Crowbar played early and by some accounts, they threw in one of the best shows of the weekend. The only problem was that they had been scheduled for an early slot and thus all we had to go by was hearsay. In general, festivals like this should only book local acts for starting slots — especially on Fridays when people are traveling to the festival grounds from all over the country. Turmiön Kätilöt were having their ‘normal’ TK show on the main stage. They always put on an energetic show. With a year and a half under his belt (or so), the new vocalist Shag-u (who also pulls vocal duties in Fear of Domination) seems to have gelled with the band. The biggest take away though was how fucking loud everything seemed to be this year. Maybe it was due to some renovations made to the area or what, but things just seemed absurdly loud all around.

Moonsorrow

On the second stage, put up again in a tent, Moonsorrow played live again — I’ve not seen them in a long while — yet I felt disconnected with the material from Jumalten Aika and couldn’t really get into it. “Kivenkantaja” was nice but in the middle of it I decided it was better to go snatch something to drink.

Mike Patton of Dead Cross

Dead Cross, featuring Mike Patton and Dave Lombardo, were keen on fucking up the audience’s ears with a high feedback noise that kept ringing through their speakers throughout the whole set. At first I thought it was a technical glitch that they’d sort out, but maybe it was just a mood-setter for their violent, scream-out-your anger hardcore. Whatever it was, it sure made things a lot more oppressive. I basically couldn’t tell one song from another, but Dead Cross did play some moody instrumental sort of stuff at some point. That shit sounded extremely promising and I wouldn’t have minded had they had their full set like that. At the end, the group figured they’d do an encore. “Where’s Ice-T? Is Ice-T in the fucking building? Where is the fucking guy?,” Patton questioned. Then they commenced the shortest encore in history by playing “Nazi Punks Fuck Off”. (MK)

I can appreciate when bands are in touch with their past and can let loose but at the same time, I couldn’t but help think that maybe Dead Cross’ angsty output is more suitable for youngsters. I mean, you can still love things you liked as a teenager, but it was kind of amusing to watch a bunch of well seasoned geezers play like they are purposely trying to hide all their talent and experience. Even Henry Rollins knew when to move onwards and leave most of the screaming to the kids. Patton is still the man though, but Dead Cross is one of the least impressive projects he’s been tangled up in. (MM)

There aren’t that many good reasons to miss out on Leprous playing live, especially if they’re an arm’s length away. One such reason: queuing up to shake hands with Ice-T and Ernie C, along with the rest of Body Count. For the first time in nine or ten years of covering shows (and quite possibly the last), we stood there for an hour waiting our turn like two little fan girls — just to meet and greet a single band. While it felt perverse, it was something that had to be done. (MK)

Ice-T had a rockstar attitude from the very start, but the rest of the guys were really enthusiastic. Ernie C especially seemed genuinely excited to meet fans and exchange pleasantries. And yeah, even by the end, Ice-T seemed to relax and open up a bit. While we did miss out on most of Leprous’ gig, we caught the last few couple of songs and agreed that yeah, they’re a pretty damn good band. (MM)

I’ve run out of “Jeff Loomis is being wasted in Arch Enemy” jokes, so I’m gonna say something positive for once. The last time I saw the band, Angela Gossow was still fronting and they didn’t leave much of an impression on me. They’ve always had the means and in parts, they sound awesome, but the songwriting overall never leaves a long lasting impression. This time around, I gave ‘em another chance and they sounded actually pretty okay and ‘fitting’ for a metal festival. I think I also prefer Alissa White-Gluz’s output too. Decent gig, but not one for the memory banks or renewed album listens. Interestingly, Arch Enemy was selling a fan jersey at their merch booth with a Finnish flag motif on it. Customized stuff for the fans instead simply slapping tour dates at the back of a black t-shirt? That’s quite nice.

Meshuggah

There’s something about Meshuggah that makes people go crazy. Maybe it’s the rhythmic bombardment that sends people into a tribal trance. It’s easy to get lost in the band’s impressive, all-consuming wall of sound – especially in the confined space of the venue tent. Not sure it would have gone on a more open stage.  Some people literally went crazy due to the barrage of sound. I got almost knocked the fuck out by a guy who was clearly on something more than a few beers — he thought he could take on four security guys alone. Turns out he wasn’t a superhuman after all, no matter how appropriate the background music was. (MK)

If not for the rare delight of having Body Count out there waiting, Meshuggah could have as well manned the headline spot for the day. The large and bit more intimate tent stage worked out nicely with the band’s menacing sound and sensory overloading visuals. The sound quality and mixing was on point on the second stage (as it was throughout the festival), and here it paid dividends. You could really hear and appreciate the band’s precision. (MM)

Ice-T

Body Count – MK’s Take

The main attraction for me at this year’s Tuska was definitely Friday’s headliner, Body Count — with a silly “featuring Ice-T” subtitle in the marketing materials. Body Count came back in 2014 with the excellent Manslaughter album and then followed it up with more vitriolic excellence in 2017 with Bloodlust. Their debut self-titled, Born Dead, and Violent Demise also received a ton of play throughout the years, along with Ice-T’s Home Invasion and his audiobook The Ice Opinion. In a way, it’s pretty sad that since their comeback, Body Count is still one of today’s most relevant bands, seeing how little things appear to have changed since the band’s inception, what, some 28 years ago? Shit’s still fucked up… now sports!

Usually bands dabble with Slayer’s “Raining Blood” and how it’s often the most requested song to be played at any metal concert, no matter who’s performing. So it was refreshing to see Body Count start out their set with their cover medley of “Raining Blood/Postmortem”. And when you also have Dave Lombardo at the fest (remember, Dead Cross), you get his ass on that drumkit! And so they did. Genius way to get the crowd pumping.

It was also interesting to see how the band constructed their setlist, considering they actually have a lot of good songs to pick from. Surprisingly enough, they treated some of their bigger hits as normal setlist material, rather than build around them or end the gig with them. For example, “Cop Killer” was played in the middle, as did “Talk Shit, Get Shot” and “No Lives Matter.” Since the set was limited to an hour and a half, a lot of songs had to be left out, like one of the band’s heaviest songs “All Love is Lost” (from the latest album). Violent Demise was also completely absent from the setlist — not a single song from that release (and nothing from Murder 4 Hire, album that I’ve never been able to listen to with any proper attention due to the production. Maybe there’s a good bangers there too?)

Musically, the band is fucking tight. They suffer from a similar misconception as GWAR did, where people placed the group into certain non-serious category without giving them a proper chance. As with GWAR, the actual musicianship is there and so is the songwriting — especially now. It’s also maddening how little Ernie C’s excellent guitar work is talked about. Dude has written some great fucking riffs throughout the years and on stage, a pure joy to watch & listen.

And then there’s Ice-T. He’s 60! And he seems very much at home on stage at a metal festival. Dude knows how to entertain and he’s got the swagger and admirable arrogance to back it up. He even coined a new term: “virtual encore.” The audience pretends the band had walked away (they didn’t) and has to call the band back. Other bands exit the stage to milk an actual encore, but this is “I’m too lazy to actually walk away so yell for an encore anyway.”

All in all, Body Count brought one of the most diverse crowds to Tuska that I’ve ever seen and it was well worth whatever troubles we had in attending this year. Excellent booking, excellent show. Amazing booking!

Vincent Price of Body Count

MM’s Take:

I first heard Body Count in the mid/late ‘90s when my brother brought in a random set of metal on C-cassettes. One of those was Body Count’s debut, and with the first gunshots and the riffs from “Body Count’s in the House,” I immediately became a fan. Even today, that album still sounds as fresh and tight as it did back then. It’s really one of the handful of albums that truly had an impact on my impressionistic teenage mind back then. The few recent albums have been pure fire, so it’s nice that the band still has it, even if not all of their songs have always been up to par.

Seeing the band live, even without most of the original members, was a dream come true. And after all these years, it was well worth the wait. It was nice to hear most of the classics during the set as they fit seamlessly with the newer stuff. Ice-T had ramped up his energy and presence significantly since the meet and greet, and took the stage with aggression and enough cock-rock attitude to fill the stage and then some. Major charisma.

Ernie C seemed to be having the time of his life throughout the whole set. It was also heartwarming to watch the band commanding such a large following. Between now and the early 90s, the crowd spanned multiple generations from old to young, from metalheads to rap fans and everything in between. At least before Manslaughter, I’d thought the band was pretty limited and obscure to Finnish audiences so it was great to have that proven wrong.

If I can get a bit political, in Theodore Parker’s words (which Mr. King also later quoted): “The arch of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Some things are so integral to how we humans are inclined to behave, it’s kinda hard to get rid of tribal tendencies and insecurities — even when given decades to vigilantly better them. I believe many things, as well as people in general, have changed towards the better since Body Count first came out with “There Goes the Neighbourhood”, even if we are still struggling with related issues.

Ernie C

SATURDAY

When the main songwriter got kicked out from Battle Beast — his own band! — he didn’t stay on the dole for long. Nope, he went right out and set up Beast in Black. As we were walking towards the festival grounds, we caught the second half of their set from a mile and a half away. Sounded like Battle Beast with a male singer, which is good for the fans I guess, since Battle Beast sound like a different Battle Beast nowadays anyway. (MK)

• MK: The fans got two bands to cheer for. I just wish they’d have their beasts duke it out in a no-holds-barred cage match, WWE style. I’d come early to see that.
• MM: This is more like the war between Smackdown and RAW (or NTW, TNA or whatever), except this time it’s “Beast Wars”. Two promotions, in head-to-head competition, for the same restricted market, while providing more or less the same product. “But who has Hulk Hogan?” I don’t care enough to even ask.

We figured we’d go check out the merchandise booth while 69 Eyes were playing in the tent close by, but oh man were they fucking loud. Could hardly hear my thoughts. I’m not sure if it was just me, but this year, both festivals (South Park and Tuska) felt fucking loud compared to previous years. It’s like they’d lifted the decibel limits or stopped giving a flying fuck about them altogether.

• MK: It’s funny to see capitalism in action at the merch booth, btw. On Friday, as Body Count’s shirts started to sell well, the price went up a few times.
• MM: Haven’t you heard? Ice-T has been a marketing wizard even since he ran the street game. He knows and he plans this shit out. Scarcity creates value. It’s also logistically easier and cheaper to fly in with ten Fruit of the Loom shirts in the bag and sell them for a hundred a pop, than it is to pack 100 shirts and sell them for a tenner each. Recognize game?

We also took part on a behind-the-scenes tour of Tuska which was mainly aimed at international visitors. It started with a view of the main stage from the sidelines as Mokoma were performing, and then went through the key locations around the festival area which make for good stories: the sauna; dining options where you can reserve a spot for some fine dining inside a quieter environment (sold out for the most part); also how various artists collaborate with the organizers to make the festival ground a bit more lively.

The tour underscored Tuska as an urban metal festival (instead of being held in a field somewhere) and how the audience expects more than just bands playing. (Whisky and cocktail bars, for one!) We did learn how 1 out of 4 visitors is new to the fest and after the locals, Germany and UK are the main sources for visitors. I’m quite surprised the organizers haven’t made a promotional video that captures all of this in an informative, but entertaining way. Have some charismatic, high profile and entertaining celebrity do it. Then again, they’ve got a bunch of Youtubers (or “influencers”) running around the festival doing content so maybe I should just get on with the times by clicking like, commenting below and then subscribing to one.

For us, the tour was a nice change of pace and offered something ‘new’ vs just running between the three stages to try and cover everything (while forgetting to actually appreciate the small things that are easily overlooked).

Carpenter Brut live

I’ve listened to my fair share of synthwave like everybody throughout the year, but I never thought Carpenter Brut was part of the genre. For some reason, I thought they were a death metal band. Nope, they aren’t. I guess ‘Carpenter’ should have been my first clue there. Their set featured Outrun (the video game) music with real instruments. The set’s highlight was an appearance by Beastmilk/Grave Pleasures singer Mat McNerney. Really like that dude’s output and it’s a shame Grave Pleasures were performing on the last day when we wouldn’t be there to see them. Otherwise, Carpenter Brut sounded pretty much like most other bands in the field, i.e. not bad but they didn’t really stand out either. I’ve heard better. While not related, it reminded me how genius it was to book Huoratron to play his pummeling set some years ago. That show was an awesome, brutal sensory overload. Should bring him back. (MK)

MM’s take: I regard Dark Synthwave or Retro Synthwave or whatever it’s called as something one plays in the background while doing something else. It’s a sound that does not annoy or take much effort to digest. I guess I can recognize and name around five artists from the ever-growing bunch and Carpenter Brut is one of them, so I was interested to see how their music would work as a live show.

Ten minutes in, I started to feel some secondhand embarrassment and had to shift to an angle where I could no longer see the stage. I can appreciate electronic music in live venues, but it’s hard for me to watch live performances where the shenanigans make me question the authenticity of the show. For one, the guitar sound seemed to change tunings and distortions mid-riff, and I didn’t see any meaningful pedal work going on. Call me old fashioned or a purist, but it felt wrong and incoherent. I would not have minded if the whole gig were just a pure DJ gig. Granted, everything looked energetic and people seemed loved the sound, so perhaps it is better to just pipe down. (MM)

Samoth of Emperor

Nothing like black metal with the sun shining like it’s the happiest day of summer. Emperor summoned the sun as they were blasting through the entire Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk album. (Some years ago at Tuska, they did the same with In the Nightside Eclipse). Since I don’t have that big of a personal connection with the album (HERESY!) or the band, I admired the set for a bit and then went onto different things. This just wasn’t the gig to finally sell me on their greatness. I would have actually preferred to see Ihnsahn’s solo gig instead, but unfortunately that was saved for Sunday.

Tomi Joutsen, Hallatar

It seems like Tomi Joutsen has something against Pasi Koskinen. Not only has he helmed Koskinen’s old band Amorphis for a long time, his gig (Hallatar) with guitarist Juha Raivio (Swallow the Sun) and drummer Gas Lipstick (HIM) has him trying to outdo Shape of Despair in the doom and gloom department too. Not that I’m complaining — the guy’s voice and range suits those feelings perfectly, and it’s nice to see him doing something new. Aside from hearing a song from Hallatar eons ago, this was my first larger introduction to the group. The material didn’t sound bad at all as it kept me captivated throughout, fondling my anguish and encouraging me to brood on further. (MK)

Kreator

Once again visitors from Germany left no bridge unburned (see: Lapland war, ed. note) as Kreator played a set that killed everything under the midday sun. The Teutonic thrash metal missionaries are always pleasant to check out and without question, they always put on top quality entertainment. (Or maybe it’s just great to always see a thrash show, period?) Kreator have had a warm place in my heart since my teen years. There simply is no replacement for Mille’s unique vocal delivery, mixed with the lyrics filled with violence and paranoia and topped off with relentless drumming and blistering riffs. 30+ years in and there seems to be no pumping the brakes with this band. Like their contemporaries in Testament, Kreator love playing live and thrashing it out on stage. I’ve never seen a subpar gig from these bastards and this was no exception. Pure class. (MM)

At The Gates

For what seems to be the first time in probably, well, ever, I actually finally ‘got’ At the Gates and enjoyed their set quite a bit despite seeing them a few times before. Don’t know what was different this time around that made things different, but I’ll take it. Maybe it was that the songs from their new album “To Drink from the Night Itself” gelled seamlessly with the old but gold stuff t0 make a proper, well-balanced show? (MK)

Gojira

Gojira are no stranger to Tuska, as they’ve appeared on the bill what, three times or so. They’ve always been better than great, yet when I heard that their fourth time would have them headlining on Saturday, I thought, “Huh?” Aside from their own club gigs, I’m not seen them in a headlining spot before. First time for everything! Nonetheless, the French took the stage last and showed that they deserved to finish out the day. They truly are ‘headline’ worthy and are able to fill stage of any size.

What made the feat truly special was that according to the band, they weren’t sure if they could even play the gig as their shit got stuck on some German highway a day or two back. Luckily, the organizers and their crew were able to pull off a miracle so that the band could perform another stellar show that made me appreciate Gojira even more. They’ve truly risen up the ranks to top tier territory and the craftsmanship is borderline unfair to most other bands.  Gojira has an amazing way to make complex things seem simple, if not effortless. Mokoma’s Marko Annala and I think Amorphis’ Holopainen were watching the show and at different points, both left in a hurry. We laughed and joked that they were probably inspired – no, driven – to pick up their guitars and get back to work.

Only thing Gojira could have done to top off their set would have been to play “Global Warming.” Next time!

THE END

Usually the third stage houses a lot of surprises, hidden gems, and hungry bands putting out great shows. Unfortunately, we had our hands full between absorbing the two main stages and trying to maintain our sanity. We’re not getting any younger as we become more and more assimilated with the ‘default’ Tuska-goer who seeks experiences, comfort, and services. Luckily, this year the two stages provided plenty of valuable entertainment with two killer headliners in Body Count and Gojira, with decent support in between. The two days we had were plenty enough, even though it meant skipping out on acts Clutch and Grave Pleasures. Sometimes you just need to accept that you can’t have everything… or more like, you don’t need everything.

