With model bands like TesseracT, Leprous, Vola, Caligulaʼs Horse and above all Haken, a new exciting progmetal movement has established itself in recent years. At the latest with their current album "Universal Chaos" the Norwegians Rendezvous Point also belong to it, as the band perfectly combines all core elements of the modern progmetal sound: loweredjent-grooves, fabulously floating keyboard carpets, tricky-dynamic drums and above all the super-melodic vocals of Geirmund Hansen.
The band was founded while studying music together at the University of Agder (Kristiansand) in 2010, but most members (including Leprous drummer Baard Kolstad) know each other from their youth. "The 'Rendezvous Point' was and is for us always the name for the place where we meet to compose and rehearse", says guitarist Peter Hallaråker about the beginnings of the band. "I don't know if it's a subconscious thing, but in the 1999 South Park movie, there's a scene where Eric Cartman says: 'Letʼs meet at the rendezvous point!' But I didn't notice it until years later. So it may well be that our band name comes from there."
In the early days of the quintet, Dream Theater was particularly popular as a musical orientation. "They were the lowest common denominator back then. For me, however, it was almost religious," smiles Petrucci disciple Hallaråker. "I haven't heard anything else for a while, tried to play every note. And Baard was also able to play titles like 'The Dance Of Eternity' at the age of twelve or thirteen. When our keyboarder Nicolay was in hospital years ago after a motorcycle accident, I brought him the 'Systematic Chaos' as a present. I really wanted him to get involved with the band." (laughs) Hallaråker sees the recent development of the New York top dogs with mixed feelings. "I'm a real Portnoy fanboy, I guess I'll have to say that first. Every DT album on which he can be heard has something very special. Since his departure the band simply lacks that certain something. Of course, Mangini is also a fantastic drummer, but he doesn't have the heart and soul of Portnoy. A Dramatic Turn Of Eventsʼ was still okay, but especially on the self-titled album the drum sounds sounded terrible. I liked The Astonishing three days a week, but the other four days I hated it. Basically I thought it was good that they tried something new. And here's the surprise: Distance Over Time' is for me even the best album with Mangini! With all the criticism, which is practiced at the moment again and again at them: You will continue to be the number one progmetal figurehead."
On Hallaråker's YouTube channel you can currently find live recordings of the guitarist's final exam, in which he performs plays by Dream Theater, Scott Henderson, Guthrie Govan and Greg Howe, among others, with the cast of Rendezvous Point. Hallaråker had also rehearsed a version of Extreme's "Get The Funk Out". "At that time we also played the first original composition of Rendezvous Point: The World Goes On' was a ten-minute prog longtrack that was heavily influenced by Dream Theater, but that didn't land on our debut 'Solar Storm' in 2015 because we were already relatively advanced at the time." Already in 2012 the band was highly acclaimed and was even able to perform some of their early songs with the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra. "This was basically an open competition, for which you could send in your own compositions. The orchestra or its arranger then rewrote the songs that they liked best for the orchestra. At the end of the day we even opened the show with 'The World Goes On'."
Already on board at that time: singer Geirmund Hansen, about whom Hallaråker speaks only in the highest tones. "Geirmund is a real all-rounder. He originally started out as a drummer, but he also plays guitar and keyboards. But his greatest strength is clearly his singing. His power hit me right in the face. He is also solely responsible for our texts. In it he processes, among other things, the emotional chaos in his head. Geirmund has struggled in the past with anxiety disorders and depression, the lyrics are a very healing outlet for him. In 'Digital Waste', for example, he talks about our dealings with the social media and the pressure to always be super-advantageous."
After support tours with Leprous (in October 2015 Hallaråker and Kolstad each played two sets per evening, as Hallaråker also helped out as live guitarist for Leprous at that time!) and Long Distance Calling ("The tour wasn't such a good experience for us, especially because our bus driver in France was caught driving with alcohol! So the show in Paris had to be cancelled. and musically it didn't fit together so well") Hallaråker especially remembered the third tour in 2016 with Haken very well. "Human and musical, it was a fantastic experience. We've certainly been able to attract a few more fans to us." Especially the songs of "Solar Storm" were the main focus at that time, but with "Apollo" the Norwegians already introduced a brand new highlight composition, which now three years later has become the opener of the new album "Universal Chaos". "Some songs have even a few more years on their backs," laughs Hallaråker. "I've had the title song on my computer since 2012, and "The Takedown" is from 2014."
But Redezvous Point don't want to bet on the tour-card. "Baard and Nikolay can both make a living from their earnings as musicians. Baard is also very busy with Leprous, and Nicolay's strength is probably his versatility. He hears everything and can also play everything, so that he can land interesting jobs again and again. Our bass player Gunn-Hilde is currently doing her doctorate in music, Geirmund works as a singing teacher and I as a guitar teacher. As a band we don't have to be constantly present and on the road. But if there's a good opportunity, we'd like to take it."
Hallaråker concludes by saying the following about the future of Progmetal: "I find the combination with interesting keyboard sounds and electronic elements very interesting. The technical innovations that have led to the boom of the Djent-Boom, for example with seven- and eight-string guitars, are becoming more and more a symbiosis with exciting electronic sounds. Here I have to take another stand for Nicolay. He is not a virtuoso in the sense of Jordan Rudess, but he can adapt perfectly. Above all, he is a real sound magician who takes the band to a completely different level with his sounds. Without him, we'd be a regular rock band. There's an enormous technical level in our genre today, but I've also noticed an opposite movement, where bands for example have completely abandoned guitar solos. But we will continue to have them!"
The next opportunity to take a close look at the qualities of Rendezvous Point will be in September, when the quintet will be back in Germany to support Vola.
Beachtet auch unsere aktuelle Verlosung!
* * * Mike Borrink
GUEST PLAYLIST Petter
Hallaråker (Rendezvous Point)
1. Devin Townsend - Empath 2nd
The Contortionist - Clairvoyant 3rd
TesseracT - Special 4th
Meshuggah - The Violent Sleep Of Reason 5th
Hook - Vector
