The festival’s first major surprise came in the form of Ritual. They put on a fantastic performance. While they played many older pieces, the material from their newest album was best.

 

Highlights included “Helmulic Voluntary Band," “Infinite Justice,"and my overall favorite: “A Dangerous Journey." The latter was described as a piece that wasn’t short and they weren’t kidding.

 

All along, Patrick Lundstrom’s voice sounded better than ever and he was a personable orator. When he wasn’t singing, he was telling us the fairytale back-story to much of their material. Seems much of it comes from Tove Jansson’s mythical books.

 

Also, Johan Nordgren treated us to several Swedish instruments when he wasn’t intimately thumping the drums.

 

I must point out that the band is cohesive right up to their dress. In some form or fashion, every one of them had a logo affixed to clothes, body parts or both. Lundstrom, in particular, had a tattoo on his arm and a medallion glued to his forehead. His uber-baggy pants and regal diamond-patterned brazier added a fitting optical illusion to go with their phantasmagoric sound.