Arion

Arion is a melodic power metal band from Finland. Their most recent album is Life Is Not Beautiful (2020), blending soaring vocals and intricate guitar harmonies from their Helsinki roots.

They opened strong with fast-paced melodic riffs and choruses everyone could sing along to. Their Tuska 2025 set featured highlights like “A World Without Light,” “No Sorrow Sleeps Here,” and “Last Hope.”

On stage, they executed tight, high-energy delivery—blazing twin guitars, galloping rhythms, and soaring melodies. Leonback’s vocals effortlessly navigated highs and mids, locking in with Välimaa’s grandiose synths.

They balanced finesse and power, alternating between speed‑fueled numbers and big‑chorus anthems.

Musically, they stayed crave‑worthy to power‑metal fans—tight low‑end from bass and keys laid a solid foundation, while dual leads delivered both melody and shredding impact.

Arion impressed as a polished, enthusiastic live act. They carried melodic strength and power‑metal charisma, fitting seamlessly into Tuska’s vibrant atmosphere.

Bisa

Bisa (stylized BiSA) is a Finnish alternative metal band from Tampere. Their latest album, Stormcrest (2023), blends aggressive riffing with textured atmospheres and emotional vocals. Their Tuska 2025 appearance included “Midnight Lake,” “Hauntstone,” and “Stormcrest” . They kicked off with heavy guitar distortion and tight drumming, showcasing dark, groove‑driven melodies.

Frontman Alexei (vocals/guitar) brought raw intensity, pitching melodic peaks alongside guttural low-end.

The set featured shifting textures—from clean, emotive passages to crushing breakdowns—particularly effective in songs like “Hauntstone,” where spacial synths contrasted aggressive riffing.

Their stage setup was minimalist yet generative: moody backlighting and fog, letting the music’s textures shine.

Alexei commanded attention, alternating between operatic singing and gritty screams. They maintained tight pacing, ending with “Stormcrest”—its climactic chorus earning enthusiastic singalongs.

Bisa delivered an interesting performance. Their ability to shift between aggression and atmosphere leaves a lingering emotional impact.

Timo Rautiainen and Trio Niskalaukaus

Hailing from Lappeenranta, Finland, Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus have become known for their dark, introspective brand of heavy rock and doom-inspired metal. Their latest studio work, Sota Mieli (2022), continues Rautiainen’s signature blend of poignant lyricism, acoustic-grimy textures, and deep emotional resonance.

Their Tuska festival performance featured classics like “Rukous” (Prayer), “Paratiisin kahleissa” (In Paradise’s Chains), “Rapuarmeija” (Crayfish Army), and newer cuts from Sota Mieli including the poignant “Mensaattori” .

Rautiainen’s baritone delivered deep, emotionally charged narratives in Finnish, turning every lyric into a confessional moment. Each song’s arrangement demonstrated the band’s precise interplay: acoustic guitars for line-driven storytelling, distorted leads for dramatic punctuation, and vivid bass/drum interplay that underscored the lyrical gloom.

On Tuska’s main stage, they took a stripped-down, immersive stance: minimal lighting, stark tone, and space for Rautiainen’s voice to reverberate through the crowd.

The crowd’s response was respectful yet powerful: at “Rukous,” dozens swayed in silent reverence, while “Rapuarmeija” saw more vigorous motion, its driving rhythm erupting in foot-stomps and headbanging.

Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus’s Tuska set was a profound experience—less about spectacle, more about emotional excavation. For fans of introspective, heavy songwriting, this was one of Tuska’s most affecting moments—quietly epic, emotionally rich, and distinctly Finnish.

Charlotte Wessels

Charlotte Wessels, former frontwoman of Delain, is a Dutch singer-songwriter expanding into her solo project with broad pop-rock sensibilities. Her newest release, Tales from Six Feet Under (2024), explores dark, theatrical storytelling at the crossroads of rock and alternative pop.

Her set today included songs like “Anomaly,” “We Are the Others” (carried over from her Delain days), “In Or Out,” and “Hate You” .

Wessels’s voice remained commanding—melodic and theatrical—blending emotional warmth with edgy intensity. Seamless interplays between verses and choruses enhanced her lyric-heavy storytelling. Acoustic passages received hushed attention; full-band crescendos brought rocking energy. She showcased raw lyricism and emotive vocals over dynamic guitar-based arrangements.

