29,30-06, 01-07-2012 Tuska Festival

Location: Helsinki (Finland)
By: Sabine van Gameren & Lara Cappelli

Day 1, Friday:

Tuska is starting its second year at Suvilahti. A splendid line-up ahead but even though a few last minute changes would occur. Animals as Leaders could not make it, Barren Earth filled up their spot, Lamb of God could not make it either, beyond their fault. Overkill was granted their slot so they had some more time and Finntroll would come around to fill up as well. An unexpected surprise it turned out to be. The weather was with us, a wonderful weekend came by.

Opening this year’s edition of Tuska was honored for the Finnish Profane Omen. The band plays their groovy metal here to wake up the audience and even though they were the first ones, some early birds came out to see them playing. Good that they did, the band seem to have their act together very well. The bass is quite upfront in their sound, much adding to the that groovy atmosphere but with the vocals it comes back to a more aggressive sound again. The band used some material of their latest album “Destroy!” to show the audience what they are up for but also played some older material which got the audience on their side some more. This is a great act to wake up with!

The Inferno tent stage opens its curtains to a special band today. Alcest come from France and play a fusion of post rock, shoegaze and black metal that definitely kindled the interest of many people, coming along to enjoy the show despite their early performance. As the intro and “Autre Temps” starts, all the eyes are fixed on what’s going on stage; the highly ethereal music is building up, step by step, an atmosphere you can’t help getting yourself hooked at. This is surely a kind of music that lends itself to more intimate venues, which is of course a risk when it comes to playing in festival such as this one. Alcest managed it greatly though, creating a soft web of beauty and passing it over a spellbound audience. It was certainly not the case of an aggressive metal concert you could headbang to, but in its own way, this music is as powerful as that. Alcest will always blow your mind away, no matter the place their music will be played in. Beautiful, mesmerizing.

Inferia is a death-grind metal band coming from Lahti, Finland, that has been around for more than 20 years now. They might have been the first band to pay the price of playing quite early in the day, since the Musamaailma stage was nowhere near crowded when they started their set. Blame it to the anxiety of the whole context, but this band got me quite confused. The music seemed somehow in need of some variety here and there, and their performance limped big time as well. The singer seemed to be very into the music and well willing to get the audience along with it, but his attempts in doing it turned out quite awkward and frantic at times and, in the end, didn’t seem to work out very well. However, he seemed to be the only one in the band at least trying to involve the audience at all, which can be taken as an admiring try.

The Thrash Metal formation Exodus was the first one to hit the mainstage. With about 30 years of experience they knew how to build a decent set you would say. A long list of releases to pick some songs from gave a very varied set. The band seems to enjoy themselves as well and this encourages the audience to get along with it all. Tracks like “Piranha” really got appreciated and some head banging took off. The more classic track “The Toxic Waltz” brings you back in time with their discography, where the main focus of the set of today is. Exodus shows why they can keep going, their tracks are steadily played. Good that they played some of their classics, but a bit more modern material would have suited as well. Nevertheless a set that got appreciated.

Suidakra had a bit of an cold image when they first entered the stage, but the Inferno tent could warm them up as much as needed to get them started. The band plays Melodic Death metal and includes Folk influences into their sound. The band released eleven albums never taking much of a time off to create new material, the energy that comes with that surely radiates on the stage. The band seem to take their performance a bit from a distance top the audience, it took a while for them to crawl out of their shell and get a bit more in touch with their fans. It is not what we are used to from them, maybe they were not that full of energy yet. Musically the band seem to work it out but as a performance the expectations were a bit higher.

The progressive Death Metal formation Barren Earth was filling up for Animals As Leaders, which had to cancel as they missed their flight. The band had played a local show the night before in town as well and seem to have no problem with starting the whole again a day later on a slightly larger base. The band has members coming from various other known bands and even though they are not always the most energetic live act to see the band gains its success mainly from the intensity of their sound. So it was today. The band starts it off pretty calm and builds to a more intense show. Climbing towards climaxes the band surprises often, probably the band makes most impression on those who know the music, it is not the open music you fall in love with easily if you have not heard the album before, but Barren Earth showed to be a worthy replacement today.

