It's Sunday, early in the afternoon. It is raining, the air feels rather cold and my neighbours are once again drilling holes in the wall. I counter their noise with my newly purchased copy of Monophona's latest album. There is a time schedule in front of me and my computer is copying pictures from the last three days to my hard disc. Still tired, I'm stuck in a confusing mixture of emotions. I'm sad because it's over but I'm so extremely glad that I was one of the chosen few who had the chance to visit heaven.

​
If heaven is indeed a paradise filled with all the things we love, for me the afterlife would be an eternal edition of Dunk! festival. In that aspect, hell would probably be sitting through an infernal shlager festival, which brings me right to the Fries Guys DJ's. I warned you guys about the 'Macarena'. You shouldn't have seen that as a challenge. My god, where did you find all that stuff? There's a shitload of awesome CD's in the tent in front of you and you play 'In Mijn Caravan'? You rascals. If I do not hear one Eddy Wally song next year, I'll be very disappointed.

So, to fall with the door in the house (*), the new forest stage is one of the best things that happened in Belgium ever. I mean, look at it. It's as if the forest stage from 2017 took heaps of steroids to become an auditorium. It actually says a lot about the people behind Dunk! festival. They listen to their audience. They to their very best to improve the festival experience, year after year. It's no surprise that I heard both bands and audience members quite often utter the words "best", "fucking", "festival" and "ever".

For us, the festival started when we met Roger The Festivalman on the train in Brussels. We saw plenty of people embarking the train, carrying all kinds of camping gear and all kinds of beverages. We looked at each other and we knew. We didn't say a word but we all knew why everyone was getting on that train. There were long-time Dunk fans, like Roger, and there were first-timers, like that young couple a few seats behind ours. They seemed nice but apparently also a bit nervous, possibly because they overheard Roger talking about his previous and many festival adventures. The poor teenagers were probably expecting the worst.

As soon as the train arrived, a line of walkers appeared. While some people preferred to wait for a shuttle bus, several others trusted their legs and feet to get them to the camping ground. We walked among them and passed them by, mostly because we were carrying only one backpack. Our gear was already on its way, thanks to Juul who had picked it up a day earlier. That really made the trip more comfortable for us. We appreciate it. After arriving, we picked up the key to our festi-hut, delivered a box of books to the merchandise stand and got our first Dunk! festival beer before we headed to the forest stage.

We missed the first two bands on the mainstage, although while unpacking we heard Tortuganonima very well. It's probably an unfortunate task to open a festival like this on a Thursday afternoon while everybody is setting up their tents, buying food or strolling around in the merchandise area. For us, I Am Wolves was the opener. Their hard hitting post rock pierced the forest stage a first time, kicking off something that would prove to become pure magic. I'll say it now, the forest stage was the best stage on this edition. You'll notice that in my gig-ranking soon enough.

The first real blast came from Belgian noisemakers Hemelbestormer. Their latest album 'A Ring Of Blue Light' is an impressive piece of post-whatever and on stage their music truly came to life. You could already feel the energy pumping out of the massive speakers. Of course, as per tradition, the stage performance was enhanced with an almost epileptic light show.

Back in the forest stage Astodan played a more that decent set of exhilarating post rock. This was one of those nice and immersive performances that make Dunk! festival such a nice place to enjoy and discover new music. Astodan did a great job, in my opinion a better one than Cloakroom in the main tent.

​
That being said, for some reason I wasn't too fond of most of the bands with vocals on this edition of Dunk! festival. Vocals can add something to music if performed perfectly and that wasn't always the case on this edition. No big deal however, I don't think many people share that opinion with me as the big tent was getting more and more packed, especially with Ef. I didn't see their full show so I can't really review that one. 

In my nostradamic preview (read), I mentioned that (B O L T) was going to be awesome and the enthralled audience reaction right after their gig confirmed my theory. This was thé highlight of the first day. Although, I know that many people will disagree because of Caspian, but musical taste is musical taste so (B O L T) won. In fact, they were so good that I have a bit of a blackout. I don't remember seeing or hearing Nonsun and I know that I liked Ranges but don't ask me how their performance was. I just don't remember. I do remember Thot and I do remember the wild audience reaction to this band from Brussels. I also remember the wordplays made by Dutch speaking people, like "Het zit me Thot hier". So I guess they did a fantastic set, one which many people enjoyed. It was just not my thing. 

Caspian closed the first day and they did it like Caspian does everything: perfect. I admit that I'm not the biggest Caspian fan. Don't ask me why. But I know why they are as big as they are and why the audience loved every single second of it. With sheer professionalism, these Americans blasted everything to pieces and the packed tent ate it all. So good job, now for a good night of sleep before I can say something very similar about The Ocean...

"Sleep", what a strange word to use in a review for something like Dunk! Festival. The only way you're going to have one consecutive hour of sleep on Dunk! is when they actually book the band Sleep as headliner. The first night was cold. I saw several people going to either the showers or the toilets, wrapped in a sleeping bag, shivering and rubbing their hands together. So, next year, bring a second sleeping bag and some warm clothes.

