Even though the shows of Asagraum and Wesenwille in the Groene Engel (Oss) and even more so Sumac and Patrick Shiroishi in the Little Devil (Tilburg) had been worth visiting, the reason for my trip to the Netherlands had been an event in Nijmegen, in yet another venue named after a fairytale character. For a German it's obvious, because we call her "Dornröschen" too, while the english speaking world somehow disneyfied Doornroosje ("thorn rose") to Sleeping Beauty.
Hosted by Temple Fang the Right On Mountain Festival presented a line-up which read like a one-night compressed version of Roadburn - no wonder because all of the Dutch and Belgian bands have had one or more points of contact with Tilburg's finest gathering. Be it several shows (I've seen Temple Fang play there twice in 2019 and as a last-minute replacement this year) or amazing Roadburn Redux streaming performances like Neptunian Maximalism and Spill Gold. The collaboration of Solar Temple and Dead Neanderthals had taken place only once so far at this year's edition, where clashes caused me to only catch a small glimpse of it. So here was an opportunity for me to make good on it!
Hosted by Temple Fang the Right On Mountain Festival presented a line-up which read like a one-night compressed version of Roadburn - no wonder because all of the Dutch and Belgian bands have had one or more points of contact with Tilburg's finest gathering. Be it several shows (I've seen Temple Fang play there twice in 2019 and as a last-minute replacement this year) or amazing Roadburn Redux streaming performances like Neptunian Maximalism and Spill Gold. The collaboration of Solar Temple and Dead Neanderthals had taken place only once so far at this year's edition, where clashes caused me to only catch a small glimpse of it. So here was an opportunity for me to make good on it!
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| SPILL GOLD |
The mix of Rosa Ronsdorf's cosmic art pop electronics and Nina de Jong's controlled, yet very creative in the pocket drumming was not the only, but for sure the furthest step out of the expected confines of rock this night. Their music exists in an elusive floating state which doesn't always allow you to understand if it's warm or cool, but that uncertainty was undoubtly part of the charme of Spill Gold's performance. Enchanting and distanced, ethereal and rhythmic, the duo proved to be a wonderful choice to open this festival. I've had their album "Highway Hypnosis" on my wishlist for quite a while before and was glad to finally grab it after the show.
And if I may kindly mansplain the ladies' stage outfits: They are two variations of spilling gold. The drummer's suit is a pool of gold itself, while the singer's blue accentuates her fountain of golden hair. There you have it. And if that isn't the deliberate meaning at all, then it must at least have been a subconscious decision. I'm ready to die on that hill.
And if I may kindly mansplain the ladies' stage outfits: They are two variations of spilling gold. The drummer's suit is a pool of gold itself, while the singer's blue accentuates her fountain of golden hair. There you have it. And if that isn't the deliberate meaning at all, then it must at least have been a subconscious decision. I'm ready to die on that hill.
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| NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM |
The highly anticipated Neptunian Maximalism already on the second slot of the night? I must admit I was a bit surprised when I read that, but it didn't only make sense from a logistic standpoint (start with the two bands which combined put the most stuff on stage and then have easier changeover breaks later on), but it also worked much better for the dramaturgy of the whole than I would have expected.
I had been so lucky to already witness several of the musicians entering the stage now in the completely unchained dark free jazz project Zaäar before, but now I got the final confirmation that these two sonic entities are indeed very different beasts.
I had been so lucky to already witness several of the musicians entering the stage now in the completely unchained dark free jazz project Zaäar before, but now I got the final confirmation that these two sonic entities are indeed very different beasts.
With the strength of eight members (drums, drums, guitar, guitar, guitar, bass, sax and electronics) this Arkestra had the freedom to move in any direction of ritualistic bombast and made plenty of use of this ability. Rumbling drone and primeval shamanism. Oriental twangs and spiritual jazz rock escapisms. Mighty multi-layered grooves, overwhelming, yet irresistable. It's hard to relive the experience and confidently put it into a certain spot between their three albums.
The show wasn't presented as one continuous flow, so it was my most "regular" encounter with their music in that regard, but that didn't diminish the wide and boundless mindset of the Belgian maximalists and the ginormous sound emerging from it. After this grand and timeless show, rooted in so many traditions, but still fully its own thing, I'm convinced more than ever that Neptunian Maximalism belong to the creative forefront of modern heavy music.
