Band Spotlight: The Aurora Project – The Progspace 10th Anniversary Show
Progressive Rock / Metal
Band Members:
- Dennis Binnekade: lead vocals
- Remco van den Berg: guitars, backing vocals
- Alex Ouwehand: guitars, backing vocals
- Marcel ‘Mox’ Guijt: keyboards
- Rob Krijgsman: bass
- Joris Bol: drums, percussion
Discography:
- Unspoken Words (2005)
- Shadow Border (2009)
- Selling The Aggression (2013)
- Selling It Live (Live – 2013)
- A Night To Remember (Live – 2015)
- World Of Grey (2016)
- gray_world_live (Live – 2019)
- EVOS12 (2025)
Unspoken Words (2005)
Shadow Border (2009)
Selling the Aggression (2013)
Selling It Live (2014)
A Night To Remember (2015)
World Of Grey (2016)
Grey_World_Live (2019)
EVOS12 (2025)
Every celebration needs a home team, and ours comes from just up the coast in Katwijk.
Since 1998, The Aurora Project have been one of the steadiest and most quietly ambitious names in the Dutch progressive scene. Every album they have released is a concept record, and every one of them tells a story worth following: from their acclaimed debut “Unspoken Words” (2005) and “Shadow Border” (2009), to “Selling The Aggression” (2013), a sharp look at how the internet was reshaping society, long before that became everyone’s favourite dinner table topic.
Their story also carries real loss. In 2014, rhythm guitarist and lyricist Marc Vooijs passed away suddenly. Instead of replacing him, the band chose to honour him, building their next album around his ideas. “World of Grey” (2016) was the result: a record about control, repression and the loss of freedom, with keyboards and bass stepping in to fill the space Marc left behind, and a sound that leaned further into progressive rock than ever before.
Then came a long silence. Nine years passed between studio albums, until “EVOS12” arrived in February 2025 as the first chapter of a two-album sci-fi saga. The album also brought the band back to a six-piece, with guitarist Alex Ouwehand (Golden Caves) officially joining his longtime friends.
When “EVOS12” landed in our February 2025 Releases highlights, our own Dario picked up on its neo-prog flavoured songwriting and its odd curveballs, like the reggae feel of ‘Have Some Tea’, which “certainly help to give their sound a bit of a unique edge in a genre where basically all has been said already before”. His verdict: “The juxtaposition of sleekness and grit suits them well.” The band is now putting the finishing touches on the second chapter, and we can’t wait to hear where the story goes next.
On stage, The Aurora Project have shared bills with the likes of Riverside and Threshold and played ProgPower Europe (co-incidentally at the very first edition that Dario visited all the way back in 2008), the festival where our own story began. Their shows are all about patience and payoff: soaring melodies, songs that take their time to build, and a storyteller’s instinct for exactly when to let the big moment land.
When we introduced them as the sixth band of our anniversary show, we called them the home team, and we meant it. Not only geographically, but also thanks to their long-standing ties to the ProgPower Europe Family – the very family from whose ranks The Progspace emerged exactly ten years ago – The Aurora Project were the natural choice to kick off the show as the home team.
On a bill bringing together bands from Andorra, Sweden, Germany, Denmark and the UK, The Aurora Project only need a short drive to get to Hoofddorp. So if you know a Dutch prog fan who still hasn’t seen them live, this is the night to bring them along.
The Aurora Project is the local opener band, one of the six bands on our 10th Anniversary Show – “100 Reasons to Celebrate” at CPUNT, Hoofddorp (NL – just 10 minutes from Amsterdam Airport), on the 28th November 2026.
Tickets: https://www.cpunt.nl/agenda/tps-10th
Info, travel, accommodation and more: https://show.theprogspace.com
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