All in all, a fine short weekend.

AND THIS YEAR?

Tuska’s line-up seems to be forming up quite well for this year: SLAYER, Opeth, Dimmu Borgir just to name few of the headliners. Heilung should be interesting too. Question is: will they let us back in? Who knows.

Check out www.tuska.fi for more information.

Check out our Facebook-page for more photos from Tuska 2018.

Anyway, the summer of 2017 was special to Tuska Open Air Metal Festival as the premium metal festival in Helsinki, Finland celebrated its 20th Anniversary. The small festival, born from beer driven ideas, has grown throughout the years while witnessing heavy metal history in the making. Tuska was there when Finnish metal really started to pick up with the likes of Children of Bodom, HIM and Nightwish (fun fact, the success of Offspring’s Smash made it possible for Spinefarm to put the Finnish metal revolution into proper gear.) Tuska was there when Finnish sung metal became normal with the likes of Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus, Kotiteollisuus, Mokoma and many others. Throughout the years, Tuska has invited a bunch of metal’s legends to rock out (say, Bruce Dickinson headlining in 2002) — some which have since gone from here to eternity, such as Type O Negative‘s Peter Steele in 2003. The festival built a gym to the backstage area just for him. Tuska has seen the culmination of mainstream success with Lordi winning the Eurovision in 2006 and the ‘fall’ that came after. Yet. Metal is still here. Tuska is still here, showcasing the current leaders, classics, followers and upcoming talent. The festival has seen the world’s ups and downs, all the while making the heavy metal crowd a visible part of Helsinki during the summer. Needless to say, no matter what one thinks of the line-ups or the festival in general, Tuska Open Air is an institution and a huge part of Finnish heavy metal legacy.

And for that, we tip our hats.

But let’s get down to the dirty basics and figure out what went on as our two-man team recollects end of June and the beginning of July 2017.

FRIDAY

Once we got through the formalities, we were greeted by Brother Firetribe on the main stage strutting its radio heavy rock. The biggest selling point is that they can plaster those rounded stickers on their CDs saying how Emppu Vuorinen of Nightwish-fame is in the band. They’re an inoffensive band, doing textbook AOR for all to enjoy, but since we didn’t want to judge them from the middle of their set, we headed towards the second stage where Anneke Van Giersberger’s Vuur were to play next.

Vuur

[MK] I hadn’t heard of Anneke’s new band before, but that’s not too surprising considering they’ve only got a single song out on Youtube. Yet once Anneke and her band took stage, it turned out to be actually somewhat promising if not even surprisingly heavy at times. Anneke herself seemed to be enjoying playing live a lot, constantly radiating positivity. Not only did they showcase the group’s material, Anneke also threw a few uppercuts by ‘covering’ The Gathering’s “On most Surfaces“ and “Strange Machines “.

[MM] As a long time listener of The Gathering, as well as a general Anneke fanboy, Vuur was one of the gigs that I was amped up about. The gig delivered. Vuur’s general sound is arguably heaviest of all the bands and projects Anneke has been part of since her time in The Gathering. While the setlist included songs like “Days Go By” that carry a similar tonal melancholy as older The Gathering songs, the musical palette was much more varied. The tempo seemed faster too. Out of their own set of songs, “The Storm” took the highlight spot in my book; built around a relentless main riff, sounding in part like something that Nightwish might have toyed around with, bombastic and operatic. It’s a sound that I don’t normally care much about but Vuur pulled it off in such a way that even I could appreciate it.

Anneke’s singing was in top form and flawless in tone as one would expect. The songwriting in Vuur clearly made use of her wide vocal range. While it quickly became very apparent that the rest of the band also consisted of well-above average musicians, one who specifically stood out from the group was the guitarist Jord Otto. Whether it came into pulling out heavy riffs, solos or laying some technical patchwork behind the beat, you could feel a somewhat unique sound in his guitar play.

• MK: “The Storm” nostalgically showed me those early Year 2000 -albums where bands combined all sorts of metal with classical. Made me remember that Hollenthon actually existed.

Wintersun’s Mäenpää didn’t carry a guitar

[MK] Wintersun has had a hell of a year. They held new albums hostage on Indiegogo (in what is now known as ‘Saunagate’) and were able to get a measly sum of 464,000 euros in ransom — exceeding the original asking price by over 310,000 euros, much to the dismay of some well established (and now jealous) bands that have to ship their own cardboard promos to some dickweed bloggers in Arkansas. The thing that surprises me with Wintersun is that for a band that’s quite ‘marginal’ in the daily street view, Jari Mäenpää’s merry band sure has a shitloads of fans that you never come across in any other place. It’s like a huge, worldwide underground cult or something.

“Fuck Trump” said Brujeria

The festival’s Mexican population rose from zero to a handful and a half, as the ‘Mexican drug lords’ Brujeria took the second stage with machetes and intimidation. Due to the recent events, the band has new found relevance and the group didn’t shy away from that at all as they spat their anti-Trump sentiment loud, proud and on a constant basis in between songs. “FUCK TRUMP” the tent echoed — it became perfectly clear we weren’t in a GOP meeting extravaganza with a Ted Nugent cover band. Brujeria pummelled the audience into a chaotic frenzy, preparing them for Suicidal Tendencies on the main stage.

• MM: While POTUS did not get much love from the band, the crowd gave plenty of love to the band. Language barrier be damned. Salsa dancing, luchador masks, a scent of reefer madness, chest pounding and general mayhem. What’s there not to like?
• MK: Yeah. And their bassist had the same hair-do as Napalm Death‘s Shane Embury!
• MM: …

Mike Muir & Suicidal Tendencies were inducted in the Skateboarding Hall of Fame

[MM] While Suicidal Tendencies was a clear crowd magnet, I took a leave of absence to find some food and to enjoy some pricy beverages that the festival area had to offer. When I got back, Mike Muir was ending it big by calling all the “Suicidal Psychos” from the crowd onto the stage. The security guys were in a state of distress, as clearly not all of the officials had received the memo about letting the fans hop over the front barricade. After the initial confusion, the stage featured a record amount of people, at least as far as Tuska Festival is concerned. Both Suicidal Tendencies and their fans on stage seemed to have a blast jumping around and chanting “ST” in unison. After the show there was a lot of sweaty hugs offered and received within the happy and exhausted crowd.

• Mike Muir commented on getting old: “Dont fucking forget. When you’re young you fight with your fists — when you’re old, you fight with yer mind.” Still, he seemed to have a bit of a fight in him. And was that Dave Lombardo on drums, by the way?

Insomnium

[MM] I’ve never really listened to any Insomnium record but I’ve seen them live at least five times and this was the first time I actually took notice. In fact, they sounded kinda great. For me the band has sounded somewhat derived and forgettable; they play well but sound dull. This time, however the impression I got was much more positive.

[MK] It’s funny. Seems like Insomnium is a band that takes a while to pick up for some reason. Anyway, after I’d gotten my fix, I figured I’d take a peek at Barathrum who were playing inside the boiler room on the third stage. Walking towards the area felt like descending upon madness, away from the glitter of the main areas. Wading through masses of people, I only got to the entrance lobby — the building was packed with little space to breathe and since I didn’t want to cover my elbows in blood, I came to the conclusion that there was no point in looking at people’s neckbeards. So I turned around. Seems like Barathrum were quite popular.

[MM] From what I saw, the only two bands that got the boiler room stuffed during the whole weekend were Barathrum and Oranssi Pazuzu. Outside these two acts it usually felt pretty spacy, but no so with those two. My visit to the venue fell short as it really became uncomfortable because of being in a hot, humid human sardine can. I decided to squeeze out of the place before completely turning into rotten mush. As I somehow pressurized myself out, behind me echoed the lead singer Demonos Sova’s raspy voice. Between songs he had decided to give a lecture about health benefits by spraying hydrogen peroxide into your eyes: “Everybody should try it!” It was the last thing that caught my ear.

Anneke + Devin

“I’m pissed off because my need for validation is steeped in your ambivalence.”
– Devin Townsend, Tuska 2017

[MK] The audience failed Devin Townsend who, together with Anneke Van Giersbergen, had just stopped performing a lustful rendition of “Ih Ah”. The crowd hadn’t picked up the cues to sing along, denying Devin from his quest for a “Scorpions moment where the whole world would assemble together”.

Devin himself didn’t fail, as his show seemed a lot more cohesive and balanced this time around, at least when compared to his 2011’s Tuska set. Then again, his albums back then were Ki, Addicted, Deconstruction and Ghost — whereas the newest one (and a damn fine album too), Transcendence is much closer home with Accelerated Evolution. And if someone was still in doubt, the show solidified his status, again, as one of the best vocalists in the world going from depths of hell to the highest and clearest of squeals in an instant with finesse and clarity. Seeing him on top of his game and Anneke on hers was a joy to say the least. In fact, it was downright vocal pornography at times, seeing the two feed off of each other in such a way that it actually made someone’s boner visible to Devin.

Dave Young seemed to enjoy playing on Tuska’s stage again

[MM] Last time when DTP was headlining Tuska back in 2011, I felt their gig was dragging along with the setlist being a goulash of too many thematic albums. This time around the set was more streamlined and emotionally coherent. Dev was clearly on a more chatty mood and upheld constant banter with the crowd. The end came way too early and could have used a longer set this time around, but apparently festivals have these mainly one hour time slots. Songs from the latest Transcendence record played great live. Hearing the show ending “Higher” live was a totally different experience from what I got from the recorded version. Harked from the record the song felt a bit too slow and disjointed, but live it became a monolithic structure.

I also managed to catch the last twenty minutes of Trap Them playing to a very thin crowd in the boiler room. I would have thought that Trap Them had more name recognition and pull. Mainly the audience consisted of guys in their teens and mid-twenties, all throwing their bones around in the front of the stage. From my understanding of a narrow perspective, these newer hardcore acts seem to go a tad unnoticed at Tuska. In Finland there is still some line-crossing going around, where bands like this are more in sync with fans that are not your typical Finnish metal enthusiast or annual Tuska goers. A club setting or more “hipsterish” summer festival, where you can see something like Yeezus and Morrisey, would probably have a more optimized crowd for a band like Trap Them — as funny as it sounds.

Even though the turnout was not the biggest, Trap Them played with good spirits and recognized the crowd both during and between songs. They also had the option to call it short, but decided to come back: “This is not what we do. We do not do encores, but let’s play a few more.” While the band has only flashed my peripheral vision as I basically know them by name, selected songs like “Revival Spines” from their last album Crown Feral got me nodding and tapping my foot during their set.

Mayhem had technical difficulties

[MK] Where Devin Townsend’s humor serves a purpose and comes off as a natural extension of his personality, Mayhem isn’t as well known as a humorous act. Yet before the show an overly dramatic, pre-recorded message from the band started playing where they asked for people to avoid using cellphones and flashlights in order to not disturb the ‘atmosphere’ of the show. Unfortunately, Mayhem who were playing De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas in full, started off with a set of technical difficulties; first tune sounded like garbled up, distorted feedback (more than it should) and Attila Csihar’s mic didn’t work either for half a song or more. Things started to look up after the fact, but by the time things got back into form, I was already totally out of it and elsewhere.

[MM] While the songs were enjoyable for the most part it was the latter part of the stage performance that hijacked my senses. Past mid-part I ended up laughing out loud at the cartoonish theatrics that were put on display. Candles for the small ritual table, which seemed to be a standard Ikea build, were lit and Attila in his robes and plague ridden facemask, plodded through the dimly lit stage behind the table to pose ominously for the ritualistic setup. Then a death knell chimed and Attila began to fondle a skull while mumbling the dark mystical transcript which were embedded on the red table cloth. The large side screens gave a bit too detailed look into this cheap decor. The whole scene became quite ridiculous and unintentionally funny — with all perceived seriousness attached making it even more so.

Sabaton and pyrotechnics

[MK] Friday’s headlining tasks fell upon Sabaton, who, according to some calculations, have had something like 13 shows in Finland in the past three years alone — if not more. I got into the game with their Art of War release and have enjoyed the cheese and crackers throughout the years. While the band performs with genuine dedication,putting on a good, entertaining show, certain formulaic tendencies have crept up the past few years and the latest offerings have been somewhat uninspired on the whole — despite always offering catchy choruses. They played a few not too good songs too (“Swedish Pagans”), instead of completely relying on surefire hits. I think the setlist needed at least “Cliffs of Gallipolli”.

• MK: They skipped “Final Solution” again!
• MM: Why do you wanna hear it so bad?
• MK: There’s just something morbidly morose about seeing a happy-ass band singalong about one of humanity’s darkest moments with a crowd that’s so devout they don’t even stop to question what’s going on.
• MM: Do they have songs about the US elections?

And say what thou wilt about the band, but they’ve found a goldmine with their pattern of producing easy to pick up songs about each nation, their tragedies and unsung war heroes. It ticks all the right parts in people’s brains; “THEY’RE SINGING ABOUT US! FINALLY RECOGNITION!” Yet, as much as I was entertained and Sabaton were doing the right things on stage, the show did leave me a tad cold. They’re starting to do things a bit ‘too right’ despite the ever changing banter. I hope they tighten their tactics slightly in the near future and maybe mix things up a bit too. Of course they can’t go too apeshit in fear of alienating their core fanbase. Yet, to me, they’re walking a thin line. One just has to hope they do not cross it and become like, for example, what Manowar did on God of War back in 2007. One could argue that their line was crossed almost what, 20 years earlier after or before The Triumph of Steel, but fuck you, 2002’s Warriors of the World was still a proper record and not just a Best of -collection of intros, interludes and outros.

FRIDAY

I was sad to miss Cattle Decapitation’s festival opening set, as hearsay and elves said that the show was quite possibly the best gig of the weekend. Then again, it’s simply evil to put such a band on a 2 PM timeslot on a Friday when people still haven’t woken up or have “obligations” at work. Pure evil I say!

Swallow the Sun is not one of those bands that play it safe. For Tuska, the band booked three gigs on three separate days in three separate settings, and played through the three CDs of their newest album, Songs from the North I & II & III. Friday’s gig took place on the main stage under a blinding sun that perhaps wasn’t the most appropriate match for the band’s mournful mood. On Saturday, they played inside in a new, much more intimate setting, but access was only granted to those who had won a raffle. And finally on Sunday, the band performed inside on the third stage. I only caught the first and last, but on both accounts the band soldiered on and delivered some crushing notes to take home. Party music? Not so much.

Mikko Kotamäki of Swallow the Sun

Then it was time for Cain’s Offering. I’d never heard them mentioned before, but then shortly before the show, I overheard some guys talking about the band on the subway. One commented on the other’s homemade Cain’s Offering shirt, and then they debated about where Cain’s Offering had played and had not played. Listening to them debate and out-metal each other, I figured to myself “oh boy, Cain’s Offering must be some good shit.” So I went to the tent stage with a genuine interest. The show started and each of the members stepped on stage one by one. They looked awfully familiar. There was ex-Sonata Arctica guitarist Jani Liimatainen who I’d completely forgotten existed, then there was Jens Johansson… and finally, no other than Timo Kotipelto arrived.

For some, that might be enough of a punchline, but for the rest, if you’re looking back at Sonata Arctica’s past few albums and thought they deviated a bit too much from the first ones, then Cain’s Offering might have something to offer you. Hell, I’ll step up and publicly announce that I think Sonata‘s debut is a goddamn good release, but to me, Cain’s Offering wasn’t offering much. Competent as expected with that member line-up, but I think I found more solace by trying to get to the bottom of my beer mug.

Cain’s Offering’s Timo Tolkki

Lordi got some publicity (not all of it good) throughout the metal spectrum around ten years ago, when they picked up the much-cherished first place in the Eurovision song contest. Even the late, great Oderus Urungus talked shit about them. During their Tuska appearance, the band’s set leaned towards their early years, even bringing out old version of the Lordi-character, but the biggest responses came in the end as “Would You Love a Monsterman” and the song that brought them their international, yet short-lived stardom, “Hard Rock Hallelujah” echoed through the festival grounds. Truth be told, the show was entertaining and the songs worked well in the live setting. And no matter how you might feel about their music and antics, you have to show respect to anyone committed enough to wearing tons of latex under the scorching sun.

Lordi and his bride

Last time I saw Kvelertak was at Tuska, in 2011. It was just after some fuckwit had wasted an island of teenagers, and the Norwegian group seemed pretty pissed about it. It was one of the angriest and most physical show I’ve ever seen, and I still think I’ve got a bruise from vocalist Erlend Hjelvik, who jumped on top of me when I wasn’t watching. This time I had my guard up the whole time, but it seemed like things had calmed a bit since that one particular day. The group provided a sweaty, energetic, and rocking gig. Perhaps it’s time I lifted a finger and checked them out on album?

