In Finland, the management and PR agency Ginger Vine usually stands for quality and has bands from the local scenes on its roster that have a clear potential to become something bigger. Many of the bands and artists that we’ve featured and loved on our site have exactly done that. So when an event is announced by them that features only artists from their roster, we’re immediately intrigued. So here we go: our first show of 2022 in Helsinki and it’ll be one of possible discoveries with 3 heavy metal/metalcore bands from the local scenes in Helsinki and beyond!

Blackment (***)

We got just in time to the venue to catch the opener of the night with Blackment. A melodic metal outfit that has been around for already quite some years, but has only released an EP and single for now. So also for me, this was the first time I even heard of the band. As promised, they delivered some kick-ass heavy metal moments with heaps of melody, at some times they even veered towards the realm of folk metal. With a very engaging vocalist who managed to get the crowd to actually join them at the edge of the stage and some talented musicianship, before we even realized it their set was over. From what I gathered, they’re going to be releasing new music and such pretty soon, so definitely a band to watch the coming time!

Ode of Disgrace (***1/2)

Ode of Disgrace was a whole other beast compared to the opener. They just released an EP in January and bring the kind of metalcore that absolutely crushes. While there were definitely some melodies to be found in their music, brought to you by some cool atmospherics and somewhat clean singing, they mostly grabbed you by the neck and gave you a decent smack-around. The vocalist spit out deep growls and the obligatory “blergh!” while regularly menacingly leer over the crowd from the stage or be doubled-over screaming his lungs out. The guitarists cranked out some crunchy riffs and blistering solos, while the bassist was taming a monster of a 7-string bass guitar. At times it was hard to see what they were actually doing simply because the were constantly switching between eerie darkness and blinding flashing lights. It’s a bit of a trope that metal bands try to create somewhat of a dark and moody atmosphere to go along with their live performance, and while I guess it has its merits, I’d maybe rather see a bit more of what is happening on stage. Nevertheless a banger of a show and a sound that can easily compete with some of the bigger and international names that are around.

Sacred Dimension (****)

But headliner of the night, Sacred Dimension, really took the cake home. A perfect combination of groovy heaviness, that at times was almost reminiscent of some of the nu-metal greats of the genres heydays, with catchy melodies and choruses for days. A band of perfect blends without any compromises… the headnods and -bangs were ever-present, the melodies made a couple of the ladies present start dancing in front of the stage and both the band and the crowd seemed to have a whole lot of fun being back! Even in looks Sacred Dimension is a melting pot of different styles where you have the vocalist looking like he came fresh of a pirate ship, a bassist dressed in all whites making me think of nu-metal of the early 2000s including white contact lenses and all, and a guitarist that looked significantly more “clean cut”. Straight from the beginning the energy was high, carried a lot by the rather charismatic frontman and you immediately saw the crowd being pulled into the gig. What completely sealed the deal for me personally, was when the vocalist pulled his keytar from the side to crank out some damn tasty keyboard bits. I can’t help it, but whenever I see a band with a keytar it almost automatically means that it’ll be a fun show for me. There is something about that contraption that just has heaps appeal to me. In any case, like a good concert should, with Sacred Dimension it definitely ended with a high and I highly recommend you to check them out. They released a brand new single quite recently and that only gives me hope that there is more coming soon!

For more pictures, go check out our photo report here!