Live Report: Phobos 2025

Event name: Phobos 2025

Artists: Sphäre Sechs (DE) / Svartsinn (NO) / Peter Bjärgo (SE) / Troum (DE)

Venue: Kulturzentrum Immanuel

Location: Wuppertal, Germany

Date: 18th October 2025

Despite it being one of the oldest and most respected festivals in the dark ambient scene, I had never had the opportunity to attend Phobos until last week. Brainchild of Martin Stürtzer of Phelios fame (among other projects), Phobos has been running for no less than 16 years now, and the 2025 edition of the festival was its 14th, which makes it a veritable dark ambient institution. The reasons that prompted me to finally make the pilgrimage to the sleepy industrial town of Wuppertal, Germany are manifold, but the sheer strength of the lineup was definitely the foremost of those, and the relative ease of reaching Wuppertal by train (in barely more than four hours from my current hometown of Paris) certainly contributed.

While Wuppertal itself is hardly a tourist mecca, and not particularly instagrammable either, this mid-sized German city still has enough to offer visitors for a weekend trip beyond the event itself. For one, it's one of the last places on the planet with a fully functioning monorail system that serves as the backbone of public transit. Other than that, it has some beautiful parks and promenades, plus a handful of decent restaurants, pubs and wine bars to keep you entertained after nightfall (I particularly recommend Edelrost and its wide variety of inexpensive, high-quality German white wines by the glass). Lastly, Wuppertal is connected to Düsseldorf via regional trains that take only 20 minutes to the city centre and 30 minutes to the airport, making it very easy to reach from most places in Europe. It should be noted that the Phobos venue is no longer in the city centre, but in one of the suburbs; however, the latter is very easy to reach by public transit, and most hotels (but not AirBnBs) in the city will give you a free public transportation card to use during your stay - what an excellent initiative!

Speaking about the venue itself, you could scarcely find a better one for a dark ambient festival. Immanuelskirche is a 19th-century Protestant church that was deconsecrated in 1984 in order to convert it into a cultural centre and event (primarily concert) space. As such, it has excellent natural acoustics, plenty of room, professional-grade audio equipment and, most importantly, a unique ambience owing to its wood-and-stone interior and incredibly high walls. Add to that Martin's utter perfectionism (the guy spent literally six hours making sure everything is set up correctly for the gig), and you have all the ingredients for an incredible event. As the 200-or-so-strong crowd poured into the church after the doors officially opened, they had the opportunity to have a drink or a bite at very decent prices, as well as explore the huge (for dark ambient standards) merch stand kindly provided by Loki Foundation. At 19.00, it was finally time to take a seat and immerse ourselves in the incredible evening ahead.

Sphäre Sechs (DE)

As if organising the festival itself wasn't enough, Martin was also the first one to perform, alongside his bandmate Christian Stritzel. The duo in question has created music under the moniker Sphäre Sechs for more than two decades, and their brand of synth-driven, dreamlike cosmic ambient was a great way to set the stage for the evening. One thing that definitely attracted everyone's attention was the Moog Etherwave used by Christian on this occasion; for those unfamiliar with the concept, it's a modern take on one of the oldest electronic instruments out there, the theremin, which is operated without physical contact, merely by manipulating the electromagnetic field created between the instrument and its operator through arm movements. In terms of spectrum, Sphäre Sechs definitely explores the bright side of the universe, and the journey is one of fascination rather than dread. Slowly shifting cosmic scenes were accompanied by constant synth drones and deep but warm bass, leading to an almost hypnotic experience. Fog effects and occasional dissonance were just present enough to remind everyone of the vastness and implicit threat of the cosmos, but the atmosphere in general was uplifting and inviting. With the ever-fascinating nebulae displayed on the backdrop towards the end of the set, I realised that Sphäre Sechs excels at imparting that almost childlike feeling of sheer curiosity and innate human need for exploration. Little wonder that the end of the performance was greeted with thunderous applause.

Svartsinn (NO)

Having seen Svartsinn several times before, I thought I wouldn't be in for a particularly big surprise seeing him live again. I was wrong. Whether due to the atmosphere of the venue or the difference in the set itself, this performance felt quite different compared to the one I witnessed in Trondheim in 2024. Svartsinn has the unique advantage of having varied his sound quite a bit throughout his back catalogue, from very deep dark ambient based mainly on field recordings to more melodic outings into synth drone territory, so there's no way to guess which direction the concrete set you're about to witness will take. Perhaps because of the contrast with the preceeding bright and airy performance of Sphäre Sechs, I found this one to be particularly deep and dark. The set opened with hissing sounds over a rhythmic clicking background, soon to be joined by rumbling drones and crackling field recordings (the latter being a highlight of the early 2000s Scandinavian scene for me). If anyone in the audience was hoping to see Svartsinn's more melodic side, as showcased on Elegies for the End for instance, they were sorely disappointed - this was Svartsinn at his most old-school, sombrest self. The video backdrop matched the mood, first through images of a rocky texture with cracks in it, then through the hazy vision of a hand moving in the background, as mere hints of melody provided the base for quotes (sometimes in speech, sometimes in writing) by such notable figures as Isaac Asimov. The monstrously deep drones felt almost rhythmic at times, taking me back to the early days of the project when I discovered it in the first place. As the backdrop displayed a fossilised, parched vision of a human face, chiming sounds slowly faded out, Svartsinn finished his glass of red wine and blew out the candle, bringing his set to a triumphant close.

