Pain, agony, suffering, torment, … or just in one word: Tuska! The Finnish Tuska metal festival started off on Friday June 28th, on one of the hottest days of the summer so far. We felt ready to start off the festival season in Finland in 30 degrees Celsius.
It was both a complete joy as well as a tad weird to see the whole city that is Helsinki, filled with metalheads from all over the country and the world. As Tuska is a city festival, the concerts started off quite early, and are finished rather early as well. Everywhere in the city you could find metal-minded people.
It was amazing to see how both the indoor and outdoor spaces of the premises of Suvilahti were used in order to make the audience flow easily from one stage to another. It’s rather odd that the festival takes place on the premises of Suvilahti, as the location used to be an old energy place. (More information about the festival history and challenges can be found here)
An occasional seagull flying over the festival area made it even more funny, as the place is right next to the sea.
DAY 1 - FRIDAY JUNE 28th
The first day of the Tuska metal festival started HOT. Armed with sunscreen, water and the needed portion of excitement, we started our trip to the festival area.
Once we arrived at the premises of Suvilahti in Helsinki, where all the magic would happen, people were running like mad fools to get a hold of the first merch at the merchandise desk. Although pre-ordering and picking up merch even before the festival had started was possible, still the waiting lines for the merch were extremely long, as seems to be a tradition on Tuska. By 15o’clock the lines were huge, almost reaching to the front of the main stage all the way up to the stage.
About the organisation in general we could say it was typically Finnish. Fluent, but strict, just like the Finnish culture. No drinks (not even water) were allowed in the smaller ‘guarded’ area in front of the main stage, which made it sometimes hard to really enjoy some of the shows in the hot days. But rules are rules for the Finns, and as mentioned before, they count for everyone.
The first band of the day opened the main stage at half past two in the afternoon. Lord of The Lost is a German band, known for their performance at the Eurovision Song Contest last year in 2023. The ‘dark rock’ band started off their show with the first song "The Curtain Falls" from their album "Blood and Glitter" which came out in 2022. Later on in the set the singer of the band, Chris ‘The Lord’ Harms, mentioned how happy he was to be able to record their latest album "Weapons of Mass Seduction" in a recording studio in Finland, right next to the festival area. During some technical problems ‘The Lord’ made some small talk and funny jokes to the audience to keep them occupied. The Finnish audience, known to show very little to no emotions at all, could enjoy this small moment of humor until the German band could continue their show. As a tribute to the just-not winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023, Lord Of The Lost played a cover from the Finnish song ‘Cha cha cha’ by Käärijä, which again brought big smiles to the Finnish audience faces.
As a random side note I would like to mention the fact that some of us metal heads are crazy enough to get married at a metal festival. So happened as well for the chosen ones Minna and Lasse Kosonen, who were selected out of 28 couples to have their marriage at Tuska. Sponsored by the Finnish beer brand Karhu and supported by everyone at the festival ground, even though they were Tuska-virgins before their wedding.
On my way to the Radio City stage, I got stuck at the Open air II stage where Annisokay was performing. Another German band, playing post-hardcore music. Most of the songs performed on Tuska were from their latest album "Aurora" which was released back in 2021. As a tribute to Linkin Park, Annisokay played a cover of "One Step Closer", to show their respect to deceased singer Chester Bennington, who passed away in 2017 after long mental health issues.
The band I was actually looking for while stumbling upon Annisokay, was Finnish black metal band I Am The night, which was playing on the Radio City Stage. The rather ‘young’, or should I say ‘new’ band was only formed in 2020 by band members such as Markus Vanhala on guitar and keyboards, who also plays the guitar in Insomnium, or Okko Solanterä behind the mics of the band, who could haunt every single soul of the audience with his fierce and intense eyes and mimic. Some might say that I Am The night is kind of tribute of the band Emperor, which the band stated by playing a cover of Emperor called "The Acclamation Of Bonds". The tent where they played was packed with audience members and the people were intrigued by all the songs coming from their only album so far "While The Gods Are Sleeping’.