​Right, I have a few lines to fill before I go to the next day, otherwise this space next to the picture will look rather awkward. So to the people who brought Cara Pils to the forest stage and let their empty cans loose in the forest: fuck you and fuck your testicles. Even closed Cara Pils belongs in a garbage bin so throw it in there you lazy, unrespectful, marginal cunts.

​Right, back to happiness...

After a short night, my phone woke me up. It was our good friend Wouter who called to wish my wife a happy birthday. It would become one of the best birthdays ever. In the eat and merch area we hung around with David and Spiri and Joris, reminiscing about the fun we had the day before and looking forward to all the great bands. The weather was getting better. By now the festival was basking in sunlight and the predicted rain never came. You could also see that in the clothes people wore. Jani would have had a heart attack seeing all those fashion atrocities (**).

This was an award winning day, beginning with Polish band Besides who won the award for best opener. I don't think I have ever seen so many people in the big tent for an opening act. With good reason too. Besides were fantastic. Their proto-post rock came at a very high level and the audience loved every second of it. Judging from the rush to the merchandise stand, so did Ohgod, which once again just wasn't my thing. Yet, in the next days I saw a lot of Ohgod shirts, which proves their impact on the Dunk audience.

Then the forest stage was about to be smashed to pieces by Belgian sludge metal combo Lethvm. Again there was a massive amount of people present to witness the punishment and again I was impressed by the sheer power of that new stage. The rest of the audience banged their heads to the grinding sound of the youngsters on stage but the best was yet to come. In fact, from now on this stage was about to embark on almost supernatural adventures. It was all so impressive that I actually completely ignored the main stage, at least the visual aspect. I heard Soup while having a chillout in front of our festi-hut and I like what I heard. They pleasantly surprised me with some welcome relaxing music.

In the big tent, Grails seemed to agree with the jam session idea. These Americans delivered their progressive and playful music with great flair and the audience once again ate it up. I didn't see the whole show because it was time to prepare for one of the best birthday presents ever: front row seats for a rare Radare concert.

The first time I saw Radare was at Incubate three years ago. Back then, they impressed me so much that I kept on pushing them as one of the best dark jazz acts on the face of this planet. My ego tells me that that pushing eventually got them on this forest stage. They were nervous, especially the bassist/sax-player who performed live with Radare for the first time. For him, this must have been the ultimate challenge: performing or the first time, on a festival that is highly acclaimed for its quality standards, with a band that doesn't sound like any other band on the bill. I would have pooped my pants multiple times. Besides, Radare has the stage performance of a concrete brick. There is no show, no image, no jumping around, no weird stage dresses, nothing. There is only four guys playing their introvert and cinematic music. That music and that music only got them the first (and only) standing ovation on this festival. This was pure magic.

As I mentioned earlier, I ignored the last two acts on the main stage. Obviously, I heard what they did and I heard the outrageous audience reactions so you can rest assure that those have been awesome performances for Rosetta and The Ocean fans but for me the absolute highlight on this day was the volcanic eruption that Telepathy delivered. What I had predicted in my preview immediately came through when these blokes blasted their instrumental sludge metal through the woods. Aided by breathtaking light effects, this gig grabbed everybody by the throat and pummeled the huge audience into a pulp. 

Then it was sleeping time again but by now you know how sleeping goes on Dunk! festival. 

Nonetheless, everything and everyone present was going to be awake soon, their slumber brutally interrupted by Belgian stoner thrashers Huracán. These guys seemed to take off where Telepathy and The Ocean had left us, with a face melting array of riffs and drums. This was a morning coffee in the form of a massive kick in the nuts. I don't know if many people were ready for this level of energy so early in the afternoon but it definitely kicked ass. So did Cranial, only slower. Both bands stood for a rude awakening, one that was once again followed by a rush to the merchandise stands.

With acts like Appalaches, Zhaoze and Tides Of Man in the big tent, there was this vintage Dunk! atmosphere. Sweet music to enjoy however you like. Headbanging, sitting down or doing some often hilarious form of interpretive dancing, all was fine and all was good. Of these three, I like Tides Of Man the most. Some people were highly impressed by Zhaoze while others found them a bit chaotic. I liked everything I heard.

In the forest stage there was something similar going on. Jeffk, The Ills and Aswekeepsearching delivered some neat and enjoyable post rock. For old school Dunkers this was a fantastic walk in the park kind of thing. High quality performances, nice weather, delicious food coming at you in a wide variety. Everything was just so nice. The first real different thing came from Les Discrets who delivered a brilliant set of melodic doom metal. Heads were banged, hips were shaked and faces were melted, either by the sheer power of music or by the sun.

That rather typical post rock day eventually lead to two absolute highlights. I haven't really written about fatigue yet but you can probably imagine that we were pretty tired by now. Yet, like many, we were dancing to Worriedaboutsatan in the forest. What a fantastic act this has become. When I first saw them, they were interesting but not that impressive, now it was one of the most hypnotic and trance inducing experiences on this festival, which obviously means a lot, considering the amount of mind altering concerts we had already witnessed. I quickly had to buy their merch, including an XXL shirt that's too big but I'll grow into that.

