe. Keyboard player, Simon Rinaldo not only delivers the requisite thick organ and electric piano flavours, but also all the bass parts simultaneously with his left hand or bass pedals! There’s lots of appreciative head nodding to the cool grooves of new song Gilding The Lily and epic brainmelter Help Me Down From The Trees.
Headliners, Dutch art-rockers Lesoir provide another textural shift. Openers Single-Eyed and Mosaic deliver lush soundscapes and an easy, lyrical flow punctuated by powerful moments with Maartje Meessen interjecting flute into her stirring vocal performance. There’s quite a bit of instrument swapping and a rare appearance from a pedal steel guitar. Twenty-minute epic Babel is a clear highlight with its multipart structure and monumental end section. A thunderously well-received set.
However, that’s the sole blemish on an otherwise spotless set. Stray The Skies, from 2016 debut Inmazes, pops up surprisingly early and ignites the crowd to the point of a moshpit. That said, based on how pummelling those Meshuggah-worshipping guitars are, who can blame them? At least respite comes from that soaring and keyboard-backed refrain.
Visually, VOLA aren’t the kind of flamboyant rabble-rousers that can rival Voyager, although they compensate with a dazzling LED show: the colours twitch and expand in time with every riff and snare strike. It’s a different breed of showmanship to that which preceded it, although that’s not a problem, since this London crowd clearly needs no encouragement to go apeshit. By the night’s end, the full diversity, power and geography of progressive metal’s been flaunted.