Photo Reports

Tuhdimmat Tahdit decided to really switch things up this year. With the most obvious change being the entirely Finnish line up this year, which I must say was missing a little bit of something extra in my opinion.

The other big change this year was the switch from two stages to one. After having numerous troubles on the smaller stage last year, I think it made a lot of sense to just focus on one stage this time around. I also found the festival day to be much more relaxed this way. Because of the half an hour breaks, there was enough time to just hang out and chill with friends between bands, which in my opinion is just as important part of festivals then watching the bands. I did hear some other people complain about his thought, so I guess this depends on personal preferences.

Lastly to still have enough time to fit a reasonable amount of bands the starting time of the festival had to be pushed forward to 13 o’clock, which could have been a problem, but I guess due to the new date in July enough people were on their holiday, and therefore it didn’t seem to affect the huge crowed that was lining up in front of the gets to get in right when the doors open.

Kotiteollisuus started the day under the cover of the dark clouds hovering oppressively over the festival grounds. But while the weather looks like a storm is brewing, they still managed to bring some sunshine to my mind. Somehow their easy going and seemingly not too serious performance turned out to be a great way to start the day.

Just before Marko Hietala and his band enter the stage, the clouds open their gates as well, but luckily, as it turns out, they don’t hold up to their appearance at all. After just a few songs the rain is over and while the clouds keep retuning we get to enjoy the rest of the festival with dry feet. Other than the clouds, Marko and his band can absolutely hold up to their image. They even blessed us by playing some relatively new music in the form of ‘Left on Mars‘ which had been released in spring of this year.  At the end of the set, Marko Hietala just says “Well, see you tomorrow” with a pleasant little smile on his face.

Next up is Lost Society, who bring a whole different of level of energy to the festival. Samy Elbanna never fails to get the crowd fired up, and so not too surprisingly some pits start forming in front of the stage. I’m getting too old for that much action, and so I use the chance to check out the new festival layout and all that it has to offer. One of the new things is a cocktail bar with some comfy looking beach chairs, and I can’t resist trying some Piña Colada Spritz.

Before long, it’s already time for one of Finland’s legendary bands: Stratovarius. Who played a good mix between their most famous hits and more recent material.

Afterwards it’s time to go back to Finnish with some good old thrash metal from Mokoma and later Stam1na. Both of these offered a good chance to release some more energy, as they make sitting still nearly impossible.

The day is starting to feel long, but there’s no rest for the wicked and as soon as Amorphis started playing all tiredness is blown away. There’s no big surprises in the setlist, but that isn’t necessary at all anyways. They end day 1 more than properly, with one hit after another. When ‘The Bee’ can be heard, I know it’s time to go home and rest up for the second day of Finnish festival madness.

Coolhead Live has some great shows every year for their concert series, and after kicking it off with the Brazilian hardcore legends Ratos De Porão, they brought in another absolute legend with Ihsahn. Known for being highly influential on the black metal scene with Emperor, his solo work is at least as impressive and mindblowing. And to accompany this icon of the extreme metal scene, you of course need the best of the best. And that is exactly what we got with supporting shows from the returned from the death Before The Dawn, symphonic black metal darlings of the Finnish scene …and Oceans and the black metal upstarts of Qwälen! What a scrumptious night for any metal fan!

Coolhead Live in Finland has been bringing some of the greatest musical acts to the Coolhead Brew courtyard for the past couple of years during summer, and this year they’ve done it again! The very first show of their concert series brought some absolute legends to their stage with the Brazilian crossover thrash/hardcore outfit Ratos de Porão. Having been mentioned by many big metal acts from that country as a major influence, it was an absolute honor to be able to see these guys in action on a stage! Added to that, we got the local hardcore heroes Terveet Kädet and tribute to the Brazilian thrash/death metal/crossover scene Forca Macabra to make the evening complete. And while the evening started with quite the delay because of some major issues with the stage build, where they were still in the middle of getting things set up when the first band was supposed to start already, it ended up giving the whole show a unique DIY hardcore vibe that fitted oh so well.

