The first day of Hellsinki Metal Festival 2025 had plenty to offer. From the infectious old-school thrash of Forbidden and the crushing death metal of Decapitated and Dismember to Fear Factory’s industrial precision, Old Man’s Child’s rare appearance, King Diamond’s theatrical horror show and an epic closing performance by Moonsorrow, the festival got off to a fantastic start.
While we’re still trying to digest how crazy this year’s edition of Brutal Assault was, we’re already getting hyped up about 2026 with a first 14 names confirmed and they’re good ones!
As has become tradition, Alcatraz Festival announced a healthy grab of confirmed names during this year’s edition, and the 21 bands they dropped are promising the 2026 edition to be hitting hard again!
Finnish melodic death metal powerhouse Before The Dawn presented their fourth and fiercest single ‘Shockwave’ from their upcoming album ‘Cold Flare Eternal’, out in September via Reaper Entertainment!
Orbit Culture released 3rd single and video ‘Hydra’ from their upcoming album ‘Death Above Life’, set for release in October via Century Media Records!
Metal outfit Darkness Surrounding shared their new single ‘Choke On Your Mistakes’ with a lyric video, a track taking aim at cancel culture and part of their upcoming album ‘Is There Salvation?’ out in September!
Finnish melodic death metal visionaries Suotana unveil the stunning new single and video ‘The Crowned King of Ancient Forest’, another track from their upcoming ‘OUNAS II’ album, out at the end of August via Reaper Entertainment!
Tolminator is already a quite unique and exceptional experience on its own, but they always seem to keep a keen eye on the scenes of different countries and know to pic some of the most promising acts for their line-ups. And this year, we get to welcome our friends of Marche Funèbre, Mordkaul and Brutal Sphincter to be part of the “Belgian Invasion”, but also 2 stellar acts from Finland with melodeath icons Omnium Gatherum and psychedelic black metal collective Oranssi Pazuzu!