Kvelertak

I’ve also lost track of the times I’ve seen Testament play at Tuska. Not that I’m complaining, as the band and especially Chuck Billy were as welcoming and good-spirited as ever. They’re a joy to watch and Alex Skolnick doesn’t seem to be getting tired of thrash metal either. Shame their setlist doesn’t seem to deviate at all anymore. This was almost a repeat of the one they did a few years ago, give or take a few songs. Don’t take this personally Testament, but you realize you’ve got some excellent stuff on albums like Low and Demonic, right?! Play more of those tunes, goddammit!

Luckily, they’ve got a new album coming out! Chuck Billy also gave a nod to the indigenous people of Finland during the show. It may have been a message lost on the many fans waiting for the next wall of death, but it was an important message nonetheless — especially when the Finnish Sami-people are, even today, still fighting for some of their rights.

Chuck Billy of Testament, always happy

This year (and maybe last year too? I wouldn’t know — we weren’t there), the second stage was moved inside a huge-ass tent. While the shelter from the light and sun allowed for better stage shows, it also got extremely crowded during the more popular acts. Still, Behemoth took advantage of the plusses, and played through The Satanist (also not exactly a sunshine record). Personally, I think the whole performance leaned a bit too much on spectacle as I was more in the mood for a pure show, but after eavesdropping on a few people, the real fans apparently had their expectations met.

Nergal of Behemoth was less happy

I’ve never understood the appeal of Tobias Sammett’s Edguy, but I consider the The Metal Opera from his other project, Avantasia, to be one of the finest, pure-cheese power metal albums ever released. So I was pleased that the organizers had booked Avantasia to conclude Friday’s metal meeting. Sammett brought a bunch of other notable people with him for the show, from Michael Kiske and Jørn Lande to Ronnie Atkins, Eric Martin and Bob Catley. At some point, the whole thing felt like a sitcom episode where someone famous pops in to the applause and cheers from the audience. Ridiculous. Fun. Yet, all in vain, because goddammit, the fuckers played only like one song off the first album. What a waste.

Sascha Paeth and Tobias Sammett

Oh yeah. Michael Kiske suspiciously looked a lot like Michael Chiklis of The Shield (and The Commish) fame. Just look at the guy. I was constantly expecting Vic Mackey to put a cap in someone’s ass, but alas, that wasn’t meant to be either.

Michael Chik…Kiske

SATURDAY

The festival’s main attraction for me was Primordial, who had been slotted into an interesting spot: five minutes short of 3PM, and with it, another scorching sun. Kind of like what Triptykon had to endure some weeks earlier at the South Park festival. Despite the mismatched setting (where was the mist? the gloom? the craggy highland hills?), the band conquered and A.A. Nemtheanga continues to be one of the finest leads in metal. He was able to pull whatever energy there was to be had out of the audience, and sallied forth with the band. It’s a shame I hadn’t set up an interview, as I was curious to hear if he had any thoughts to share about Brexit and the EU. Perhaps the ‘And that is true’ line he threw after “As Rome Burns” was a nod to that.

A.A. Nemtheanga of Primordial

No matter what stage Turmion Kätilöt plays on, they attract a crowd that fills the space. Tongue firmly in cheek, the combination of metal, pop music flair, dance music energy, and low-brow sexual innuendo has made the band one of the most popular live acts in Finland. Underneath all the glitter, the group (helmed by MC Raaka Pee and Spellgoth, from Horna and various other things) does feature some depth. That’s easy to forget in the midst of unadulterated entertainment, bouncing beach balls that almost piledrived us taking photos over, and of course, flames. I still haven’t figured out why they’re not constantly touring in Germany or Japan, even if they do sing in Finnish and have a very Finnish sense of humor.

Spellgoth with Turmion Kätilöt

I’m a late bloomer when it comes to Omnium Gatherum, but I’ve caught them live a few times over the past few years. Vocalist Jukka Pelkonen always seems like a really nice guy up on the stage, very inviting and welcoming and trying to make the audience happy whilst screaming into the microphone. Among some old surefire hits (such as “The Unknowing”), the band also got to showcase their latest album Grey Heavens. The band has toured quite a bit the past few years and it shows on stage, as no matter the venue, situation, time or weather, Omnium seems to rock and roll without any hiccups of their own doing.

Omnium Gatherum

German’s technical death metallers Obscura seemed a tad out of place on the main stage. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that the festival gave them a respectable chance to showcase their talent, but they would have worked better inside the tent or in the boiler room (third stage). Despite the band’s good effort, they were an obscure attraction for the crowd. Flawlessly-played technical death metal just isn’t the easiest way to bring in people whose metal shirts scream “I like the classics” or hell, “I’m here for radio friendly.” Now what bands might those be? Tell us in the comments and click the like button and subscribe to our channel. Oh wait, this wasn’t Youtube or some clickbait site. We have standards here!

Obscura’s Rafael Trujillo

Years ago, Thunderstone was destined to become one of Finland’s biggest musical exports, but their success never quite materialized. Something just wasn’t there. After seven years, they finally released a somewhat rejuvenated comeback album of sorts (Apocalypse Again) and it actually had a few good tunes on it. In the live setting though, it came off as by-the-numbers. It didn’t offend, but I also think I got my lifetime’s worth from it. Those around me felt differently, as many were happily singing along. Tuomas Yli-Jaskari (from Tracedawn) filled in for usual bassist Titus Hjelm, and had learned all the songs in three hours or something like that. Nice work.

Thunderstone

“Do you like thrash metal?” “Guy with the green hair didn’t raise his hands!” “I’m watching you!”

Apparently sponsored by Monster Energy drink, Anthrax arrived to promote their latest effort For All Kings. Their brand of thrash has never stuck with me or made an impression, aside from some of their ‘90s albums. I borrowed those from the library though and they’ve yet to sell me their stuff.Still, they’ve always been enjoyable live, and Saturday’s set was no exception. Joey Belladonna is always a treat and a likeable fellow on stage. Glad to see that the band’s lineup hasn’t had too much drama as of late. While he’s been around three years or so, ‘new’ guitarist Jonathan Donais still seemed quite reserved and subdued, like he’s wondering if he’s still in the band or not. Frank Bello, on the other hand, was just a whirlwind on stage.

Frank Bello & Anthrax Monster Energy Drink

I also noticed that Anthrax’s shirts started at 25 euros, like most others at the beginning of the festival, but at some point on Saturday, the price had hiked up to 35 euros. Not sure if it was a pricing mistake or a scheme to nickle-and-dime a few more Monster Energy Drink cans. (When did I turn into such a cynical asshole?)

Despite their visually excellent setting and overpowering lights on the tent stage, Stam1na really should have been on the main stage instead of Obscura. The group seemed even tighter than they were at South Park festival. The tent was bursting at the seams – not the most ideal environment for the claustrophobic. As at South Park, the new songs off the band’s latest Elokuutio sounded as crystal clear as the album versions, but even more harder and more pummelling. Whoever’s responsible for the band’s audiotechnicalmumbojumbo really earns whatever they’re paid. Like ‘em or hate ‘em, Stam1na live are simply a force to be reckoned with — they gave even Anthrax a run for their money, despite vocalist/guitarist Antti Hyyrynen joking about having to play after them.

Stam1na

Then it was time for the festival’s biggest attraction, Grammy®™-award winning Ghost. Say what you will about the music, but in a live setting, the shit works — especially when there’s no sun to poke you in the eye and water down whatever pseudo-satanism you might be peddling. For the first time in the festival’s history at the new Suvilahti-location (6th year thus far, the organizers were able to sell out a day with around 11,000 visitors coming in on Saturday. Entertaining show. I can see the appeal and would possibly see them again. Oh, and did I say they won a Grammy®™?

Ghost’s Papa Emeritus

SUNDAY

The weather on Sunday wasn’t promising at first, so I took it slow and only made my way to the show just as Hatebreed was starting their set. Jamey Jasta must have done a rain dance or two — the sky poured down in full force. The moshpit didn’t seem to mind though. They bounced around and earned themselves some pneumonia. God bless.

Jamey Jasta (photo by J. Tilus)

Hatebreed, the rain, the fans (photo by J. Tilus)

Things were drier under the second stage tent. I was glad for the chance to finally see Diablo for the first time, since I had missed them at South Park. Their first album in seven years, Lost Horizons, was a decent effort and continued from where the band had left off all those years ago. Unfortunately, the band just felt a bit uninspired live. The song material is strong, the audience was ready and willing, but the performance fell few steps short and wasn’t as tight as I would have guessed. There were strong moments, especially with their classic songs, but the show never achieved the frenzy I had hoped for. The song “Prince of the Machine” was a nice curiosity, though, with greetings sent towards Oulu and a dedication to Tenkula and Lopakka (of Sentenced fame).

Diablo’s Marko Utriainen

The rain stopped pouring by the time for Gojira took the main stage. Their new release Magma turned out to be one of the best albums in their discography, and the songs blended nicely with the rest. Production was top notch, and the pummeling riffs and raffs found a clear path to the listeners’ spines. They were a joy to see in 2009, and still were in 2016. Excellent, excellent stuff that’s not only hypnotizing, compelling but somehow primal as well; it was easy to get lost in their rhythm. And what is it with bass players wrecking around live? Like Frank Bello, Jean-Michel Labadie was also (again as always) spinning, stomping and whirlwinding around the stage as if he was the bus in the first Speed movie.

Jean-Michel Labadie of Gojira — always a force of nature on bass

Metal is love (photo by J.Tilus)

With the cold, rain and two and a half days of rocking and rolling, I’d decided that Katatonia would be the last band I’d see. On album, they’re great if not amazing. I don’t know what it is though, but they simply don’t work live at all. They played at the same festival some years back and I kind of hoped that the gig back then was a one-off but it was the same result this time. There was just nothing to connect with, even though the song material makes it really easy to sob your worth alone in the comfort of your own home. After trying to get into the show after a handful of songs, I finally admitted defeat and left the festival for a Burger King meal and a helicopter ride back home.

Jonas Renkse of Katatonia

Children of Bodom finished the whole festival but I wouldn’t know anything about that, now would I?

All in all, Tuska continues to be a safe bet if you want a good dose of varying kinds of metal in a safe setting. The best variety can be found on the third stage, but was under-represented in this article. Maybe I’ll do better with that next year! Plus it’s the festival 20th anniversary in 2017, so now we anxiously wait to see how the big year will be celebrated.

Your everyday Salesman (photo by J. Tilus)

Oh yeah. That’s not all. Teeth of the Divine invited a Finnish street photographer Jukka Tilus to capture the crowd at the festival and you can see those, as well as our more traditional band shots at our official Facebook page.

With half of Teeth’s fighting crew succumbing to the battle injuries from Nummirock festival the week earlier, I was again forced to go solo — which is fine, considering all the masochism and self-deprecation that running Teeth of the Divine requires. Speaking of Nummirock, or any other Finnish festival, when you compare the lineups, there’s a lot of overlap. If one was to attend them all, things would probably go a bit stale after a while, but “luckily” I haven’t had the luxury this year.

Anyway. Tuska. 2014. Go.

FRIDAY

Ensiferum had the honors to cherrypop the main stage. I was still in the queue waiting for my credentials and the +10 charisma boost that comes with the press pass. The plebs seemed to pour into the festival from their own gates quite effortlessly, so at least the four years at Suvilahti have ironed out some of the more basic quirks of the operation.

Poisonblack & Antti Remes

Right after I was fab fived, I found myself in the photo pit for Poisonblack. Truth be told, I really didn’t hear anything the band was doing on stage, as I was still in a rush of getting accustomed to my surroundings. Not that things had changed since last year,but at least the ‘booth babes’ with free Coca Cola had made a welcomed comeback. I know putting it that way sounds extremely exciting, especially for a metal site, but the small free cans are an excellent way to keep thyself hydrated throughout the day as you combat the sun.

Friday’s set must have been somewhat of an ungrateful gig for Phil H. Anselmo and The Illegals. A lot of people wanted to see Phil Anselmo live, but I’m not sure how many of them cared for Superjoint Ritual or even knew Phil had some new stuff to offer as well. Despite the somewhat welcoming audience, in reality, it seemed like what they truly wanted was Pantera.

Phil Anselmo

The Cowboys from Hell were supposed to play with Slayer at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, back in 2001. Then some planes struck a couple of buildings and the world changed permanently. Slayer came over with Cradle of Filth, In Flames and Amorphis, but Pantera didn’t want to have anything to do with flying planes so they stayed home. Three years and few months later, Dimebag got shot and that was that for Pantera.

Phil’s still a charismatic fellow. A lot more subdued and rugged, older to be frank, but still commands a bit of that machismo that, despite the naysayers nowadays, made the guy a legend of the ‘90s metal movement. When he speaks, you tend to listen and he still has his wits about him. “You’re waiting for your heroes… in black and white makeup… like the poseurs I know you are” the man laughed, while chuckling at his own notions that his new band would become bigger than Metallica ever was.

But, the set at this year’s Tuska was an odd thing to witness. The audience was courteous, but it still seemed like the band and the guys throwing up the fists really didn’t seem to meet — aside from when the group was covering Pantera with songs like “Domination/Hollow” and “Hellbound”, but everyone knew that was not enough. At some point Phil seemed surprised that they still had minutes to fill: “We can make it up as we go… so whadda ya want to hear?”

“What really grinds me gears…”

Dare I say there was a ton of awkwardness, but still at the same time, plenty of ‘fun’ as well. Kind of like driving 120 miles per hour into oncoming traffic, not holding back and still trying to make the best of the situation and in a nihilistic way, actually enjoy it. In one of the greatest stunts of the festival, Phil completely blueballed the audience by rocking Slayer’s “Raining Blood” on guitar, getting the rest of the band behind him, riling the audience up for a new pit and then just finishing it off into a wall before the thing got anymore traction. Ice cold.

Phil Anselmo 20 years earlier. No wait. Nails.

Speaking of getting your brains splattered all across the festival grounds, Nails was up next on the second stage and they got a “holee shit” out of me with their pummeling hybrid of all things heavy. The band steamrolls violently through any opposition and forces people to succumb to the beating. I’d assume the set would have worked better inside the boiler room, with a more intimate contact with the crowd, but whatever. A strong heads up from the band and probably the closest I’ve felt of seeing Being and Nothing -era Extreme Noise Terror live.

Children of Bodom was supposedly playing at Tuska for the first time in… 7 years or something? Anyway, they were meant to play last year but had to cancel due to reasons; most likely for touring quite actively in North America. This time the band had set up a homecoming party of sorts to celebrate the occasion, driving a couple of trucks on stage and a few real barbeques, up and ready to grill. Lost Society seemed to be doing most of the serving, while Bodom were handing out their musical meat on the front of the stage.

Children of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho shreds and cusses

Like I think I said in last year’s Sauna Open Air report, Bodom aren’t in my area of interest. For what’s it worth, they seemed to rock the stage, have a good time and give the audience a worthwhile metal show. Me, I had time to concentrate on benign irrelevancies, such as shaking my head at Alexi Laiho’s in between banter; the guys definitely have been touring the States for far too long, as Alexi’s tendency to speak English to the home audience felt at times, quite laughable with the constant explicits. Fuck this, fuck that. Sure, there were a ton of foreign visitors as well, but when in Rome… or whatever that smartass proverb was.

Hamferð was moody

At some point during CoB’s set I zombied onwards to the dark, murky third stage and was greeted with a wall of melodic doom slash death, as Hamferð, from Faroe Island, was making a strong showing for themselves to a devout crowd. Hadn’t heard of the band before, but it didn’t take long for the versatile vocalist, Mr. Jón Aldará to win me over along with the rest of the band. The guy also replaced Mikko Kotamäki in Barren Earth, so there’s that too. Definitely one of the biggest and best surprises of the festival, so much so, that I went and ordered their latest album, Evst. The show ended far too early and there was still enough time to hear Alexi speak his finglish on stage; “[In Finnish] Thank you Tuska, you were an amazing audience! [And right after in English] Thank you so fucking much!” Oh you little rascal, you — I’d cuddle you to death!

Stand-up comedian Jeff Walker

Jeff Walker was in a sarcastic mood, constantly bantering with the audience and throwing sharp knives towards everyone and everything; not giving a shit like Phil Anselmo earlier and rightfully so. The guy laughed at the line queuing up for Bodom’s signatures, constantly called everyone who wasn’t watching their show a loser and an asshole. The man also apologized for Carcass’ part in the creation of the Gothenburg sound and whatever melodeath bands they might have influenced in the past 20 years. Carcass threw songs from left and right, including their latest Surgical Steel album but seemed to skip Swansong for some reason.

Dimmu Borgir and Shagrath’s amazing gaze

Since you’re visiting this site, it pretty much means that Dimmu Borgir needs no introduction whatsoever. I think they played at Tuska some years ago, when Simen was still around to grace the band with his fantastic clean vocals. Apparently the band wanted to celebrate some sort of a 21 year run with the audience, albeit that didn’t seem to translate into anything special on stage. Supposedly the plan was to play through Death Cult Armageddon but I think they stopped after a handful of songs and moved onto other things, including a 10-15 minute background tape interlude — the third ‘intro’ of the show or so — at which point I wondered if the band dragged onwards like this on their albums as they did on stage, as I sure as shit couldn’t remember being actually bored the last time I went through one their albums. “Fuck this” I thought, and took the gateway out of dodge as “Gateways” began to blare in the background.

