We got back to the festival area just in time to run into the tent stage and catch the set of Oranssi Pazuzu, a Finnish psychedelic black metal outfit that has become quite the favorite of ours ever since we first discovered them at Tuska years ago. Them being able to play on the tent stage means that they got quite the upgrade in stage compared to back then, since they played on the much smaller Inferno stage. Their mind-bending kind of music is really quite the treat to see come to live on a stage, and these guys are truly masters at what they do. And while it was yet another fantastic show, seeing them on such a big stage with quite some daylight seeping in from the open sides of the tent, made us wonder how much better it would have been if they were playing on a smaller stage hidden away from the sun. Remembering how intense it was like years ago, we couldn’t help but feel that it could have been even better than what we got to experience this time around.

On to something much much brighter, and a band that actually fits in the full sun way better. Especially with their latest release ‘Turborider‘ and its very 80s inspired synth sound, Reckless Love was here and ready to liven up everyone’s day! Dressed in white to pastel purple suits, big sunglasses and even bigger smiles, they came to conquer the main stage and our hearts. Setting off with the first 3 songs of that album (and most of the singles they released) was a great move, and the mood and energy immediately went through the proverbial roof. ‘Turborider‘, ‘Eyes of a Maniac‘, and ‘Outrun‘ are all fantastic songs that get you to at least hum along to them, if not singalong loud and proud. And that was not all from the ‘Turborider‘ album! Their Ozzy Osbourne cover ‘Bark at the Moon‘, ‘Kids of the Arcade‘, ‘Prelude (Flight of the Cobra)‘, ‘Like a Cobra‘, and ‘Prodigal Sons‘ were all presented to us. Though of course we couldn’t have a Reckless Love show with some of their classic hits and fan favorites, fans that were waiting for tracks like ‘Monster‘, ‘Animal Attraction‘, or ‘Night on Fire‘ were all rewarded for their patience. A nice little sparkle early on in our 2nd day!

While we were very tempted to go see another great show of one of our favorite Finnish prog outfits with Wheel, we decided that we didn’t want to miss out on seeing Vltimas, the extreme metal supergroup consisting of musicians linked with bands like Aura Noir, Mayhem, I Am Morbid, Morbid Angel, Cryptopsy and more. The impressive presence of vocalist David Vincent was quite the sight to behold with his wide brimmed hat and intense stares, besides the absolutely solid vocal performance of one of extreme metal’s legends. Add to that the talented musicians gathered around him, basically playing all the songs they have at this point live with a matching intensity, and what you got was about an hour of some of the greatest contemporary extreme metal around.

Time for one of Finland’s most popular and successful metal bands! Stam1na is a band that is synonymous with the Finnish metal scene, and there is almost not a festival summer that goes by without catching them ripping things up on a stage at some Finnish festival. Not that we’re complaining, because we love the energy and intensity they bring, no matter how big or small the stage is. And usually the crowds easily match that energy, elevating the shows to a next level kind of atmosphere. With a bright yellow backdrop consisting of the artwork of their latest album ‘Novus Ordu Mundi‘, they brought us of course some tracks of that release with ‘Betelgeuse‘, ‘N.P.V.E.M.’, ‘Metropolio‘, ‘Kriittinen massa‘, ‘Narsisti‘, and ‘Sirkkeli‘. Not too surprising overall, was that all of the guys took over the stage with a feverish energy as we expect from them. What did come as a surprise, was them bringing Mariska on stage for a guest vocal appearance on ‘Tavastia palamaan!‘, a track she actually wrote the lyrics for. A nice little touch that set this set of Stam1na somewhat apart from the many others we’ve seen of them before. Great stuff!

