. Psychonaut : The Belgian post-metal trio opened things up to a surprisingly full crowd with their both energetic and psychedelic approach to the genre, uniting some of the best elements of progressive and post-metal into one package.
Great sound (special mention to that deep rumbling bass tone), energy on stage and setlist.
Psychonaut set the tone for the rest of the night and were a perfect fit for the bill!
. pg.lost : Swedish semi-instrumental post-rock outfit pg.lost brought all the atmospheric, pensive vibes with their dreamy compositions where tension can build and release at any moment for a surprisingly heavy explosion of sound.
Time seemed to dilate given how hypnotic their sound, lightshow and frontman Kristian Karlsson's stage presence all were, and made for a perfect segway between Psychonaut's and The Ocean's sets.
. The Ocean Collective : At last, the German post-metal titans and paleontologists take the stage with a setlist mainly composed of Phanerozoic I & II material (aside from a Pelagial exception).
It was extremely satisfying and quite emotional to be able to experience these new tracks live after enjoying them from the comfort of my headphones for almost two years.
Even with broken legs, crutches and being constrained to sitting in an armchair for most of the set, lead singer Loïc Rossetti is as much the showman as ever and still managed to get involved with the crowd.
There were even a few times I genuinely thought he would go for a stage dive regardless, which is something I wouldn't put past him, and the show culminated in Loïc bringing up on stage a member of the audience also bound to a wheelchair and crutches to sing along with him to the latter half of "Jurassic | Cretaceous", closing the show with a moment of epic, surreal wholesomeness.
As always, the band sounded massive and at the top of their game; as far as I'm concerned, they are among the better sounding live bands I've heard so far and it's always a delight to get to see them do their thing.
Incredibly grateful for the return of live shows after two very long years of empty venues and lack of neck pains and ringing ears.
Here's to many more!