Photo Reports
Time flies when you’re having fun! We again choose to do a “best of” series of the photos we took over the past year.
Last summer I had the opportunity to photograph the Tuska festival in Helsinki, Finland. I was not there for Grimm, but for another magazine I occasionally work for. Therefore, you might discover some new photos here that have never been posted on our platform before.
You can find my selection here with bands like Amorphis, Beyond the Black, Bury Tomorrow, Dimmu Borgir, Infected Rain, Lost Society, Opeth, Tarot, Vola, Zeal and Ardor, Amaranthe, Ankor, Beast in Black, Charlotte Wessels, Dark Tranquillity, Dear Mother, Draconian, Dragonforce, Epica, Europe, Feuerschwanz, Gene Simmons Band, Jinjer, Marco Mendoza, Moonspell, Saxon, Testament, Vandenberg and Luna Kills:
Apocalyptica went back to their roots with their newest album: ‘Plays Metallica vol. 2‘ and on January 23rd they came to Tampere where they played a show at the big auditorium of Tampere-Talo. The show exceeded in every regard, everything from light to sound was on point. Their good mood and energy was translated towards the crowd, and it was impossible to not get caught up in their excitement.
20 years of HÄMATOM and an anniversary album are good reasons for the band to go on a ’20 Jahre Für Euch’ tour through Germany and celebrate German metal. With them as support are the Berlin rockers from ENGST, who can impress with their mix of rock, punk, and a pinch of pop. Another support act is always present, but changes with each gig – in Stuttgart, it was the punk rockers from FOCUS. (FocusPunkt).
In the packed Wagenhallen of Stuttgart, a nearly 2000 people crowd gets together and are properly warmed up for the upcoming spectacle by FOCUS. The singer Eric Zieger, in white tennis socks, pushes the limits, and his bandmates are no less energetic. The audience appreciates it and is surprisingly active for a first support band. The five guys from Riesa know how to convince.
The escalation level 2 rises as ENGST takes the stage for their 40-minute gig. Their 10th anniversary is coming up in 2025, and it shows. They rock the stage with old and new songs from their latest album. The audience is already quite engaged, and the attempt of a first counter-polonaise in the audience is fuelled by singer and namesake Matthias Engst. The punk-rock tinged songs really make a bang. During the last song, guitarist Ramin goes for a crowd-surfing round while playing. We are already looking forward to their own anniversary tour in late 2025, that should at another notch to their performance.
For both openers, the sound is nice, but the lighting is unfortunately unfitting to the band’s great performances. This could have been done much better.
Then a thank-you anthem from HÄMATOM booms from the speakers. It starts. Finally.
The tension reaches its first peak when a unicorn appears in front of the unicorn Kabuki (someone in an inflatable costume, it truly has a comical note). And then HÄMATOM starts. There is no holding back in the hall. The music and the show captivate everyone. A first-class stage with several LED walls, a drum riser that would have done Queen proud in the 70s and 80s. Now it becomes a great spectacle of light and sound. The audience is immediately under the spell of singer Thorsten ‘Nord’ Scharf. The crowd sings and dances enthusiastically. HÄMATOM proves that a great metal, punk, and rock party also works in German. The excellently choreographed show is not even disturbed by a small, short-term microphone selection of the singer. The song ‘Gott muss ein Arschloch sein’ becomes a requiem and a tribute to the unexpectedly deceased bassist Peter ‘West’ Haag in 2023. The obligatory and dreaded drum crowd-surfing by drummer Frank ‘Süd’ Joos is also not to be missed, as well as the bath in the crowd when Nord und Ost play in the middle of the audience.
The January cold did not stop Nonpoint fans from selling out The King of Clubs in Columbus, Ohio on this Saturday night! The line stretched long out the door and around the side of the building before doors opened. The anticipation was building for what would be a barn burner of a show! This was my first show of 2025 and I was beyond excited! I collected my photo pass and headed inside, as fans continued to pour in. It was pretty much a packed house right out of the gate!
To kick-start the night, the band Heartsick from Lansing, Michigan exploded onto the stage. Nonpoint usually chooses other bands that can match their high energy to tour with them, and Heartsick took that challenge extremely well! They are a blend of hardcore and metalcore. Vocalist Alfonso Civile has a stunning range and nails the gutturals. This was the first time I saw the band and I really enjoyed their set!
The amazing Crobot was next in line for the evening. Hailing from the great state of Pennsylvania, this four-piece rock band has a unique and eclectic vibe. They always put on an entertaining set that you rock out to and laugh, sometimes simultaneously!
And of course, closing out the night was the mighty Nonpoint, wrapping up their last night of the 1st leg of the Painful Statement’s Tour. They burst onto stage in consistent Nonpoint fashion, nonstop high energy. This set was a little different than a typical set. They played their way through the albums ‘Statement’ (2000) and ‘To The Pain’ (2005) commemorating their 25th and 20th anniversaries, respectively. The nu-metal band was formed in 1997 in sunny Florida. The lineup consists of Elias Soriano [vocals], Robb Rivera [drums], Jaysin Zeilstra [guitar], Rasheed Thomas [guitar] and Adam Woloszn [bass]. In between songs, there was a history of the band over the pa system. One fact that I learned was that the original name of the band was Nonpointfactor.