Eventually Russian Circles would attempt to top every act on the line-up and they effortlessly became victorious. The big tent was packed to capacity, people were screaming their lungs out. Russian Circles were loud, flirting with the prefix "too", but they easily kept their grasp on an ecstatic audience. Of course this was a victory lap, of course this was mind boggling, of course this was the absolute headliner. These guys have been doing this for years and they managed to perfect their trade to extremely high levels.

And then we were standing there as the silence slowly returned to Zottegem. Dunk! festival was over. It is now a thing of the past. Frankly, we all knew that this moment was coming, the real world started calling again. That asshole always fucks things up.

Yet, somehow I wasn't feeling sad. I was glad, and I still am, that I experienced this festival once again. I wasn't even sad that I didn't sell many copies of my book, 'Cecilia's World' at the merch stand. I have been looking forward to this festival so much that I completely forgot to prepare a proper presentation for the book. I even forgot to change the price of the ebook to the one advertised. So for a limited time, 'Cecilia's World' is only $0.99 on Smashwords (click here).

I guess we can all agree on one thing: Dunk! festival is as close as any of us sinners will get to heaven. This is what happens when the right elements meet at the right time in the right place. The audience was fantastic, the bands were amazing, the organisation was flawless, the food was yummy, the weather was great, the atmosphere was chill. In the old age we would have praised our many gods for an experience like this. Today I'd like to thank each and every one who was in one way or another present at this megalith of an event. I'm just disappointed that nobody dared to propose to his girlfriend on the main stage. 


​Serge

I had a strange dream last night. I was an old man, sitting on a bench in front of a retirement home. There were others too, musicians, writers, music lovers. The nurses wore band shirts and there was a rock band playing somewhere. We ate pizza and drank beer. We were in our seventies and eighties. Some of our limbs and intestines had been replaced with 3D-printed ones and nanobots kept the blood flowing in our veins. Obviously, it was a not a normal retirement home. It was one for elderly people who became literally sick when they had to listen to 'The Macarena', 'Gangnam Style' or whatever other old people's homes called "musical entertainment". It was a home for those gentle misfits who had spent their lives looking for alternatives. We laughed our old asses off with jokes from the good old days. We remembered the gigs, the festivals, each others company. We remembered the others too, the ones with enormous tattoos, the one who became friends with a root block named Sam, the one who looked like a younger Weird Al Yankovic. We wondered what had happened to them, where their lives had lead to. 

"So, did anyone figure out the meaning of life yet?"
"Of course. That's easy."
"Yeah? So what is it?"
"Live it."

They were silent for a few minutes. They had lived it. They had enjoyed it and they were still doing so. Here on that terrace in front of the retirement home, we were all being thankful for the memories.

"Do you remember Dunk 2017?"

Of course I remembered it. I remembered every edition of Dunk festival. It had always been more than just another rock festival. It was a happening, three days in a place that came closer to magic than the mega festival Tomorrowland could ever have. At least for us, lovers of atmospheric music, nothing came close to the small but legendary gathering in the Flemish Ardennes. For three days, the forest of Zottegem was occupied by fans of post rock and related styles.

I left Antwerp at eleven. Juul gave me a ride, something I sincerely appreciated. I was packed for two since my wife was unable to make it the first two days. Two beds, two mattresses, a big tent and a heap of Sultana cookies, I was happy to put all of that in the back of the car instead of having to drag it to the nearest train station. We arrived around noon and assembled our tents at Australian temperatures. I was sunburned before I saw the first band, and bitten by some annoying little insect. My sweat poured like a Kärcher and guess what, I forgot my soap.

La Ciencia Simple came all the way from Chile to open the festival. I felt sorry for them. I was not the only one who was already sweat soaked from building up the tent. Most of us were just thirsty or getting acquainted with the different set up of the festival area. For the Chileans, this was not an easy task, especially not since the main tent was already a sauna. Still, the Dunk audience welcomed their warm and gentle post rock with open arms. I was having my doubts about the main stage. The tent also contained the merchandise and the whole thing looked cropped and packed almost continuously. But, like everybody, I got used to it and decided to enjoy the last few songs of the concert.

The Stargazer area was also different. I loved it and many shared that idea. From all over the food court, you could watch the concerts, like the one by Mexicans Run Golden Boys. Their gig was enjoyable, perhaps somewhat generic at times but hey, that's post rock, one of the few genres where the generic variants are nice to listen to as well. 

Back in the big sauna, Lost In Kiev were a surprisingly early highlight. From the moment they stepped on stage, the we-are-at-Dunk feeling appeared. I had not expected that. I loved their music but in this heat sitting in the forest was a very appealing alternative for watching gigs. But, there was Lost In Kiev, a band that did an amazing job and really kicked off the whole thing. Their gig would eventually turn out to be one of my favorites.

Flash The Readies and Mutiny On The Bounty also did a convincing job, just like Terraformer and Spurv. I spent my time between watching a few songs and cooling down in the forest, where you could still hear the music clearly. Some sort of vacation had begun and I was in the best holiday place imaginable, Dunk!.

But their passage on Dunk! festival was close to perfect. It was dark, sombre, introvert and explosive, proving that this band is yet another example of the sheer quality of Belgian alternative music. For a gig of this magnitude it was still too early, or in other words, it's time for The Black Heart Rebellion to headline festivals like this one. In fact, I liked this concert way more than I liked Swans or Earth.