Musamaailma finally starts to see more people coming in for the next band, Demonic Death Judge. It’s again the case of a Finnish band, this time delivering what they call “sludge-stoner metal”. Whatever it means, the band knows what to do and the audience seems to be prepared for that. From the play of light to the few words spoken and the sluggish stage presence, everything seems to be done on purpose to create a certain kind of punchy atmosphere. The band is currently working on their second studio album and we’ll be waiting for that, hoping it turns out as intriguing as their show today.

There’s no way on earth you can say that a concert of Edguy is just about music. The German power metal band took full speed ahead from the very beginning and was well intentioned to get all of the people in the audience – and I really mean all of them – along with the energy that they spread on stage. Tobias Sammet, with his comic and straightforward attitude, plays very well his role as main entertainer, not afraid of teasing the crowd if not enough satisfied with its response. In the end his efforts seemed to be paid back, as the band finally manages to create what they call an “ interactive experience”. The band is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, but the possibility of letting their music age with them is clearly out of question. It’s great to see the actual fun that a concert like this can give you, no matter if you’re into this kind of music or not, you will be fully entertained.

The small clubstage MusaMaailma gives space for those up and coming acts and are often very surprising. The Finnish Unkind makes Hardcore/Punk music. Their show appeared to be a bit chaotic, an attempt to make as much noise as possible and maybe this doesn’t really work out as planned. Must be said that at the end of their set, things were set straight a bit better, make the band sound like a band instead of some band members making it a contest of who rages hardest. Instrumentally they have the right package, some interesting riffs pop up, the vocals may be a bit too dominating still, but the band should be able to set something great. As long as its teamwork, that’s to say.

Lock Up is a Swedish death grind metal band, which was initially formed as the side project of Shane Embury and Jesse Pintado from Napalm Death. After some line-up changes the band is now back on the run with a third album and today’s performance was their first one in Finland. It’s maybe right for that reason that Lock Up might not have expected to find the Inferno tent so packed with people. This surely motivated the band even more in delivering a remarkable performance from the first songs already. From here on, they just never let up with each track delivered with the same level of spite, and in the same breakneck speed. It seemed like there were quite some people in the crowd who didn’t know the band that well, so we could all agree on saying that this first Finnish appearance was the best way to introduce themselves to a new audience.

What Saint Vitus has brought us today can be taken as a very good example of the weight of experience. With a set list that goes back to 1987, the American doom metal band has shown once again how willing to stay on top they are. Yes, the band has definitely aged with time and that might get the show a lack of action, but the sound that made them famous is still there, and it’s damn amazing to see it coming to life after such a long time. The sign of time can be noticed on Wino’s voice as well, which sounds somehow backed, but then again, that kind of suits the atmosphere of the music even better. The entertaining duty seems naturally left to new drummer, Henry Vasquez, who is definitely able to create his own show even from the back of the stage. A warm welcome back to these living legends!

The Progressive Metal band Oddland is one of those precious surprises that was scheduled at the clubstage. This year the band released their debut full length release “The Treachery of Senses” this year which stirred up the scene and got the interest of many. Here on the stage they showed what a great combination of vocals and guitars can do to make the whole mellow, catchy and yet remains with a strong body. Musically it all works, even though the band may not have given the most perfect performance, some sound issues here and there but you can’t leave their show knowing you have witnessed a promise for the future. Oddland, bring it on!

Trivium was what we needed to finally see the crowd of the Radio Rock main stage go a little crazy. Formed in 1999 the band members were only kids then, but as they have grown bigger and bigger with time, the quality of their shows seems to have done the same. Indeed, it was the first time that the Radio Rock stage started to have actual mosh pits and circle pits going on in the crowd. No wonder the band was extremely satisfied with the response received, which is not a surprise anyway, given the huge amount of energy they have at their disposal. Especially Matt Heafy, singer and guitarist of the band, would probably be able to entertain the same amount of people by just sitting on a chair with his arms tied up. The debate on what exactly this band is trying to achieve is still open for someone, questioning about the target that they want to reach. Nothing of this was seen today though, as the audience seemed quite united under the spell of their music.

Demigod is a Death Metal formation from Finland playing at the Musamaailta clubstage. The band has been split for a couple of times and as it seems they currently are back together. The band has some interesting material but the way it is brought does not show the most enthusiasm. They do not really draw that much of an audience either, perhaps the headliners are causing that people gather rather for their stages than being indoors with these guys. In some way it is a bit of a pity, the band has a couple of nice tracks played, but a bit more passion into it would lighten it up.

