One of the most well-known names within the folk metal subgenre is definitely Eluveitie. The Swiss outfit broke through well over a decade ago with their infectious mix of melodeath and folk instrumentation and are still going strong despite some major line-up changes. They recently released their latest album ‘Ategnatos’ and toured throughout Europe with that new album. With them they brought melodic metal mainstays Lacuna Coil and up-and-coming modern metallers Infected Rain, a strong line-up that we didn’t want to miss out on. And clearly we were not alone, heading to a completely sold out Tavastia club in Helsinki, Finland…

Infected Rain (***1/2)

The band that kicked off the night was obviously quite popular since there was already a long line at Tavastia shortly before they had to start. Infected Rain from Moldova has been going strong for a while now, but came more in the spotlights recently with a musically and visually strong release in ‘Endorphin‘. Just like label mates Jinjer and The Agonist they have an extremely talented lady on vocals and musicians that write some of the most interesting contemporary metal music. Live, it came across perfectly with an energetic bomb of a show with dreadlocks flying through the air. A bit of a pity that they had to do with just a small portion of an already rather minimal stage. I’m looking forward to seeing them again when they get the full stage to run and jump around on!

Setlist:
Mold
Passerby
Orphan Soul
Lure
Black Gold
The Earth Mantra
Sweet, Sweet Lies

Lacuna Coil (***1/2)

Also Lacuna Coil has recently released a new album under the form of ‘Black Anima‘. These guys have been around for over two decades, and seem to have only gotten better with age. Early on, you could’ve categorized them somewhat more under the kind of symphonic gothic metal, but they’ve grown out their music into a very groovy modern melodic kind of metal. That kind of music translates damn well into one hell of a dynamic show that is very engaging and captivating. Experienced artists that know how to connect with a crowd and simply bring it every single time. The play between Christina‘s and Andrea‘s vocals is something that just keeps on working and adds a ton of animation to their music. A great show by a band that clearly is here to stay, perfect warm-up for the headliner of the night.

Setlist:
Blood, Tears, Dust
Our Truth
Reckless
Layers of Time
Enjoy The Silence (Depeche Mode cover)
The House of Shame
Sword of Anger
Heaven’s a Lie
Veneficium
Save Me
Nothing Stands in Our Way

Eluveitie (****)

The Eluveitie show started with a very mystical moment where 3 cloaked, hooded and masked women came on stage in front of a curtain, blowing a Celtic looking horn and singing beautiful harmonies. They disappeared again, the curtain dropped, loads of lights flashed on and there we went! Immediately we got blasted away by the typical Eluveitie combo of heaps of melodies, death metal parts and folk instruments like the tin whistle, Celtic harp, violin, hurdy-gurdy,… It’s been ages since I last saw them live and that was most likely before the big exit of three quite important members. And I must say that they very much impressed me with their show. There was loads of energy, Chrigel seemed to be really happy to play and Fabienne on harp and especially vocals is quite the addition to the team! Of course quite some tracks of the new album were played and honestly, they didn’t stick out one bit in the midst of their older tracks. This was one big folk metal party and we can’t wait to see Chrigel and his friends back in Finland soon enough!

Setlist:
Ategnatos
King
De Ruef vo de Bärge
Deathwalker
Quoth the Raven
The Slumber
Worship
Artio
Epona
A Rose for Epona
Ambiramus
Havoc
Thousandfold
Breathe
Helvetios

Encore:
Rebirth
Inis Mona

For more pictures, go here.