Blind Channel is another one of those bands that we’ve been following since well over half a decade and seen their exponential growth happening right in front of us. Especially since their participation in Eurovision, their popularity has skyrocketed. We remember seeing these guys at one of the Tuska afterparties ages ago, where they tried to show the people there what a proper Blind Channel show could be like. So now that we were able to see them on one of the bigger stages at Tuska with a proper stage production, we were really excited to go see what a bombshell it would be. And dang, we were not disappointed! Opening with the ever popular ‘We Are No Saints’, the mood was immediately right, and the troves of girls that had lined up on the frontlines were screaming their hearts out whenever one of the guys came closer to them. Of course, we got other hits like their take on the Anastacia song ‘Left Outside Alone‘, ‘Balboa‘ and lastly their Eurovision entry ‘Dark Side‘ to wrap up their energetic set, every single one of them sang along to by thousands of voices. The guys themselves were their usual energetic self, running around like never before now that they actually had the room to properly run, jump and dance around. Together with the drummer and sampler/percussionist being on some risers in the back and some cool visuals, this really was a banging show of a band that is very much on the rise. Up next, is seeing them try to top this with their show on the main stage of Knotfest Finland!

From up-and-coming youngsters, straight to some absolute legends of the Finnish metal scene! Amorphis does not need any introduction any more by now and as always a huge crowd gathered in front of the main stage to enjoy the gorgeous melodies and riffs of their music. I think we can easily say that we’ve never seen a single bad show from these guys. And it’s always a pleasure to see Tomi Joutsen, his passionate performance and radiating appearance. With a big LED screen behind them, they enhanced the experience somewhat with the visuals they brought to live with that, but I think not a lot of us were really paying attention to them, getting captivated by the music and taken on a lovely trip to other realms for a while.

Last time of the day, we had to make a tough choice between what was playing on the Tent Stage and the 3rd “Inferno” Stage. While we absolutely adore the Swedes of Soilwork, we couldn’t choose anything else but Baroness to go see, because they really are something else. Last time we saw them, was at Tuska 2017, and 5 years is more than enough waiting to get to experience them live again. The way John Baizley and his bandmates play their music simply brings it to a next level of passion, intensity, and emotion. Their music somehow really vibes with us and the energy the whole band radiates is infectious, captivating us the whole time they played. And clearly that also affected John and his friends as well, because they came across elated about the reaction of the crowd. Surprisingly enough, they only played ‘Seasons‘ from their latest release ‘Gold & Grey‘. Which is in a sense not the gravest of errors since they have a huge amount of stellar songs like ‘Take My Bones Away’, and ‘Shock Me‘, but I would have loved to hear maybe a few more tracks from that album. But yeah, a sure highlight of the weekend!

After the earlier night’s reliving of our youth with Korn, this day was all about that for the older generations of metalheads. One of metal history’s most legendary heavy metal bands, Mercyful Fate, is back in action. With the iconic frontman King Diamond and their extensive catalog of signature occult themed metal songs, this was something that everyone here was looking forward to, whether you were familiar with the band or not. The impressive stage decor immediately set the right mood with a huge neon light upside down cross, marble looking steps with in the middle a platform with the devil’s pentagram. The band came on stage, and to the intro tunes of ‘The Oath‘, King Diamond slowly appeared up on the platform, wearing a horned devil’s mask, which he’d be wearing for the remainder of this and the next track. The crowd immediately went wild, and we can imagine this was getting close to how it felt at a concert back in the heydays of heavy metal in the 80s. Once the mask disappeared, Kind Diamond was seen throughout the show with his crown, and his signature facial expressions, cranking out hit after hit like ‘Melissa‘, ‘Evil‘ and ‘Come to the Sabbath‘. Getting to experience Mercyful Fate live was something we wouldn’t have guessed we would get, and we’re very thankful that we still got to experience it!

Continuing on how we experienced the day before, everything went really smooth yet again, with minimal waiting lines. If you timed certain things well enough, of course. We also very much enjoyed the Tuska Expo again, though we think it’s about time for them to consider a different location or setup for this. The room it was at, again, felt way too cramped and eventually like a badly heated sauna. The one upside of having a room with that kind of damp heat, is that it actually felt cooling to step back outside despite the high temperatures outside. Going deeper into the food court, we were really impressed with the wide range of different kinds of food that were available. We don’t think that there’s a metal festival within Finland that can match this, or at least we haven’t to one that that beats Tuska at this.