AVKRVST
Comendatio Music Fest, Portugal, June 22nd, 2025
By Mónica Moreira
Photos courtesy of Gonçalo Delgado
The small village of Paço da Comenda, near Tomar, former seat of the Order of the Knights Templar, in Portugal, hosted the 5th edition of the Comendatio Music Fest, headlined this year by Ihsahn and VOLA. AVKRVST – the progressive rock band from Norway – were scheduled to play on Sunday, June 22nd at 8:10PM. This was the band’s premiere in the country.
If you look for AVKRVST’s live dates online, you’ll notice the Norwegian haven’t played much since their formation, two years ago. You can tell they’re all about enjoying music at their own pace. Which, along the fact this would be the first time ever songs from the new album “Waving At The Sky” were played live, made the audience at Comendatio even luckier to witness the moment.
Regardless of the short history of the band, best friends Simon Bergseth and Martin Utby – who formed the band – have music running in their families, play since a very early age and have been around playing with other projects for years. Music is naturally in their veins.
For Comendatio, the band had a kind of “Murphy’s Law day”, with a delayed flight and random check by customs at the airport, which made them rush to get to Tomar, but the festival team prepared an “all hands on deck reception” and everything went very smoothly. The audience barely noticed the 10 minutes delay.
Despite the bumpy arrival, Simon Bergseth (vocals, guitar), Martin Utby (drums) and their fellow colleagues – Øystein Aadland (bass, back vocals), Edvard Seim (guitar) and Auver Gaaren (keys) – looked professional, kept together, and seemingly relaxed on stage. The complicity of the group was evident, particularly if you consider the fact that they don’t play live very often, as previously mentioned. This was their 6th live show ever.
I’ve waited for this show for two years. Knowing “The Approbation” quite well and having listened to “Waving At The Sky” as much as I could in the week that went by between the release of the record and Comendatio, I was pretty sure I was in for a treat and I’m proud to say I was right.
Comendatio was the perfect scenario for AVKRVST’s debut in Portugal. Immersive, cozy, country vibes, trees all around, a little bit like home for them, perhaps.
The 40-minute performance was tight and granted the audience five songs, five unique and special moments. We were also gifted the three first songs of “Waving at the Sky” live for the first time ever and boy did they sound good!
“Preceding” – an instrumental track – was the opener, just like in “Waving At The Sky” and right there you could tell they were “for real”. I read in an interview that the band likes to make sure that what they do in the studio can be reproduced live. It’s one of the most important things for me when I go see a band live and AVKRVST definitely delivered.
Next, we had “The Trauma”. Listening to this song live made me really happy. It was all that was promised in the record. Intense yet melodic, nice balance between growls and clean vocals.
“Families Are Forever” followed. A complex and emotional song, leading to some introspection. By now the audience was completely immersed in AVKRVST’s universe, floating along with Simon’s warm voice and beautiful guitar solo. The chorus of this song was stuck in my mind for days!
One can only dream about how amazing it would be to see the intense and dramatic storytelling of “Waving At The Sky” being presented in its entirety, with guest Ross Jennings on stage for “The Malevolent”. Some other time…
“Isolation” and “The Approbation”, from the band’s first record “The Approbation” (2023) were the closing tracks. Intense contrasts between heavy riffs and melancholic passages, punctuated by dark lyrics and introspective atmospheres. A feast for the senses.
In a festival that can fit together artists like VOLA, Humanity’s Last Breath, Ihsahn or Oceans Ate Alaska in the same weekends line-up, AVKRVST won the prize of the most “classic prog” band of the festival. Comments on-site and feedback online expressed the audience’s awe and desire to see the Norwegian live again soon.
In hindsight, AVKRVST are the reason why anyone who likes music and attends festivals, should arrive early to check bands that are not headliners. You might encounter amazing musicianship and get awed like the crowd at Comendatio!
Simon Bergseth thanked the crowd in Portuguese, “Obrigado”. Now it’s my turn to say: “Takk! Tiden er inne for at du skal dele musikken din, live, med resten av verden. Gleder meg til annonseringen av en turné.” (Thank you! The time has come for you to share your music, live, with the rest of the world. Can’t wait for the announcement of a tour.)
AVKRVST’s setlist at Comendatio Music Fest:
1. Preceding (live premiere)
2. The Trauma (live premiere)
3. Families Are Forever (live premiere)
4. Isolation
5. The Approbation
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