For progressive metal fans, Euroblast has always been one of those events circled in red on the calendar – one of the rare festivals in Europe fully dedicated to progressive music. For years, I’d been wanting to attend, and when VOYAGER announced their exclusive European appearance, I did what any responsible adult does: I stared at my holiday balance, tried to bend the space-time continuum of work schedules, and finally booked the trip from Finland to Germany.
It wasn’t my first time in Cologne, but it was my first time experiencing music there. I already love the city. It’s easy to reach from Belgium, where I’m originally from, and always feels a bit like coming home. So the thought of adding a full weekend of prog metal to that backdrop was pretty much perfect. Euroblast 2025 ran from September 26th to 28th and featured names like ROYAL SORROW, BENTHOS, NIGHT VERSES, VOYAGER, TESSERACT, and many more.
Now, confession time: for someone who claims to love progressive metal, my radar apparently has some blind spots. A lot of the bands on the bill were either total mysteries to me or names I’d heard in passing but never explored. Finland, for all its glory as a metal country, is not exactly a hotbed of prog, so a lot of these artists just never crossed my inbox. Instead of pretending I knew everything, I decided to embrace the adventure: see as much as possible, discover new acts, and just let the festival unfold.
Day one kicked off later in the afternoon, which honestly suited fine, because not everyone schedules their holidays with my level of genius foresight. On a heavier note, my festival weekend was shadowed by my grandfather’s unexpected passing just two days before. It wasn’t easy, but I chose to throw myself into the music as a way to find some light in the middle of it all.
Arrival went smoothly, accreditation too, though I learned the hard way that forgetting your own lanyard means you end up MacGyvering a piece of string into one. The festival itself took place at Essigfabrik, a former vinegar factory (or that’s at least what I’ve been told). The main hall was spacious, and the second stage sat a short walk away, down a ramp into a cellar-like space. The ramp was great for accessibility, though the floor gaps made it feel like a mild obstacle course. Still, compared to Finland, one thing completely blew my mind: you could actually see every band if you wanted. No overlaps. None. Zero. A prog miracle! I didn’t have to sprint around like a maniac, and it gave the whole festival a relaxed rhythm.
Between the two stages, there was a cozy outside area with seating and food trucks (more on those later). After a quick scout of my surroundings, it was time to dive in with the first band of the day: THE INTERSPHERE.
THE INTERSPHERE, the first band of the weekend, hails from Mannheim and blends alternative and progressive rock. They’d been on my radar but never quite made it into my playlists, even though they released their latest studio album, “Wanderer,” in 2023. To my surprise, the venue was already filling up nicely by the time they hit the stage. (In Finland, that almost never happens; first bands often play to an audience of bar staff and the one guy who came too early by accident.)
Right from the opening title track of “Wanderer,” they locked in a groove that had me hooked. The harmonies with the bass player stood out in particular – smooth, tasteful, and just the right amount of punch. The crowd was enthusiastic too, shouting random things in between songs, which the band took with a smile. Their set leaned heavily on “The Grand Delusion” (2018), with some great cuts from that record, and they even slipped in a brand new song, “Time To Deliver,” which sounded fantastic. Even without knowing the material beforehand, I found myself genuinely impressed: the musicianship was top-tier, and if every band this weekend performed at that level, Euroblast was about to become a very serious contender for “best festival I’ve ever attended.”
One of the things I love about Euroblast is the way it opens its doors to smaller and underground bands through an application process. It’s a great way for fresh acts to get exposure, and for people like me to stumble into music you’d almost never see in Finland. BURDEN TO ATLAS seemed to be one of these newer names. I hadn’t heard of them before, and there wasn’t much online to dig up either. Their recordings had a spark that made me curious, but live… it didn’t quite click. The band played well enough, but the vocals occasionally wavered off-pitch. Maybe it was a rough day, maybe illness, maybe nerves – it happens to the best. Given their track record of supporting bigger acts, I don’t doubt they’re capable of more, so I’ll happily give them another chance in the future. The room was packed, though, and judging by the cheers and warm response, they clearly had people rooting for them: friends, family, or fans who’d followed them before. That kind of support always adds a nice layer to the atmosphere.
Next up on the main stage was DVNE. Now, DVNE is a band I’ve encountered before – I’ve listened here and there, but they’ve never really been part of my everyday soundtrack. Their brand of proggy post metal with a sludgy heaviness sits in the same mental category for me as AMENRA: I rarely queue them up in my playlists at home, but live? Live, it’s an entirely different beast.
Their performance at Euroblast was nothing short of mesmerizing. The weight of their sound just wrapped around the room, heavy yet strangely delicate, like being crushed and comforted at the same time. The venue’s limitations meant we didn’t get the full spectacle of what their production could offer, which is a shame, because I’d love to see how they present their music with visuals and lights to match. Still, what they did bring was executed with absolute precision. The riffs were razor-sharp, the atmosphere was intense, and the mix of harsh growls with unexpected clean, almost power-metal-style vocals gave their set an extra edge I hadn’t appreciated before.
It wasn’t exactly the soundtrack my mood needed that day; their raw emotional weight hit me harder than expected, even stirring up tears at one point. But in a way, that’s the highest compliment: music that doesn’t just sound good, but makes you feel something you didn’t expect. Have I been missing out by not weaving DVNE into my regular listening? Yeah, probably.
