30-06-2023 Tuska festival

Avatar is the band that will open the festival. The Swedish formation gathered a good following over the years and thus managed to draw people in as soon as the doors are opening. Earlier this year they came with a new album, “ Dance Devil Dance” so the guys are ready to give us something new.

Theatrical as they are, they put up a performance that is as entertaining as one might expect. Vocalist Johannes is talking a bit with the audience, explaining he is learning Finnish and shows his progress. It results in some cheering for him. Towards the end some more familiar songs were thrown in which results in some appreciation shown as well. Avatar was a good opener and managed to set the atmosphere right away.

Of we went to the Tent stage. Tuska this year has four stages where performances take place, and the tent stage is the second largest. It is Dance with the Dead that gets ready, and their music is maybe not the most stereotypical metal one may expect here. But Tuska has never been afraid to throw in some synth driven acts at the line up and with this American duo they seem to have hit bullseye.

Right from the first song this band is playing the tent is booming. Jumping, dancing, and cheering. The Finnish festival goers seems to have a lot of energy today. Sure, their last album is over a year old by now but that results in the audience being very familiar with it. So early on the festival day and we already have seen a highlight of the day. That is promising!

Kouta was ready to play in the clubstage, the Tuska Kult location. The building was quite filled, seems like the band brought in some people. The temperature in the building is rather high, we know the Finnish people like their saunas but the map showed these to be at a different location.

Kouta has filled the stage well, their combination of Folk and Black Metal is interesting to watch but is not really showing us something we have not seen before. We hoped to see more of their own identity, but the band is not that defined yet. Ready to evolve, ready to grow for the quality of what they have given us is not bad. Remarkable fact, during the show someone in the audience decided to throw a fish flipflop towards the singer. We don’t really know what is up with that or why people feel the need to do this, but apparently the controversy of throwing things to artists has not reached these people yet.

Lost Society has grown to be one of Tuska’s house bands by now, we have seen them various times at the festival and at the first times we were wondering whether it was just the hype or would they stand with it. Every time we run into these guys; they seem to impress us a little more. Sure, they moved a bit from they Thrash sound towards Metalcore, but one thing that has not change is the incredible rage that can be heard when vocalist Samy is opening up his throat.

No one and I mean, no one (!!!) of the old generation has been able to give this powerful rage to us in the 17 years of existence of this mag. So that says something. Lost Society is the new generation, and the thing is, they are made for the stage, made to perform. They don’t need any theater; the music is doing more than enough.

Back to the clubstage. Vansidian is awaiting us with their combination of Melodic Death and Power Metal. Also here we were not too surprised by what we heard, a young band that has not really found their own face just yet. Or, at least not bring that across in the first three songs as the schedule did not allow us to be around much longer than that. After a bunch of singles the guys came with a debut this year, “ Reflecting The Shadows” is available now. Their network brought plenty of people to the place so perhaps this is worth to check out again some when.

While She Sleeps was a bit strange to us, the audience went ballistic for them. So, what do they do? They are a metalcore formation from UK and has been around since 2006. Here they were spreading their energy well between audience and press and then towards the audience again. Playful and with enough vehemence we would say.

The band draws a rather young audience with their sound, and it makes sense for a commercial edge is there. Maybe a bit like Comeback Kid if you need something to compare it with. For they have left a good feeling with the audience, we were less impressed. Seeing other bands out there we think there could have been a bit more uniqueness to them. But in the end, the audience decides and they have chosen.

Jinjer we have come across already recently at Into The Grave and today they seemed perhaps a bit more distance, yet they are talkative enough. We all know the situation the band is in as they are from Ukraine and it is nice to see that while the band gives it some attention, they have their music to do the talking.

The Metalcore is doing well today so with an audience that is into this sound it is not a surprise to see they have a good following. A mosh pit here and there helps them and with a smile of the lady upfront it seems the appreciation is there. Jinjer is a hard working formation that played a good set again. They simply don’t disappoint.

Mokoma is an often-seen guest at Tuska as well. The Thrash formation seems to be in good spirits as their performance appears to be more energetic than ever. Mokoma has a sound that grows on you, through the years but also during the set, so sticking around longer is surely recommended when coming across them. Sure, they have not released any new material recently, but the guys have over 25 years on the counter and with plenty releases they have enough material to draw from.

It’s good to see they start the set with some older material from their “Kurimus” album. Of course, that album released in 2003 so some anniversary is onto that. But the band also throws in some other tracks. Maybe it was their good mood, but from all Mokoma performances we have seen this may be our favorite.

Galvanizer was one of the first surprises we saw in the club stages. The band makes grind core combined with some Death, making it spicy and vehement but also nice to listen to. Their performance was refreshing in the way they have a good balance between the band and the vocals.

Often, we see that one or the other takes the spotlight, where the rest is fading in the back, but these guys have a different approach. Pleasant! The guys have no problems motivating people to some participation. A significant mosh pit took place, but mainly a bit to the back. Most recent the guys have released a split with Morbific, a full length dates back to 2021.

Arch Enemy is back again at Tuska. The Swedish formation is always a stable factor when it comes to performances. What we like about their show is that all band members are very present and energetic. It is easy to have your focus on the lady in blue, but she lets the rest come out great as well. A well-balanced act is always nice to see and with the energy going round, the audience is following suit. A crowd surfer came by, now Tuska is not a festival that encourages crowd surfers like Into The Grave or Dynamo Metal Fest, nor do they have a catching crew ready so it was a bit of a ballsy move. We have not been able to see the whole set of Arch Enemy this time, but we surely enjoyed the parts we did see.

We have seen Diablo sometimes before and the “ Silver Horizon” album certainly gets its plays at our office, but that one is a bit older already. Last year the band followed it up with a new album called “When All The Rivers Are Silent” which did not reach us in the same way. Let’s see what the live show brings.

The guys were programmed against Glenn Hugues, which meant that they probably did not have as many people watching as they could have had, but they seem to be unbothered. In a very relaxed manner, they play their songs and they simply enjoy what they get back from their audience. Solid, but not too surprising show. Entertaining enough.

Gojira was headlining the first day. Now we know that these guys always have an interesting show. Good light shows, visuals, and a stage-wide setup are on the basis of any Gojira show. They have been doing large shows for many years now but the guys do like to look back on the earlier shows they did at Tuska.

Nice to see they remember. However, this all is not much live. Musically the guys are spotless and when “Stranded” is starting a big cheer comes from the audience. Yet, it feels quite distant. The band is not much connected to their audience, not in the way the other headliners at Tuska are. They are doing their thing and clearly enjoy doing so but it feels like a barrier is between them and everything away from the stage. A pity, cause they have a professional approach and a good, well thought surrounding for their
music.

Miseria Ultima was playing at the same time as Gojira, but since they are in the clubstage we were able to head there after the first three of Gojira, see their set and then return to the rest of Gojira.

Good that we did, as the band is perhaps a bit different than most of these acts here at Tuska. Electronic music is not the most present here but when entering the building we spotted many people dancing so there clearly is space for that in the Tuska line-up. What we were missing with Gojira is what we were finding with Miseria Ultima. A band that connects well with the people on the dance floor. Not much needed beyond that, some danceable tunes are filling it in. A good way to end the first Tuska day.