A relatively warm yet windswept evening in Bergen saw three exceptionally good prog rock outfits pay the venue appropriately named Kulturhuset in the heart of Bergen’s city centre a visit; and although Sykofant, Trojka, and Panzerpappa are vastly different and approach the genre differently, something about this particular line-up made total sense to this scribe. Having said that, other commitments and family obligations made it impossible for yours truly to stay beyond Sykofant’s opening set but given that I am a huge fan of their eclectic brand of psychedelic and mesmerizing music, I was completely fine with that. I was just excited about being there and standing right in front of the group as they conjured up their evocative soundscapes that left us in a state of bliss. In other words, this would be my first time witnessing the quartet live and it turned out to be an eye-opening experience that left me wanting for more.
Upstairs in Lillesalen, which is unarguably one of the cosiest and most appealing venues in town, there were people of all ages gathered for a night of experimental and forward-thinking music, and the atmosphere was incredibly appealing and pleasant from the get-go. Sykofant went on stage a little past 8 PM and treated us to a 35-minute performance that displayed their prowess and skill in that they were a tight, well-oiled machine that injected plenty of playfulness and flavour into their dynamic compositions. Top-notch precision and just the right of amount of charm and humour made for a splendid combo, and we were immediately sucked into their addictive maelstrom of prog, jazz, vintage rock, and art rock. Simultaneously emotional and eccentric, there is simply no other act out there that evokes the same surreal vibe as these chaps do, and the funny thing is that there were moments where I thought to myself “that riff would not have sounded out of place on Deep Purple’s ‘Fireball’ or Camel’s ‘Mirage‘,” but then thirty seconds later they would shift gear and launch into a section that made me think of Pink Floyd’s ‘Meddle‘ or Caravan’s ‘In the Land of Grey and Pink’. Sykofant made it all sound and seem effortless, and one could only marvel at how cohesive their song material undoubtedly is. Did I mention that they sounded great from a purely technical perspective too? Whoever was behind the mixing console did a solid and commendable job for sure. From transcendent to thunderous and further on to reflective and elegiac, they truly covered the whole spectrum, and the show’s highlights included ‘Ashes’ (from their brilliant new EP titled Red Sun), the 13-minute epic ‘Between Air and Water’, and the hard-hitting ‘Monuments of Old’. In short, it was a superb gig from one of Norway’s most promising new ensembles and one that fans of adventurous music definitely ought to investigate and explore rather thoroughly. I can only imagine that Trojka and Panzerpappa whipped up a frenzy and delivered stunning performances too. On a final note, many thanks to my friend Robin Mortensen (Apollon Records) for adding my name to the guestlist and being an all-around gentleman.