Hatebreed got a good show going. The US formation is there to bring some Hardcore to the field and shows us some good energy. The guys have been around since 1996 and their fame grow fast enough to make them one of the major names in the scene nowadays. The band sets a strong set, having their energy wisely divided and make the audience participate with their act. Isn’t it great to see everyone jumping around and having fun, a sure pleasure to see these guys perform. Besides the vocals it are the guitars that stand out a lot in the sound, having these guys upfront gives it all some extra spark and you feel the passion coming through. An excellent show of Hatebreed, very nice!

Arcturus was the surprise of the day, there’s no doubt about that. If you didn’t know the band at all, you could be deceived by the first sight at them, which would be pretty much like this: weird looking guys dressed as some sort of elves from space make strange faces staring at the audience just before the show begins. Then the music starts, and you can silently be ashamed for having questioned the band even just for those five seconds. Under the surface the band hides an outstanding avant-garde metal grown in quality throughout the years. A noteworthy technique characterizes the Norwegian band as well, the highlight of which stands in Simen Haestnaes breath-taking voice. Although this was their third time in Finland this year, the audience and the band don’t seem tired of the mutual company found in the shows. But really, how could you ever get enough of something like that?

A.R.G. comes from Finland, delivering trash metal that finds its origins back in 1987. The band had quite a success back in the days, but was inactive for a long while, so today’s show gave us some sort of vintage feeling we couldn’t resist. As a matter of fact, the songs played are undoubtedly “old”, but not even close to be boring for that. Even the great amount of people packing the club shows that the interest for A.R.G. and their “reindeer metal”, as they call it, is not gone yet. The four of them convey a great show under the technical point of view, although one should have made his own effort in getting involved enough into it, as the band is not really taking care of that aspect of the show. Probably A.R.G.’s performance wasn’t the strongest of the day, but still a noteworthy one.

Headliner Megadeth was a bit of a challenge, would the manage to make an impression after still so many years of being around. At first it was very disappointing, this mainly on the vocal front. It felt like something was terribly wrong, an old voice that doesn’t keep up with it all any longer, but things got better after the second song. The band takes us throughout their whole discography, “Hangar 18”, “She Wolf” but also the more recent track “Guns, Drugs & Money” coming from their latest studio release “Th1rt3en” got played. The bandhas a reputation on which they are still living off, but the question is if Dave Mustaine can keep it up with the vocals. No doubt on his guitar skills, he perfectly works those, but overall it appears to be a bit flat as a performance. Or maybe it were just the expectations that were too high. Fair enough, the audience was still quite tame during the show as well, too bad.

Day 2, Saturday:

The Estonian band Metsatöll was opening the second day of Tuska on the main stage. Not too many people have gathered, but those who were there seemed to be there for the band specifically so yet some good atmosphere was around. The band plays Folk Metal and with their traditional instruments the band likes to create a bit of difference into their sound. Deep vocals are giving them a strong base for the lead to go onto and bagpipes are soon bringing an atmosphere that makes you want to dance to their sound. While more and more people enter the area, they draw the attention of everyone as whoever enters has to pass the main stage. The band has released their last album called “Ulg” in 2011 of which you could see the gorgeous cover on the backdrop today. A nice add to the show are some pyro’s that make the show a bit more spectacular.

The second opening band of the day was Corpsessed, that hits the stage of Musamaailma early in the morning. It’s the case of a rather young Finnish band, formed in 2007 and making death metal music. Their set was enthusiastic enough to be received quite well, even from an audience that at first sight didn’t seem hardly waiting for their appearance. Their music is dark, and definitely defines a specific atmosphere that found its perfect environment on an intimate stage such as this one, with the dark kind of lights used. Their first demo “The Dagger & The Chalice” was released in 2011, be sure to check it out.

Coming from England, Anaal Nathrakh intrigued us with a rather calm intro, but it’s only until the singer Dave Hunt makes his appearance on stage that the real show begins. The aggressive metal of the band finds its way to the audience quite easily and it’s surprisingly amazing how much a frontman can really pass his raw energy and aggression to the crowd with simple acts that stir up the audience very quickly. The band however doesn’t seem to give this overwhelming reaction for granted, as this was their first time in Finland; indeed a warm welcome to start with.

