Location: Suvilahti, Helsinki (Finland)
Nightstop
Nightstop was the first band on the Sunday. The Synthwave formation is from Finland so no surprise to see a bunch of early birds showing up for them. Expect an 80’s revival brought with a modern feel to it. A bit of a remarkable sight, with a furry tiger print coat and the same on the backdrop. A danceable tune helps cheering the mood for the day, but it is a bit of a slow start here in the tent. The party went on late for many as it seems. But eventually the guys seem to make connection with their audience and have things getting started.
Beyond The Black
Right on the mainstage, where a catwalk has risen overnight, it was Beyond The Black. The formation makes Symphonic Metal since 2014 and they have their homebase in Germany. The band released their fifth full length album last year, which goes under the name “Beyond The Black”. The populated the catwalk with some drums which were used by vocalist Jennifer in the first song to open their set spectacularly. She is a theatrical stage personality that has no issues using the entire stage. She has made connection with everyone here today. Musically the band is not really bringing us something we have not heard previously but that is ok. They entertained us well and have enough quality and skills on hand to keep people listening.
Satra
To stay a bit longer with Symphonic Metal we did a quick glance at the Satra set. This Finnish formation is still fairly new, having their debut full length called “Sand of Time” being out for only a few months at this point. They play in the clubstage, where some people have gathered to see them but it is not at its fullest yet. The band is a bit awkward on the stage, it seems like they don’t really comfortable move around just yet. Unfortunately we could only catch a couple of songs, schedule wise, but perhaps next time to feel more extroverted in their performance.
Warmen
Warmen stirred up some speculation by mentioning the last time Tuska on this place, something that is unconfirmed by the festival and since they announced their next edition specifically mentioning Suvilahti as location we probably won’t have to take it too serious. Was distracting a bit from the show of the lads. The band exists of members of Children of Bodom, Survivors Zero, Oceanhoarse, Church of the Dead and Ensiferum, and makes melodic Power Metal combined with a hint of Melodic Death. The guys came with a new album called “Here For None” last year after a long break. The guys attract a substantial audience and knowing the line up you know some skills are amongst them so seeing them is a safe bet we would say. The show of today thus did not bring too much surprises, yet was entertaining to watch. One of those bands that you can always have on your festival.
Dome Runner
We quickly popped into the clubstage to see some Industrial infused Metal. It is the formation Dome Runner from Tampere which has their chance to make an impression and when we reach the place it is pretty crowded already. Understandable, the guys have a thick and heavy sound to lay upon their audience here today. Performance wise the whole is a bit static for the part we have been able to see, scheduling allowed us just a few songs unfortunately. What we liked is the way they put some aggression into their sound. It is not a band for the weak-minded. They released an EP called “Apocalypse.Pulse.Worship.” last year and seem on track for more to follow.
Lost Society
The boys of Lost Society always bring a smile onto our faces when they appear on Tuska and they come so regularly. Now this year they were standing in for Bad Omens which had to cancel relatively close to date, so it was nice they were able to jump in and put up a show. They guys have a decent production to put up. Sure, their latest release is from 2022 but the guys always are energetic. So they were today, and luckily the catwalk that showed up here today brought some good opportunity for the band to be close with their audience. Vocalist Samy seems a bit sore today but does not let that stop him to go all in. Songs like “KILL (Those Who Oppose Me)” and “Riot” are crowd pleasers here today which the audience is enjoying wildly. Always a joy, having Lost Society along.
Prestige
Up next were some songs of Prestige to watch. The Thrash formation has been around since 1987 and although there was a long gap in their releases, a revival started to take place. Their latest full length is from 2021 and we are unaware whether they have some plans for a new one soon. When we manage to enter the building it is full. But somehow we could see at least a bit from their set upfront where vocalist Aku shines in Donald Duck merch. (Donald Duck in Finnish is Aku Ankka). Nice detail and surely brings on a smile. Musically they simply take no rest and rage their way through the set. Nice to see the tempo up and with some good movement going in at the audience the atmosphere is right. We hope to see a full set some when, for we enjoyed this!
Eivør
The talk of the day was probably about Eivør, a singer/songwriter in the folk genre that had been making waves already before Tuska with the new album “Segl”. She has a long tour planned so we suggest to read carefully so you can decide whether you would buy a ticket for a local appearance. At the stage here in Tuska, surrounded by her band which is positioned in half a circle around her, she shines by modesty. Nothing is too much. The lights, the sound, the performance is all well balanced to support the vocals. And what a voice she has. Impressively strong even with tiny words and parts. Little movements and mimics are needed to make an impression in the tent, which keeps quiet and listens in awe. Songs performed are in a variety of languages bringing tales of folk music translated by this woman to a mesmerizing sound. Now, even if this genre is not your thing. Eivør is an act you should see at least once.
Opeth
Opeth came back to Tuska once again for some songs. Six so to say, for the band is known to have long songs. Not unique for a Prog band to have it as such. Sure, the guys have not released anything new lately, but with a long discography the guys have plenty to choose from. The formation seems in good joy today with some words in between here and there but not going into lengths of stories. The strength of these guys has always been their technical approach to songwriting, where they slowly work to climaxes and sometimes surprise you with the finest details. A track like “Demon of The Fall” underlines this strongly and thus its no surprise to see the audience enjoying this thoroughly. Closing their set with “Deliverance” the guys are bringing a crowd pleaser to conclude their set with. A loud cheering and a big applause both welcomes and farewells the track as well as their set. A few songs, clocking over an hour was bringing the Prog to its highest level at Tuska.
Brothers of Metal
Full stage, when Brothers of Metal enters Tuska. We counted eight people going at it and that means chaos. Everyone is everywhere doing whatever. Power Metal where a lot is going on so to say. The formation comes from Sweden and has been active for over a decade. It seems they don’t take it all too serious and their main focus is to have a lot of fun and bring a party to the event. Now that surely seems to work for them here. People are jumping around, some headbanging and a lot of cheering. A new single from their hands came out recently, it is called “Heavy Metal Viking” and it is safe to say it describes what you can expect from them. Having new material lined up it is good to see that people are hyped for it here ensuring we will probably come across them a couple times more the upcoming season.
Parkway drive
Parkway Drive has been around for over two decades and the guys have been at Tuska before. It has been a couple of years and their vocalist even remarks that. Now In our memories the Metalcore formation has always conformed, just not stood out in our memories, but this time would prove to be different. A proper crowd for the headliner, probably most of all weekend including the sold-out saturday to compete and soon we found out why. These guys brought a killer production. Lots of pyro’s and effects, good way of building up the stage to ensure everyone has a good look at them. And, later during the set vocalist Winston even joins the crowd to bring it even closer to them. Songs like “Vice Grip”, “Karma” and “Sleepwalker” have their impact and set things in motion here at Suvilahti. The power they have in their songs comes across vividly and altogether it is clear that this band has become an excellent headliner. Parkway Drive shows how it is done here at Tuska!
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