Folk and Powermetalband Alestorm also was listed on the line-up for Tuska 2024. The Scottish pirate band was obviously playing at the main stage due to their latest gained popularity. Long before they started their show it was already clear that Alestorm was going to perform, as we could see the bands big yellow duck mascotte on stage, and likeminded smaller decorations with the fans in the audience. The audience got especially enthusiast when the Scottish lads played their second song in the set called "Back Through Time", as the band hadn’t performed the song again live since 2016. As a special guest the band brought hurdy gurdy player Patty Gurdy to bring some extra special effect to the show.
Female fronted heavy metal band Infected Rain, originally from Moldova, hit the Radio city stage in the early evening on Friday. It seemed to me that the sound was rather hard to calibrate due to the tent situation around the stage. The band has a contract with Napalm Records and was formed back in 2008. The audience came to see the show with many people, maybe not only because of the blasting music, but also due to the hot looks of singer Elena Lena Scissorhands Cataraga ? The set list contained most of the songs from their album called "TIME" which was released only earlier in 2024.
Lord of The Lost - Annisokay - Alestorm - Infected Rain - Bloodred Hourglass - Kerry King - Dimmu Borgir - Zeal & Ardor (find all galery of pictures here)
On the Open Air II stage the Finnish melodic death metal band Bloodred Hourglass was performing at the same time as Infected Rain. The Trash metal influences in the band were definitely audible in certain songs on the setlist and made the audience go insane. The bands first album came out in 2012 and was called "Lifebound".
One of this year's highlights on Tuska was guitarist Kerry King’s solo project, known from legendary thrash metal band Slayer, who performed with his band Kerry King. His solo album "From hell I rise" just got released only a few weeks before Tuska 2024 took place. The album was played entirely, but in random order, and was mixed up with old Slayer classics such as "Black Magic" and "Raining Blood".
In the Radio City stage the band Suburban Tribe played an exceptional show. This because the Finnish alternative rock and metal band is no longer existing and has been discontinued in 2011. As a special guest old lead singer Jouni Markkanen came to sing the two songs, "Sunflower" from the album "Primitive" from 1994 and "First spring day" from the album named "Panorama" which was released in 1997.
Italy was also represent at the metal festival in Finland, in the form of Elvenking. The power metal band showed their folk influences on the main stage open air II and was formed already in 1997. The band made eleven album thus far. There was quite the shift in band members since the beginning of the band, but since 2022 the band seems to be having "fixed" members.
A band I have been looking forward to see for a long time was symphonic black metalband Dimmu Borgir. The Norwegian guys formed their band already a long time ago, in 1993. For the set list that day, it seemed like the band picked a song from about every album they have ever made, with an exception for the album "Enthrone darkness triumphant", which they played two songs from, "Mourning palace" and "Spellbound (by the devil)". During the set, one of the guitarists played a very minor, but also very audible mistake. I thought this moment was golden, as a small mistake immediately shows us how much we take a high level performance for granted, and without we even realize it, we always expect perfection in a world that isn’t perfect.
Zeal & Ardor represented Switzerland in Finland. The avant-garde metal band sounded like they maybe didn’t really belong in a metal festival full of trash and hardcore music, but it was a very welcome "calming down"-moment with certain songs on the first day of the festival in the evening. As a non-metal connaisseur, you wouldn’t even know this band is included in the metal scene. Maybe because founder of the band Manuel Gagneux previously was engaged in a chamber pop project. A project where pop and rock music is combined with classical instrument such as strings, wind instruments or piano. The result of Zeal & Ardor is a mix of Afro-American music combined with black metal.
The band Pendulum closed down the first day of the Tuska metal festival 2024 in Helsinki. The Australian mix of hard rock and electronic music could be placed in a variety of genres, maybe even "film music", as I heard a little reference or hint to the Italian movie "The Good, the Bad And the Ugly" by Sergio Leone which uses music by Ennio Morricone. A total exploding moment in the audience was when the band blasted the cover-remix of "Voodoo people" by The Prodigy out of the speakers. A successful ending of day one on Finnish grounds.