Amoral was a bit of a surprise. It was quiet, the audience seemed a bit dead. Not responding at all. Not even when frontman Ari tries to get the audience to response. We started to wonder if there was anyone in the audience that liked this band at all? A few girls here and there seem to like them, but it was a bit of a surprise to see very few people showing interest. Then the performance itself, the show was a bit strange perhaps. Some of the band members seem to enjoy playing and show, their bassist at least gave a lot of energy, but Ari and some others seem to be a bit hangover at first. A couple of tracks later they seem to get awake a big bang may have helped with that as well, but this performance does not seem to live up to what we have expected from them. A bit of the story on why this has happened is revealed on the interview we had with these guys later this day (LINK), so we will forgive them for that part at least.

The Finnish Death Metal formation Vorum surprised us in the MusaMaailta stage. The band has only released some small releases, but is currently working on their debut full length. The start their show off with a calm start but are ready to rage hard within a second after that. Death Metal with a surprising point of view, quite refreshing in some way while you cannot name what it is that makes it unique. In fact there are quite some recognizable things in there but the guys know how to build their sound quite well and the focus is strongly on the combination of the drums with the guitars. There are some vocals but they are not that much of the issue here. The band played a set that made us very curious on how they will sound on that debut release. Hungry for more!

In Finland Mokoma is one of those bands that don’t need any introduction. They convey a kind of metal music that has found in one way or another, its way to the ears of most of the Finnish people. Having a strong fan base in their homeland, it goes without saying that not only was the enthusiasm for their appearance very strong, but the overall atmosphere that one could instantly get from the show was close to the one of a huge family enjoying the whole experience together. The sound wasn’t always of the highest quality, but the band was able to make up for that with their on-stage involving presence. The setlist for today’s gig was quite special as well, since it was chosen by the fans themselves through an onlive voting system. Such a unique and pleasant show was definitely a good chance to get the attention of the foreigners in the audience, who weren’t likely to know the band yet.

Death/Thrash formation Winterwolf was playing in the Musamaailta stage. They are the origin of the band Deathchain, nowadays again releasing material under the name Winterwolf. In 2009 a full length got released under this name and what the band is currently up to, is maybe not too clear for everyone. At least they were playing here at Tuska today and the band played a good and tight set. Must be said that their music does not really stand out much as being unique but it was nice to fill up some time with. Hopefully they could highlight their identity a bit more for a future release or show.

When Horna was entering the stage we were quite cramped in the photopit. Obviously this band has the interest of the press at least and it seems like the tent was filled as well on the audience side. The members of this Black Metal formation are known from various other bands which may have caused this interest. Must be said, they did not disappoint at all as they know how to make a performance. The main attraction to this act is vocalist Spellgoth which with his presence, his mimics and relics makes an impact on many besides the fact that his vocal input is quite upfront. Some good guitarists are standing right next to him, founder Shatraug to be mentioned as the one that stands out, but also the drummer claims a good spot in the sound. Lately the band did not release much new material, but throughout the years many splits, EP’s and full lengths have been released so the band was able to give us a varied set that entertained until the end.

Textures is a metal band from the Netherlands. Their progressive sound has increasingly gained a whole set of interested eyes and ears around their name and today they had the chance to play for the third time in Finland. Though the frontman Daniël de Jongha has a lot of charisma in what he does on stage, the entertainment is well balanced amongst all of the band members. The fact of having a large line up – made of six members in total – turns to their advantage when it comes to covering the whole stage, but they do put their own effort in involving the audience as well. Also, one should take their hat off to the technique of all of the members, whose example of admirable skills were on full display today.

Evil-lyn is not the usual female fronted metal band you might expect to see. There’s nothing symphonic in their music, but only pure old-school heavy metal. Formed in Tampere, Finland, in 2007, the band released their first EP in 2011 and is still promoting it in Finland and abroad. It immediately jumps to your eyes the enthusiasm that the band carries along during their performance. They all entertain the audience with a lively show, and especially the singer Johanna Rutto seems extremely excited today. There’s nothing left for us to do but wait for the release of their first full-length, which seems to be in the making.

Napalm Death has been around since 1981 and today scheduled to play the main stage. Quite a nice surprise to say, the band was quite vivid and full of energy. A long list of releases is on their name, latest full length came out this year. “Utilitarian” it was called and the band played some of the newer tracks today. Luckily the band also kicked back to some older material which surely pleased the audience. A little mosh pit occurred and so the show started to make an impact. A very well spend hour, must be said.

