Hellsinki Metal Festival 2024: Meeting point for Metal hearts
Even in a metal paradise like Finland, festivals unfortunately cannot rely on immediate success. However, Hellsinki Metal Festival seems to have established itself already in year 2: A sold-out day and a total of 16,000 fans on the grounds, that speaks for itself. What’s more, the weather gods were merciful throughout the weekend, despite threatening clouds and downpours in the morning.
Friday, August 9, 2024
The end of a huge queue was already waiting for me at the streetcar stop, which was in quite a distance from the Ice Hall – although Deathchain were already playing inside. No, not a jam at the entrance – it was the wristband exchange, which could actually have been done in advance, people … Many therefore probably witnessed Wolfheart‘s solid, powerful show only acoustically from outside. After this early personal highlight, I hardly got around to watching gigs in full. One camerawoman and three stages, plus the many vendors, exhibitions, a wrestling show and a Children Of Bodom tribute – hence I leave it at fleeting impressions, I’ll leave the more in-depth comments on individual shows to my colleague.
The program had something for everyone, from veteran death / black / thrash legends like Terrorizer or Hellhammer (the latter one of my highlights of the day), -core bands like Emmure and The Amity Affliction (the Australians performed for the first time in Finland) and somewhat quirky acts like Gutalax (a bit anal-retentive, where the singer tries to sound like a frog) or Cadaver with the “ghost” on bass. After so much death and thrash, I found Obscura and Soen with their groove&prog very refreshing. (KW)
Let the images speak for themselves: TO THE PHOTO GALLERY OF DAY 1
Now the colleague on the hotly anticipated bands of the day:
Deicide
are an absolute death metal roller and were one of the high-octane acts at this festival. Mastermind Glen Benton and his men uncompromisingly showed right from the start that they are a reliable force to be reckoned with and had the audience fully under control from the very first note. One smash hit followed the next and the audience was always on the move. Especially during ‘Scars Of The Crucifix’, the crowd knew no limits. The fans thanked Deicide with a lot of applause. With a very good sound, the whole range of songs unfolded and so the first day of the festival had its first highlight at a very early stage. A very strong performance from the US Americans!
Satyricon
In the run-up to their appearance at the Hellsinki Metal Fest, many people were excited about the Norwegians Satyricon and plenty of praise was given to Satyr and his comrades-in-arms in advance. And it has to be said, they deserved it. With a first-class sound, Satyricon convinced as the ‘headliner’ on the small stage. Frontman Satyr radiated calm and serenity in his appearance and was always in contact with the fans. The atmosphere was first class, only the space in front of the stage wasn’t sufficient, which Satyr smugly remarked. A very good performance by the Norwegians, which delivered its great highlight with the legendary ‘Mother North’! (Hanzi)
Two German bands ruled this day on the main stage: Heaven Shall Burn delivered a brilliant, hell-raising show, the mosh pit was rotating almost non-stop and there was a wall of death, too! At the end, singer Marcus Bischoff even jumped into the pit to shake hands with fans in the front row.
Avantasia impressed in many different aspects across the board, from the huge stage set-up to the vocal performances and the superbly staged drama, a combination of concert and musical – a truly tremendous show! (KW)
Saturday, August 10, 2024
As I had put a few kilometers on my shoes on the first day and still hadn’t managed to cover ALL the bands, I decided to take it easy and concentrate on the two big stages. Sold out also meant huge crowds everywhere and it was much harder to get from A to B …
The brand new act Crownshift had caused quite a stir in the scene with their all-star line-up, the catchy, almost pop-like song material did the rest. The Finns’ second Helsinki gig was convincing across the board – keep an eye on this band!
I had been looking forward to Blackbraid, because you don’t often get black metal by Native Americans from the Adirondack wilderness. Mastermind and frontman Jon Krieger also turned out to be absolutly engergetic and mesmerizing!
However, it was not novelties but nostalgia that dominated Day 2 with a whole host of legendary acts, local and from abroad, who have been reliably providing quality for decades; the audience responded with corresponding enthusiasm.
Doro is still a powerhouse and, in addition to legendary songs, always has a few humorous stories up her sleeve. Meshuggah – a merciless wrecking ball with a well-assorted setlist – oh my, what a show! For me a tough competition for the headliner… And Hammerfall, too, who are always good for a party with a fun factor, although the stage once again seemed very undersized. Solid and powerful as always, the headliner Kreator and then Mayhem as the crowning finale of the festival. (KW)
The pictures speak for themselves: TO THE PHOTOGALLERY OF DAY 2
Now some more detailed observations from my colleague:
Havukruunu
The stage inside Ice Hall Helsinki was well attended when Havukruunu opened their set. The Finns play very catchy pagan black metal, with a fairly varied tempo and a good deal of technicality in the song structures. The fans accepted it gratefully and sang along eagerly. Havukruunu made full use of their playing time and put on a very good performance. I especially liked the mostly clean and varied vocals – thumbs up!
Insomnium
Just like the day before with Satyricon, most of the fans were wondering why a band like Insomnium had to play on the small stage. Niko Sevänen and his guys didn’t care. They convinced the audience with the brilliant song material that characterises Insomnium and the exceptional guitarist Markus Vanhala delighted the audience with his technically skilled, melancholic guitar playing. Special mention should definitely be made of ‘White Christ’ and ‘While We Sleep’, which went down particularly well with the fans.
Barathrum
They have been active for ages and they never fail to inspire: Barathrum play black doom metal, but here they like to move in the mid-tempo range and have their very own playful flavour. This was also the case today: with a first-class sound, they had the fans on their side after a short time and maintained this high level of playfulness throughout their set. The fans celebrated Barathrum and were rewarded with a great performance. Singer Demonos Sova captivated the crowd with his presence alone and had the fans completely under control. A good performance from the ‘eternal’ Finns!
Abbath
After leaving Immortal, Abbath has gathered new musicians around him and is now fully and successfully focusing on his band – and was eagerly awaited here in Helsinki. After all, he enjoys a great reputation among Finnish fans not only because of his cult saying ‘F*** the Sun’ from 1997. Abbath performed a tight and solid set and showed impressively how good black metal can be. Of course, Immortal’s slightly modified versions of ‘Damned In Black’ and ‘At The Heart Of Winter’ were not to be missed. The fans thanked the band with enthusiastic applause. Of course, he also had his 1997 catchphrase with him again, which made for amused faces. All in all: Abbath rocked Helsinki with an impressive show. For me, one of the best gigs of the festival.
Summary:
The Hellsinki Metal Fest took place for the second time and I have to say that from the organisation in the run-up to the event itself to the satisfied faces at the end of the festival, be it from musicians or fans, everything simply blew me away. The organisers deserve a lot of praise here, because establishing a festival of this size in its second year speaks for itself.
Despite the masses of fans, you always felt at home. The surrounding program far off the music offered everything the metal heart desires, from tattoo stands to wrestling, so we can draw a clearly positive conclusion and are already looking ahead to Helsinki Metal Fest 2025: A great festival with a great atmosphere and brilliant bands will once again be the first meeting point for thousands of metal fans in Helsinki! (Hanzi)
