By Jase Walker
It’s the return to Maastricht for Pelagic Records’ label weekender, Pelagic Fest, in the fantastic Muziekgieterij venue! A wonderful venue with the best aircon I’ve ever felt at a venue and a similarly immense selection of beer to fuel a weekend stuff with various kinds of “post” music. Of course not one to waste any precious time I have at this festival, I’m here at doors to get myself in, grab a delicious beer and get ready for the first act of the day.
Kicking the day off with some ferocious meaty riffs is Blessings. Hammering out some thunderous noise, they care little that it’s only half 1 in the afternoon, in the dark room of the second stage, it’s the middle of the night as far as they’re concerned and they’re going to give you nightmares one way or another. Lumbering, cumbersome rhythms and noise from all directions, this is how you kick off a festival like Pelagic Fest. I’m loving the fact that they’ve got a dedicated “effects” member that jumps between percussion and keys to add extra layers.
Next up is Hemelbestormer, the first band for the main stage. For this venue when the room darkens, it goes absolutely pitch black barring some can’t lighting where the bar is. Another example of slow and lumbering yet atmospheric music, it steadily builds to a peak and washes over the room like a calm ocean tide, smothering everyone. This is the sort of stuff I love coming to Pelagic Fest for, post-rock at its absolute best. There’s something I’m helplessly drawn towards when it comes to bands crafting layered soundscapes, no vocals, just a musical journey. Haunting melodies, droney bass, slow yet powerful drums, absolutely bloody love it. I feel totally at home listening to this, and I’m definitely making it up to myself a bit for missing this year’s edition of Arctangent.
Next up is Astrosaur. I’ve heard a lot about these over the past couple of years but haven’t had the chance to catch them but I’m here for it and they’re already smashing my chest with their immense sound right from the start. Subtlety technical in their sound that uses a smattering of pedal effects to add layers and layers of guitar noise over the top of a monstrous sounding rhythm section to create an experience far beyond the sum of its parts. These continue the trend of more incredible post-rock that layers up as the songs continue and creates wonderfully complex sounds mixing delay and reverb to saturate their sound as much as possible. The fact that a three-piece can create such a massive sound is testament to how good their creative process is.
Bruit≤ up next, and immediately right from the start I’m taken back by the horns intro into the use of cello and violins to create an incredible euphoric sound that immediately scratches an itch I never knew I had. This is truly phenomenal stuff and I’m kicking myself for not having listened to these sooner! This isn’t your average riffy post-rock in the way you’d hear it from Mogwai or the like, this is a true musical experience that feels as if they’re painting a canvas in broad strokes.
The band is truly putting together a show that has fully gotten me by the throat and is shoving every single ebb and flow of their music down my throat and I can’t get enough of it. The quiet parts of their show are heard in uninterrupted clarity as the crowd stands in complete and utter silence in reverence of Bruit’s set. This is giving me chills and goosebumps, I didn’t know what to expect from this but Bruit’s set has completely thrown me, I am infatuated. It’s worth noting that this band completely disregards any streaming platforms so if you want to check them out, best get buying those albums.
Next for me today is a real favourite of mine, Psychonaut! Compared to the earlier lots of post-rock, these guys err much more on the side of post-metal such as The Ocean and Hippotraktor. Might have missed a bit of the start due to really needing to get some food in me but not by much, as I made the choice to get my arse moving to catch them.
These guys are a real special treat to watch, their sound uses droney and more chill elements and switches to heavier segments that hit harder than a sledgehammer to a face. Considering the last time I saw them they were playing Jera On Air that didn’t quite seem to get them, they’re playing to their core audience here at Pelagic Fest. Sadly there’s a sudden massive pop and the live sound feed is cut out of nowhere which puts a bit of a stop to the set but a quick recovery and it’s time to get things going again.
There’s something about how post bands create wonderfully textured music that feels as if you’re breathing their music in every bit as much as listening to it that draws me towards it and Psychonaut demonstrates the ins and outs of it. Immense performance from Psychonaut once again, incredible band.
After an extended break for food and a bit of a rest, I’m back in the main room for a phenomenal band, God Is An Astronaut. After an amazing show earlier this year in Haarlem, there wasn’t a chance I’d miss these. There is no true way I can overstate just how incredible this band sounds in a live setting. They really are a band that puts out a performance that outdoes their recorded material, the three-piece create an immense scene of beautifully crafted music. Being able to witness this once again is a true privilege, especially at a festival such as this that gathers a huge audience in true reverence. How just three people can make such incredible noise together genuinely baffles me at times and GIAA continuously does this every time I see them.
You can see that these guys care more about projecting the music considering how little the production focuses on the band themselves, barely any lighting is focused on them, opting instead to dance around the room with various shapes and colours to compliment the experience. GIAA stand amongst the best in the post-rock scene alongside the likes of Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Long Distance Calling and (playing later) This Will Destroy You. A sublime musical journey that engrosses and captivates every time without fail.
And finally for today, This Will Destroy You, here to close out the final act on the main stage today with a sublime lullaby. A day full of incredible post-rock with TWDY you as the cherry on top of an immense cake of beautiful music that I have been fully enjoying today. One of the more chill bands overall compared to the others, although never being shy of reaching for incredible peaks in their music, they excel by a huge margin on their more chilled moments and subtle crafting of delicate sounds. Despite this being a headliner set and the crowd probably being a bit more beered up than earlier, they show a clear amount of respect for TWDY and remain completely silent during the quieter parts in an immense show of respect. Barely even a whisper is heard from anyone, the band rings clear across the venue with zero opposition.
It’s hard to not get completely absorbed in the flow of TWDY’s set, each song expertly crafted to provide an emotional journey. It’s such an easy experience to be part of as well, as if every person in the audience is being personally played to, each locked into the experience and fully fixated on the performance. The band themselves are not the focus here, it’s exclusively the music and the experience therein. After an hour of watching this engrossing and captivating set, they bring the Saturday of Pelagic Fest 2025 to a close in spectacular fashion. This Will Destroy You, much like God Is An Astronaut earlier, demonstrates why post-rock is such an immensely deep genre that continues to innovate and become ever more complex.
Day one is done; time to rest and do it all over again tomorrow.