The show wasn't presented as one continuous flow, so it was my most "regular" encounter with their music in that regard, but that didn't diminish the wide and boundless mindset of the Belgian maximalists and the ginormous sound emerging from it. After this grand and timeless show, rooted in so many traditions, but still fully its own thing, I'm convinced more than ever that Neptunian Maximalism belong to the creative forefront of modern heavy music.
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Speaking of timelessness - and being very aware that I'm parroting myself here: There's nothing radically new for me to report from Temple Fang. And that's fine, because I'm still very far from getting tired from their first class twenty minute superjams, which combine psychedelic, prog and blues elements under the umbrella of epic songwriting. Be it the powerful Rickenbacker bass, the top-notch drumming which always knows when it's the time to get adventurous, or those sweet expressive lead guitars which could go on forever (which they sometimes do) - these guys just seemingly effortless operate on Motorpsycho level. On top of that Temple Fang also crush it when it comes to the proper vocals for this classic rock mastery.
Oh, and there was one special thing this night: They brought their own Danny Ray, a hype man, who introduced the Right On Mountain crowd to the band through some beat poetry over the opening crescendos of the show. That was cool, too. All in all a flawless performance once again.
Oh, and there was one special thing this night: They brought their own Danny Ray, a hype man, who introduced the Right On Mountain crowd to the band through some beat poetry over the opening crescendos of the show. That was cool, too. All in all a flawless performance once again.
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| SOLAR TEMPLE x DEAD NEANDERTHALS |
If I was ever going back and forth about whether I should make this little trip or not, this thing was the final weight tipping the scale to yes for sure. "Embers Beget The Divine" was the name of the monolithic piece in three movements, which the combined quartet of Dead Neanderthals (drums and synth) and Solar Temple (both guitar) unleashed over a live audience only for the second time now. The little preview I've had at Roadburn had already prepared me for a mighty cathartic wall of sound with that typical Neanderthals edge of relentless brutal repetition.
And boy, this was indeed a class in that discipline. At the same time guitar layers and vocals always brought in subtle new textures. Everything always seemed to slowly build up and develop - even when the tempo was already blasting like in the finale, when they were entering the spiritual proximity of that other Rene Aquarius project Plague Organ (or the brand-new DN album "Metal"). Trying to think of bands whose grandiosity had felt similar to me, I mostly tend to a handful of post rock/metal performances, even though this was clearly more raw and feral than most of those. For its conceptual simplicity this was actually quite hard to put into a certain box. However ultimately this majestic show was the icing on the festival mountain!
(I'm struggling a bit right now with differentiating these three shows in a row, which were all so huge and massive, each in its own way. Hope my ethusiasm is still believable? This was just really a darn killer line-up.)
And boy, this was indeed a class in that discipline. At the same time guitar layers and vocals always brought in subtle new textures. Everything always seemed to slowly build up and develop - even when the tempo was already blasting like in the finale, when they were entering the spiritual proximity of that other Rene Aquarius project Plague Organ (or the brand-new DN album "Metal"). Trying to think of bands whose grandiosity had felt similar to me, I mostly tend to a handful of post rock/metal performances, even though this was clearly more raw and feral than most of those. For its conceptual simplicity this was actually quite hard to put into a certain box. However ultimately this majestic show was the icing on the festival mountain!
(I'm struggling a bit right now with differentiating these three shows in a row, which were all so huge and massive, each in its own way. Hope my ethusiasm is still believable? This was just really a darn killer line-up.)
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| TANKZILLA |
The night ended as it had started - with a duo. But with Tankzilla the signs were all on rock. A mix of sludgy stoner rock and dirty Schweinerock to be little more precise. For sure the most straight-forward party sound here. And heavy as Godzilla fucking a tank indeed.
I must admit though that I can only cover them here for the sake of completeness. After a long day of changing hotels from Tilburg to Nijmegen, touristing around and those four amazing shows, my attention span and energy were now dwindling rapidly and even though there was nothing bad to say about the band, I was pretty much done and rather left early for the twenty minutes walk through the mild October night to bed now.
This was a great festival. Right on Nijmegen!
I must admit though that I can only cover them here for the sake of completeness. After a long day of changing hotels from Tilburg to Nijmegen, touristing around and those four amazing shows, my attention span and energy were now dwindling rapidly and even though there was nothing bad to say about the band, I was pretty much done and rather left early for the twenty minutes walk through the mild October night to bed now.
This was a great festival. Right on Nijmegen!
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