Comendatio Music Fest 2025: Ihsahn and Vola Bring Modern Metal to the Medieval Heart of Portugal

The 2025 edition of the Comendatio Music Fest is scheduled to occur on Saturday, June 21, and Sunday, June 22, 2025, at the Paço da Comenda, a rural property located in the Tomar municipality of Portugal. The event will feature performances from fourteen musical groups originating from Europe. The lineup spans several subgenres of metal and rock, including progressive metal, metalcore, and avant-garde sounds.

The festival is an open-air event organized by the Comendatio Association. This non-profit cultural organization was established in 2017 with the objective of organizing cultural activities within the region. The event’s programming brings together a diverse array of established and underground acts, presenting them in an outdoor setting.

Comendatio Association Background

The Comendatio Association, the organizing body behind the festival, was formally registered and established in 2017 as a non-profit cultural organization. Its creation was driven by the stated objective of promoting, developing, and executing cultural events, with a specific focus on the geographic region of Tomar. As a non-profit entity, its operational structure is directed toward cultural enrichment rather than commercial profit, with resources being funneled back into its programmatic goals.

From its beginning, the Comendatio Music Fest has been the association’s primary and most visible initiative. The organization assumes full responsibility for all logistical and curatorial aspects of the event, including artist booking, production management, and on-site operations. The festival serves as the principal platform through which the association pursues its mission, aiming to provide a stage for a wide spectrum of musical acts and to offer a distinct cultural event for both the local population and visitors.

Saturday Headliner: Ihsahn

Vegard Sverre Tveitan, known professionally as Ihsahn, is a Norwegian composer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist. He is most widely recognized for his work as the frontman of the band Emperor, one of the most influential groups to emerge from the Norwegian black metal scene of the early 1990s.

With Emperor, Ihsahn contributed to a series of albums that were foundational to the symphonic black metal subgenre, defined by their combination of raw aggression, complex song structures, and the integration of keyboard-driven atmospheric elements. Following the dissolution of Emperor’s initial run, Ihsahn began a solo career that has seen him move into more experimental and progressive territory, incorporating a wide range of influences from outside of black metal, including classical, industrial, and jazz.

His most recent work, a self-titled album released in February 2024, represents a significant development in his solo discography. The project was executed as a dual concept, released as two separate but parallel albums: one a full progressive metal production, the other a purely orchestral version of the same compositions. This approach allowed for a direct presentation of his dual interests in extreme metal and cinematic, classical-style arrangements.

The metal version features Ihsahn’s characteristic blend of intricate guitar work, harsh and clean vocals, and complex song structures. The orchestral version removes the metal instrumentation entirely, leaving behind a fully realized symphonic work that can be experienced on its own terms.

The conceptual narrative of the album follows a protagonist on a metaphysical journey, a storyline that is intentionally ambiguous and open to interpretation. Musically, the album sees Ihsahn continuing to utilize a broad sonic palette. The metal arrangements are dense and technical, while the orchestral counterpart highlights his skills in arrangement and composition, drawing on the traditions of film scores and late-Romantic composers.

The decision to release the album in this dual format provides a clear view into his creative process, demonstrating how the two distinct musical worlds he inhabits can be developed from the same core thematic and melodic ideas.

Sunday Headliner: Vola

Vola is a Danish progressive metal band formed in Copenhagen. The group’s sound is noted for its combination of heavy, polyrhythmic guitar riffs common to the djent subgenre with melodic, synth-heavy atmospheres and pop-influenced vocal harmonies. This blend creates a dynamic contrast between intense, rhythmically complex sections and more spacious, ambient passages, often within the same song.

The band’s instrumentation typically consists of seven-string guitars, which allow for the extended low-range register often used in modern progressive metal, layered with prominent electronic textures and keyboard parts. The vocal style is a key component of their sound, primarily featuring clean, melodic singing with an emphasis on layered harmonies, which distinguishes them from many of their contemporaries who rely more heavily on harsh vocals.

The band’s fourth studio album, ‘Friend of a Phantom,’ was released in November 2024 and continues the development of their established sound. The album pushes the polar extremes of their music further, with some of its heaviest and most rhythmically complex material appearing alongside some of their most atmospheric and pop-centric melodic work. The opening track, ‘Cannibal,’ features a guest vocal performance from Anders Fridén of the Swedish band In Flames, adding a harsher vocal texture that contrasts with the clean singing of Vola’s frontman, Asger Mygind.

Lyrically, ‘Friend of a Phantom’ continues to explore themes of modern disconnection, personal anxiety, and introspection. Tracks such as ‘Glass Mannequin’ use metaphors of fragility to examine human vulnerability, while others address a sense of misalignment in relationships and collective grief over societal tragedies. The production of the album maintains a balance between powerful, percussive guitar and bass tones and the airy, layered synthesizer parts that are central to their identity. This allows the music to shift between moments of intense heaviness and passages of quiet, melancholic reflection.