Occasionally the second stage would bottleneck access to the third, but overall it was still easy to get around. I wasn’t too sad to see the fourth stage go, as it meant that not as many bands were booked on top of one another and you didn’t have to stampede from one end to the other to try and get a glimpse of everything. Especially when our Teeth crew was only just one man strong this time around.

Minor defects included the water refilling spots, as their locations seemed to have gone to deaf ears. People didn’t seem to realize that there were actually two places to replenish empty water bottles. Most queued next to the building that housed the third stage, adding to the clutter. There was also quite a bit of flooding from the toilet area nearby, with some of the urinals pouring over; apparently warm weather makes people drink and piss more.

However, the biggest omission that struck me in the gut was the lack of free, sponsored beverages. There was no Coca Cola stand to be found anywhere, which previous years was a great way to get some fluid back in while moving between stages. As hinted, the weather was nice throughout with a bit of burning happening on Friday, and humane warmth on Saturday and Sunday — despite some clouds here and there. Again, Tuska proved to go against all weather reports, as the festival evaded the promised rain clouds.

What I paid attention to this year around was that, going against some reports online, the sound policies were pretty much perfect to my worn ears. At no point did I notice any badly mixed sets on any of the stages that would have distracted one from enjoying the bands at hand. Instead I found myself thinking how the mixes were quite fitting on more than one occasion.

As Teeth’s task force was just one man this time around, I figured I’d take it a bit easier this year and not machinegun with the camera from one band to another. It proved to be a wise decision as unlike the previous years, I actually felt quite healthy on the next Monday after all had been said and done.

Let’s rewind.

FRIDAY

Cut to Fit

“Because this is probably the last time we’ll ever get to play a stage as big as this…” proclaimed Cut to Fit screamer Jere inside the boiler room that held Tuska’s third stage, somewhat taken aback by the fact that indeed, they had a pretty damn good turnout for their gig at Tuska Open Air, especially considering the festival had just begun. “[…] So this will be the only crowd singalong I’ll do…” he continued before adding “You guys seen the South Park episode where the mongols invade and the Chinese guy has to defend…and the mongolians go DURRRRRH? When I count to three, go DURRRRRH! One, two, three [crowd goes DURRRRRRHH!!!]”. Not that I could see it clearly, and maybe it was just sweat pouring down Jere’s face after beating himself into submission on stage, but there might have been a glimpse of joy in his eyes before he instantly rocketed himself into the next song. And with that moment, the grindcore group from Lahti, Finland won me over. Not that I didn’t appreciate their (on average) 40 second long songs—most featuring a burly groove—about various topics that ranged from silly, to social issues (“Next song’s about how hard it’s to watch how your close ones go mental”), the intolerability of life and government’s way to fuck the average Joe up in the ass. There was something very humane and humbling about the event.

Tesseract

Moments before Tesseract had closed their festival opening set on the ‘Radiorock’ main stage. They’d been summoned by speed dial to replace Dillinger Escape Plan and had 60-minutes to sell their djent-influenced, rhythmic and sometimes progressive take on metal to a still cold but ever-growing crowd. While it didn’t seem to be up to everyone’s tastes, having spun Tesseract’s fresh new album Altered State quite actively the past few weeks prior, the show proved well worth my time. The band’s new singer Ashe O’Hara showed that he was quite capable in a live setting as well. The rest of the band played with conviction and precision while making a strong showcase of themselves too.

Abhorrence

I don’t think Abhorrence needs much, if any introduction. After a twenty and some odd years hiatus, the band was back on stage on the smaller second stage, ‘Inferno’. The crowd welcomed the truckload of nostalgia with open arms, and after some adjusting, the band too got back into the groove of it more and more. The band had to throw in everything they had to fill the time slot which also lead to the fact that, in all honesty, they do seem to have some filler. Still, a curiosity that undeniably reminded that the current state of metal in Finland shouldn’t be taken for granted nor that the success of it all was made overnight.

Wintersun

Abhorrence wasn’t the only thing coming back on stage, as Friday saw many bands who had been playing at Tuska not too long ago make a return, including Wintersun, Ihsahn and Amorphis. Wintersun’s latest album Time I sparked some debate with the fans about whether or not it was actually worth the wait, but on stage the new material gelled quite well with the old. The band lead by Jari Mäenpää and backed by Kai Hahto sounded strong and majestic (with a ton of backing tapes), but after a handful of songs, I decided to check out the last few songs from rocking doomsters Tombstoned instead and a bit later, the first few cuts by power metal act Dreamtale. Where the first was quite subdued and concentrated, the latter showed its experience with what seemed like a strong show — considering the music did nothing for me.

Ihsahn

Once Wintersun had done its bit to get some adrenaline going, Ihsahn arrived onto the second stage with Leprous backing him up (who had started the festival in the boiler room at the same time with Tesseract). I couldn’t remember much from the 2010 gig Ihsahn threw at Tuska, but this time his progressive metal charmed me with strong instrumentalization. One thing that stood out was how animated Leprous’ keyboardist Einar Solberg was. The guy pretty much stole the show. After a while, I went to check the remaining 30 minutes of Torture Killer’s death metal marathon. And, oh boy, did the band catch me off my guard. Especially notable was vocalist Pessi Haltsonen who provided some of the best growling I’ve heard in years, and the music steamrolled the packed indoor area into total surrender. Death Metal fans, pay note. Oh yeah, as for Leprous, I learned later on that missing them and their 20-minute (or so) set was a huge bummer as their newest album Coal is some of the best stuff put out in 2013.

Bolt Thrower

Conveniently Torture Killer’s murder seemed to have warmed up the audience as Bolt Thrower received a far bigger (and well deserved) response on the main stage than I believed possible, which was nice. The band seemed happy to throw their only European gig to a bloodthirsty audience, ready for war, death and destruction. And that’s exactly what the legendary death metal battalion brought, picking off songs from their vast discography (“When Glory Beckons” was played in honor of Jeff Hanneman) and serving it all with such absolution that none were left unsatisfied after the 75 minutes of nothing but hit songs were over. Another thing where Bolt Thrower obliterated was the merch booth, which they had set up themselves. T-shirts were around 15 euros cheaper compared to other bands (aside from De Lirium’s Order who also sold their goods at a reasonable price).

During Bolt Thrower’s set, I decided to take a peek of Kuolemanlaakso, the Finnish doom/death supergroup of sorts (featuring Swallow the Sun’s Mikko Kotomäki on vocals). I only stayed for a song and a half, but their crunchy offering sounded good, very good in fact — so much so, that I ordered their debut album Uljas Uusi Maailma (“Brave New World”) a few days later for a closer inspection.

Jere Lehtinen of Dallas Stars fame likes metal

I couldn’t explain it to myself why, but I had been anticipating Amorphis’ gig. NHL legend Jere Lehtinen (of Dallas Stars fame) introduced the band to stage, but in the end, the show left me a tad cold despite the band’s strong (as expected) effort. Perhaps it was the setlist that didn’t get me all that excited, as only “On Rich and Poor” was played off Elegy and none from Tuonela. The new songs sounded good live, though, and especially “Hopeless Days” resonated well with me, albeit the song would be tons better without the happy parts. It’s painful how clear it is that if Amorphis were to fully embrace melancholia rather than try to offer hope where they can, it could give birth to things oh-so-beautiful. It also seemed like Tomi Joutsen had something to prove after all the previous death metal outfits, as he seemed a bit more intense than I’ve seen him before. Tomi Koivusaari, on the other hand, seemed a bit less so, but then again, it was his second show of the day having played with Abhorrence just some hours before.

I’ve never grown to be that big of a King Diamond aficionado, but it would have been a crime not to have the man and his band close off Friday. While King went through some medical issues not too long ago, on stage he proved to be in excellent condition both in voice and showmanship. The group provided a show that would have been right at home at some Broadway theater with their mansion backdrop complete with a dancer acting out whatever roles were needed to illustrate the songs.

King Diamond. Who else?

Some fans seemed to crave for more recent songs, but for some dolt like me, the setlist provided a nice general view. Some Mercyful Fate songs (“Come to the Sabbath” and “Evil”) got played as well, with the traditional drum solo at the middle. The acoustic intro to “Black Horsemen” sounded great, while “Welcome Home” came early in the set to please my expectations. Perhaps the most memorable and entertaining parts of the show were “Up from the Grave” and “Voodoo” that really drove home how big of a performer on stage Kim Petersen really is (along with the convincing stage presence from guitar extraordinaire Andy LaRocque, Hal Patino and Mike Wead).

The show was a great tour de force, making it loud and clear that King Diamond is, indeed, a force not to be reckoned with and that I’ve got some more home studies to do. With all due respect to my old-time favorite Testament, King Diamond provided the festival’s most entertaining set right on the very first day. Everything just screamed heavy metal. Pure and simple.

SUNDAY

Matti: Sunday cometh. The third and last day of Tuska also happened to be the day I personally was waiting for the most. During the first two days of the festival, I must admit that there were several moments when I had to question my motivation for attending. The diverse musical catering provided was somewhat inconsistent when it came to my highly specific needs. Today felt much different. So like a level 60 nerd playing WOW online with a girl for the first time, I showed embarrassingly early.

The day started off with some gothic and melodic metal/hard rock provided by Finland’s The Man-Eating Tree. The apples of this tree do not seem to fall far from those bands in which these guys have played before., and the music was much in the vein of Sentenced, Poisonblack and Embraze. Being a relatively new band, they have been quick to put out two full-length albums (Vine, Harvest), so they had plenty to use for their set. Personally, not the first thing on my favorite list, but not a bad band if you like this kind of music. They gathered a decent amount of confused goth babes to the crowd — which are, in fact, the second thing on my favorite list. It was like flies circling a traplight, where I could be the turd lying on the porch below — a good way to grab the attention of any stragglers… Yes, I am a romantic at heart.

Tuomas Tuominen sang for Fall of the Leafe. Now he sings in Man-Eating Tree.

Speaking of shits and turds — a field which I am a expert in — Suicide Silence gets to compete for the price of being the biggest piece of garbage I have ever witnessed at Tuska. “We are trying too fucking hard at being too cool for school” was one of the phrases that kept playing through my head as I watching this assclownery unfold onstage. Vocalist Mitch Lucker was trying his hardest to bust out his best Phil Anselmo impression, but he kept failing in every way by not having any sense of true conviction. Everything felt so totally dishonest and contrived that it’s hard to put into words how powerful their shit reeked.

Somebody needs to wash their mouth with soap

Even when I thought it could not get any more sad and pathetic, things took a full 360 turn when they broke out their ultimate punchline. (I’ll paraphrase here by channeling my inner douchebag so I can recall this as authentically as possible.) Between songs, Mitch turns and addresses his teen horde by opening his big and magical ‘Book of Words by Mitch’. The one that has over three hundred pages full of the word ‘fuck’ and nothing much else: “Hey all you fuckers out there! I want you all to fucking sing this fucker with me. Are you fucking ready!? This next fucking song is called… Fuck everything!” Ba da-fucking-bum! And to top it all off, the track’s actually their sing-a-fucking-long song too.

I guess angst-filled and immature metal music works well for angst-filled and immature youths; one look at the scores of confused teens in front of Suicide Silence’s set proved that. They’re the epitome of generic metal/deathcore: an endless amount of unnecessary breakdowns, and lyrical content void of any intelligence. Unintentionally funny, but ultimately so stupid, it shouldn’t even exist.

Jack Sparrow, Perttu Kivilaakso or Tuomas Holopainen? The other memorable Apocalyptica-member, anyway. Whatever. 

Having the iffy novelty act Apocalyptica on the main stage was, in my opinion, somewhat of a low moment, considering the band mainly performs cover songs. Okay, I can understand that they’re big at international funfairs, and that they’re some sort of accessible ambassadors for all of metal — they take classic metal songs and give them a fresh face by playing them with cellos. Still, even after all these years, and despite the fact that they do write original songs as well, the band still feels like too much of a gimmick to me. The excessive make-up and easy-to-photo, over-acted facial expressions (not to mention dressing up as Jack Sparrow) does not help the band seem more legit in my book, but whatever. Also, the nicely executed light show was ruined by the bright summer sun.

Still, some of their own songs can be pretty decent, and are helped by the fact that they’ve employed a real drummer for quite some time now. There was also a guest vocalist, Tipe Johnson — maybe Corey Taylor and the other guys singing on the records had something better to do that day — singing backup on some of the tracks. I didn’t finish their set, though — after my shift at the photo pit, I withdrew into the shade to catch a nap.

• MK: Well, there’s one thing going for Apocalyptica… at least they’re not goddamn Van Canto.
• MM: Oh, don’t get me started on acapella music. Thinking about shit like that makes me believe that with enough hate inside, spontaneous combustion is actually possible.

Last year there was Ghost and Enslaved, so this year the coin-toss dilemma came up with Skeletonwitch and Baroness playing at the same time. A fifteen minute interval in between starting times enabled me to snatch some photos of both bands, but in the end, the double booking left me sulking after losing out on half of the musical goodness from each.

Chance Garnette felt lively.

Skeletonwitch started hard and hostile, as I had anticipated. Armed with a beer can in his tattooed and claw-like hand, Chance Garnette shrieked through their first songs while hurling himself around the stage like meth-crazed biker that had just eaten some poor sob’s face for breakfast. A mosh pit quickly turned the Inferno tent inside out, but the band was only starting to gear up their blackened thrash assault. Sadly, the good times (for me, at least), were short-lived, as I had to rush over to catch Baroness’ first notes.

Mikko: I slept long as Sunday dawned, and woke up somewhat revitalized — all of my pain from the previous two days was gone, and I went to eat breakfast by the sea. While I would have wanted to see The Man-Eating Tree (mainly because of its Fall of the Leafe connections), it was too early for me to do anything of the sort, so I kept smiling and devoured my bagel. I finally pranced into the premises right before Skeletonwitch took the stage, as I remember this very site hyping them up at one point. I caught up with Matti, and he too seemed ready for good music, especially after he’d just barely avoided being stabbed by one of Apocalyptica’s cellists.

• MM: Oh, I almost forgot that close call! I was trying to take some sexy low-angle photos during their set and almost got impaled by Paavo Lötjönen. It would have been such a Mortal Kombat-like humiliation if I’d been snuffed by the least memorable member of the band.

Skeletonwitch made a damn good first impression, and their Tuska gig apparently wrapped up their recent tour. They didn’t show any battle-wear as they proceeded to annihilate the audience with a lively set and relaxed banter between songs. Vocalist Chance Garnette expressed gratitude plenty of times to the rather large crowd for giving the band a chance — although he must have felt the reactions to his comments about pot were a tad lacking. No matter, the crowd responded well to the music, and shipped the guys off to the States with smiles on their face.

Matti: I still had not decided which band’s set to finish watching after I had taken three songs’ worth of shots of Baroness. In the end, I let them bring home the bacon, as their set was probably the best gig of the whole festival for me.

A proven live band, Baroness ably replicated the massive and multifaceted soundscape they have on their records. Come to think of it, it worked even better than hearing the same stuff on CD. Strangely, the extremely fine-tuned musicianship was celebrated by an oddly still and quiet Tuska audience. Perhaps that’s because they’re just one of the weirdest metal bands around, soundwise. Their music has some odd qualities, as even the more heavier parts always feel out-of-place due to the peculiar absence of bleakness and aggression that is usually quite prominent in metal/heavy music. Actually, you could argue that they’re more of a progressive rock outfit than a pure metal band — and even moreso after the new Yellow & Green album.

Baroness and the sun. Good mix.

Watching Baroness perform live, I caught this sense of warmth and happiness emitting from the stage. This was not the typical rowdy “Let’s get some beers and take over the night!” type of a thing (which Overkill would bring next to the main stage). Instead, the guys seemed to just enjoy playing out under the sunshine, and all the while interacting with the crowd and doing the whole 9 yards of a good rock show effortlessly.

They played most of the better songs from their color scheme albums, ranging from Red to Blue and also incorporating a few songs from the new Yellow & Green. It was a smooth setlist, and all of the songs from the color-themed albums built an organic, free flowing experience which worked out perfectly. After this showing, I don’t think I was the only one who left with high hopes to see Baroness touring through Finland’s clubs soon…

Mikko: Lamb of God was supposed to be playing next, but due to certain events in the Czech Republic, the band was forced to cancel and Finntroll were summoned on an extra-short notice. Lamb of God’s cancellation led to hilarious outbursts throughout the weekend as the band’s more vocal fans cried tasty bitter tears on Facebook, how they’d be selling their Sunday tickets as their weekend was now officially ruined. Yeah. An event that occurred two years ago in another country was definitely the Tuska organizers’ fault. Sheesh. Not surprisingly, as I roamed through the concrete paradise on Sunday, I saw a lot of those same teary-eyed faces from Facebook and elsewhere here and there on the festival grounds. Go figure.

