20.05.2025 Green Lung

Graspop Metal Meeting

Dessel (Belgium)

And from the sun‑drenched area in front of the Jupiler Stage, it was back into the shaded but still rather warm Marquee (I really covered some distance today). From the stage, red eyes staring out of eerie masks looked back at me. Green Lung from London were celebrating their Graspop debut and delivered their occult, mystical, witch‑themed aesthetic with great impact.
What followed was solid stoner metal with classic hard‑rock and doom influences. Vocalist Tom Templar was in great voice, and the rest of the band, Joseph Gast on bass, Scott Black on guitar, plus John Wright on keyboards and Matt Wiseman on drums slightly hidden in the background, were clearly fired up. The psychedelic stage setup, with strange heads appearing again and again through the hazy blue‑red light and fog, added to the atmosphere and perfectly complemented the straightforward tracks from Green Lung’s previous albums. The setlist focused mainly on songs from their 2019 debut "Woodland Rites" and their 2023 record "This Heathen Land". With fantastic tracks like “Maxine (Witch Queen)” or “Song of the Stones”, no one stayed still for long. Even though there wasn’t huge on‑stage action, the show completely drew you in and the mood was excellent. Templar, hiding behind his large sunglasses, delivered a convincing performance, making it all the more of a shame when the band had to leave the stage after the climactic “Let the Devil In".
A performance on the quieter side, but no less impressive. I enjoyed Green Lung a lot, and they far exceeded my expectations. Even though the overall theme didn’t fully resonate with me, the musical performance absolutely did. The only downside was that the sound technicians had set John Wright’s keyboard and percussion a bit too low, leaving him not only visually in the shadows but also somewhat lost in the mix.