By Jase W
Once more around the sun and a trip down to the beautiful Burgundian city of Maastricht for a gathering of like-minded people that love post-metal and the similarly weird bands that exist in the same niche. Muziekgieterij is absolutely one of my favourite venues in the whole of the Netherlands for a variety of reasons, mainly around sounding great and having a ridiculously huge selection of beer at bargain prices.
Of course I’m here right at the start of the day, I’ve grabbed a t-shirt with this years fantastic lobster based art, stashed it and I’m ready for the first act of the weekend, Preyrs, kicking things off with loud drones in a room that in struggling to see anything in due to zero lightning other than crimson beams coming from the stage.
They’re joined shortly after by the singer, who starts belting the words out and the music shifts to a mix of style that feels like a mix of Halestorm and Queens Of The Stone Age. I’m also a big fan of their guitarists tone during the solos, fuzzy as hell and ripping in the mids. They’ve got a real solid classic rock and blues slant to their sound, especially with how their vocals harmonies work and gives a strong impression of Def Leppard.
I probably spent most of this set in full stank face mode and enjoying all of the tasty licks and grooves, genuinely Preyrs have caught me by surprise and I’m fully into it. What a god damn groovy band, a sound like theirs could easily fit on almost any bill that sits in the rock and metal world. Great fun.
First for the main room today is Spurv. I’ve been looking forward to another trip into the main stage for Muziekgieterij as it’s a phenomenal sounding stage that’s also the tallest club show stage I’ve been in with two floors directly above me.
Immediately striking is the use of lighting that’s positioned behind the band which seems to be a bit of a regular thing for post-rock and metal bands recently as the emphasis leans more on the experience of the music rather than the people making it.
As always the use of non-conventional rock instruments always stands out to me as I hear a xylophone ringing out over the top before the player switches to trombone for a bit and back again. Echoing similar melodic virtues of the likes of Bruit≤ and This Will Destroy You but also with vocals is solidifying Spurv as another entry in my post-rock list.
The scope for layering with three guitarists, a bass player and a trombone/xylophone player is pretty extraordinary and they use it as much as they can as well. Mixing together drone, arpeggios and fuzzy noise gives you so many different parts to pick through that it makes it easy to get lost in the feel of it all. Considering the generous set length as well, Spurv rolls with a near headline show in their own right and this is literally the first main stage show of the day, bloody hell. These stand out as one of the reasons I’ve fallen in love with what Pelagic are doing here in Maastricht, phenomenal post-rock stuff.
Following up with the post-rock vibe after a break, Ef turns up on the mainstage for a playthrough of their album, Give Me Beauty… Or Give Me Death, for the albums 20th Anniversary and what a treat this promises to be. I’ve found myself a great perch on the balcony directly overlooking the stage and I’m just going to remain here and get lost in an amazing show and album.
Speaking of atypical instruments being used, Ef’s cello player adds such a brilliant layer of texture to their music. The consistent sound of a lower register stringed instrument that doesn’t quite hit bass wraps the rest of the sound up nicely in a way that guitars and the like typically can’t quite fill. One of the guitarists, on a quieter moment, switches to a Melodica which has me going through the list of weirder instruments I’ve seen live in my head and I’m pretty sure that’s a first, even considering I’ve seen Louis Cole before.
The crowd is completely engrossed in this set, the quieter parts barely even have a peep out of people and I swear that even a pin drop would be audible at these times. The typical Pelagic Fest attendee clearly is here to get the full audio profile of every moment, cherishing it with a manner that I rarely see at shows. Even the drummer gets involved with a bit of melodica work which came as a bit of a surprise. Another full album set in the bag, worth every minute of the time spent present and getting lost in the feel of it all.
Wheel are a band I’ve been looking forward to and a mix of surprise and joy seeing them getting added to the lineup. I recall years ago I said these sounded like a mix of Tool and Karnivool which at the time held some water. However, a couple of albums on and they’ve become quite a different beast entirely with a fully unique sound that while it does echo those influences, have become someone that you would use to describe other bands sounding like them, a band that waves beautiful distorted harmonies with crushing riffs and is truly gripping to behold.
The moment I hear that riff for “Up The Chain” I get my confirmation that we’re still getting Moving Backwards material in this set! When the riff kicks in for “Vultures”, though, I couldn’t even bide my enthusiasm for a moment before screaming in joy of getting to hear this song again after so long! I’m definitely getting my fill of material from Moving Backwards as well, considering their self-titled song, “Wheel” is wrapping the set up. Beautiful stuff, a solid spread of material but in case it wasn’t totally obvious, Moving Backwards is my favourite album by them so I’m happy to get what I can!
Aiming For Enrike, dropped in almost at the last minute to replace SOM, are an addition that’s been a real cherry on top of an already pretty stellar lineup. I’ve wasted zero time getting down to the very front and I’m about to bust out some shapes to the more dancey numbers.
They’ve opted for a bit of a wider spread of their catalogue, beginning with some of their more subtle and experimental tracks and “Moustache” comes in surprisingly early in the set. It’s somewhat odd seeing this song done live, as there’s not actually much guitar playing involved, beyond the initial loops and most of it is spent pinging about on the pedalboard. Their drummer at one point seemingly messes his hi-hat up but doesn’t miss a beat popping the top off to fiddle with it and put it back in place to carry on. “Hard Dance Brainia” I spotted a mile off and I’m fully in the swing of things enjoying that catchy groove.
By the end they say they’re opting for a brand new song to wrap things up and this is arguably the most experimental thing I think they’ve done. Truly a bizarre rhythm, that picks up speed with every bar and devolves into a mixture of noise and groove. Admittedly I enjoy them best when they’re at their most groovy, but this was a fantastic way to show off a different facet of their sound.
Finally to wrap up the first day of Pelagic Fest 2026, The Ocean are here in their new form to showcase what the next era of the band has to bring. A new album on the way, a new lineup, a definitively different take on the Ocean but here we are!
A familiar feel of The Ocean’s pounding bass immediately begins shaking the floor, I’m so ready for this! The dual vocal setup spreads the vocal harmonies a bit with one of them sounding quite close to their former singer, Loïc and Otay:onii adding in wailing vocal layers and shrieks. Somehow they toe the line of being what you remember The Ocean being before, whilst showing off their transition into newer sounds.
To be a bit critical for a moment though, the older material seems to be a bit redundant for Otay:onii, she’s a fantastic singer but the feeling of the older songs being written for a single vocalist with a very particular sound does sound a bit odd. That being said, this is just how it is when a band transitions to new vocalists with such a massive catalogue of music.
I think on the whole I’m definitely convinced that the new era of The Ocean is going to be a super interesting one and I’m very much looking forward to the new album. However I think the sooner they move away from the older material, without some reworking of how vocal duties work, the better. This isn’t to say it sounded bad by any means but more towards that I think Otay:onii is hugely under utilised which is a real shame considering her prowess.
The set ultimately ended up going way past the initial anticipated finish time so The Ocean were very clearly intending on giving the crowd at what is basically their own event a proper big helping of the new material. The whole vibe that mixes the feeling of the previous three albums into one unified sound is quite interesting overall so saying I’m keen is a bit of an understatement I think. The Ocean is dead, long live The Ocean. Incredible band and set.
Review content © Über Röck 2026.