• MM: I’m starting to feel like every festival organizer in Finland has a red phone on their desk with a direct line to Finntroll. I don’t think this is the first time the trolls have been called to the rescue…

Matti: When it comes to the case of Randy Blythe vs the Czech Republic, it’s been nice to see how fellow metal bands have been coming out and trying to raise awareness. They’ve brought some valid viewpoints to the whole debacle. I recently read an article with Dave Brockie of mighty GWAR sharing his untypically serious opinions on the case to free Randy. Still, I couldn’t keep “Let Us Slay” from playing in my head as I read his words.

Mikko: Some said Finntroll wasn’t a worthy enough replacement for Lamb of God. I wouldn’t know since I skipped their show, but from what I saw of it, they seemed to have found their audience and then some.

And truth be told, I didn’t mind Lamb of God’s unfortunate no-show, as it meant that Overkill got their spot on the main stage and with it, a longer set. Truth be told, the guys from New Jersey were definitely the weekend’s headliner for me, as their 2009’s Tuska set left me craving a bigger fix (and back then, they were also slightly overshadowed by my unnerving Nevermore-fanboyism). Three years later, on the first day of July 2012, Overkill showed that they more than deserved this bigger time slot.

Overkill’s Blitz is god-tier. No contest.

It was a killer set, and performed with such relentless and brutal power that a lot of younger bands lost any excuse for being completely motionless live. Bobby Blitz simply puts a lot of frontmen to shame, even though he had to go and take a breather a few times behind the amps. After a few deep breaths though (and, surprisingly, enjoying a cigarette while air-guitaring), he was back out onstage for more vocal violence. “You make me feel like I’m 49 years old again” — definitely one of the better frontmen out there.

He also spoke about growing old and how there’s nothing wrong with that — “as long as you have good friends to do it with.” That struck a nice chord with me as I floated around the festival ground, feeling older and wondering if I felt disconnected from the younger festivalgoers. The band showed no sign of stopping and mixed new with old — “Necroshine” particularly blew my mind. Despite the longer set, a lot of the songs I wanted to hear were left out (“Thunderhead” for example), but considering just how fucking extensive Overkill’s discography is, it’s really no wonder.

The band also addressed the Lamb of God situation briefly and commented on the metal community’s impressive support and solidarity. Brief Lamb of God chants were heard before switching back to Overkill’s name and more thrashing to “In Union We Stand”. It was really pleasing to see that not only was the crowd engaged throughout the set (and for many, this was their first exposure), but the band was also having a ton of fun. Quite telling that Blitz pretty much invited everyone at the show back to his house for a BBQ (so long as they brought their own drinks).

After Overkill’s set, I was more than content, but the festival was still few hours from ending. And while I’m at it, there’s no doubt that with each time I see Overkill, they solidify their place as my favorite thrash act along with Testament.

Matti: My highlight moment was hearing the old classic “Hello From the Gutter” live. I have some fond childhood memories of stealing one of my older brother’s C-cassettes which had this particular song on it. It made a long-lasting impact to my then-unscarred psyche. You know, I think this song might have been a factor in my personal decline as a human being, which resulted in me becoming a worthless scumbag and gave my parents a black sheep of shame to banish from their will (not to mention ruining any chance of building a meaningful relationship with the ladies.). Overkill, I thank thee for bringing me into the fold so young!

• MK: Shit just got personal!
• MM: Well, sometimes it can be a virtue to wear your heart on your sleeve. Even if that heart might look like a rotten potato.

Dr. Doom or Huoratron? Probably both.

Mikko: After Overkill’s thundering tour-de-force, many would and could argue that Huoratron was a miscast act for a heavy metal festival, but those people don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. The bludgeoning, electronic wall of noise, armament of strobolights and Aku Raski’s evil genius-like performance had metalheads frantically dancing as if the end of the world was near. The strong, sweet essence of weed puffing out from the audience must have helped as well. Metal or not, but very metal-esque nonetheless. Definitely something that you more open-minded or less electronic-inclined people should check out in a live setting. Top notch stuff, really — even if I was left wondering how there weren’t any epileptic seizures…

• MM: For me, it was a fun and refreshing move to see Huoratron invade Tuska. I didn’t see or hear much negative feedback from the crowd, as the music seemed to keep most of them busy jumping and dancing to the beat. It’s one thing to look at hot girls screaming and fist-pumping in the crowd, but yet another to see them jumping and shaking those sweet, sweet booties around like there’s no tomorrow. I approve this message.

Mikko: Inside on the fourth stage, Jess and the Ancient Ones were also firing up their set. They’re part of the new occult-rock wave that seems to be gaining more and more momentum in the world’s darker corners. From the little I saw, the band (forged by Deathchain’s Corpse) seemed to be standing on its own two firm feet. Unfortunately, after the pummeling earlier from Overkill’s set, I just didn’t have the patience to come down from my high, so I went to watch the last of Huoratron’s gig instead. There’s just something reassuring about letting the beats pound your head before Ministry, the festival’s headliner.

Occult, occult, occult

Matti: After a hassle that interrupted the beginning of the show, I got settled next to the soundboard to watch Ministry have a go at it. I haven’t listened to the new Relapse album — Rio Grande was the last one on my shelf — so it took me awhile to get into the groove of things. Ultimately, the band put on a good show and in my opinion, well-worth the festival’s headliner billing. Highlights for me were “Just One Fix”, “NWO” and “Worthless,” and I also liked their revamped take on “Khyber Pass” (which is where they had finally “shot Bin Laden”). The song gave a really nice, subtle addition to the atmosphere, and lingered in the air as the set hurtled towards the encore.

Al Jourgensen and his portable pawnshop

Mikko: The first time I saw Al Jourgensen as a kid was on the “NWO” video. The guy instantly became one of the coolest people in existence back then, so when Ministry took the stage to close down the Tuska Festival, I was naively anticipating an evangelical experience. That got shot down pretty quick, as I haven’t paid attention to the band since Rio Grande Blood, nor had I had any indication of Al’s transformation into a walking body-piercing sweatshop. The dude must get a ton of shit at the airport’s metal detector!

• MM: Leave the man alone. He has enough to worry about with The New World Order and the upcoming collapse of the modern society. You do know he is deeply committed to fighting the NWO and preparing his home compound for the upcoming free-for-all when shit finally hits the fan.
• MK: Pure cosmetics aside, the music had a hard time grabbing my interest. Jourgensen seemed to be in a talkative mood, feeding the crowd with accolades and statistics about Helsinki being the metal capital of the world. Sadly, when it came down to hardcore politics and today’s events as topics, the audience seemed a bit more out of tune.

Mikko: I think Tuska was finally starting to overstay its welcome as that unique metal exhaustion began to creep up in my psyche. So after a handful of songs, I decided to call it quits and went to see a friend at one of the beer areas. Funnily enough, that particular bar was set up in an area that had actual nature inside, which reminded me of just how tiring the mix of metal and concrete can be, and how the festival’s spirit and audience had changed so much in just two years. The only thing that sucked was that as I was going through my hippie-phase with beer in hand, I’d missed out on seeing “NWO” live. Shit happens.

• MM: Jourgensen has such misanthropic views of the future, and surely does not care that taking mud baths for healthier skin will keep pretty rocker-man-crushes alive. If you didn’t know this, you can always search the interweb for the audio of him visiting Alex Jones at Info Wars. His AI/Spielberg story told during that interview was also pure gold.In the end, I think Al and Killing Joke’s Jaz Coleman should have their own TV show, in which they’d have light-hearted chats each week about canned food, all while sitting on their recliners, shotguns across their laps, drinking tea and holding cute, fluffy kittens.

And that was that.

Matti: Not counting some small moments here and there, only Sunday got me somewhat pumped-up. On Friday, I was tired and my overall motivation to check out the bands just wasn’t that strong. Saturday had few high moments with Anaal Nathrakh, Napalm Death and For the Imperium, but it still managed to feel a little lacking luster. Sunday, on the other hand, had several bands that I was really interested in seeing, but as they went on against each other, my raffle ticket didn’t score the grand prize.

My unscientific examination of the average age of this year’s Tuska festival-goer also made me weep for my own golden years. Most of the time, I felt like one of the Old Ones awakening on the bottom of the sea after long, strange aeons, only to find out that times have changed and kids are ruining fucking everything. And I just did not have the tentacles to give them a massive bitchslap.

Mikko: After all was said and done, this year’s Tuska felt eerily similar to last year’s. It’s as if the organizers had used the same template, with minor alterations to book the bands. Jess and the Ancient Ones vs. Jex Thoth, Hatebreed vs. Agnostic Front, Electric Wizard vs. Saint Vitus, Exodus vs. Forbidden and so forth. I guess if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — the approach really gathered a wide variety of acts together.

• MM: I can agree with your assessment. This year really followed a similar pattern used last time around. Maybe they have this down in Excel now or something.

The festival was, without a doubt, a success, but given my wavering interest at times, I wonder what the future will hold for Tuska. Beneath the success, I think there’s a call for some sort of a shake up.

While the new area made it far more easier to maneuver through the crowds, some sort of intimacy or community has been lost in the process. In a way, it felt like that second gig from Devin Townsend two years ago was the pinnacle point for the festival. It gathered everyone together for a very special moment. Or perhaps there’s been no change and it’s just my nostalgia talking. Perhaps the new setting simply needs a few more years to burn in. Or perhaps I need to find the leak in my soul and pump some goddamn metal back into my veins…

The fact remains that the festival is still a Top Tier event and runs like a well-oiled machine. As long as the organizers keep booking excellent and surprising performers—as they have been doing—there’s simply nothing to worry about.

But we sure as fuck ain’t growing any younger.

* * *

Our last set of Tuska 2012 photos can be seen on our Facebook-page.

SATURDAY

Matti: The early bird catches the worm, but I still am just a man who needs his beauty sleep. Estonian folk metal band Metsätöll started day two raiding the main stage at half-past midday, but at that time I was still drinking milk and eating cereal. Metsätöll is a decent-to-good live band, but they’re one of those bands that tour Finland pretty regularly, and I had seen them on several occasions. So I had no hurry digging them Lucky Charms out of me milk bowl. After finishing my breakfast with a smile, I darted back to the trenches.

Anaal Nathrakh

It was a strong start to the second day as I arrived at the Inferno tent to take some photos of Anaal Nathrakh. For me, the band was a new acquaintance and—oh boy—they sure turned me into a fan! Shortly after their opening notes hit the air, I found myself totally losing my shit in the photo pit. I just wanted nothing else than to absorb the musical onslaught that invaded my every cell. The band sounded absolutely brilliant! A sound of all kinds of great things being stacked over and over on top of each other in a growing pile of awesomeness, without any threat of it collapsing in its grandeur. Anaal Nathrakh’s unique sound knits together influences from various kinds of sources, from black metal to grind to death to folk to post-metal, and mixed with some progressive stuff to boot. The list of possible references seems far too grand to put into a list.

One thing that really sticks in my mind, aside from the great whirlpool of riffing, was the somewhat unexpected use of clean vocals, which gave out a rare, Primordial kind of haunting vibe. Simple but amazing. After the photo pit had closed, I spent some time on the stage side listening to the band play. The stage side was untypically crowded, and I soon noted that Mr. Embury was hanging around next to me, inspecting the stage and nodding in approval. It was only later that I read he had also played with these guys.

Amoral’s gig was under control

Mikko: After being screwed over by Helsinki’s tram system, I arrived to the scene at the end of Amoral’s set, and completely missed Anaal Nathrakh’s first-ever performance in Finland. Major bummer, considering some named it the festival’s best gig. Makes you question why the fuck you’d put ‘em up on stage so early (1315 hours? On a Saturday? Goddamn!).

Mokoma at it again. Who else?

Matti: Next up was a widely popular Finnish thrash metal band called Mokoma. They had put up a poll beforehand and asked which album they should play from start to finish during their Tuska gig, and the most voted album was revealed just before the set. The winner—and biggest fan favorite—was Kuoleman Laulukunnaat, quite possibly the heaviest album in their discography and in my opinion, a good choice from and for the masses. Having had seen Mokoma so many times before, the band did little to surprise me during their set. They have always been a solid band with good live chops wrapped around them musical bones, so there was not much to complain about.

Mikko: I thought the audience chose wrong. I would have much more preferred Tämän Maailman Ruhtinaan Hovi, but I’ll let it slide. Mokoma is one of those bands in Finland that has toured the country backwards and forwards, and it really shows on stage. They don’t seem to have bad days and it doesn’t matter whether or not they’re performing on a small stage or stomping around the larger main stages. Professional group, in and out. I suppose the biggest surprise was a new track which has been in the making for years. It didn’t sound too bad for what it was, but it wasn’t anything exciting either. Kind of like their latest album from few years back.

Horna in black and white.

Horna brought its blasphemy to the tent stage, and their homage to Satan sounded far better live than I originally expected. Naturally, the 3pm playing time tried its best to spoil the mass—along with a heckler between the songs—but external factors aside, the gig was definitely one of the better ones on Saturday. Vocalist Spellgoth (more widely known for his pet project Turmion Kätilöt) also took the time to pay homage to satanic traditions by tearing up a bible and throwing the tattered remains into the audience. It might be an old trick, but it always gets a reaction from the audience. However, it appeared that Horna took the gathering far more seriously than the guys throwing up horns and laughs in front of the stage, so perhaps there was some kind of disconnect.

Textures’ vocalist Daniel de Jongh making diamonds

Matti: Whilst Horna was summoning Satanic spirits on the third stage, Textures, whom I had never heard of before Tuska, stepped onto the second stage. Apparently they have had some previous gigs in Finland, most notably at Frostbite Metalfest. That calls for a small detour to take a look at an important chapter in Finnish metal festival history.

Frostbite was a legendary one-off metal festival that was held in 2009. There was this one particular talk of the town back then, an 18-year-old chap who had a dream to bring all of his favorite bands to play live in his hometown, Lahti. Many promoters tried to give him advice and help him out, but their pleas fell upon deaf ears.

The final billing for this two-day-long metal extravaganza included bands like Lamb of God, Cradle of Filth, Mayhem, Arch Enemy and Gorgoroth. While some of these bands did end up playing, the whole thing turned into a total clusterfuck. The venue was oversized, the organization was faulty, and attendance was much, much smaller than what was projected. It also didn’t help that money was spent on limos to transport some of the bands from the airport, and that apparently, Lamb of God was given shitloads more money to play than what they would have normally asked for. Not surprisingly, the organizer/promoter/twelp wound up 200,000 euros in debt, and was nowhere to be found during or after the event. Legend also tells, that when shit really started to hit the fan, metal-extraordinaire and human Swiss army knife Tuomas Saukkonen (Before the Dawn and many other projects) wound up salvaging most of what was salvageable.

Tuska downtime

Frostbite also gave birth to one famous Finnish picture meme that spread around the Interwebs like wildfire through dry grass. The meme is a picture of a simple white paper sheet with the text “MAYHEM PERUTTU” (Mayhem canceled) written on it and taped to a concrete wall of the indoor festival area.

Okay, so why am I talking all this shit about some irrelevant thing in that happened way back when, and not the Textures performance at Tuska 2012? Well, mainly because I didn’t like it. It’s not that Textures is a totally talentless band or exceptionally bad at playing their instruments, just that their songs rely heavily on annoying metalcore gimmicks, and their “progressive” tempo shifts just do not fit the songs. The music was an utter mess, and did not work with me on any level.

• MK: Yeah. Textures seems to have a good work ethic but when the music blows, it blows. The little I saw of the band brought back the memory of Mnemic or watching M.A.N. before Misery Index and Fear Factory back in 2006. Ugh! Thankfully, Napalm Death arrived to the main stage to wash away any and all ill-feelings.

People asked. Napalm Death provided.

Matti: Napalm Death were great. Barney’s stage presence forced me into a good mood and all that ‘T-rex arm flailing’ has to be the best in the business. The grandfathers of grind played songs from throughout their 30-year old history, including the cover version of the Dead Kennedys’ “Nazi punks fuck off!”. On that note, on stage Napalm Death felt more like a hardcore punk band than a metal act. I wonder how many calories were burned giving their little speeches about life in general and how too many of us are contributing to the current sorry state of affairs in the world.

• MK: No doubt Napalm Death showed many of the young’uns in the crowd how to kill — and be political whilst doing so. Barney’s spastic stage antics deserve a second mention.

Battle Beast was nothing like the cartoons.