Peter Bjärgö (SE)

Peter Bjärgö probably needs no introduction to any reader of this website, as this Swedish musician has been a core member of some of the most famous bands and projects the scene has spawned in the past 30 years, such as Arcana, Sophia and Karjalan Sissit, in addition to his notable solo work. What does need introduction, however, are the tragic circumstances that led up to this specific performance. Namely, Peter was supposed to perform at the 2024 edition of Phobos alongside his wife Cecilia, and the couple were actually in Wuppertal getting ready for the show when they learned that their daughter Vendela had tragically passed away. Needless to say, they took the first flight back to Sweden and their set didn't actually take place. Therefore, before saying anything about the performance itself, let me express my utmost and sincerest admiration for the respect that Peter & Cecilia showed to the fans by returning to the festival already the following year, a decision that must have taken an incredible amount of courage. In any case, the set opened with an in memoriam for Vendela over imagery of a vigil candle, and what followed was a very unique performance, quite unrelated to anything that Peter has released under his own name so far. The setting was much more solemn than one might have expected, with Cecilia handling string instruments with a bow instead of Peter's usual reverb-driven guitars, and background choirs taking the place of Peter's baritone vocals. The backdrop soon became more abstract, with images of flames mutating into a golden vortex and carried forth by muted deep vocals over an almost martial rhythm. Things then took a more melodic turn as violin-like melodies and immensely deep bass came to the fore in front of a starry sky that soon evolved into kaleidoscopic, melting visions of the cosmos. Echoing vocals gave the music an almost space-ambient quality, but smoke and sacral choirs aided by Cecilia's live vocals brought it back into more solemn waters soon enough. The performance ended with a crescendo of sorts, with rumbling bass and hissing sounds ultimately collapsing into calmness and trademark choirs to bring the set to a close. A remarkable, if unorthodox live performance, and an equally touching tribute.

Troum

It was finally time for Troum, the OGs of drone and one of the longest-standing acts in the German alternative industrial scene. I'm happy to say that despite almost three decades of activity these two gentlemen seem to be just as passionate and as engaged about what they do, and the audience certainly reciprocated this, as their attention levels didn't seem to dip for a second. No slow build-ups here - the duo immediately went in all guns blazing, with piercing bass and hissing drones overwhelming the sonic space over abstract patterns and spilling ink in the background that revolved in kaleidoscopic form throughout the first half of the set. The wall of sound was simply awesome, but still left enough space for individual instruments and echoing vocals to be heard and perceived. I particularly appreciated the fact that Troum were so present on the stage; there was a palpable dynamic in the movement between the two band members which is highly unusual for drone projects. The video backdrop was also a work of art, particularly the part where various industrial elements (such as factory chimneys) were combined into a satellite-like shape that kept revolving and collapsing onto itself in kaleidoscopic form as the music reached its zenith. Around the halfway point of the set, things took a calmer turn as the backdrop faded out and only remained present as partial colour gradients, while the wall of sound calmed down into rhythmic drone loops occasionally aided by processed harmonica sounds played live. Breaking the pattern of so many musicians in the genre, Troum consciously opted out of a circular structure for their performance, and instead preferred the form of a long decrescendo that would slowly deconstruct itself into its basic components and allow each individual element to shine. An excellent performance worthy of a headliner in every way, and living proof that drone music can be taken to new heights in a live setting despite its misleadingly monotonous nature.

I went back to my hotel thoroughly impressed, not only by the individual musicians' excellent performances, but also by the venue, the perfectly staged running order, and perhaps most importantly, the sheer professionalism and effort that bound it all together. This was easily one of the best-organised events I've ever attended regardless of genre, and it was fascinating to witness how Martin's perfectionist nature extends beyond just his music onto anything else he's involved in, for which he has my deepest compliments. It was also great to be able to catch up with some old friends and chat with a couple of new ones. Even if the 2026 lineup is unknown as of yet, I'm pretty confident that October in Wuppertal will become a recurring staple in my calendar.