The band I was most familiar with on day one was ROYAL SORROW. Having lived in Finland for the past decade, I’ve followed them since their earlier days under the name EDGE OF HAZE, and they’ve always had a soft spot in my heart. One of their older songs, “Until We Hit the Water,” still cheers me up instantly with its insanely catchy melodies and killer chorus. Sadly, EDGE OF HAZE is no more, but the reinvention as ROYAL SORROW has paid off, with a well-earned signing to InsideOut Music.
ROYAL SORROW only recently released their album “Innerdeeps,” and by the time they hit the cellar stage, the place was packed wall-to-wall. Fans were shouting for “Release Your Shadow” before the first note even rang out, and some Germans even tried their hand at shouting “Perkele” – not rolling their r’s in ways that made the band chuckle. I’d already been spinning “Innerdeeps” for weeks and since I missed them at Tuska, I was buzzing to finally hear some of the new tracks live. They opened with “Let Go,” before launching into “Release Your Shadow,” which has been lodged in my brain ever since. At that moment, a moshpit broke out, and I realized just how risky the cellar stage actually was: low stage, no barrier, photographers and fans alike practically on top of the band. Still, it made for an intense atmosphere, and the set sounded as strong live as it did on record. Honestly, they should’ve been on the bigger stage, but bias or not, this was one of my absolute favorite performances of the weekend.
Afterwards, Euroblast leaned hard into instrumental territory. First up were Canada’s INTERVALS on the main stage. Just looking at their setup, I could tell this was going to be the bright, technical, geeky side of instrumental prog, which was perfect, since I wasn’t really in the mood for brooding post-rock sadness at that point. Their music carried a nostalgic vibe. At one point I swear a riff reminded me of the Gummi Bears intro. Whether that was intentional or just my brain making connections, it gave me a big goofy grin. I’ll be honest: I couldn’t name a single song title, even if I tried. But sometimes prog is best enjoyed without overthinking it.
Then came DISTANT DREAM in the cellar, serving up a lush, dreamy blend of instrumental prog. To be fair, this is exactly the kind of band I’d usually put on during a sauna session since it has such a relaxing sound. But that night, with my grandfather’s passing still fresh, their smoky atmosphere and melancholic tones hit me harder than I was ready for. The lights and haze added to the mood, and the room was packed with people fully immersed. For me, it was a “ it’s not you, it’s me” situation. Another time, in another mindset, I’d have loved it. In fact, their track “When Life Meets the Void” (featuring Jeff Loomis) has been on my playlist since its release. This time it was simply too much, but their set was executed beautifully and comes highly recommended for fans of atmospheric instrumental prog.
At this point, I took a food break and discovered Euroblast’s one downside: most of the event was cash only. In Finland, most festivals and places are completely cashless, I don’t think anyone carries around a lot of cash anymore. Here, though, it was the opposite: good luck buying food without digging through your wallet. After some scavenger-level searching, I managed to get a Käsepasta (cheese-filled pasta) with pulled pork, which turned out to be a delicious and hefty portion. Drinks, however, required buying a prepaid drink card – 20 euros upfront, with the option of getting unused money back in cash (…logic, anyone?). The whole system reminded me of countryside parties back in Belgium in the early 2000s. Whether that’s charming or outdated, I’ll let you decide.
Headlining the evening were NIGHT VERSES, a band many people had urged me to check out. I’d given their album “Every Sound Has A Color In The Valley Of Night” a spin before, but it had been a while, so I’d honestly almost forgotten they were instrumental. Imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw Aric Improta behind the drum kit. If you know him from FEVER333, you’ll understand my excitement: the man is a human firework show. Sticks flipping, jumping around, drumming like a kid on a sugar rush at a candy store. Pure entertainment, without ever sacrificing precision.
The band tore through most of “Every Sound Has A Color…,” and while I’d initially worried about three instrumental bands back-to-back, each one had its own unique flavor. INTERVALS brought the uplifting, technical side, DISTANT DREAM the dreamy melancholy, and NIGHT VERSES the sheer adrenaline. By the end of their set, any doubts about the programming order had vanished; it worked, somehow.
And just when you thought people might start trickling home, Euroblast proved otherwise. The cellar filled up once again for VIANOVA, who closed out the night with absolute chaos. The moshpits got so wild that the monitors at the side of the stage literally started sliding, forcing venue staff to hold them in place for the entire set. If there was ever a band to inspire that level of physical mayhem, it was VIANOVA.
Before the festival, I’d only heard their tracks “Melanchronic” and “Whatever Alright,” which were as confusing as they were brilliant: they had a little bit of everything, from synthwave to alternative rock, nu-metal, and jazz. Based on that, I knew their set would be unpredictable, and it was. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see much thanks to the sea of very tall Germans in front of me, but what I heard blew me away. Tight, inventive, genre-bending madness. I rarely buy band merch of bands I don’t know super well, but I walked out of that cellar with a VIANOVA shirt in hand, which says everything about how much they impressed me.
Altogether, day one lived up to the name: an absolute blast (pun fully intended). Packed with highlights, discoveries, and a few pleasant surprises, it set the bar high for the rest of the weekend.
Text and photos by Laureline Tilkin