Mikko: Finland’s Battle Beast caters towards those that appreciate old-school heavy metal with galloping bass-lines. The music lingers somewhere between Judas Priest, Manowar and various Finnish power metal groups. Vocalist Nitte Valo provides a fresh, raspier take on female vocals that instantly draws connections to the ‘80s heavy metal world—before the unholy amalgamation between metal and Abba—where women weren’t afraid to show balls (say Hellion, Rock Goddess or Doro). Guitar shredder Anton Kabanen is everything that Manowar’s Mr. Karl Logan should be and then some. Good-spirited music in a live setting, but I think I’ll skip the albums.

• MM: Battle Beast sounds like a throwback act so hellbent on nailing their sound that they’ve created an ultimate over-the-top metal parody. When I listened to them play, I felt my stomach starting to turn and my skin grow clammy with sweat. Must have been odd flashbacks of a night in a disco on a boat trip to Sweden, where I was absolutely wasted and flailing my limbs on the dance floor to some awful cover band playing Iron Maiden.
• MK: Such negativity! Away with you! Actually, they should have chosen a different name — I half-expected to see people in animal costumes duking it out like it was the dawn of apocalypse. Damn, I miss my childhood action figures.

Afgrund

Matti: Running scared after hearing Battle Beast roar, I ended up indoors where Afgrund was about to climb onto the Musamaailma stage. Afgrund, a multi-national Nordic ensemble, played for what was most likely the smallest crowd at this year’s Tuska. The hall around stage four looked almost empty, with only a handful of hc-punk/hipster-looking people raising their tattoo branded arms and fists to greet the band. I think I caught the stench of their vinyl collections of Black Flag albums as I squeezed my ass into the narrow “photo pit” area. The small amount of attendees did not hold the band back though, as they opened a mixed can of whup-ass containing modern heavy hardcore, grind and black metal.

Sonata’s Elias Viljanen

Mikko: I’m starting to feel as if Sonata Arctica is stalking me. No matter where I go, or which shows I attend, somehow Tony Kakko and the rest of his merry band seem to be there as well. Look, I’ve got nothing against the group — they do what they do with skill, and Kakko is a likeable frontman. Hell, I secretly hold their debut album Ecliptica as one of the best pure power metal albums in the genre, period. However, enough was enough, and it was time for me to take a break before Poland’s biggest death metal act were due on stage.

On my quest to avoid Sonata, I found myself nodding my head in the shade of the third stage with Sweden’s Victims unleashing their aggression upon a dedicated crowd. From the little I heard, I became rather intrigued with the band’s explosive take on hardcore. Not a bad live act either. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for them. Also, I think the band got a decent boost in audience when it began to rain like a motherfucker (thanks Sonata!) and the crowd began finding refuge inside.

Swallow the Sun was swallowed by the color green

Matti: Struck by hunger, I don’t remember anything else about Swallow the Sun other than thinking that taking photos against backlight while smoke machines are going off full steam is a fucking drag. Also, there was this other notion of how Mikko Kotamäki had his lucky green cap on. I think he wore it during his set in 2010 Tuska with Barren Earth. Other than that, there wasn’t much else to note about their stage performance. Guess they did convey the needed sense of hopelessness and apathy that their music suggests.

Nergal followed Rob Dukes’ lead

Mikko: I was really expecting quite a bit from Behemoth—perhaps the outdoor setting was to blame—but unfortunately, they just didn’t quite reach the ferocity I expected. For a band that commands such a strong visual presence elsewhere, it all seemed a bit disappointing onstage, even if the musicians themselves were intimidating enough. Hell, Nergal’s short-haired look really works for him — it gives him a commanding Caesar-like presence.

Sure, the act was there musically, even if the set was slightly on the safe side. It was technical and impressive, and the riffs lend themselves to some proper headbanging action, but I’d still wager that the festival’s happier mood had a slightly poisoning effect on the show. Finland’s a hard place to be grim during the summer, and even during bad weather, there was plenty of light to drag the mood down. None the less, it was good to see Nergal look lively on stage.

For the Imperium tore the audience a new one

Meanwhile, For the Imperium was rocking the shit out of the smaller fourth stage. The band is still relatively unknown outside Finland, but over here, they’re making an impact of sorts, and after seeing the band live for the first time, I understand why. The whole band is a whirlwind of chaos, always and exhaustingly on the move onstage. The same goes for the actual music, which is complex but accessible at the same time, constantly shifting between jazzy tones, burst of aggression and catchier, pop-tinged hues. It’s quite telling that their roadie’s specialty seemed to be untangling badly-entwined cables. Definitely one of Finland’s most relevant live acts at the moment, or as they themselves joked: “We’re a shitty prog band. Sabaton is up soon.”

Matti: It was a breath of fresh air to watch these guys give it their all. There was definitely some good-spirited rock’n’roll antics going on, which brought the crowd alive straight from the get-go. I liked what I heard, even though at times it felt as if there were maybe too many different things happening, sound-wise. This in turn made me think that there might be a quick evolution ahead for these guys. Hard to predict where this will all end up, but they’ve got a lot of potential. They’re a very promising new band, and the guys seem to play with the right attitude.

Sabaton brought their own napalm

Mikko: I’ve been wanting to check out Sabaton in a live setting for ages now, but have never managed to do so. This time, I ran out of excuses as they were Saturday’s headliner. I finally got that off my bucket list. I’ve enjoyed the band since giving them a chance with their breakthrough album Art of War, and have had fun ever since with their blend of heavy/power metal and themes of war, decisive battles and human stupidity. The band’s albums feature plenty of songs that I presumed would fit the live setting perfectly. Turns out I was goddamn right. Take, for example, the slower singalong marathon “Price of a Mile” — almost a religious experience. Songs such as “White Death” and “Talvisota” had the Finnish audience pounding their fists up high. Not only does Sabaton offer plenty of chances for crowd interaction, the group’s material also caters towards nationalistic pride. That pretty much guarantees an epic heavy metal show, and Saturday’s set was just that: epic.

Sabaton had replaced most of its line-up not too long ago, and it was clear that the new guys were still being burned into the system. Even so, mainman Joakim Broden made up for any shortcomings with his energetic, good-spirited performance. When he’s running around the stage, riling up the audience and shooting the shit between songs, it’s clear that he’s living the ultimate heavy metal fantasy. Fantasy spiced with plenty of pyrotechnics.

The whole thing is nothing short of entertaining, even to those (I’d have to guess) who aren’t that fond of power metal. The show simply works on so many levels that it’s hard not to get carried away. It’s also pretty hilarious from a misanthropic perspective; the songs are all about death, war and humanity’s worst situations, yet here are people are singing along with the widest of smiles about a man killing hundreds of Russians (aforementioned “White Death”). Made the situation slightly absurd, if not cynically pleasing. It was a shame that Sabaton didn’t play “The Final Solution,” as it’s not only an excellent track, but it would have also been interesting to see if any of the Finnish newspapers or tabloids would have raised a shitstorm because of it.

Nonetheless, the band seemed to be enjoying themselves and Broden constantly kept reminding the audience how he had goosebumps. I think he mentioned being armed with an erect penis after some singalong as well. Excellent show, but Sabaton definitely needs to avoid Manowar’s mistakes. They shouldn’t repeat themselves from show to show (for example, according to YouTube, getting the audience to do ‘YMCA’ seems to be taking place at almost every show).

Nitpicks aside, Sabaton was Saturday’s highlight for me and all dissidents will be shot.

General Joakim Broden

Matti: Sabaton: A history of massacres, delivered with an upbeat tempo. Who could argue that the tragedy of war shouldn’t always be celebrated through song and dance? I wish Sabaton would start participating at the annual Eurovision song contest. Sabaton should take part in it from here to eternity and represent a different country each year. Then they could contribute a song about the selected nation’s history of violence and bloodshed, eventually building a bridge that would truly unite all of Europe. We would all come to terms with our past and own up to our present attitudes — namely, that we’re all a bunch of xenophobic, nationalist cunts. We could really start building a better future together as one, big, united clusterfuck.

* * *

As expected, we’ve got more photos on our Facebook-page. Keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming final part.

The crowd was primarily younger than me, hungrier and far more eager to dive into the various circle pits that formed in front of the bands — some of which had probably never seen a pit up close before. Tuska’s weekend was filled with pits. Didn’t matter who was playing — there was always a pit. Some were larger, some were smaller, but fuck me if there weren’t at least a couple of metal cubs circling around in each one in a mating ritual of sweat, youthful vigor and a carefree view of life. The etiquette hadn’t changed, either. If someone went down, they were picked up and then back to circle, circle, circle, jump, circle and mosh some more. I hated them like an old man hates anything and everything he can’t be a part of. Those bastards better stay away from my front lawn. Too bad I wasn’t sitting on my front lawn, sipping down shitty beer and hating my grandkids for being a bunch of modern-day pussies. No.

The stream of black T-shirts, camouflage, spikes and long hairs had led me from Helsinki’s railway station to Suvilahti, an old industrial district of concrete and rusting metal. This was the second time Tuska was held here after the festival was moved away from the epicenter of the city (Kaisaniemi Park) to new surroundings. The move brought other changes as well: no own BYOB allowed, and good luck finding anything green or living. These were two ‘small’ changes that had a profound effect on the audience’s demography and the general feeling of the festival.

So, what hadn’t changed? Well, the bands hadn’t become any younger. Some would argue that this year’s line-up wasn’t that interesting, but I have to disagree. Perhaps the problem was the variety: there was something for everyone, which in turn could lend you to believe that there was nothing of interest — particularly if you only dug a single band. But the truth is, there was plenty to see and at times, the variety was extremely refreshing, even if many of the bands didn’t fuck their way onto our favorites-lists.

Anyway, we’ve decided to split this year’s Tuska report into three separate pieces for easier consumption. So here’s the first day.

– MK

FRIDAY

Mikko: It’s really easy to get to the festival grounds, no matter how bad you are at navigation. All you need to do is to follow the constant stream of black band T-shirts. It’s like having a real world, 3D GPS laying out the path for you. Due to construction work, this year it was better to get off the metro at Sörnäinen—an interesting Helsinki district full of delinquent and boozed up old-timers—and then take a short stroll from there to the gates of Tuska.

As I was waiting for my pass, Swallow the Sun’s Mikko Kotamäki was there waiting up front. He’d just taken an emergency phone call and learned that Animals as Leaders had cancelled and his other band, Barren Earth, was to be the replacement. To make things slightly more interesting, his main band Swallow the Sun was to perform the same day in Estonia, a short helicopter ride away (supposedly you can see Estonia’s capital Tallinn in the horizon from Helsinki — if the weather/light conditions are willing).

The weather wasn’t too bad, but it was unpredictable. No thanks to our local meteorologists and their endless insight. So, to maintain a certain comfort level meant that I had to carry a bit of extra weight, which, added to the camera gear I was lugging around, really made me feel older than I should have. I had also sprained my back a few days ear;oer, so the odds were definitely not in my favor.

Just as it was last year, Tuska was built around four different stages. Two main open air stages (titled “Radio Rock” and “Hellsinki”), one in a smaller tent (“Inferno”) and the fourth inside a building (“Musamaailma”). This last one created an intimate setting for the smaller acts.

I was early, but not early enough to catch Profane Omen start the festival on the second stage. They’ve always been a high-power, reliable live band, so I was slightly disappointed to have missed them. Instead, after getting my bearings, I went straight to the third stage (aka the tent) to catch Alcest for the very first time. The clock was pointing at 12:45 hours, and the area was still quite empty since most people were on their way to the show or still stuck at work.

Sunshine hates Alcest

The French group performed well, although the sun shone into the tent and the stage lights didn’t seem as focused as they should have been, making it feel as if Alcest was performing at a school dining hall. Not necessarily the best setting for the band, and I think it hindered the experience quite a bit.

Disconnected, I set my sights towards the main stage, where Exodus were to pop the main stage’s cherry with their Bay Area thrash. While most of the metalheads were still on their way to the festival, it truly was Exodus who kickstarted Tuska Open Air and pummeled the growing metal population into the right mood.

Rob Dukes’ fingernails are clean

When the band returned to the scene after a long hiatus with Tempo of the Damned almost 10 years ago (fuck! Time runs fast!), I was excited because Steve Souza delivered a piercing performance on that album. I was sad to see the man go after that, but Rob Dukes seems like a good fit for the band, even if I think his vocals can be somewhat lacking. On the other hand, the guy definitely brings authority to the stage. Especially his trademarked finisher, the wall of death, during the closer “Strike of the Beast”. That Exodus gem gave a good chunk of people the proper thrash-tastic adrenaline shot — a dose which lasted for the rest of the day. On a side note, Rick Hunolt (no stranger to Exodus) was standing in for Gary Holt on stage. Hunolt was really into the performance, constantly smirking, smiling, laughing and riffing his ass off. Definitely a proper temporary replacement.

Suidakra moshing it up

Germany’s Suidakra combines melodic death metal with some folkish elements. The band had just wrapped a set of gigs in India, but despite looking slightly exhausted, they threw a decent party for the ever-increasing audience. I had restless legs and an uneasy mind, though, so I shot out of the tent to muster up a battle plan for the rest of the day whilst watching Barren Earth bathe in the sun (which wasn’t supposed to shine) and rock out on the second stage.

Animals as Leaders…Barren Earth

Matti: I landed on the beach in the second wave. I had to miss a big (and dare I say, better) part of the opening day because of shitty real-life stuff, i.e. work. I couldn’t catch Alcest, who caught my interest the first time I saw them added to the festival lineup. Someone had poorly slotted them as a third stage opening act. What about those of us who go to work on fucking weekdays, Mr. Asshole producer?! Huh?! Guess that’s what I get for becoming a reliable, grown-up citizen with, you know, a job.

So, arriving around five-ish, I already felt hungry as hell and extremely sleep-deprived not having slept right the whole week — in other words, I was nowhere near tip-top shape for the fun-fun-festivities that are the Tuska Open Air Festival. Others may have been able to navigate their way to the show just fine, but this dummy just could not hack the sweaty and longhaired, bulletproof GPS-system available. I was that dead before even arriving to the premises.

First, I got confused because of the change in metro stations, and got off on a newly-appointed exit. Then I followed some misguided, semi-drunk youngsters wearing Mana Mana T-shirts. While they did look intoxicated, they also emitted an aura of false confidence that got us all lost. After asking some help from a native city dweller, I finally got my ass on the right track and those that once had led now became the followers.

As I got closer to the festival site, I heard what sounded like the voice of Tobias Sammet singing and Edguy playing on the still-distant Radio Rock stage. Even though I can’t say I am the biggest fan of the band—or of the power metal scene in general—I must admit that the last gig I saw from them (also at Tuska) surprised me. In a good way. Reminiscing takes me back several years. Oh, those were the times. I was young and handsome, full of optimism and the world was my oyster… eh, not really. Okay, I was born a natural pessimist and later evolved into a misanthropic semi-nihilist. That really dulls the edge of any nostalgia. Anyway, I was somewhat hesitant to jump in when Edguy were halfway through their set, so I headed down to the Inferno tent, where Lock Up was about to get things rolling. They were probably a more fitting opener for one who has now become a regular slave to the grind — yet another casualty of the working class.

Tobias Sammet and Avantasia – Yay. Tobias Sammet and Edguy – Another time, perhaps.

Mikko: A friend of ours had raved about Edguy’s recent live performance after seeing them at Wacken or some other German festival. I was interested in finding out for myself, so I took his word and aimed towards the main stage. Good-spirited Tobias Sammet was having a laugh on stage, posing for the cameras and by doing so, taking care of public relations in a convincing manner. However, entertaining as he was, I realized that I just wasn’t interested in the actual music at all. Don’t get me wrong, I think Sammet’s Avantasia is fucking excellent and catchy, but Edguy just didn’t seem to click. At all. After watching thirty minutes of the Teutonic power metal powerhouse provide the goods to the eager audience, I figured I’d seen enough and went to see Unkind on the fourth stage. They were more up my alley.

Unkind’s fans danced away. And why wouldn’t they?

I hadn’t been exposed to Unkind beforehand, which was surprising considering the band has a decent backlog and were signed to Relapse in 2010-ish. Good fit — Unkind, with their fierce combination of crust and hardcore, must have reminded Relapse of early Neurosis. Their sound doesn’t feature the quiet, open spaces of that band, though — it’s all tight corridors packed with murder and brutality. The group provided the smaller audience with a lesson in violence and in turn, they received one of the more dedicated pits of the festival (despite the small number of combatants). I came out impressed, eventually cussing how I’d now have to spend more money on new good music. Perfect for those fluffy late-evening, antisocial moments.

Anton Reisenegger of Lock Up

Matti: Shane Embury (Napalm Death) played his first set of two when he climbed onto the Inferno stage with the rest of Lock Up. This also seemed to be yet another wayt to sneak Tomas Lindberg into Tuska — the guy seems to have become a staple guest and is always on the scene. From what I gathered, the setlist was mostly centered on their latest album, Necropolis Transparent. As a grind metal act, Lock Up plays it pretty safe — they’re fast, heavy and hostile, which is just as it should be. After about fifteen minutes and nine songs, I bagged up the gypsy caravan and moved to the second stage, where Saint Vitus was going to make an appearance.

