Paatos @ Midsummer Prog Festival 2025 – Day 1 (May 23)

I’ve been seeing Paatos live since 2006, and from the very first time, I was hooked—an instant infatuation. They fit perfectly into my world of melancholic Scandinavian prog rock, alongside bands like White Willow, Anekdoten, Landberk and Änglagård. That same dreamy gloom, the dragging tempos, the kind of intensity that only reveals itself after repeated listens—Paatos embodies all of it, yet adds their own distinctive flair.

After 12 years of silence, the band made an unexpected return to the stage in September 2024 at Ino-Rock in Poland (https://theprogspace.com/paatos-live-at-ino-rock-2024/).  There, we caught a first glimpse of Ligament, the album that finally saw the light of day last month. At Midsummer Progfestival 2025—their first major festival performance since the release—they played after PreHistoric Animals  on Day 1 of the event. What followed wasn’t a nostalgic reunion, but an intense rebirth, carried by musical maturity and a deep collective focus.

In 2025 Paatos still feels like a tight unit where every musician knows their role. Petronella Nettermalm, a frontwoman with an extraordinary sense of emotional nuance led the band with her delicate and piercing voice. She sang with minimal gestures, but with such expressive power that every note hit straight to the heart.

Ricard “Huxflux” Nettermalm once again showed why he has long been praised as one of the most distinctive and subtle drummers in the progressive scene. His playing is both dynamic and restrained—never excessive, always serving the music. He approaches percussion like a composer, paints with rhythm and uses silence as a tension tool. In both the new songs and older material, he played with a level of precision and texture rarely felt so vividly in a live setting.

Peter Nylander, a long-time guitarist, effortlessly switched between whispery ambient tones and gritty outbursts. His guitar lines often slipped into the soundscape unnoticed, yet always added depth—as an extra layer of meaning without demanding attention. Ulf Ivarsson on bass delivered a deep, organic undertow: tight, dark, slow and hypnotic. His bass lines were the foundation upon which the rest of the band could freely breathe. Mikael Nilzen, the new keyboardist since 2024, brought a refreshing energy without overwhelming the group. His soundscapes were lush and atmospheric, filled with subtle harmonies and suggestive textures that blended seamlessly into the band’s sonic identity.

Six songs from the new album Ligament made it into the setlist: the energetic, rhythmically bouncing “Chemical Escape,” the introspective “I’m Letting Go” with its rolling percussion and whispering guitar parts and the short, nervously pulsating title track “Ligament.” Other highlights included “Beyond The Forest,” where the magic of the studio duet with Mikael Åkerfeldt surprisingly held up live despite his absence; the layered and emotionally charged “Last Ones of Our Kind”; and the dark, ominous “Svart” which dragged the audience into a brooding stream of suppressed energy.

These new tracks were effortlessly interwoven with older material which had lost none of its power. “Feel,” “Gone,” “Happiness” and “Breathing” once again proved why Paatos has long been considered one of the most sensitive and atmospheric bands in the European prog scene. The set ended with the stunning “Téa”—one of my personal favorites—sung in Swedish. I absolutely love “Téa” because of its native language vocals. Swedish has never sounded so beautiful! The song is full of subtle nuances—whispering piano notes, restrained vocal lines and most of all: Hux’s masterful drumming, quietly anchoring the piece while emotionally disarming you.

Paatos didn’t deliver a bombastic light show or extroverted stage antics but rather a set that seeped under the skin—spellbinding and intense. Everything was performed with a restrained power as if the band was acutely aware of the fragility of their sound—and turned that very fragility into their greatest weapon. No spectacle, just atmosphere; no technique for technique’s sake but true musical devotion.

What this concert revealed was not a comeback but a continuation. Paatos hasn’t risen from the past—they’ve moved forward into the present: richer, more mature, yet still true to themselves. Their performance at Midsummer Prog Festival was for me one of the most gripping moments of the festival, reaffirming their unique position in the world of progressive melancholy. This is why I fell in love with them all those years ago.