Comendatio Music Fest: Scheduled Performers

The first day of the festival, Saturday, June 21, will be headlined by Ihsahn, the project of the Norwegian composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his foundational work as the frontman for the black metal band Emperor. His solo work explores complex and varied forms of avant-garde and progressive metal.

Also performing is the British band Oceans Ate Alaska, known for their highly technical and rhythmically intricate approach to metalcore. The lineup for the day is rounded out by a strong contingent of Iberian artists, including the Spanish industrial metal band Killus, and four Portuguese groups: the metal band The Cost, the metalcore act Crimson Bridge, the progressive rock band Yokovich, and the metal group Equaleft.

On Sunday, June 22nd, the Danish band Vola will headline. Their sound combines elements of progressive metal, electronic music, and alternative rock. The day will also feature a performance from the Swedish band Humanity’s Last Breath, who are known for their exceptionally heavy and atmospheric style of deathcore and djent.

Joining them will be Avkrvst, a progressive rock and metal band from Norway. The remainder of the day’s schedule includes the Spanish metalcore band The Broken Horizon, and three more Portuguese acts: the progressive metal band Phase Transition, the stoner, doom band Lysergic, and the metalcore group Above The Ocean.

The Venue: Paço da Comenda

The festival is held at Paço da Comenda, an open-air property in a rural setting outside the city of Tomar. The name Paço da Comenda, or “Palace of the Commandery,” reflects the area’s deep historical connection to the land-grant systems of the military-religious orders that controlled the region for centuries.

The venue is situated within a landscape historically shaped by the Knights Templar, who established their Portuguese headquarters in Tomar in the twelfth century, and their successors, the Order of Christ. This rich history is physically present throughout the city and its surroundings, which contain numerous historical structures from the Gothic period.

The most prominent of these landmarks is the Convent of Christ and Castle of the Knights Templar, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Construction of this vast complex began in 1160, serving as the Templars’ primary fortress and monastic center in Portugal. Its architecture is a palimpsest of Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline (a Portuguese late Gothic style), and Renaissance construction.

Key Gothic features include the original twelfth-century rotunda, known as the Charola, which was modeled on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and the fifteenth-century Gothic cloisters built during the era of Henry the Navigator. Another significant site is the Church of Santa Maria do Olival, located on the bank of the Nabão river.

Founded in the twelfth century, it became the pantheon, or burial church, for the Masters of the Knights Templar. While the current building is primarily the result of a thirteenth-century reconstruction in an early Gothic style, it still houses the tomb of Gualdim Pais, the founder of Tomar and the first Grand Master of the Templars in Portugal.

In Tomar’s main town square, the Church of São João Baptista stands as another example of late Gothic architecture. It was built in the fifteenth century with funding from King Manuel I and features a notable Manueline portal and interior details characteristic of the period.

The Live Experience: A Contrast of Sound and Scenery

The setting of Comendatio Music Fest at Paço da Comenda offers an experience distinct from typical indoor concert venues. The open-air, rural environment provides a unique backdrop for the scheduled performances. The historical resonance of the Tomar region, with its deep connections to the Knights Templar, creates a notable contrast with the modern and often forward-thinking music on the lineup. Attendees can expect an atmosphere where contemporary soundscapes meet ancient landscapes.

The musical programming points toward an experience focused on technical and atmospheric depth. The headlining performance by Ihsahn is likely to be a cerebral and compositionally intricate affair, reflecting the complex, dual-album nature of his latest work. Vola’s performance will probably emphasize a dynamic range, shifting between powerful, polyrhythmic sections and expansive, electronic soundscapes. For the audience, the festival environment is likely to foster a more attentive and immersive listening experience, centered on the musical craftsmanship of the various international and local artists performing across the two days.

Tickets and Logistics

As of June 2025, tickets are available for purchase. Pricing is structured with options for single-day attendance (€51.00) and a full two-day festival pass (€76.00). For the most current information regarding detailed performance schedules, on-site camping options, and site regulations, attendees should consult the official Comendatio Music Fest website and social media channels.

Conclusion

The 2025 Comendatio Music Fest is poised to deliver a singular experience, built on the compelling contrast between its modern musical lineup and the deep historical resonance of its setting. The event offers more than a series of concerts; it creates a unique dialogue between the forward-thinking, technically complex sounds of its performers and the enduring legacy of the Tomar region.

With a program featuring the compositional intricacy of headliner Ihsahn and the dynamic, atmospheric range of Vola , the festival emphasizes a commitment to musical craftsmanship. For attendees, it represents an opportunity to witness this modern artistry unfold not in a typical venue, but in an open-air, rural environment imbued with centuries of history, promising a weekend where the frequencies of the present meet the echoes of the past.