BY ALTUĞ KARAKURT (EE/III)
altug.karakurt@ug.bilkent.edu.tr
As you might imagine, Barcelona has a very active music scene. In addition to hosting a large number of local and national bands, the city is the setting for many international festivals, as well as frequent underground concerts in small bars. I had the chance to attend two metal festivals of very specific subgenres and am reviewing them for you this week.
Be Prog! My Friend Festival
With one of the silliest names in metal music history, Be Prog! caught my attention the moment I saw it. As a big fan of progressive metal and progressive rock, I hadn’t heard of any festivals dedicated to these subgenres before. When I saw the lineup, I knew I would be there regardless of the price, and I ended up buying the tickets long before getting my visa to Spain.
The festival lineup was very diverse, including bands from different fusion subgenres and different eras. The headliner was one of the progressive rock pioneers of the 1970s and a living legend, Camel, which alone would have been sufficient to convince me to be there. However, the other bands at Be Prog! were almost as appealing as Camel, and so I also had the chance to see Meshuggah, Riverside, Devin Townsend Project and Ihsahn. Other significant bands working in styles similar to progressive rock/metal, such as Katatonia, Haken and Leprous, also played at the festival, but I wasn’t interested in them.
In addition to this marvelous lineup, the festival was held in Poble Espanyol, which is actually one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions. It is a small ring-shaped area, surrounded by buildings representing examples from Spanish architecture. It provided an amazing atmosphere for an open-air music festival such as this.
The Polish progressive rock/metal band Riverside did the opening, and despite the scorching Barcelona sun, they gave a great performance. The band is mostly known for being one of the best of the 90s, but they proved that they still have what it takes. In addition to their impressive musical performance, they communicated with the audience very well and managed to include us in the show. They also announced that they’ll be releasing a new album soon, which I’m quite excited about.
Next, Ihsahn, who is the ex-frontman of the Norwegian black metal legend Emperor and a pioneering progressive metal figure as a solo artist, took the stage. This was the first time I had heard him live, and although his performance was far from perfect, he had a very well-chosen setlist and did a decent job. Ihsahn has been releasing one great album after another in his solo career, and especially after his overachieving latest release “Das Seelenbrechen,” I’m looking forward to his follow-up album next year. He actually played a song from that album, “My Heart Is of the North,” which got me even more excited about it.
Then, it was the Canadian guitarist, vocalist, and mixing/mastering genius Devin Townsend’s turn, with his band, Devin Townsend Project. The band has a very distinct, hard-hitting sound with bold palm-muted and reverbed guitars layered on top of each other to form a beautiful, heavy sonic ocean. Their performance was truly one of a kind. With Devin’s humorous attitude and the band’s great performance, I think they met the expectations of everyone in the audience.
At around 9 p.m., it was time for Camel. Just as Devin was leaving the stage, all these white-haired 40- to 50-something audience members with worn-out Camel t-shirts started appearing from nowhere. It was obvious that these people were Camel fans back in the golden era of the band, which I thought was quite amazing. I am really impressed by such dedicated fanbases, especially when it comes to a unique band like Camel. When the band came onstage, I could see the joy and excitement on the face of each member. They were all in their 60s, but they gave a magnificent performance despite their age. When they left the stage, I felt like I was waking up from a dream. I don’t think I have ever seen or will see such musical virtuosos again in my life.
As I expected, the majority of the audience left the area after Camel had finished, but I was still excited to see the djent and progressive metal pioneers Meshuggah. It was a shame that the heaviest band was scheduled last, because I was exhausted before they had even started. Despite some technical difficulties at the beginning, Meshuggah blew the audience away with their hard-hitting, brutal performance. I wasn’t expecting to hear a performance as heavy as their studio albums, but I think they were even better live.
Riff Ritual Festival
Riff Ritual was a doom/sludge metal festival in a local bar. There were only three bands, and the festival was only three hours long, but I got much more than I had expected. The lineup was Mos Generator, Elder and Orchid. To be honest, the whole point of me reviewing this festival is to promote Elder, since the other two bands did a mediocre job.
Elder has a retro sound from the 70s, with strong progressive rock, doom rock and early heavy metal influences from bands such as Black Sabbath and Electric Wizard. Elder’s frontman and guitarist is one of the greatest live musicians I have heard recently. With a hazy voice and amazing guitar playing, he takes his band to almost as high a level as that of their legendary influences. If you are interested in any of these genres, be sure to check out their albums “Dead Roots Stirring” and “Lore.” Elder is easily the best band I have discovered recently, and I have been playing these two albums on repeat ever since the concert.