Battle Beast is one that starts to get bigger day by day. We saw them touring with Poisonblack but after that some more great events took place for them. The Heavy Metal formation is fronted by a lady that has an awesome vocal range and puts something extra to the sound of Heavy Metal that is so familiar to all of us but then with a warmer touch. When the track “Armageddon Clan”was played you saw people head banging everywhere and the band maintains to hold this during their set. It is good to see that all of them are very energetic on stage, the band seem to have great joy in playing which radiates onto the audience. The band closes the set with a cover of WASP’s “Wild Child” which maybe is one that you could have seen coming, but is well done in any way. This band makes a party out of their show and is a band you could casually see, without knowing them and totally loving it.

Afgrund comes from Sweden. Their music develops its sound on several different influences that keep at their basis grindcore, still presenting some more punk as well as melodic peaks. This diversity is maybe what makes their performance work so well, since they completely break the net of repetitiveness that some of the grindcore band get stuck into. That of course doesn’t make the show by itself; you also need to get the audience into the mood and Afgrund certainly did that. The band has released their third full-length just recently and today they gave quite some people a good reason to give it a listen

Insomnium is quite a settled name. No surprise to see that many came to see their show. Their Melodic Death has taken them through Europe several times and with the release of their latest album “One For Sorrow” their fame enlarged instantly. The band has catchy tracks that stick in mind easily and when these are played people in the audience are singing them along, “Through The Shadows” is one of these tracks and that is just one of the examples of the set that were a great success. Secretly we long for seeing these dark and sad tracks in a dark smoky club rather than here on a sunny outdoor stage, because that triples the atmosphere and the whole feeling around their music but Insomnium played their set great here as well. Simply said, this band sticks together as it should and so we were not surprised at all on this.

Up next was Sonata Arctica, the well-known metal band from Kemi, Finland. Today’s show happened to be the 700th for singer Tony and drummer Tommi, the only two original members of the band, under the name of Sonata Arctica. Certainly a remarkable goal that the band honours with a steady performance: marrying together the oldies-goldies hits with the newest ones, Sonata Arctica manages it greatly to blend their old power metal style with the ever-evolving progressive one that they’re experimenting. It’s clear that they intend to maintain the direction towards the shift of sound, which seems to amuse them too. Tony Kakko is certainly the one who masters the stage today, with his outstanding voice and involving presence he proves himself as a great frontman. Out of their power metal shell this band is reborn, the shows are dynamic and it’s clear that the band enjoys them much more. Make sure to catch them on the road while they’re on tour this fall!

Victims was playing indoors on the small stage. This Swedish band plays Hardcore Punk music and released their album “Dissident” last summer. The band was quite fun to watch, the punk influence was so obviously present more than other bands we saw before. What speaks for them is that they are stepping a bit away from the most cheesy sound, yet remaining the characteristic sound that you may expect. A refreshing sound is welcome so that clearly captured our interest. The band only played for half an hour but hopefully next time we can see some more of these guys.

The Finnish Swallow The Sun has been going sky high last couple of years. No surprise to see the band playing here at Tuska. This year the band released their album ‘Emerald Forest and the Blackbird” which is their fifth full lenght. Good to hear them play some songs of this release, which they did quite well. Luckily the band was playing in the Inferno tent which kept a little of the club intimity with them here.

Behemoth was long awaited, some fans have been in the front row since the early morning already. The Polish formation have built a reputation since 1991 and has a long list of releases on their name. It has been a while since the guys came up with a new full length but for the show of this night they have plenty to fall back on. The band has a strong set, focusses mainly on the music and let that be the leading factor in their performance. Of course they have these looks but the music is the majority of the performance. And it works for them as the band plays tight and only one look of vocalist Adam can make you feel ashamed of yourself for not head banging or showing of your appreciation. With the impression these guys make, they are one of the strongest acts of the day and of the whole Tuska event.

For The Imperium is one we were looking forward to. Three years ago we spotted the band playing, caught them for an interview and fell in love with their great live show. Since that day much have been going on for the band. A record deal came, the band released a debut full length and are currently in the studio working on new material. Starting with “Breathing Life In You” they chose the perfect song to get the audience going and when it takes to long for the mosh pit to start vocalist Ville jumps into the audience to get it all started. After that no help was needed, “Working Class Heroine” and “California Girl” was all they need. Obviously the band has made a name, the audience scanted for more and the band had to return for an encore, which we had not really see that much during the festival so far. Let’s see what that second album will bring!