Mikko: After watching a handful of songs by Lock Up, I found myself drifting towards the second stage and Saint Vitus. After only watching for a while, I soon realized I should have come sooner. The band had earned the weather’s gratitude, and thus Thor himself had provided the old but extremely vigilant men with a sun that suited the music like a hammer to the face. It was a good-spirited gig with a heavier message that criticized governments’ inability to help those in need, with the legality of marijuana and whatnot thrown in for a good measure. While Scott “Wino” Weinrich was slightly more reserved, guitarist Dave Chandler entertained the audience with his unexpectedly flashy guitar playing, and his banter between songs was warm and inviting. The dude also seemed to be quite the stud, as he seemed sad that the female photographers had to leave the photo pit after three songs.

Wino didn’t need to showboat

Matti: At first glance it might have looked like Saint Vitus were around when the original Saint Vitus walked the streets of Rome. I wonder which has more gray hair — a pack of winter wolves or the guys on stage? Despite their advanced age, Saint Vitus showed very little wear and tear during their performance of groove and doom. The setlist took the audience on a trip from the band’s origins to their latest recordings, and it was a treat for doom and sludge metal fans and non-fans alike.

Matt Heafy showboated

Mikko: After the old men had vacated the stage, the younger studs of Trivium came out to conquer. There’s no denying that the band is extremely capable in a live setting, and shows immense amounts of energy and character, but goddamn, I just did not give a fuck. Definitely not my bag, but watching the audience going apeshit for Matt Heafy and Paolo Gregoletto, I can’t say that Trivium didn’t belong on the main stage.

• MM: Yeah. The band I’ve never-ever listened to played a totally forgettable set. I literally have no recollection of them playing. I think I took some photos of them on stage, but I can’t be certain. Oh look, there’s a picture. I guess they did play.
• MK: You blacked out like a teenage girl seeing The Beatles for the first time. Or perhaps it was the rohypnol I slipped in your water bottle.

Matti: Where was I? Ah yes. Going towards the Musamaailma stage, I was halted by some youngsters who seemed to share the same blood type: Jack Daniels. As drunk as they already were, for some reason they wanted my verbal approval so that they could continue boozing their semi-retarded minds into submission. I was in a hurry, so I gave my most sacred blessing for their ongoing endeavour. At this point, they had spotted my VIP/PRESS-pass and the well-hidden camel-sized camera that made my posture that of a 70-year old construction worker.

“He-Hey, are ya some important person taking photos here? Take a quick photo of me and my pal here, would ya?!”

I took a snapshot of them posing their asses off like it was prom night. This couple sure seemed to deserve each other. As I made my leave, the other guy started to piss and moan.

“Hey, where you taking these picture for? Goddamn, I don’t want my picture to be in any newspaper tomorrow. Promise me it won’t go to a newspaper or we will come and assfuck you!”

Jason found friends too!

As I am no fan of unwelcome sodomy — unless it comes through the airwaves without the letter Y attached to it — I obliged and reassured them that “No news will come out of you” before continuing “…unless it’s in some funny papers or a crime stories magazine”. I then left them on their own devices. As I entered the dark stage hall, they were already probably multiplying it up in some corner.

Demigod raising the roof

Mikko: Trivium might have not had an effect on me, but Demigod’s 30-minute set injected the audience with a good dose of old-school Finnish death metal. The band concentrated mainly on Slumber of Sullen Eyes and performed admirably. Supposedly Demigod has a new album coming out the future.

Ramin Kuntopolku — the festival’s biggest surprise?

Matti: Out of our commando unit, I was the first one to spot Ramin Kuntopolku (which loosely translates to something like Rami’s Fitness Track [kuntopolku; walking path/running track set within nature]) playing in the midst of the idling festival crowd while Demigod was finishing their set inside. The humorous, entertaining and mobile pair of two ski-masked fellows (one on drums, the other utilizing a megaphone) played ultra-short and vocally-incomprehensible grind, and by doing so, they became the first Urban Grind band ever to grace Tuska. Actually, they are the first and maybe only (and quite possibly last) self-acclaimed Urban Grind band in the world.

During the whole three-day long festival, we saw them playing their short unscheduled gigs (duration was apparently based on the amount of beer available) at various corners of the premises. They always attracted a crowd who was eager to soak in their message of good old fun and punk “do it best yourself” attitude. Ramin Kuntopolku has also been quite busy on YouTube as well — their viral campaigning has earned them bookings to perform at several bigger rock festivals this year.

• MK: Easily one of the festival’s most entertaining acts. Showcasing mad drum talent, the dynamic duo also brought plenty of humor and laughter. Admirable crowd interaction too. Excellent stuff in a festival setting. It’s a shame I had to resort to a YouTube video of the band performing one of their grind songs in slow motion, as that shit would have been an epic live experience.

Arcturus’ Skoll

Mikko: I’ve never been a huge Arcturus follower; case in point, I’ve owned La Masquerade Infernale for the last 12 odd years, but probably listened to it only a handful of times. Still, I felt obligated to check the band out in its current form. Their rich, eccentric music warrants a theatrical show, and a theatrical show was delivere. Each musician was dressed for the occasion in completely different and non-matching gear.

On the flip side, I’ve always been a fan of ICS Vortex’s vocals and it was extremely pleasing to find out that the dude sounds effortlessly good live (I always thought he was underused in Dimmu Borgir). His stage antics weren’t as impressive — he made odd faces, made some half-assed attempts at dancing and just generally looked bored. Wonder if he was just thinking about the beverages that awaited backstage (perhaps he’d already had some). Still, his vocals were pristine, so c’est la vie. It was a slightly odd, though entertaining show, and despite the varied musical selection, it was extremely coherent as well.

Jamey Jasta had plenty of space to exercise (unlike Brennan Huff and Dale Doback)

Matti: While Arcturus were artsying it up, Hatebreed played on the second stage and left a much better impression with their much simpler effort. Now, I’ve never really paid that much attention to Hatebreed. For me, they’ve been one of those bands who feature some good characteristics here and there, but in the end, their lack of originality still drag them down into the cesspool of mediocrity.

That said, this was a very good live performance, delivered with tons of energy, and they earned an equal response from the crowd. Vocalist Jamey Jasta was genuinely into the whole shebang — he ran around stage for the whole show and summoned one of the most active mosh/circle pits of this year’s Tuska. The manifestation of flesh and bruises came in various forms and speeds throughout the whole set.

Surprise. Megadave playing guitar instead of ranting about politics.

Mikko: It was time for Friday’s closing act: Megadeth. They, like their thrash contemporaries in Overkill, appeared at the festival two years earlier, and just like last time, there wasn’t really any motivation for me to stick around. Sorry, Dave Mustaine’s group simply does nothing for me. However, I did notice that Mr. Mustaine did seem hell of a lot happier and more inspired than I’ve ever seen him before — as if he was actually enjoying being on stage. Maybe it’s because it’s election year. It also helped that nobody was chanting for W.A.S.P. or throwing rocks at him like in Croatia.

In related news, I will go on the record and say — just as I have always said — that Chris Broderick is a handsome man (no homo) and an absolute beast on guitar, kind of like Lorenzo Lamas is an absolute beast at kicking ass. Wouldn’t mind seeing his talents utilized on some other, more deserving project though. In the end, “Hangar 18” was the soundtrack for my dramatic exit. Not that anyone noticed me leaving.

Matti: Megadeth sounded and looked better this time then their last appeareance in 2010, that’s for sure. Dave Mustaine was actually moving around the stage this time, and his mumbling vocals were at least comprehensible. The setlist was comprised of their biggest hits: “Head Crusher”, “Hangar 18”, “Sweating Bullets”, “A Tout Le Monde”, “Peace Sells”, “Holy Wars”, “Symphony…” and the likes. I was already walking towards the metro while those sweating bullets were ricocheting in the distant air. Seems to have become a small tradition for me while attending a Megadeth concert. Dave’s midget-sized charisma really makes it hard for him to be the leading figurehead of a band as well known as Megadeth are. And that’s pretty sad, considering that Dave is Megadeth. I can’t deny that the man is highly talented when it comes to making music, but he has to be one of the moistest paper tigers around when it comes to performing live.

David Ellefson’s had his hands on his bass

So, it was time to go off and eat, sleep and regroup for the next day. On the way to the metro, I almost got in a scuffle with some native Balboa of Sörnäinen. I don’t remember if my shoulder said something first to this poor geezer or why it deserved to be tapped with the world’s sloppiest and softest right jab. Maybe it was a bonding ritual of some sort, I dunno.

• MK: He just fancied your sunglasses after his had been broken a while back. That much I got out of his verbal communication. I’m a little saddened that you didn’t go Steven Seagal on his limbs. That would have made his story so much more sob-worthy the next time he would have harassed someone.

• MM: I guess, though I could never hurt a bum without fearing that I’d played my part in some kind of twisted chain of events like Oedipus and shit.

Stay tuned next week for Saturday’s excitement. While you wait, why not check out a few more photos on our Facebook page?

Without further a due, let’s get it ON!

FRIDAY

Mikko K (MK): I’m not a morning person, I’ll tell you that. Even if I can get myself up and operate. I don’t like over-the-top heat either, so waking up on a Friday morning, I decided early that I’d be aiming to catch Forbidden officially open the festival on the main stage. Luckily, Teeth of the Divine’s new Santa’s helper, Matti Manner, informed me that he’d be at the festival grounds early. I was in no rush.

Matti M (MM): Even though I was the first of us to reach Tuska’s newly appointed area my trip was not without some complications, and not wanting to go into boring details, I can say I arrived later than I was supposed to. Nevertheless, Mikko was still lazying it up anyway. Yet, as things were as they were and as Tuska 2011 was the first time for me to attend a festival with an ‘at work’ state of mind, I had no time to get myself adjusted to the new area other than to hurry around the factory pipes and barracks that surrounded my way to the second EMP stage.

I managed to squeeze into the almost empty photo pit in a nick of time. While the Black Breath was a completely new acquaintance for me, a close friend of mine—who is more in the know on these up and coming American bands—had thrown around a few good words about the band, so this made me somewhat curious. Never underestimate the power of word to mouth. I rarely doubt few of my like-minded friend’s judgment and advice, and I didn’t have to suffer for my trust this time either.

Black Breath put on a good show, full of energy and filled with jamming thrash/punk sounds with shades of death metal popping up here and there; I was definitely hearing a combination of sorts where old Entombed meets new Darkthrone. Being one of the first acts of the day, and on the second stage, there seemed to be quite a few technical difficulties, but despite the glitches the festival started out on a positive note. Maybe I will go out and pick up Black Breath‘s debut album Heavy Breathing when time and funds allow.

At the same time, on the third stage, The Inferno tent, Finnish melodic death metallers Ominium Gatherum were serving up notes of aggression. Their name pops up every now and then, but I’ve never paid any special attention to them. Others must have, as they had a much bigger audience than Black Breath. I wasn’t served with a cup of tea, but the audience ate it up.

Mikko: When Tuska was held at Kaisaniemi (Park), all you had to do is find yourself a way to the Helsinki train station—located in the center of Helsinki—and walk a couple of hundred meters to the metal mecca. Now, things were slightly more complicated but not by much. One only had to take a metro to the festival area, walk a few hundred meters and bam!, you were in. The new location didn’t pose a problem.

Matti: When the EMP stage went silent, I looked at my clock and saw that there were fifteen minutes to spare before action flared up on the main stage. So before rendezvousing with Mikko for Forbidden, I headed back into the club stage where a two-headed monster called Cause For Effect were grinding on. The fourth, Club, stage was inside of an old factory building, called Kattilahalli (Kettle Hall). From the inside it was shaped like a church, a wide dark space divided with two rows of element columns that held the ceiling in place. An intimate setting.

As for Cause For Effect, they’re a duo comprised of two men: Ari on drums and Tuomo growling with a bass on his shoulders. Having seen them live a few times before, I knew what was to be expected from them. For those readers in the un-know, I can say that they are very minimalistic and very entertaining. Playing songs that average under a minute, they play a riffing mixture of jazz, grind, punk and metal with a smirk in the corner of their lips. They fit well on the Club stage and filled the industrial hall with a good amount of listeners.

After few songs however, I hauled my corpse to the Radio Rock main stage to find the already tired looking face of Mikko, who started to ramble about his last night’s odyssey of trying to find some bar that was not there, and his failures at being a social butterfly at some social gathering. After we had caught up with decent amount of shit talk and rejoicing, we double teamed on Forbidden.

Mikko: I arrived to the party right before Forbidden‘s set and caught up with Matti, all dressed up for some front line war journalism. Come to think of it, Tuska seems to favor thrash bands as main stage openers, but I’m not gonna back that up with any hard, cold evidence — aside from stating that Testament did it last year.

Remembering Teeth of the Divine’s Fred Phillips talking good things about Forbidden‘s latest album, I raised my expectations a few notches — even if my personal connection with the band stems almost exclusively out of blasting the shit out of Twisted into Form album. Quite surprisingly, that exact album was given very little attention within the set. The meat comprised of Forbidden Evil and the latest comeback album, Omega Wave. The band did its best to shake the sandman’s dust out of the audience’s eyes, but the technical issues with the mix hindered the experience quite a bit.

• MM: The first thing I noticed was that the band looked old and that they had lived a hard life before climbing onto the stage.
• MK: I suppose twenty-odd years kind of does that to you.
• MM: But for a group of older gentlemen, their playing certainly wasn’t half bad.
• MK: And the cover of Dio’s “Children of the Sea” was somewhat surprising.
• MM: Too bad the rest of the stuff seemed to lack punchlines…
• MK: That’s because they had forgotten about having Twisted into Form in their discography. As curios as Forbidden are to me, and I love me some  ‘80s/’90s thrash, I have to say I was left a tad cold too. But it was good to see Steve Smyth back on stage!

Matti: As a result of a coin toss between two bands that I had no real opinion about before hand, Mikko took EMP stage and Bulldozer while I headed into Inferno stage towards Hell. Good God! If Forbidden had given a nod to Dio earlier, Hell actually raised Dio’s corpse from the grave and enslaved his spirit to do their bidding as a bass player!

To be honest, the whole band actually looked somewhat half dead — even without the make up and gloomy get-up. From what I saw, these geezers could play and write catchy sounding songs that had a throwback effect to classic bands like Judas Priest. Combined with the occultist outfits and dark lyrics, there were evil forces at play…

While everything seemed to be in place and well thought out, I just could not dig it. By the second song I was annoyed by David Bower and his over-the-top theatrics. His faces and other gestures, along with the overflowing lyrical content per one song and banters—written beforehand—between them got to my nerves. The large audience was enjoying it though and a decent part of them could also sing along the choruses. Five songs in and I could not take it anymore, I took my chances and left to see Bulldozer.

• MK: On a side note out of nowhere… Andy Sneap, producer extraordinaire, was manning the guitar.

Mikko: You might have realized it from my Sauna Open Air coverage, but I’m really out of touch with a ton of classic bands—big and small. Thus, Bulldozer took me by quite a surprise with their good-spirited, irony-filled thrash-y spectacle that saw old school heavy metal and songs dedicated to porn stars, A.C. Milan and social networks. I wouldn’t have minded hearing even more ranting from the mainman A.C. Wild, who addressed the audience from a bloody podium dressed up as Anton LaVey.

• MM : Yeah, one look at the stage and seeing Emperor Ming [from Flash Gordon] preach, with a rough English accent, about Italy’s fucked up politics, I was already laughing my ass off.
• MK : And?
• MM : I became an instant fan. Too bad I missed the first half of the set due to Hell.

Mikko: I hate to be a hater, but as an overall experience, Arch Enemy are uninteresting and part of the reason falls to Angela Gossow. She’s a good front(wo)man, a certified performer on stage, but her growls are somewhat grating. The other reason is that despite some good parts here and there (for example, with the solos and leads), the songs have a hard time staying interesting. Angela was complaining about the heat on stage and at that point, I think the weather was bouncing between 85 and 90 Fahrenheit, so it was easy to relate to her agony.

• MM: Well, at least the heat made Angela lose that thick leather jacket of hers.
• MK: And why was that so important?
• MM: I got mildly aroused. That`s why.

Mikko: Grave was celebrating Into the Grave‘s 20th birthday by playing nothing but the album, from start to finish on the third stage. It took a while for the audience to get a hang of what was happening, but not soon after, the center formed a circle and the pit got into gear. While Ola Lindgren helmed with a positive attitude, it was Tobias Christiansson that seemed to own the stage. As for the performance… all Grave through and through.

Matti: Electric Wizard did not hit me the way I expected. I really don’t know if it was because the time and place were not favorable—or what—but I didn’t get much out of the band’s set. Perhaps Tuska’s former, more organic surrounding in Kaisaniemi would have made a difference but Electric Wizard failed to resonate with me this time around.