In the forest, Ashtoreth had one of his most frustrating sets ever. His concert was visited by Roger De Festivalman, a legend, loved by many, annoying to some. Furthermore, a burnt cable caused the music to disappear. Finally, the sound check from the big tent was audible to everyone who attended the intimate concert, including Ashtoreth himself. Somehow, however, Ashtoreth managed to grab and maintain the attention of the audience and to me personally, this was certainly a top five of the day thing. Other reviewers used the concert to enjoy a sandwich, I used it as inspiration for a book. Around that time, I had seen Ashtoreth more often than I had seen my mother-in-law, and every concert had been different. From soothing ambient tunes over shamanic ritualism to intense noise, he can do it all and he did it, regardless of the occurring issues. But at the end of the concert, he suddenly reminded me of his brother in arms, Stratosphere, or at least his music did. Somehow, both projects had been inspiring each other, which I thought was a great evolution. On a lighter note, I enjoyed the impromptu interplay between Ashtoreth and a nearby singing blackbird.

For me, the final of plenty of highlights on that first day, was PG.Lost who delivered a smashing set of post rock sounds. You'd think that by now I was getting tired of post rock but nothing seemed less true. Just like on their latest album, these Swedes blasted off with heaps of energy and easily grabbed the audience's attention. The decibel meter claimed they were playing at around 104, and for me, that was good enough.

The forest stage was the place to be when you wanted a little bit of variation and that is exactly what Worriedaboutsatan brought. With their techno driven sound, they had some people dancing. For a few moments, even I engaged in a few careful dance moves but halfway through the set I decided to see how good Steak Number Eight was in replacing Emma Ruth Rundle. Steak Number Eight  was probably a worthy headliner, judging from the big amount of people who showed up. But there seemed to be something wrong with the sound. Nonetheless, this was an explosive finisher, loved by many.

My day ended there. When Swans kicked off their set, I walked to my tent and started writing down some ideas for the review. I knew a lot of people will disagree with me but I found the whole Swans set unnecessary, ridiculous and stale. I could hear it clearly from my tent, even with earplugs. The only thing I could think was "Why? Why 115db? What are they compensating for?" It reminded me of Manowar, another band that musically just isn't that great so they blast it out of the speakers with a massive amount of volume. The next days, I compared their extremely loud trunk of drones and shamanistic vocals with the musical ingenuity of bands like Meniscus or Mooncake. I quickly realized that being legendary is not the same as being any good. The best thing about the Swans concert, was the reaction of the other people on the camping. Whenever Michael Gira started uttering his chants, the entire camping followed. At some points, there was a strange, occult atmosphere, as if the haunted spirits of the Zottegem forest had been awakened. 

I was up early the next morning, even before the free coffee was ready. I decided to take a walk in the beautiful surroundings. I was already sunburned so I strolled around in the shadows of the forest, enjoying the bird sounds. That beautiful forest sure was an extra plus for this already fantastic festival. I met a girl on a horse and her father on a bike. They were nice, friendly. I probably looked like crap after merely two or three hours of sleep.

Soon after my walk, I met up with Juul and David, my two main festival companions. We talked about the day before. I noticed that I was not the only one who hadn't been extremely fond of the Swans concert. Furthermore, there were some severe doubts about the quality of the next headliner, Earth. For now however, it was time to drag our tired bodies to the main tent to check out what All We Expected were up to.

Apparently, these youngsters were not willing to be just an opening band. They turned that ungrateful task in the earliest Dunk! highlight ever. Ok, it was post rock/metal but they blasted with so much energy that the entire festival was awake. This was a brilliant set, certainly one that proved that All We Expected are on their way up. Immediately after their gig, I imagined them being back the following year, only higher on the bill. After them, Time To Burn pretty much destroyed the tent with a blasting concert, which I mostly heard from inside the forest.

In the Stargazer, Belgian space rock trio Kozmotron took a small part of the audience on a journey throughout the universe. They could count on a number of loyal followers and the part that I had heard was pretty interesting. However, for me it was time to meet up with the people from Meniscus, a band that I have been promoting heavily in my preview for this festival.

In the big tent, Dumbsaint was doing something interesting with post rock and cinema. Used to these temperatures, these Australians brought a convincing set but in a way, the movie distracted me from the music. So after a while, I left the tent to enjoy the music on its own, which worked pretty well. 

By now, the festival area was already incredibly hot, which made me seek refuge in the forest. There, I heard Aidan Baker and Karen Willems do something interesting with drones and drums. Their cooperative release 'Nonland' had been a refreshing album and in a way, this concert too was a nice thing to listen to, even from a distance.

Meniscus was everything I had predicted. They started out somewhat nervous but in no time, the big tent was packed with enthusiastic people. Just like Spoiwo the year before, Meniscus easily catapulted themselves into Dunk-superstardom, aided by a perfect sound and a flashing light show. I enjoyed every single second of this gig and I was far from the only one. David was next to me, equally mesmerized by the sheer perfection that floated through the big blue tent. We were all sweat soaked, and somewhat smelling, but it was damn well worth it. Meniscus had won Dunk, exactly like I had foreseen.

