Photo Reports

New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal organised a Vappu after party at Tampere’s Maanalainen on May 2nd. Originally the line-up was supposed to include Scars of Solitude, but they unfortunately had to cancel last minute due to illness. So because of that, I unexpectedly got to know three new bands that evening.

The event started with the locals from Crimson Day, who brought some solid heavy metal to the stage, including a fun metal cover of Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Holding Out for a Hero‘. Next up was Everlore which I enjoyed a lot, actually even more than on record. Unfortunately, Neverfade started a good half an hour late so I sadly had to miss most of their set.

All in all a fun evening.

To celebrate their brand-new statement towards the world in the form of the new album ‘DEATHMATCH’, Luna Kills put together a release party show at On The Rocks in the beginning of April, playing most of their new songs live, many for the very first time! The venue filled up pretty nicely and the crowd went wild! As support, they brought the promising outfit Lastout all the way from Tampere to Helsinki as a great warm-up for the night…

Heilung live is always such an impressive experience, it’s more than just another concert, it’s a ritual connecting us with our ancestors. Every time we leave energized and exhalted by the flow of energy radiating from this collective. So every time they come anywhere close to our neighborhood, you can be rest assured that we’ll be there. And since this tour will be the last for a long time, with them taking a break from spreading their amplified history around the world, we knew we really didn’t want to miss out on this! They brought their good friend Eivør with them to yet again warm up the crowd with her spellbinding voice and music, which is such a darn good match always!

The Belgian giants of post-metal, AMENRA, are gracing Europe’s stages with a tour in 2025. Accompanying them is YEAR OF THE COBRA as the opening act. Latest addition to AMENRA bassist Amy Tung Barrysmith first performs with her own band project and then takes up the bass for AMENRA herself.

For over 20 years, the Belgians have unleashed overwhelming live experiences with their incredible stage presence and a furious sonic tornado. The sheer intensity of their audiovisual masterpiece sweeping through the halls is hard to put into words. The tour kick-off in Stuttgart was no exception. Entirely in black and white, without any colours, the lighting, and stage setup. The band’s performance was complemented by background animations synchronized with the music and a touch of fog, which were the only visual elements.

Vocalist Colin H. van Eeckhout, as usual, spends most of the time with his back turned to the audience. Only on rare occasions does he turn around, revealing himself to the crowd.

If you have the chance to attend one of their upcoming concerts, don’t miss it!

When 3 of the biggest names in the extreme/black metal scene join forces and go on a conquest of Europe, you have to oblige and go. So when Behemoth‘s “Unholy Trinity tour” showed up in Helsinki to baptize the Ice Halls in darkness and the occult with their friends of Satyricon and Rotting Christ, that’s exactly what we did. Some people might complain that Behemoth has sold out, but there is simply no deny that they are a monster live. This truly was a celebration of all that is dark and occult in the truest sense, in front of a massive crowd gathered in the arena…

Canadian black metal giants Spectral Wound took over sold out On The Rocks in Helsinki during their “BLOOD. MIRE. DEATH. tour” bringing their unique raw, uncompromising black metal assault with support from Finland’s own death metal outfit Ashen Tomb. So of course we had to check this out! Check the pics from this misty, sweaty night down below!

Opeth released an absolutely brilliant new album with ‘The Last Will And Testament’ last year, and now they brought it to the stage all over Europe. And we in Helsinki were honored to be the first stop of the tour, getting a first taste of their new work live. Even though we had seen them several times last year in different settings, they managed to impress and surprise us massively yet again, there is simply no end to the talent and mastery of these guys… With them they brought their countrymates of Grand Magus to give us a proper warm-up, what a night for the metal fan!

It has been proven many times before that classical music and metal can work perfectly together, and The Rock Orchestra is no exception. Their songs have been well selected and arranged, and on top of that the musicians are not only skilled but also clearly enjoy taking part in this project. The show in Tampere-Talo, like many others on the tour, is pretty full, even though it’s on a weekday. We got to enjoy songs like ‘Toxicity‘, ‘Run to the Hills‘, ‘Nothing Else Matters‘, ‘Chop Suey‘ and so much more, all in a classical setting.

Recently a new rock entity from Finland rose to our attention: Ginger Evil started to release their first singles, and we really liked what we were hearing. They released their debut full-length album, on renown rock label Frontiers Music, and while they had planned to have an official release show in Helsinki quite soon after, an illness in the band threw a wrench into that plan. But they didn’t want to let the plan to properly introduce Ginger Evil to Helsinki, so they moved it to the next month, and we were all too happy to get to see these talented people into action on the stage at the KULT Club, in the basement of Helsinki’s house of culture!

When a line-up like this one comes to your neighborhood, you have to make sure you don’t miss out. With Swedish melodic death metal legends Dark Tranquillity and special guests the Portuguese masters of gothic metal Moonspell and German melodic death metallers on the rise Hiraes to open the night, you just know it’s going to be a good one. And clearly we weren’t the only ones since the show was completely sold out well in advance. And we definitely were not disappointed! Every single band absolutely killed it on stage and were a pleasure to see!