When a legendary musician of the caliber of Yngwie Malmsteen comes to a venue near you, you need to pay attention and make sure you get to experience their live show. When that legend brings along another heavy metal/hard rock legend with Mötorhead guitarist Phil Campbell (and the Bastard Sons) to open the night, you definitely have to be there. So on a sunny day in July, we made the trip to Böle Areena in Helsinki to experience several hours of expertly crafted and played guitar music…

It’s that time of the year again, our yearly stop at one of Finland’s longest running metal and rock festivals: Tuska! On the 2024 edition, they had a pretty solid line-up again in our opinion, even though there were some people not all too happy about some of the experimentation they did with for instance the headliners of this year’s festival. We had no complaints though, and had an absolutely great time. But Tuska wouldn’t be around still, or anywhere near the same, without “the people of Tuska”: the fans, the crew, the media,… It’s all of you who make this festival the great event that it is. So this is dedicated to all of you who we captured over the weekend of the 2024 edition!

For more than 40 years, AGNOSTIC FRONT brings finest New York Hardcore to the concert hall stages and festivals around the globe. Europe and its loyal NY HC fan base is a reason to tour annually. This summer, the five piece Roger Miret (vocals), Vinnie Stigma (lead guitar and original founding member), Craig Silverman (guitar), Mike Gallo (Bass) and Danny Lamanga (drums) hit European venues on their ‘Urban Decay Tour 2024’. Opening date was a totally sold-out gig at Café Central in Weinheim, DE.

Before the NYC veterans take the stage, one of Germany’s hardcore veteran bands enters the stage to open the night: 47 Million Dollars. Bringing awesome hardcore music with German lyrics for already 25 years. The venue got hot and the few doors and windows were opened after their appearance to cool down the atmosphere a little.

There is not much to say about the following: you get what you expect. Finest hardcore music, circle pit from the first tune of the opening song ‘The Eliminator’, stage diving, crowd-surfing and sweat, sweat, sweat. These guys know how to rock a venue down to the bare foundations. The audience got in the mood immediately, turning the hall into a sauna with incredible humidity. But you will see no holding back until the last tune of their more than 20 songs set-list including hits like ‘Gotta go’, ‘Old New York’ or ‘Victim in Pain’ is out of the PA.

They will keep on touring until early July, it’s recommended to go and see them if you can!

It’s that time of the year again, our yearly stop at one of Finland’s longest running metal and rock festivals: Tuska! On the 2024 edition, they had a pretty solid line-up again in our opinion, even though there were some people not all too happy about some of the experimentation they did with for instance the headliners of this year’s festival. We had no complaints though, and had an absolutely great time, with on the last day on the Radio City (tent) Stage Finnish melodeath supergroup Warmen, Faroese nightingale Eivør, and modern metallers Bury Tomorrow, while on the OPEN AIR II stage we caught Norwegian promises Fixation and the viking warriors of Brothers Of Metal!

It’s that time of the year again, our yearly stop at one of Finland’s longest running metal and rock festivals: Tuska! On the 2024 edition, they had a pretty solid line-up again in our opinion, even though there were some people not all too happy about some of the experimentation they did with for instance the headliners of this year’s festival. We had no complaints though, and had an absolutely great time, with on the last day on the Karhu Main Stage bands like the German modern melodic outfit Beyond The Black, house band Lost Society, Opeth stunning with an old school set, and headliners Parkway Drive setting the stage ablaze yet again!

It’s that time of the year again, our yearly stop at one of Finland’s longest running metal and rock festivals: Tuska! On the 2024 edition, they had a pretty solid line-up again in our opinion, even though there were some people not all too happy about some of the experimentation they did with for instance the headliners of this year’s festival. We had no complaints though, and had an absolutely great time, with on the second day on the Karhu Main Stage bands like the Danish moder prog masters VOLA, heavy metal cult heroes Tarot, Finnish favorites Stam1na and Amorphis, and an absolutely massive show of a corpse painted Bring Me The Horizon as headliner of this day!

It’s that time of the year again, our yearly stop at one of Finland’s longest running metal and rock festivals: Tuska! On the 2024 edition, they had a pretty solid line-up again in our opinion, even though there were some people not all too happy about some of the experimentation they did with for instance the headliners of this year’s festival. We had no complaints though, and had an absolutely great time, with on the second day on the Radio City (tent) Stage US death metal legends Devourment, while on the OPEN AIR II stage we caught modern metallers on the rise Ankor opening the day, one of the most energetic shows of the weekend from Australia’s metalcore stars Make Them Suffer and Finnish disko metal stars and crowd favorites Turmion Kätilöt!