Of course, such brilliance comes with a cost. In the next few hours, I was in Meniscus heaven. In the shelter of the forest, plenty of audience members tried to hide from the crushing heat, including me. By now, fatigue and heat caused me to listen to most of the bands from between the trees. We Lost The Sea seemed to follow Meniscus' example and blasted some brilliant atmospheric post rock through the speakers. Ilydaen did something earth shattering with noise rock, math core and whatnot, apparently much to the delight of the audience who had filled up the area in front of the forest stage. 

And so I listened to And So I Watch You From Afar from afar. I was tired and not feeling too well so it was time for a little laydown. After all, I have seen this band a few times in the past. What I heard was good, and I think the audience in the tent loved the concert, but halfway through, I dozed off and disappeared into dreamland for half an hour.

After I woke up, I grabbed the Dunk! booklet and read about Malämmar, a Spanish three piece doom mongrel. They were about to rip the forest stage to shreds with their harsh, abrasive and insane performance. Fucking shitwaffle, they were good. This was the exact amount of energy I needed to get me through the rest of the day. I had to by a t-shirt.

And then it was time for Earth, another legendary band. The tent was not packed and in a way that was no surprise. With their slow and lingering doom metal, Earth played a decent set, pretty much the same one as I had seen at Desertfest earlier. It wasn't bad, on the very contrary, but the Dunk audience seemed either too tired, too hot or too used to post rock to fully enjoy the concert. Halfway through the gig, I walked towards the Stargazer area where the legendary Dunk! fries guys had started a party. I met up with David again. We talked and laughed with stories about the polonaise, Manowar, post rock and my upcoming book. The dj's played 'Too Many Puppies', 'Master Of Puppets' and 'The Number Of The Best' but when they skipped to 'The Macarena', we left.

We left to for a good night sleep but that proved to be a huge fail. On the camping, people had started partying themselves, singing along with songs by System Of A Down and others. It sounded horrible, none of them could sing and none of them could talk about anything interesting. They were drunk, annoying and loud, so loud I wished for Swans to return. I wished for a silent camping, one where radios and noise weren't allowed, one where the people who wanted to sleep, could fucking sleep.

There was another highly frustrating aspect to the audience. As I woke up early again the next morning, I noticed how the forest had been transformed into a rubbish dump. Cans, bottles and coffee cups were everywhere, along with empty bags of chips, tobacco and cookies. During my short walk, I collected the porcelain coffee cups and brought them back to the catering area. I advised one of the crew members to equip the forest with garbage bags. On the other hand, if this and the camping noise would be the biggest points of frustration, this was a bloody good festival.

We sat down in the Stargazer area for a while and watched one of the fries guys kickstart a barbeque with a lot of noise and a lot of drama. It sounded as if a plane was about to lift up. The audience treated him to a loud applause, as if it were an impromptu noise act that had been booked as a surprise. 

During the first three bands, it was time to pick up my wife from the station and guide her around the area. We returned when Halma was almost finishing their set and quickly rushed to see what this Briqueville was all about. Some say Briqueville is a gimmick band. They arrive with their robes and masks on and they leave with their robes and masks on. Very few people really seem to know who these guys are. Nonetheless, this was an amazing concert, gimmick or not. Everything fitted extremely well together, shattering my doubts about this mysterious band.

But then, suddenly, it seemed over. The lack of sleep and the worrying pain on the left side of my neck made me think about leaving the festival sooner than planned. For a few hours, I longed for my own bed and perhaps a doctor. It was the hottest of the three days, way too hot to take a nap in my tent so we seeked shelter in the shadows of the forest once again. There we stayed for a while, enjoying Xenon Field and Set And Setting from a distance and making arrangements to leave the festival later that day.

The next concert I did see, was The Void Of Expansion, a drone/free-jazz vehicle by Dirk Serries and Thomas Järmyr.  Not many audience members saw that gig, since most of them seemed to prefer the somewhat more accessible music of Barst, who was playing at the same time in the forest. For me personally, Dirk and Thomas really saved the day. The energy coming from the drums was infectious and Dirk's drones truly lifted my spirits. This was a majestic performance, certainly a top-5 one.  Soon after this concert, I decided to buy everything Dirk had to offer. Money well spent!

In the forest, Syndrome played a rather unconvincing set but that was not his fault. I can't say that it was Stearica's fault either, but their heavy tunes leaked through the silent and modest performance of Syndrome. My wish for a bit more variation on Dunk festival had now turned against me, or so it seemed. Perhaps the setup of the forest stage was not as perfect as it could have been, but it was still a very nice addition to this festival.  Little later, CHVE would eventually solve that problem by overpowering the incoming sounds. A lot of people came to see his magical concert and with good reason too. CHVE had asked for this concert himself and in the darkness of the forest, we all went on an incredible journey.

The energy just kept flowing, obviously aided by the absolute headliner of the festival, the majestic God Is An Astronaut. For them, it must have been a normal gig. Headlining festivals is not new to these Irish blokes. But what they did was fantastic and set the big blue tent ablaze one final time. I knew them. I had heard them before, at Incubate for example, but I didn't expect this concert to be this overwhelming. This was the worthy headliner Dunk festival needed. 

