We started our last day with the German modern melodic metallers Beyond The Black on the main stage. We’ve had this band on our radar for quite some time now, and it really was great to see them live finally. Starting off with vocalist Jennifer Haben hitting some drums setting the beat of ‘Dancing in the Dark’ and immediately bringing the mood to a great level. The whole band was clearly enjoying themselves, and so was the crowd, noticing several people singing along passionately or dancing to the melodies, including the kids that were there for the traditional “Piku Tuska” when kids are welcome to the festival. Perfect starter for the last day of this year’s edition.

Up next to take over the main stage, was Lost Society. In the mean time, you could call these youngsters somewhat of a house band for Tuska, having played here every single year since things got started back up after the pandemic. And honestly, it feels like every new year, they step it up a bit more. This year we got plenty of pyro, smoke, huge LED screens with some really cool visuals and of course a Samy Elbanna stealing the show with his extravagant outfit and energetic performance, pulling in the majority of the attention of the crowd and fans. You can always be sure of a high velocity, high energy performance for these guys, who seem to be going places and getting bigger year by year!

This was one of the shows of the weekend I was really looking forward to. Having experienced the magic that is Eivør live, I can never get enough of it. Her voice is absolutely mesmerizing and her music is such a trip when you allow it to grab you and take you in. And even though we got her on the last day of a very busy weekend (having played at Hellfest the day before) and a festival which isn’t always the best places for this kind of music, everything just felt right. The crowd that showed up for her performance really was there for her and the atmosphere was perfect. Eivør seems to have created a bond with Finland and her fans there, so here’s hoping that we see her come by the country a lot in the future!

I’ve always been a huge Opeth fan. And while I really enjoy their more recent rather prog rock work, I’m still a sucker for the old school prog death metal stuff. Sadly, nowadays they like to focus more on the more recent music, which is totally their right to do so, but it made the shows a tad bit boring for me personally at times. Much to my surprise, this was going to be a rather old school set they would throw at us.

When those iconic opening guitar riffs of ‘The Grand Conjuration‘ blasted through the speakers, you could just feel the excitement of the crowd. I literally saw people rush to the stage as soon as they realized that Opeth went old school for this show. And not just the crowd experienced a huge energy boost, it felt like the whole band was on stage with renewed energy. With ‘Demon of the Fall‘, ‘The Drapery Falls‘, ‘Heir Apparent‘, ‘Ghost of Perdition‘, and lastly ‘Deliverance‘, this was a truly amazing throwback that was probably one of the most satisfying shows of the whole weekend for me, never having been able to catch them live during that first iteration of the band. Amazing.

Time for something way less serious now, and the very last proper party of the weekend! On the second outdoor stage, the Swedish power metal collective Brothers of Metal took over as the last band there, and man, how much fun was that! With their Norse and Viking themed songs and performance, they really took us somewhere else for a while and the crowd was prepared with inflatable swords, axes and more to wave in the air. The band danced around, the crowd danced around, drinking horns were raised, beer was being smashed,… everything you’d want from a good heavy metal party. Songs like ‘Njord‘, ‘Ride of the Valkyries’, ‘Berserkir‘ and of course ‘Defenders of Valhalla‘ were an absolute riot, and the show was a great palate cleanser for what otherwise had been a relatively serious day.

Last band for this year! Back in 2018, we already got to experience how amazing Parkway Drive is as a headliner is, so the expectations were high. The show might not have been as much of a barbecue as it was over half a decade ago, but it definitely wasn’t less fiery. There is a feverish new, but healthy energy behind Winston and his mates that was simply infectious. Kicking off with belters like ‘Glitch‘, ‘Prey‘ and ‘The Void‘ immediately took it through the roof, and the moment that Winston goes in the crowd to sing ‘Idols and Anchors‘ from the middle of a circle pit is iconic. These guys from Australia have grown out to become one of the biggest metalcore acts in the world while staying humble and bringing it on stage every single time. Can’t wait to see them again.