Playing “We Are the Others” provoked enthusiastic applause, with attendees singing along, showing her transition beyond Delain was embraced by festival-goers.

Charlotte Wessels provided Tuska with an emotionally rich, stripped-down counterpoint to heavier acts. Her performance balanced vulnerability, vocal power, and theatrical nuance.

Nameles

Nameles is a Finnish groove metal band from Helsinki.
The band was delivering a tight set, including high-energy tracks lhere today. Highlights were rhythmic grooves, percussive riff bursts, and chanted choruses that had the crowd moving in sync—hallmarks of groove metal’s head-nodding appeal.

Onstage, they showcased a muscular dual-guitar attack, both guitars locking into thick, chug-laden riffs punctuated by sharp, palm-muted cuts. Bass and drums offered a locked, pulsating foundation, while the vocals sat just above the mix with shouted, aggressive lines that urged involvement from front to back of the crowd.

Nameles impressed with a compact yet powerful groove-metal set, channeling rhythmic control and groove-oriented aggression. Their music resonated physically with the crowd, spurring motion and energy.

Mokoma

Mokoma are a Finnish thrash/groove metal force from Lappeenranta. Their most recent studio album Dynamo dropped in 2023, continuing their tradition of riff-heavy songs in Finnish, layered with lyrical and social themes .

Their set likely included fan favorite songs from their 2023 album—such as “Kirous” and “Valheen ruhtinas”.

Onstage, Mokoma delivered fast-paced, aggressive thrash riffs sharpened by prominent groove-metal riffs. Frontman Marko Annala channeled raw energy, alternating between snarl-filled verses and anthem-like choruses.

As one of Finland’s most respected metal exports, Mokoma brought national pride and raw performance to Tuska. Tight riffs from Kuisma, Janne Hyrkäs’s precise drumming, and Santtu Hämäläinen’s low-end presence framed an aggressive sonic wall. Their set was a demonstration of musical tightness and rhythmic ferocity.

Mokoma’s Tuska performance was an adrenaline-packed thrash-groove show with high crowd interaction. They balanced technical riffs, raw energy, and Finnish metal heritage—solidifying themselves as one of Finland’s top live metal acts. Their power and charisma left Tuska buzzing long after.

Cemetary Skyline

Cemetery Skyline is a Finnish/Swedish gothic metal band. Their latest album, The Darkest Summer (2024), infuses melodic sensibility with sorrowful ambiance, balancing haunting keyboards and dual vocal styles.

Their Tuska 2025 set at Suvilahti included eleven tracks: opener “Behind the Lie,” fan favorites like “The Darkest Night” and “Anomalie,” plus “When Silence Speaks,” the Roy Orbison cover “I Drove All Night,” and album closer “Violent Storm”. The band launched with intense intro tape, building a dark and cinematic atmosphere before transitioning into heavy-riffed verse passages.

Guitarists alternated lush melodic lines with crunching power chords. The drums and bass locked in solidly, offering a heartbeat to their dark-hued sound. The cover of “I Drove All Night” was a welcome surprise—richly emotive and unexpected, it showcased the band’s willingness to reinterpret classics through a gothic metal lens.

Their stage presence and lighting matched Tuska’s dark aesthetic—pale backlighting and gentle smoke captured the melancholic vibe. Lead vocals were expressive and dramatic, with clean passages amplified by melodic guitar leads, while heavier sections displayed growls and chugging riffs.

Cemetery Skyline’s Tuska 2025 performance impressed with its emotional feel and musical versatility. From gothic melancholy to gothic-fueled heaviness, their set felt cohesive and emotionally resonant.

Orbit Culture

Orbit Culture, from Vetlanda, Sweden, play a forceful brand of groove-toned melodic death metal. Their latest release is Descent (2023), with 2024’s The Forgotten EP refining their aggressive yet catchy formula.

At Tuska on June 28, 2025, Orbit Culture delivered a compelling 11-song set. The show opened with propulsive thrash grooves and seamless transitions into melodic choruses.

