Balance Breach (On The Rocks, Helsinki) – 7/10/2020

Finland really seems to be relatively lucky. We could attend yet another concert during these trying times. Just for our own safety, we’re quite selective as to what shows we actually go to and this one we just didn’t want to miss out on. 3 of Finland’s most promising metalcore outfits joined forces to deliver us an evening of strong melodies and crushing breakdowns, all in front of an enthusiastic although mostly seated crowd…

Dead End Scene (***1/2)

I got to the venue just in time to catch Dead End Scene opening the night. Their blend of metal and rock with a strong metalcore vibe brings a whole lot of catchiness and melodic hooks to the party. That the band was playing a hometown gig was pretty clear with the amount of people already showed up for the opening band this early in the night. A really nice energy to get warmed up for the rest of the bands, especially frontman Mike Shine had quite the stage presence expressing clear emotions and seeking connection with the crowd gathered in front of them. Yet another great sounding promising band from the fertile grounds of Finland!

My Favourite Nemesis (****)

Next up was My Favourite Nemesis to take over the stage. In front of clearly less people than with their predecessors, they still completely ripped up the stage. Their darker sound that had a touch more hardcore to it, absolutely convinced me and packed quite the heavy punch. Baseball capped vocalist Janne put his soul totally into belting out some of the harshest screams of the night and was a pleasure to see. Add to that some really passionate and talented musicians around him, the supporting vocals from bassist Miro and the clean vocals from drummer Tomi and you get a damn varied and hard-hitting melodic heavy music. Earlier this year they released a new single and I personally can’t wait to hear and see more of these guys!

Balance Breach (****1/2)

Finally, the time was there for Balance Breach to kick ass. Earlier this year, they released their debut full-length ‘Dead End Diaries’ to much praise and this show basically was their chance at a release party. Their gorgeous mandala inspired design was projected from the screen at the back and an atmospheric intro set the tone for the rest of the show. I thought the earlier 2 bands had a great energy, but that didn’t prepare me for what Balance Breach brought to the table. Vocalist Aleksi belted out his lines like there was no tomorrow and had some pretty impressive clean vocal chops as well. And on top of that, he regularly took air with some impressive jumps to even a moment he literally ran up the wall to bounce off it again.

His buddies around him matched that energy easily, especially guitarist Saku seemingly never stood still for a second, running back and forth over the whole stage, completely throwing himself into the music he was forcing out of his guitar. The tracks where heavy, groovy and melodic and completely grabbed everyone present, dragging us along in a wild ride of heavy peaks and emotional moments. An impressive show by a very, very promising band. It seems like metalcore is very much alive in Finland and we can’t get enough of it.

For more pics, go check out our photo report here.