In my dream, we talked about the festival, about the massive ups and the minor downs. We were still sitting on the terrace of the retirement home, sipping from healthy fruit juice mix, called 'Forever Young'. It were memories like these that we lived for. The music, the environment, the people, for us, that was the meaning of life. We had lived it and in our mind, the many brilliant concerts still resonated, along with the nice conversations and the hilarious moments.

"I still wished I had more sleep."
​"I think we all did."

Note: If I may end with some blatant self promotion, I'd like to mention that Dunk! festival has become the main source of inspiration for a festival in a book that is currently in the works. The book, titled 'Cecilia's World', is a novel about alternative music, about a sixteen year old girl who discovers the musical wonders of the underground while also coping with turbulent times in her new city. 'Cecilia's World' will be released somewhere in the next few months. Alongside Dunk, my work for this website has also been a huge influence. So if you like my Dunk! review, you might want to keep an eye on Merchants Of Air. More details will be announced when they become available...

I like to thank the good people at Dunk! Festival for another amazing weekend, possibly one of the best festivals I have ever been to. It's events like this one that keep me going, maintain my interest in the impressively varied world of music. There will always be minor issues, but in all Dunk! is an example of how to set up a fantastic experience for a lot of people, even in difficult times. This edition was great, well varied and full of pleasant surprises. I will see you next year, or at least hear you...


Serge

* Words by David (Wayward Bound)

Well, dear reader, I hope you have a lot of free time to read this review because it's going to look like a novel. There is so much I want to write down, mostly positive things, obviously. I'm not going to downgrade this review to the bare essentials. I'm not going to limit myself to just writing about the bands who played at this epic festival because there has been so much going on in the past three days, all adding a lot to the overall atmosphere of Europe's finest post-rock festival. Yes, it is Europe's finest post-rock festival and at this time I'm actually thinking about omitting the 'post-rock' word in that previous sentence. So let's start with a statement and a very, very short abbreviation of this whole writing:

Dunk! Festival is Europe's finest festival, period. It's more than a festival, it's a family reunion and everyone is welcome to join in on the fun.

Before I go open the doors to my memories of the past few days, I want to thank a few people for making this the wonderful experience it has become. I also like to start with a little shout-out to Andy, whose weekend was ruined by the flu and the passing of his beloved cat, Koen. The sad news reached me through facebook and I really felt bad for Andy. I know how much he loves this festival and I know how much he cared for the little feline. Get well soon, Andy, and hopefully next year will be better.

A big 'thank you' goes out to the nice people from the bed & breakfast we were staying at. For the second year in a row we were treated so nice, even including a daily ride to the festival area (and back if we wanted, but we did that on foot). They were volunteers in the kitchen, so they had to be there too, but nonetheless. It was nice meeting them again and it was lovely to feel so welcome at their home. I also want to thank Eric from our colleagues of Snoozecontrol. I'm sure he'll come up with a great review too. Thanks for introducing me to Dirk Serries and Stratosphere and thanks for the beers. Next time they're on me.

For us, each Dunk-day starts with a little stroll to warm up our legs. This year was no different, and right after that we delivered a forgotten cellphone to the guys from Spoiwo, we headed for the woods and ponds surrounding the festival area. Besides a music lover, I'm also a bit of a hobby photographer who prefers making pictures of birds and other animals. If you like to see those pictures, you can check out our Tsu profile (click here). However, I quickly noticed that the animals in Zottegem are a lot more shy than those in and around Antwerp. All I could make, was one blurry picture of a blackbird and a few pictures of a tree in which two squirrels were testing my patience. So no bird- & squirrel pictures. Except, here's a picturesque photo of some cute ducklings.

A little disappointed in Zottegem's fauna we headed back to the festival area where Fall Of Messiah were about to kick off, which they did great. With their blend of post-rock and post-metal/screamo, these French guys woke up the audience and banged them into a coma again. Opening a festival is not an easy task but Fall Of Messiah provided us with a nice taste of things to come. It looked like the audience were quite pleased with this kick-off too.

Slowrun opened the second stage with their ambient-post-rock and I was quite charmed by their performance. Their album has been playing a lot in this household, so much that I almost felt like doing some household chores during their set. Luckily I simply decided to sit down and enjoy these nice tunes. Again, a decent taste of things to come and a nice example of how satisfying post-rock can actually be.

But both bands would soon fade into the background because of what was going on in the big tent. Mutiny On The Bounty had cancelled, which lead to Spoiwo being moved to the mainstage and Inwolves being added to the bill. After a hesitant start, Spoiwo did exactly what I have predicted in our preview (read). Suddenly this Polish band became the first absolute highlight of the festival, aided by the massive crowd reaction which moved them to tears. I too was moved to tears by their brilliant performance. Even now, three days and many bands later, I still regard these guys as one of the best performers on this festival. I remember thinking 'Spoiwo better get used to mainstages because they'll be seeing a lot of those from now on'.

At first, Environments seemed to become another victim of Spoiwo's success as I was still too much blown away to be able to enjoy the next gig. However, gradually I got charmed by their set. Their ambient post-rock felt just right at that moment so I decided to close my eyes and enjoy the whole thing before I made a trip to the fries-guys.