Guitars were tight and brutal, the rhythm section locked in, and the addition of Eckerström elevated the performance for one standout moment. The crowd responded eagerly—pits opened and vocals echoed chorus lines like “Vultures of North.”where Johannes Eckerström was joining in.

Orbit Culture delivered a most dynamic groove/death-metal performance. With razor-sharp riffs, memorable choruses, and a guest collaboration, they affirmed their meteoric rise in the heavy music world—and left fans craving more.

Countless Goodbyes

Countless Goodbyes is a modern metal band rooted in metalcore from Pori, Finland. Their sophomore album, Lost in Waves, appeared on October 25, 2024 via Prime Collective, showcasing a deeper, more introspective blend of heavy riffs and expressive melodic passages.
Countless Goodbyes exhibited the hallmarks of seasoned live performers. Founding vocalist Onni Kivikaarre engaged the audience with sincere intros about personal transformation, enriching the emotional impact of tracks like “Pages and Chapters.” Instrumentally, the band balanced melodic choruses with tightly executed metalcore breakdowns; dual guitars, dynamic drumming, and layered vocals created a compelling and balanced sound. Their stage visuals leaned minimal, channeling energy into performance rather than production—a fitting setting for their emotionally charged music.

Alcest

Alcest is a French atmospheric metal band from Paris, pioneers of the post‑black‑gaze subgenre. Their latest album, Les Chants de l’Aurore (2024), explores ethereal textures through blend of atmospheric black metal and shoegaze.

The concert opened with the haunting “L’Envol,” swiftly transitioning into the immersive blend of melody and distortion Alcest is known for.

Vocals floated between whispered and soaring tones. Guitar layers and reverb enveloped the crowd. The lush “Écailles de lune” built gradually into shimmering guitar harmonics. “Flamme jumelle” introduced peak energy before “Le miroir” and “Autre temps” brought an evocative, nostalgic close.

Alcest’s presence was introspective, suited to the main stage’s dusk lighting and atmospheric fog. Their atmospheric palette offered a meditative contrast to Tuska’s heavier acts, drawing listeners into an emotive journey.

Alcest’s Tuska set was a delicate yet powerful highlight—a sensory exploration of atmosphere, melody, and emotion. Their carefully crafted sound, emotional resonance, and immersive stagecraft offered a transcendent experience, standing as one of the festival’s most moving performances.

Eihwar

Eihwar is a French “Viking war trance” duo mixing Nordic folk instrumentation, ritual chants, shamanic drums, and pounding electro beats to create a brutal pagan dancefloor experience. Signed to Season of Mist, their 2024 debut album Viking War Trance merges traditional drum patterns and synth lines into modern trance-metal fusion

Eihwar appeared on the KVLT stage at Tuskaleaving an enormous queue outside waiting hoping some people would leave the venue. They opened with a hypnotic, shamanic drumbeat before unleashing syncopated electro pulses. The percussion-heavy compositions ignited trance-like head nodding and dancing across the crowd—driven by the interplay of synthetic bass and ritualistic chants. Eihwar’s minimalist lineup—two synth/drum performers—allowed each sonic element its spotlight: tribal rhythms, layered vocals, and cold, heavy synth bass pulses became a visceral, ceremony-like journey.

The duo’s vocal presence (Asrunn’s chants) and Mark’s commanding synth sequences pulled the audience into a communal trance. There were no flashy gestures—just muscular, rhythmic immersion.

Eihwar stood out as a unique and intense act at Tuska. Their dark-folk-electro fusion provided an unexpected but welcome break from conventional metal. If you attended their set, it was likely a ritualistic and unforgettable dose of Viking trance—raw, rhythmic, and otherworldly.

Slaughther to Prevail

Slaughter to Prevail is a Russian-turned-Florida-based deathcore band from Yekaterinburg, Russia. They’re known for their punishing gutturals from frontman Alex “Terrible” Shikolai and heavy breakdowns. Their sophomore album Kostolom (2021) solidified their brutal sound, and their upcoming release Grizzly due July 18, 2025, marks a further evolution .

The presence of this formation at Tuska was not without protest. Allegedly, the bands frontman is under some controversy and Russian bands are struggling in Europe anyway. Some protesters gathered in the back of the field with the Ukrainian flag and some middle fingers raised.