• MK: From what I saw, I agree. For reason or another, there was a clear lull between Forbidden and At The Gates; the audience seemed slightly disoriented and Electric Wizard suffered because of it. They had a good buzz going on, despite the sun, but the setting left it all a tad disconnected.

Mikko: Being an originator of sorts isn’t always just pure gravy as, in all honesty, I’ve often been more interested in the bands that At The Gates has inspired, rather than shout my full-blown devotion to the original gangsters. Thus, just like Arch Enemy moments earlier, I had a lot of problems trying to stay focused during At The Gates‘ main stage appearance—the only thing keeping my eyes fixed on the stage was the Swedish Tasmanian devil, vocal powerhouse Tomas Lindberg who gave his all through sweat, spit and a wide smile.

After half a set, still uninspired, I decided it was time for me to fill my body, mind and soul with some fluids and enjoy the general mood—even if things were just starting warm up—before catching Oranssi Pazuzu. Playing inside, the Finnish experimental black metal psychedelia received an ardent treatment, leaving the audience to drone off into a new world. Thanks to the session at the photo pit, I didn’t quite reach the peace and calm to fully appreciate what was unfolding in front of me, but I’ll definitely have to catch the band again.

Matti: Michael Amott and Sharlee D’Angelo made their second gig of the day with Spiritual Beggars taking Inferno stage—only an hour after they were done with Arch Enemy‘s set. Way back when I first listened to the band’s Ad Astra and On Fire records I got a weird love/hate relationship with the band’s music; they have some cool tracks and some that I would say are over-the-top cheesy. But live, they surely put on a solid performance. In fact, I have to admit that I enjoyed it all the while I felt my chest hair grow thicker and thicker, along every passing macho-mojo-hard rock-stoner song they blasted.

While I had jolly-good time seeing and hearing the Beggars perform live, I also felt torn between their gig and the other one going outside. One can say that I have been raised in a barrel, for it wasn’t until last year’s masterful Absolute Dissent album that I got into Killing Joke, forcing me to travel back in time to fill some dark spots in my life. So, I left half way through the Beggars’ set to see, what I consider to have been the best gig of the day hands down.

Mikko: Seeing Killing Joke on the second stage was a bit of a letdown; they deserved the larger stage and a larger role, seeing how they pretty much provided Friday’s highlight. Old men still rocking strong, even through some technical difficulties. Aside from their ’80s hits, I’ve never been that exposed to the band’s extensive discography but this one show made me a convert in an instant; from what I understood the material was bouncing between old and new but it all went together beautifully. Enlightening! Frontman Jaz Coleman chanted about Norway’s tragedy on stage, a move that went past the audience, as no one had any idea what had happened in the outside world at the time.

As I said, witnessing the band live was more than inspiring and eye opening. First of all, you had Jaz Coleman performing very, very visually. In fact, I’d say if I’d have to think about his possible heir, I’d say Primordial‘s Alan Averill would be a strong contender. I can’t say what Alan thinks of Killing Joke, but there are plenty of similarities in their performances and mannerisms that it’s almost scary. Not surprisingly, I’d also believe Rammstein‘s Till Lindemann has seen KJ live a few times. Strong, strong charisma! Aside from Jaz, you also have Geordie Walker on guitar and Martin Glover on bass, elegantly playing through the crushing songs as if it was nothing; the two men leave quite a few, headbanging technical string artists to shame with their somewhat casual act. I’m not sure if Paul Ferguson was on stage as well, drumming away, as the three men in front really had me mesmerized.

• MM: Ferguson was not there. There was a much younger guy on the drums, who seemed to get the job done quite nicely. I agree with the statement that they should have been on the main stage, headlining Friday or any other day for that matter. Another thing I have to add is that Jaz, in his black jumpsuit, melting facepaint and robotic movements looked like a sinister arch villain from some old James Bond movie. Really good stuff.
• MK: I just have to repeat myself and say, that the following band, namely Morbid Angel, was pop music compared to Killing Joke.

Mikko: So how about Friday’s headliner, Morbid Angel, then? The band caused quite a bit of Internet ruckus with its latest album Illud Divinum Insanus. As adamant as the band was in defending the album’s new sounds, they sure as fuck didn’t seem that confident in it on stage; they played only a few tracks and even those were the more purer death metal tunes (“Existo Vulgoré”, “Nevermore”) aside from “I am Morbid”, of course.

I say bullshit and I say it loudly: BULLSHIT! Personally, “Radikult” is the most entertaining track on the new album and they denied me from the pleasure of hearing it live. It’s a monumental song that defines a watershed moment in metal history. I was ready to be extrrrrrreme, I was ready to go all Cornholio by screaming KILLAAAARRRRRRAADIKULT. But no! DENIED! Talk about getting morbidly blue balled.

Instead, most of the set was pure fan service with songs like “God of Emptiness”, “Maze of Torment” and “Fall from Grace” to name but a few; perfect for those into the old stuff but as I’ve grown to be somewhat indifferent about it all…cast pearls before swine. All served with a tight enough performance. Vincent seemed to be into it, carrying a commanding voice, Tim Yeung looked and sounded like he was a good fit and Trey Azagthoth didn’t move at all — aside from his hands. Seeing the close ups of his hands on the jumbotron was quite something, as the sexual overtones to his playing were more than evident. Dude must have found his penis at a very young age.

Friday didn’t end there though, as returning to the HQ through the Helsinki’s train station, I came across the world’s shittiest Michael Jackson impersonator. Not only did he not look anything like Michael, he couldn’t dance nor sing worth shit either. But what he lacked in skills, he apparently compensated it with balls by not letting anyone’s reaction come between his dream to perform. I salute thee, even if you sucked ass through a straw.

Matti: After parting ways, I went out to have few beers with a couple of friends. While Mikko got to enjoy fake Jacko’s moonstalk, I had my own encounter with a Sexy Sax Man rip-off. Unfortunately, the impostor lacked the mullet. And sexiness. He had the right tune though, and the somewhat uneventful night ended up with me waiting at the train station’s bus terminal, listening to the sweet sounds of “Careless Whisper” played by some creepy Romanian dude in a deep v-collar. Gotta love me some after midnight sax.

• MK: Maybe you should have George Michael-ed him up a bit so the night wouldn’t have been so uneventful…
• MM: Ow, such a low blow. Maybe things would have ended up different should he have played “Desperate Cry” instead.

Mikko: The first day at the new place wasn’t without its issues. It seemed like quite a few bands were suffering from sound or mixing issues, and especially the bands on the main stage suffered from an echo bouncing back from the buildings. Overall, it took quite a while to adjust to the new setting and even the audience seemed a bit lost, dazed and confused at times. Things got better as the festival progressed.

Perhaps the biggest gripe that festival goers had concerned the drinking policy. Previous years, people could bring their own alcohol to the premise, enjoy the liquids whilst sitting under the shadows of trees and watch bands perform. Despite certain concessions, doing that was much harder this year. Even though one could go in and out of the festival area as pleased, the inside area had major troubles offering good enough spots to set shop and camp. People enjoying the music at the alcohol-filled areas had troubles following bands on stage. Plus, the beverages were expensive.

• Call me Captain Planet all you want, but what I did not get was the fuckstick idiotism involved in throwing the squirt-sized free Coke cans to the ground in spots where there was a Coke labeled trashcan two fucking feet away. Learn how to flush! This kind of small shit annoys the hell out of me when the effort is not that fucking big. Anyways, free tip to Tuska organisers:. Get more trash cans near the big stages, it might help the after hours cleaning lady.

Tuska Festival is also a classy festival, even if it makes the surroundings of the train station reek of piss. There are basically no public disturbances; the Five-O have thanked the festival many times for being peaceful. The organizers also allow free access to the elderly, so it’s not uncommon to stumble upon some 92-year old granny wondering how big of pussies the new generations have become. After all, in her youth the children and the teens had to fight polar bears and communists to eat.

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

I arrived to the scene a bit early and already, the queue outside had gathered to a respectable length. Yet, it seemed to move smoothly, so it wouldn’t have taken too long to get into the main area had I been forced to step in line. Me, I was able to take a shortcut by heading towards the VIP gate to use it as an entrance after picking up my press/photo pass. This time around—score!—the organizers had spelled our beloved site’s name correctly.

The backstage area was swarming like an ant nest, with last minute preparations going on and familiar faces from cover booklets marching about. I too, wanted to be somebody—somebody too—but I wasn’t (and with my tits and ass, never will be), so I took my bearings and headed towards the actual festival ground.

People from all over the world, mostly from Finland, were pouring in like a black plague of metal t-shirts and some dressed more to the occasion. Tuska Festival, first and foremost, is a music festival but to some, it’s also a fashion show. I admit I don’t know much about fashion, but I’d take it’s not too fancy when you’re wearing a corset you bought three years ago and your tits are bulging out of it like raw shit from a firm grip. Grotesque? Sure. I enjoy it.

With a handful or two minutes to spare before bands seized the stage(s), I made my rounds. As expected, there were three stages all named after local, metal related sponsors. The main stage, Radio Rock, was in the middle. The main acts would have the benefit to be sole performers during their time slot, whereas the two smaller stages, Sue and Inferno, would be manned at the same time. The smaller stages were inside tents, creating a darker setting for the bands destined to perform inside. On the smallest stage (Inferno), there was a wedding going on with some metal couple exchanging vows. I suppose that’s one way to do it.

After shaking my head a few times, I headed out to the Sue Stage, which was furthest away from the entrance, passing the major merchandise booths. The one selling official merchandise from the performing acts seemed to be busy. Apparently Devin Townsend‘s shirts sold out real quick; an indication of the man’s popularity within the festival crowd, despite the fact that the Canadian hasn’t actually graced our land (the only one being with Strapping Young Lad some years ago at a different festival).

D-Day was about to begin.

Supergroup Barren Earth had the pleasure to start the festival. I’ve yet to properly tune-in with their full-length album, but live, the band came out somewhat impressive. Not surprising considering the talent pulling the strings and straining the vocal chords. The early Amorphis-esque death, melodic doom metal really eased you into the whole festival mood, before all the thrashing and maiming would begin. Vocalist Mikko Kotamäki was a two show man as some hours later, he’d share the stage with his main band Swallow the Sun.

The last time I saw Testament was actually at the Tuska Festival a few years back. Skolnick had rejoined and they were playing old stuff exclusively. We did get to hear a lot of old stuff again, starting with one of my favorites “Over the Wall”, but quite frankly I was quite disappointed by the fact that we didn’t get to hear anything from Low or Demonic, even if “D.N.R” made up for it a bit—but that’s always a safe-bet song. Whilst songs off The Formation of Damnation worked very well live—inspiring me to revisit the album—I’d say the set was rather basic. Yet, the band performed with piss and vigor, spanking the audience into a frenzy unseen. In return the band was rewarded with, most likely, the biggest moshpit of the festival. Considering the early time slot, not bad.

There was one person in particular who would remember the gig for all eternity—some bloke with a pink Stetson hat. Chuck especially seemed fond of him, commenting the guy’s antics throughout the set. The big climax for Chuck and the man in the pink hat came during the last song “The Formation of Damnation” as the vocalist commanded him to the center of the pit, kindheartedly setting up a wall of death to devour him. “You guys ready to kill?” I don’t think I spotted the pink hat on the following days.

Even though I would have made drastic changes to the setlist myself, there’s no denying that Testament thrashed out one of the festival’s best gigs – and oh so early, too.

Guitarist Janne Perttilä, too, had performed only an hour earlier with Barren Earth, but he soon went back to work with legendary Rytmihäiriö on the hellbent Inferno Stage (punk, grindcore, crossover/thrash fans take notice). Some say it was a gig worth seeing, but I chose to see Insomnium instead, whose material was a mystery to me. I admit it. I’m a bad, bad Finn for not checking out n+1 local bands—even if they receive international recognition. Hindered by my lack of knowledge over the band’s material, the show did convince me to check out their material in disc form.

After 45-minutes of confusion, Tarot stood proud on the main stage. I’d seen them some weeks earlier at the Sauna Open Air. This time around, the show was different, and again, it failed to grab me. Color me surprised. Tuska’s set was a bit more special as they brought in a full choir from the TV show Kuorosota, a family-oriented musical show that translates into “War of Choirs”. Marco Hietala had participated as one of the choir leaders. As amazing as that might sound to some of you, it really wasn’t anything special and after taking the required photographs, I found myself at the beer area, shooting shit with a friend.

Beer was 6 Euros (around 7-8 bucks) a pint. Quite high, considering the festival has an open alcohol policy where you can bring in your own shit in reasonable quantities (one man’s reasonable might be other man’s alcohol poisoning). Enjoying every last drop of my overpriced golden liquid, Tarot decided to play, not surprisingly, “Pyre of the Gods”, which always gets a thumbs up from me. The biggest surprise for me in the whole festival was that Amorphis was nowhere to be seen. Or Stam1na for that matter!

Staying n’sync with my European heritage, I’ve always had a soft spot for Peter Tägtgren’s disco-sensation Pain. Maybe it’s Clawfinger’s fault. The Swedes resonated well with me in the early ‘90s. Whatever. Peter’s electronic lovechild performed with an extra oomph, sounding a lot more vicious in a live situation than on disc. Most might be bored with “Just Hate Me”, but I was sad to find out it wasn’t part of the set. Luckily, other obvious hits like “Same Old Song”, “Shut Your Mouth” and “End of the Line” dried the tears of sand.

Oh the sand. When ten thousand people are stampeding around a closed area, there’s bound to be some environmental hazards. The mass, combined with the high ‘n’ dry climate made sure that after a day’s worth of metal, you’d be sneezing black ooze from your nostrils. I did. We all did.

The festival’s black metal fix came in the shape of Satyricon, who’d also made an appearance in Helsinki back in February at the Finnish Metal Expo. Satyr spoke highly of the city, citing how the two gigs were the band’s only ones this year.

Never been too interested in what this particular group of Norwegians has been up to and the set didn’t change my perspective at all. In fact, I was left rather unimpressed by the whole charade as the tracks blended together into this indistinguishable stream of whatever. Kind of like the vuvuzela’s at the World Cup.

Out of the ‘mainstream’ black metal bands that I’ve seen at Tuska, namely Dimmu Borgir and Immortal, the throne is still held by The Sons of Northern Darkness as far as entertainment goes. Apparently, Emperor had a decent gig at Tuska in 2007—I wasn’t there to see it—but something just goes wrong when you combine sunny open air shows with black metal acts. I wouldn’t have objected having the quota black metal band perform at one of the dimmer tents, where it might have been on much favorable ground. In the same breath, I wouldn’t have minded seeing something more interesting than Satyricon on stage. At a fraction of the cost. Perhaps something from the USBM scene, as its messengers rarely venture this far, or even Shining, who played at one of the after clubs. Enslaved? But Satyricon in all of its presumed rock ’n’ roll glory? Meh.

Speaking of Emperor, acting out on peer pressure, I chose to check out Insahn over Obituary next. After all, the man has received plenty of nods within our pages. Unfortunately, I’m going to get some flack over this, especially from members of our staff, but Insahn really didn’t seem to be doing much for me. Granted, I’ve never been too huge on Emperor either, so I’ve never had the urge to dwell into the guy’s musically-different solo material beforehand. The small issues with sound didn’t help either. What’s more, the guy doesn’t seem to be able to shake off his past too well. A cover of Emperor’s “Thus Spake the Nightspirit” spanked the biggest reaction out of the audience. Clearly.

Friday’s grand finale came in the form of Canadian bacon. Mr. Devin Townsend conquered the main stage with his brand spanking new Ziltoid-spectacle. The plan was to go through the 2007 album in its entirety, with minor changes here and there. For example, “Kingdom” off Physicist had been injected to the middle of the show.

I was expecting a GWAR-like event with tons of shit going on, but Devin and the band took the stage accompanied by only a large video screen, only once visited by a guy in a Ziltoid costume. Yet, even as disappointing as that might sound, the show didn’t really need anything more. In fact, I’d say the world exclusive was probably one of the most entertaining shows I’ve ever witnessed. Only emphasizing the fact that despite a bigger budget, KISS were awfully a lot lamer at Sauna Open Air not too long ago.

The show wasn’t without surprises though. During “Planet Smasher”, the track’s name role was reserved to no other than Chuck Billy. Sporting a makeshift cane and a cape, dragging a female slave, the man’s low grunting truly devastated through the audience. Before exiting, Billy—the legend—made sure to make his opinion clear by shouting “I hate musicals!” Devin seemed more than happy with the guest star “A dream come true!”

Wankery was witnessed by all, as the show took a Crossroads-detour. Devin and Ziltoid began a guitar duel. Too bad Ralph Macchio was nowhere to be seen. “Take that, fag nipples” claimed Mighty Ziltoid before being scolded for his most excellent Hello Kitty guitar.

While antics are great, the music too, was…well… music to the ears as The Devin Townsend Band pushed themselves to the max. The band worked with the audience to create a truly epic ending for Friday by playing the calming sounds of “Deep Peace”. I don’t think any one left the festival area disappointed or unhappy.

Perfect.