DAY 2 - SATURDAY JUNE 29th
Amorphis - Tarot - Sonata Artica - Riverside - Make Them Suffer - Ankor - Vola (find all galery of pictures here)
DAY 3 - SUNDAY JUNE 30th
The girl with the drum’ Eivør, known for her music that contributed to tv-series such as Vikings and The Last Kingdom, was also represent at Tuska 2024. The audience was mesmerised with her music and crystal clear clean vocal singing. The high notes in her variety of songs were spot on every single time and Eivør clearly knew how to create a fairy-like atmosphere at the festival area. A real experience if you ask me. The songs went from quiet and "empty" what concerns orchestration, to fuller and more crazy during the setlist. The unique way of Eivør’s throat singing versions had the audience gazing for many songs in a row.
Finnish power metal band Stratovarius also gained a place on the affiche of the festival. Stratovarius, not to confuse with the famous violin brand Stradivarius or the electrical guitar "Fender Stratocaster", has tight links to the classical music world as well, as bass player and composer Lauri Porri is the great-grandson of composer and Finnish icon Jean Sibelius. The band has been born already in 1982 in Finland, but continuously changed band members up until 2012, where the band now has its current members fixed.
Many tongues at the festival were talking about the new rising band Luna Kills. The young Finns were playing at the indoor stage Kvlt stage by Inferno where there was an enormous waiting line to get into the building to see the show. Unfortunately, I could not attend their concert due to the many people wanting to see the show, but my gut feeling and the feedback I heard all around the festival area, tells me this won’t be the last time this newcomers are playing at a major festival in Finland, or even abroad. I feel like this is only the beginning of a long journey for singer Lotta Ruutiainen and the other band members of Luna Kills.
The band I personally had been looking forward to the most was Opeth. The long, funny and ad random chats that singer Mikael Åkerfeldt gave between the different songs, was once again funny and fitted well to the energy of the audience. The interaction with the festival visitors was great, although sometimes I felt like Mikael expected some more response from the Finnish audience. Maybe their Finnish nature got in the way of showing their real enthusiasm?
The setlist was rock solid and contained only older songs such as "The Grand Conjuration" and "Ghost Of Perdition" from Opeth’s fifth album "Ghost Reveries" which came out almost 20 years ago in 2005. "Demon Of The Fall" was the oldest song they played from their third album ‘My Arms, Your Hearse’ which was released already in 1997.
The star of the show was without a doubt the new drummer of Opeth, Waltteri Väyrynen, who joined the band only two years ago in 2022. The running joke of the evening was that the audience didn’t came to see Opeth, but to see and support Waltteri and see him shine in his homecountry, Finland.
The festival concluded its last day with closing band Parkway Drive. The Australian metalcore band took the opportunity to also invite some classical string players which tilted the performance to a higher level with their violin, viola and cello. The girls rocked together with the band on their own little "island" on the stage. The clean vocals of singer Winston McCall were not always exactly spot on, but that couldn’t ruin the fun for the huge an enthousiast audience and fans after a successful and amazing three days of festival time.
Beyond The Black - Warmen - Lost Society - Stratovarius - Luna Kills - Opeth - Bury Tommrow - Parkway Drive (find all galery of pictures here)
I can only begin to imagine how difficult it must have been for all the sound engineers of every single band in the festival, to tune down the decibels according to the rules and regulation of the law, as well as taking care of the wind and the outdoor circumstances every single day. I never had the feeling the sounds of any of the concerts was very much ‘off’ or that it was badly done. Congrats to all the sound engineers and crew of every band that played at Tuska this year.
To wrap it all up, Tuska 2024 was a blast. The festival seems to be growing every single year and I am sure they will keep doing so in the future as well.
Rumor has it, that the line-up for next edition in 2025 will again be full of amazing, young and new artists. The festival will again take place next year in the last weekend of June. See you there?
(Thank you Kat.R for the report, Tom VM for all pictures and for make travel for the first time Cult Of Metal beyond french borders !)
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