At the mainstage, it was time for utter violence when Obscure Sphinx climbed on stage. They sounded massive, harsh and relentless, a huge contrast with the nice and relaxed atmosphere outside of the big blue tent. The audience seemed to like their show but it was not really my cup of tea. I guess I'm not that much into sludge metal, even though the band presented some awesome doom passages.

Inwolves definitely was my cup of tea so I was very glad that they were added to the bill. This band around drummer Karen Willems was probably one of the most adventurous acts on the bill. Obviously, I already knew their music since I reviewed their album some weeks ago (read) so I decided to try a little dance. I failed. I'm not really a dancer and this music simply is too complicated to dance to, I think. But still, this was a great performance, making me smile all the way through.

Tides From Nebula kicked off their European tour on Dunk festival, much to the delight of an almost packed tent. I didn't know they were this popular, until I heard what they got out of their equipment: decent post-rock, perhaps even classic or vintage post-rock. No wonder the audience was loud with this one. We enjoyed the show from outside, while sipping from a cold beer and getting a bit of a tan.

'Hm', I thought, 'a violin and a loop station, that might become something nice and relaxing'. But when Nils Gröndahl kicked off, things got damn intense. This guy is a beast, coming up with what I could call 'industrial classical music'. Of course, with that many effect pedals, you can make a shitload of noise but what this solo-act brought was comparable to an act like Author & Punisher, for example. This was the first true surprise for me and a damn good one too. If you ever get the chance to see him live, don't hesitate, you'll be amazed.

The headliner on day one, was the massively popular 65daysofstatic. What can I say about them, except for the fact that they're really good at what they do? I watched them for a few songs before we started walking to our beds and I certainly liked it. Yet, as always, I was more pleased by the newer bands than with the headliners and this day was no different. In my opinion, Spoiwo won on Thursday, probably because of the emotional connection. Don't get me wrong, 65DOS did a good job, they always do, but perhaps that was the problem, they always do...

After our usual walk, we dragged ourselves into the main tent to witness Illuminine and enjoy his (or in this case their) modern classical music. It was a beautiful show, maybe a bit too gentle to be an opening act but that's not their problem. Again, we enjoyed the majority of this show from outside, as we did with most of the bands in the big blue tent on that day. With our eyes closed and parts of our bodies exposed to the sun, we couldn't imagine a better start for this second day.

They were followed by Sounds Like the End Of The World, another brilliant act from Poland. This was vintage heavy post-rock, ideal for an early afternoon show. Once again, the sound was perfect and the whole thing was pretty damn immersive. This was about to become a great day.

At the Stargazer stage, for this day transformed into the Consouling stage, Monnik was about to start. He didn't know, but he would be kicking off a massive win for Consouling Sounds. From the moment he started his drones and ambient, this stage would exceed the mainstage in quality, all day long. I've seen Monnik before, several years ago and he seems to get better at what he does, each time he climbs on, or in front of, the stage.

At the main stage, Baikonur were about to make their European debut, and, much like every other band at that stage, they did a very decent job. Their narrative post-rock sounded familiar and adventurous and a lot of people seemed to enjoy the show. I don't need to tell you that we enjoyed them from outside again, do I?

At every festival there is at least one band we miss, and this year we missed Eleanora. Why? Well, post-hardcore simply isn't my dada. So I decided that this gig would be a great opportunity to socialize a bit, something every reviewer needs to do once in awhile. I'm sure I'll catch these guys later and I promise to give them the exposure they deserve. A review for their new album will be on this website soon, perhaps that review will be the debut of our newest writer, but more about that soon.

The socializing made us miss a big part of Kokomo's performance too. Dark post-rock definitely is my dada so we tried to catch as much as we could. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to feed my musical appetite. I sure hope I can see them again soon. Actually, I did catch them again. The next day, they played a great surprise set in the woods, something I was hoping for since that magical Thisquietarmy gig. Hurray.

Another brilliant performance came from another Consouling Sounds member, Barst this time. This trio blended everything atmospheric they could find into one delightful yet intense set of ambient. They even brought some beats, making people dance. Not me, I was still very weary about my earlier dance performance so I kept to nodding my head.

I could say that Her Name Is Calla was one of the worst acts on Dunk festival this year but that would be way too negative. After all, they weren't bad, no band on Dunk festival is bad. Perhaps it was that middle-of-the-festival fatigue that was coming up or perhaps it was the fact that the mainstage felt a bit one-sided on Friday, but this gig was not the blast I expected. It could also have been the heat.

In the other tent, Yodok III rolled over the audience like a massive bulldozer, delivering nothing less than an eargasm. Not bad for an act which is described as jazz, right? Then again, would you expect any less from Dirk Serries? I know I wouldn't. We'll be back on Dirk soon.

If there was one band on the mainstage that could fully satisfy my appetite, it would be My Sleeping Karma. With their psychedelic stoner rock, they quickly gained the appreciation of the whole audience, and with good reason too. This rocked, 'finally' dare I say. Their performance was tight, heavy and intense. I really enjoyed this immersive set. When I went outside after a few songs, I saw that I surely wasn't the only one.

