The first day of the third edition of Hellsinki Metal Festival is filled with an impressive line-up of metal bands of almost every subgenre, completed with some special ones. Of course you need to go see King Diamond headlining tonight, but there is so much more to discover, so our editorial team picked out 7 bands that they think you definitely shouldn’t miss out on with Rabbit Cult, Gost, Kanonenfieber, Forbidden, Fear Factory, Candlemass and Moonsorrow! What bands are you really looking forward to today? Let us know in the comments!

We had a call with Ruben (guitars) and Frederik (bass) of the Belgian modern thrash band Primal Creation to talk about their latest single, the move of Frederik from roadie to active member of the band as the bassist and especially about playing at this year’s Alcatraz Festival opening La Morgue this Saturday!

On the last day of Alcatraz 2025, we get 10 more fantastic Belgian bands served up, going from mesmerizing atmosphere makers like Briqueville and Alkerdeel, to absolute mayhem from bands like Bark, Devastatiön, Slaughter Messiah and Cobracide, hardcore legends Congress and Whatever It Takes, rockers Promise Down or goth-tinged heavy metallers Cult of Scarecrow! Something for everyone and again proof how rich the Belgian heavy music scene is…

Thrash metal legends Dark Angel are on tour right now in Europe and are performing the classic ‘Darkness Decends’ album in full on select shows, including Brutal Assault and Alcatraz festival this weekend!

Only a handful of days left before Helsinki gets a healthy shot of heavy and dark music with the third edition of Hellsinki Metal Festival! If you’re still confused and wondering if you should go or not, check out 8 reasons we believe should convince you… Beware, get your tickets today as tomorrow the price will go up again!

Thirteen Goats invites fans to their “Animal Kingdom” in the new video for the track that features guest vocals from Carly Ellen Jones and was part of their latest album ‘Capricorn Rising’, released last year via Exitus Stratagem Records!

Denver’s thriving thrash punk band Arson Charge to release their debut album ‘A Dying Light’ in October via Anxious & Angry and shared a first single with ‘A New Throne’!

From the amazing line-up of Tolminator 2025 we picked 10 acts we believe deserves your attention and time for you to check out at the festival if you’re there or at home if you’re not. A couple of them already played yesterday, like Vulvarine, High Parasite and Ghost Bath, but there is still plenty to discover and see with bands like Midnight, Cro-mags, Me And That Man, Party Cannon, Insanity Alert, Dopethrone and Mimi Barks!

The second day of Alcatraz 2025 delivers yet another trio of Belgian stage openers with the power metallers of Magic Kingdom on the Prison Stage, metalcore outfit Signs of Algorithm blowing the roof off the Swamp Stage and modern thrash wrecking crew Primal Creation causing mayhem on La Morgue!