Keoma, The Silenced, Soulglass @ Bar Rock Bear

6. 11. 2020, Korso / Vantaa, Finland   –  PHOTO GALLERY HERE

As everywhere in Europe, restrictions in Finland have been tightened, eg. clubs and pubs must close at 23 hours at the latest. Many concerts are cancelled at short notice – a few still manage to accommodate bands and (strictly limited) audiences despite all the difficulties. One of them is the small but nice bar Rock Bear, which surprised me with a spacious stage and – for its size – a really good live sound (compliment to the technology). I’ve already mentioned that Finnish audiences kept their distance even before the Covid crisis, and everyone else is keeping to the guidelines – so I don’t have to worry about advertising the current live program: Rock Bear is less than 5 minutes walking distance from the train station Korso (Vantaa) and various bus stops, so it can be reached from Helsinki within half an hour. Live-hungry metal fans can enjoy, for example, Shrapnel Storm, Final Dawn and Necrodium on Friday Nov 13. Check out the club website!

Before Keoma presented their new single ‘Haven in the Abyss’ live on stage, Soulglass  opened the event – a band with two female singers: Felicia Firemane handles the growls and Lyra Silvana the clear voice. And wait, despite all the fog I can recognize that the stage name Lyra Silvana belongs to the headliner’s front lady … Although the visuals rather refer to Gothic Metal, it’s quite heavy Melodic Death Metal. Which means, beautiful melodies are combined with pretty tough riffs – quite a catch!  Bandwebsite

The sound gets even rougher with The Silenced. Founded by two former Hevein members, this band plays a mixture of Metalcore and Alternative-Rock-Groove. Works pretty well and inspires a mosh pit with an impressive stage show – best to watch from a safe distance. Just like with Wankers of the Zoo Crew, you need to be prepared for everything from frontman Juha Immonen … hopefully that was his personal mic (PHOTOS), otherwise it would it be too irresponsible at this time – not sure whether basic disinfection would be enough? Bandwebsite

Keoma could enjoy a nearly sold out club – at least I had the impression that the permitted capacity was exhausted on that evening. And I wasn’t the only one who had been looking forward to this gig. The material of the band is just too good – progressive metal with catchy tunes – and their gigs are always great. I don’t know how often I’ve heard some of the songs, but I still get goose bumps… The former singer Jasse Jatala, now active with his own project, known as “Mörkö” all over the country thanks to “The Voice of Finland” finals, is a first-class vocalist, which doesn’t make it easy for the successor, Katri Hiovain. And she masters not only the clear vocals, but also the growls flawlessly and seemingly effortlessly. She has already convinced me at her official live premiere in January (which I didn’t attend as reporter). Yet I still need to get used hearing the old material in a slightly different manner, with her voice adding a fresh flavour. The new tracks (Gaia and Haven in the Abyss) clearly show that the new team has already become a unit. The supposedly only half-finished brand new song as encore didn’t sound half-finished at all… Great gig and hopefully it won’t take another 10 months until the next Keoma gig…  Bandwebsite