By the time Sabaton hit the stage, the crowd had already managed to set up a warm atmosphere. The chorus of their songs were already sung aloud, making it very easy for the band to feel immediately welcome when they started out with “Ghost Division”. It doesn’t take much time either to realize what a welcome choice for the last act of the day they were, turning out once again a true enjoyment to witness. The fruits of their career are quite consistently worthy, as the band always arms their sets with some of the golden oldies, even throwing in some more surprising choice. As if that wasn’t enough, the whole show is heated up, in all meanings of the word, with a set of pyro’s. Heats off!

Day 3, Sunday:

The Man-Eating Tree started in 2009. The band makes Atmospheric Metal and it feels a bit of a pity that they play very first on Tuska Sunday. Not everyone is awake while this mellow music is simply so great to wake up with. Some power comes when the band plays their third song “Code of Surrender” that has some very intense parts within. The band gives a great space to exhibit the skills of drummer Vesa Ranta and that while there are also such great guitars in this song as well. Good that it can stand next to each other without battling each other off. The band plays for about an hour and played tracks from both their albums, leaving us sooner than we hoped for. A great act that is quite different from what else you see around here at Tuska, such a nice start of your Sunday.

Good morning Tuska! In case your morning coffee didn’t work well enough, Suicide Silence has come to shake you from your slumber. The band comes from California and delivers very powerful deathcore music. The first thing that you can notice and appreciate is singer Mitch Lucker’s presence on stage, who is often into his own dance and rather creepy way of interpreting the music. It’s not long before a whole hell of an atmosphere is set, and the audience gets as mad as it never was, drifting into circle pits, wall of deaths and crowd surfing. Suicide Silence is celebrating their tenth anniversary this year and is due to release a new album next summer. Make sure to check it out, but first go join the moshpit!

The cello metal of Apocalyptica gave us a good reason to stick around the main stage. The interesting sound of the band is nowadays one of the most famous in the Finnish metal scene, and certainly one of the most selling abroad as well. The live line up seems to be settled with Tipe Johnson at the vocals, who makes his appearance to perform “Bring Them To Light”, “I Don’t Care” and “I’m Not Jesus”. Besides that, the setlist was filled with the same bunch of Metallica covers and main hits the band usually plays. The four of them are always enjoyable to watch, but the pick of the songs and their interpretation didn’t leave much space for any surprise today, making it a good show for the few who didn’t know the band, but a rather predictable one for those who were familiar with them already. The formula that characterizes the band will always be innovating in its way, but it’s maybe time for them to spice their concerts with something really new. We hope to see that soon in the future along with some new material.

The Finnish Cross-Over band Final Assault was first on the MusaMaailta stage. In 2009 the band got formed and two years later they already released their second full length. Seems like the guys have inspiration enough to keep it all going, it all appear to be quite short tracks, the band comes to their point quite quickly. A dose of their own humour inserted, the band likes to speak out what they stand for. A bit too much for many in the audience, still early but perhaps this makes more sense in the heat of the night. Not the greatest surprise, but not bad either. Just a wrong timing.

Skeleton Witch is a band that combines heavy Black, Death and Thrash to gather their sound. The band recently released their album “Forever Abomination” The band was formed in 2003 in Athens, Ohio and released four full lengths since. It was a bit of a surprise what would come from these guys live, but we got surprised with a very active show. The band was giving their all from the beginning and with strong guitarists in their band they clearly give the audience some riffs that surprise us all. Unfortunately the band has been scheduled with some other acts around them so we could not see all of the set, but they did well enough to go see it again some other time.

Baroness didn’t seem to be the most awaited band of the day, yet the second main stage did have quite a substantial bunch of people waiting for the upcoming act. Baroness is a band formed in 2003 in Georgia, whose discography boasts of two intriguing full-length and a third to be released really soon this month. If I had to describe their show with one word, I would probably go for “elegant”. There was something in their show, give it to the attitude of the band on stage or their rather progressive kind of metal itself, that makes it all get under a very smart tone whenever I go back with my mind at it. The band really conveyed a high level show, under any aspect you may want to consider. Baroness is intended to be a band that breaks down doors and blows minds and that’s certainly what they have done today.