Yet, once again, the stargazer stage would top that, this time by the absolute highlight of this day. Josh Graham, a.k.a. IIVII was about to embark on a cosmic mission, inviting everyone to go with him. And what a beautiful set is was too, both musically and visually. I've witnessed this trip once before, then with some technical issues but today, IIVII was perfect. Top-shelf ambient and a stunning experience...

From what I could hear from outside, Pelican delivered a great set again. We however had a little socializing to do. I'm actually glad that I didn't schedule any interviews on this year's edition of Dunk festival. They would consume way too much time for me to be able to give you a proper review. We did manage to get some artists to write their 'Songs With Stories' for us, which will be coming up in the next few weeks. 

One of these artists is CHVE, who dragged a few hundred people on to a dark, mystical ritual. To me, it felt real enough to picture something magical and ancient. This was another brilliant performance by AmenRa's frontman. Armed only by his voice and a hurdy-gurdy, plus obviously the necessary effects, CHVE enchanted the whole tent, putting the icing on the cake for the entire Consouling Clan.

This Will Destroy You could not top that anymore, even though they delivered a solid set. We only watched a small part of their show, since there was not a lot to see on stage. While we went back to our bed, we could still hear most of it, becoming a nice soundtrack for a night walk.

In the heat of this beautiful Saturday afternoon, we went searching for a bit of a cooldown, which again means walking. I remember telling Eline that it was a shame that my initial idea for this review was ruined because of those pesky little birds, hiding away. I wanted more nice pictures to be able to make a nice representation of the entire Dunk! Festival experience, because there really is more to that than just the music. There is the neverending friendliness of the crew, the beautiful surroundings, the approachability of the artists. We couldn't catch all that in pictures of course, but here is a picture of a horse.

Flies Are Spies From Hell had the opportunity to open this day, kicking off with some nice atmospheric, piano-led post rock. I think, of all three days, this was the best opener, gently waking up the people on the camp site. We enjoyed their gig, right before we suddenly were trapped into socializing again, making us miss most of The Hirsch Effekt, Herbstlaub and Upcdownc concerts. Again, we heard most of these from outside and all of them sounded real solid but up till now, this was the only highflier we saw...

...until Wyatt E. began. I knew they would be good, I even predicted it (read) but I never knew they would smash themselves right into this year's top-5 edition, even surpassing some of the Consouling acts from the day before. Before Wyatt E's concert, I overheard two guys laughing with the description, saying 'how could you possibly mix doom, drone and post-rock'? Well, I hope those two have been listening real close to what Wyatt E presented. This was an absolute highlight, heavy, repetitive, immersive and massive. Too many people missed this.

Nordic Giants delivered another touch of magic, in the form of dreamy post-rock with loads of samples and loads of atmosphere. We obviously listened from outside again while having a chat with Wyatt E. at the merchandise tent. Soon after, we checked out Thank U For Smoking and their musical destruction derby. That sure was a lot of noise.

Another highlight came from I Am Waiting For You Last Summer, a Russian act that blends post rock with breakbeats and drum & bass. 'Is that possible', you might ask and believe me, it is and it sounds pretty damn awesome. Lots of people were dancing to this highly energetic blend of styles. I'm sure some of them imagined themselves being protagonists in some wild action movie. This was surely the most surprising act on this festival.

I've seen Syndrome a few times, so today I decided to just listen while I enjoy a nice meal (meatballs in tomato sauce). This was the second AmenRa side-project on this festival, delivering massive drones which made my trouser legs flutter. Yes, even from outside. With this act, the recipe is always similar and so is the result: music you can feel. Yes, it felt good... The same goes for Dirk Serries' Microphonics by the way. He too delivered a massive set, all by himself. I actually recorded a bit of his set, but I recorded it from outside, far into the woods where birds were singing. The result is pretty nice, perhaps I'll post it later. For now however, all you need to know is that both acts were brilliant.

In between it was time for a stage debut, the very first performance from Collapse Under The Empire. Of course, everybody already knew that these guys made great music so the tent was quite filled. After all, this act has been around since 2009, they just didn't perform before. So how was their set? Well, it was simply great, exactly what you would expect from a band of this caliber. I think they have been practicing for this...

Yndi Halda gave me a bit of a double feeling. Some parts of their set were pure bliss, others were less interesting for us. There even were moments when we weren't sure if it was the same band playing. Nonetheless, I'm sure most of the audience members were enchanted by this violin driven post rock.

In the stargazer tent, Arms And Sleepers played their ten year anniversary show (or in their own words: "ten years of not getting famous") and plenty of people got on their feet to start a little dance. I tried too but my legs started laughing at me, telling me I shouldn't be dancing after three days of festivalling.

I also started to realize that this whole thing was almost over, there was only one more band to check and it was one of the headliners. I said it before, I'm not really a headliners guy. Then again, this was Russian Circles, and there's a reason why this guys are on top of the bill. They certainly won in the t-shirt department, which means that I have seen more Russian Circles shirts than any other on these three days (strangely, Joy Division came in second).

So it's not really a miracle that the tent was packed to capacity for this final explosion, and an explosion it was. This American trio rammed their massive riffs through our skulls with deadly precision and pummeling intensity. I'm sure this was the absolute highlight for most people in attendance. For me it surely was one of the highlights and a perfect apotheosis for another epic festival.