On their performance, the band wasted no time, opening with high-octane brutality and never letting go.

Alex’s guttural vocals were earth-shattering, triggering massive pits and visceral energy. Guitarists and rhythm section kept tight, crushing hard-core grooves. They maintained a relentless pace—each breakdown hit with surgical precision.

Slaughter to Prevail delivered a merciless set—technically airtight, brutally energetic, and theatrically charged. As much as they were unwanted, they were wanted.

Royal Sorrow

Royal Sorrow is a Helsinki-based progressive metal band, recently signed to InsideOut Music. They blend cinematic orchestration, heavy riffing, symphonic elements, and hip-hop influences. Their latest single “Samsara” showcases emotional depth and technical versatility.

The set this formation played today flowed with shifting dynamics—heavy grooves, cinematic synth passages, and remarkable breakdowns.

Performing on the KVLT stage, Royal Sorrow stood out among heavier acts, offering refreshing complexity and melodic depth. Atmospheric visuals and a controlled stage presence allowed their sophisticated arrangements room to breathe. Their blend of prog-metal, symphonic layers, and genre interplay delivered a dynamic performance—emotive, technically rich, and uniquely engaging.
Royal Sorrow is a young band with stadium potential hiding underneath.

The Halo Effect

The Halo Effect is a Swedish melodic death metal supergroup, featuring former In Flames members. Their debut album Days of the Lost (2022) revitalized the Gothenburg sound with melodic riffs blended with modern heaviness.

Setlist & Performance
They brought their Halos Over Europe set to Tuska, including tracks like “This Curse of Silence,” “March of the Unheard,” “Feel What I Believe,” “In Broken Trust,” “The Needless End,” “Detonate,” “Conditional,” “Cruel Perception,” “A Truth Worth Lying For,” “Become Surrender,” “What We Become,” “Gateways,” “Last of Our Kind,” “Days of the Lost,” and encore “Shadowminds,”.

The performance was tight and melodic—classic Gothenburg harmonies meshed with powerful grooves. The encore of “Shadowminds” brought the crowd into a chorus singalong, underscoring their melodic strength.

As a standout among Saturday’s genre-diverse acts, The Halo Effect added melodic death metal finesse. They executed their set with precision and energy, lighting accentuating the melodic atmosphere.

The Halo Effect delivered a tight, melody-rich set—a well-executed homage to melodic death metal’s roots, performed with modern polish. For fans of both classic and contemporary Swedish metal, their Tuska set was a standout.

Thrown

Thrown is a Swedish metalcore band from Stockholm, blending nu-metal, hardcore, and beatdown grooves. Their debut album EXCESSIVE GUILT arrived in August 2024 via Arising Empire, entering the Swedish hard rock chart at #3.

Their live style favors swift, intense tracks (most under 3 minutes) with heavy breakdowns and nu-metal callbacks, igniting energized crowd movement.

On stage, Thrown provided raw, concise metalcore intensity. Their minimalist setup let groove-focused riffs and Buster’s tight drum patterns dominate. They brought high energy and crowd interaction; fans and critics noted their live shows “translate well”—even amidst discussions around Spotify promotion.

Thrown’s Tuska set was a fast, ferocious burst of nu-metal-tinged aggression. Though brief, their live mix of pounding breakdowns, rhythmic drive, and audience response delivered one of the festival’s most visceral performances.

Powerwolf

Powerwolf is a German power metal band from Saarbrücken. Their last album, Interludium (2023), compiles new songs, re-recordings, and covers, highlighting their theatrical, hymn-like power metal style and dark, tongue-in-cheek religious imagery.

Their set at Into The Grave was still fresh in mind and this one was exactly the same. Predictable for the fans, with an enormous production that can keep you entertained regardless.
As a headliner, Powerwolf brought a theatrical spectacle—cinematic staging, theatrical chants, and pyrotechnic grandeur. Their operatic vocals, pounding rhythms, and choir-like hooks ignited massive singalongs, making them festival favorites.

Powerwolf’s Tuska appearance was a high-energy, theatrical crescendo—bombastic power metal with operatic flair and gathering-wide chants. They closed Saturday night with pomp and showmanship, perfect for fans seeking melodic grandeur with tongue-in-cheek dark themes.