One Morning Left was on the list as well and we felt a bit hesitating to go see their show. Their album “The Bree TeenZ” has given us some mixed emotions whether we like it or not, but we thought it hinted into live shows being a great big ass party, so that pulled us over the edge to have a look anyway. Somehow it was exactly as we expected… A teen party gone wild, some rockers on their craziest, and all about the fun. It works quite ok, but somehow some more serious moments were lacking. Give us just that killer track that shows us that skills, that there is more than just that party. Pretty, pretty please. The audience seemed to be divided on this as well. At first some were observing it with question marks but later on that mosh pit broke loose and the heat was on. I guess mission accomplished for these guys.

The devoted fans at the front of the stage were lucky today, since Overkill was moved from the second to the first main stage, giving them the chance to play a longer set. Coming from New Jersey, Overkill is a trash metal band formed in 1980. They definitely have been around for a while, but the band seems to be able to top themselves even after all this time, as their latest album “The Electric Age” showed. Their live performance are hardly less as good, revealing the ultimate energy that the band keeps alive and passes on to the crowd, that came in large numbers to see them. All six of the touring line-up played admirably and gave their fans something deserving wild and never-stopping headbanging.

The Musamaailma stage was ready to welcome its last band of the festival. First of all, although the name doesn’t give it to believe, Bob Malmström is a band, a rather recent one actually, formed in 2010. It seems like the name of the band is not the only deceiving aspect of their personality; walking the stage all dressed up fancy, they catch you off guard when revealing their hardcore music. Only then you start to put the pieces together and realize the meaning of their very own music style, what they call “borgarcore”, which is supposed to be the abbreviation of bourgeois-hardcore. Combine that with a music often about what’s commonly addressed as “incorrect” and you get the meaning of it all: Bob Malmström is about pure, ultimate fun. As for their live shows… did I mention it’s all about fun? The pure energy of the band lets us hoping to see them again, even better and bigger. I couldn’t imagine a better band to close the curtains of Musamaailma stage.

Huoratron was the oddity of the day. A one man project behind his table, a dj, static and an attempt to make people dance here at the metal festival. The music itself was interesting enough, it had diversity, did not got stuck in repeating the same beats over and over again and the aggression and passion is in here. Maybe not the most suitable act on Tuska Festival, we could see this guy having a killer show a couple weeks later at the Amphi Festival in Germany, the industrial setting would embrace this man, but for Tuska it was not the most desirable act.

Lamb of God was due to play today, but because of their sudden cancelation, Finntroll was picked as their replacement. The folk metal band, “The Finnish Lamb of God”, as they called themselves today, definitely showed their enthusiasm in playing for Tuska; singer Vreth mentioned more than once how happy they were to be there and how they didn’t think twice before confirming their unexpected participation. The audience might have gotten a different kind of music, but nevertheless they did have great fun during their show. You could see that in the centre of the audience, where the pit originally created for the moshpit, turns into a dancing area where all those metal heads start to jump and dance together. So if this concert did prove anything, is that an over-exposure to sun might cause side effects, such as wild dances, even in metal crowds, right? Oh wait… was it really because of the sun this time?!

Jess and The Ancient Ones are a formation that’s getting a good push in their backs now their new album is out. Here at Tuska they already gathered quite an audience in the club, and not without reason. Think of a chilled version of Christian Mistress, less raw still very rock and roll and having those classics as Led Zeppelin in your mind as well. The band caries a strong bass here and when the rest of the band is quite calm compared to all those other acts on this stage it are the vocals of Jess that are making the impression on the stage. Their set ended a bit too early, we would have loved to enjoy it a little longer, but then there is something to look forward to the next time at least.

Closing the festival is Ministry. The American Industrial formation stirred up the audience. In 2008 the band decided to quite but anno 2012 the band announced a re-union and this Tuska show is one of the very first shows of them and while the new album called “Relapse” is out the band started right away with a new track. Al himself is always a remarkable person to see and he seemed very enthusiastic tonight. While the rest of his band is more tame it is clearly him that likes to heat up the audience, so why not get of the stage and get a little closer to the fans somewhen during the set, nothing is too crazy for this guy as it seems. Tracks like “Life’s good” and “Worthless” are played and let the fans enjoy some of the older material as well, but the band never goes back really far until the very end of the set when “Thieves” is played. A worthy closing of another great edition of Tuska. It was a great year again, many nice performances and even though the organisation had to deal with some cancellations, they manage to find worthy replacements in short time. We already started to countdown for next year!

More photo’s of this event can be found at Sabinevangameren.com
For more photo’s made by Lara Cappelli go here

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