Throughout the evening, we heard deep cuts that fans do not typically get to hear at a Nonpoint show! They always keep their setlists fresh and this was just another level! These guys are OG nu-metal trailblazers, and their career as a band is a testament to their dedication to the band, their loyal fans and their contribution to the music industry. They give their all each and every night, on each and every tour. Their energy is contagious!
A special treat at the close of their set was band members from some of the other bands came out on stage to help perform ‘Bullet with a Name’. One band member was in a Sasquatch costume (or was he a real Sasquatch, we may never know). Overall, it was a phenomenal show from beginning to end! If the 2nd leg of the tour comes to your area, you definitely don’t want to miss out!
After 2 successful editions, Hellsinki Metal Festival is on its way to become a permanent fixture in the Finnish metal festival scene in summer. The organizers behind the fest clearly didn’t feel like waiting another full year before they brought some great bands together, so here we are with the smaller winter edition of Hellsinki Metal Festival. Taking place in the industrial looking Kaapelitehdas in Helsinki, many people braved the stormy winter weather to get to see bands like Omnivortex, Batushka, Belphegor and headliners Dark funeral for a great evening filled with stellar extreme metal! We’re truly hoping that this smaller edition of the fest becomes a regular happening, because this was pretty amazing!
On January 10, 2025, the ‘Motocultor Across Europe Tour‘ commenced at Poppodium 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands, headlined by the Moldovan nu-metal band Infected Rain. The tour features a lineup of five female-fronted bands, including Semblant (dark melodic metal from Brazil), Elyose (modern metal from France), Miruthan (black death metal from Australia), and Skin on Flesh (rock ‘n’ roll from Germany).
Infected Rain, led by the dynamic vocalist Lena Scissorhands, delivered a powerful performance that showcased their signature blend of aggressive riffs, electronic samples, and intense vocals. The band, comprising guitarist Vadim “Vidick” Ojog, drummer Eugene Voluta, and newly added bassist Alice Lane, threw a great party like we are used to from them.
The ‘Motocultor Across Europe Tour’ will continue across six countries, concluding on January 26, 2025, at La Machine du Moulin Rouge in Paris, France
It’s that time of the year again where we look back at the past 12 months and wonder how fast time has flown by again. This year brought along many ups and unfortunately also many downs. Luckily, I also got to enjoy some great gigs that helped to brighten my mood. In the end those shows resulted in this collection of favourite pictures featuring Vola, Apulanta, Marko Hietala, Cyan Kicks, Stam1na, Kotiteollisuus, Blind Channel, Cyhra, Sigh, Everwave, Sonata Arctica, Neonfly, Altamullan Road, Avatar, Raskasta Joulua, Beatrix, Battle Beast, Steve ‘n’ Seagulls, Áilu Valle, Amoc and Trio Boogiemen
While they generally focus on pagan folk and fantasy folk events, Idavoll decided to kick things up a notch to end 2024 and threw a folk metal night. Not too crazy a sidestep given how much overlap in people there is between the pagan folk & metal scenes. They put a lot of effort in making their events all ages, which seems to pay off, as we even spotted some kids running around. Never too early to start the young ones on some heavy music!
Skål, a largely instrumental party folk metal band from Wallonia, got to kick off the night. “Instrumental party folk”, you say? How does that work? By adding fun gimmicks and simple catchphrases for the crowd to shout along. The music is rather eclectic in style despite the name, keeping things fresh throughout. They’ve been around for several years already, and it shows in a very solid sound.
Next up were the locals from Hert. They blend the black-influenced pagan metal style with power metal and violin for some catchy tunes good for headbanging and jumping around.
Sorcières from France headlined the first (?) Metal Sessions. Unfortunately, without a drummer since last summer, though we heard a replacement has been found and is in training. They didn’t let that hold them back and brought some great, darker, witchy atmosphere to close the night with. Though we spotted dancing too!
Sometimes in December, you can get the feeling that this seems to be an endless month of concert highlights. To add to this, we had the opportunity to eyewitness ENTER SHIKARI on one of their rare ‘Dancing On The Frontline Tour 2024’ gigs in Europe.
No need to say that the tour was sold out fast, the venue ‘Im Wizemann’ was packed with an electrified audience. But before the heroes from St. Albans (UK) got on stage, WAIT OF THE WORLD, a Munich-based five piece, warmed up the crowd with a mixture of electronic and alternative rock. With their action-loaded show and ever moving vocalist, there was no trouble convincing the audience to engage and setting the right mood for the headliner.
When ENTER SHIKARI started their performance, the tension erupted fully. There was no holding back, and everybody started singing and jumping. The audiovisual dope provided was simply too good. ENTER SHIKARI gave a solid proof why they are still among the UK top acts for the genre of post-hardcore with a blend of metal and electronic sounds. The energy and action on stage was spectacular. The animation on the large LED pillars spanning over the full width of the stage were stunning and a perfect match to each song and combined with well curated lights. It was simply phenomenal. For long-time fans and for first-timers, the show gave a good overview of the musical bandwidth of the band. The set list covered the full spectrum of their musical capabilities and evolution over the years of band history. All this while the band kept a close connection to the audience at all times. And as reaction from the audience there has been a constant stream of crowd-surfers, singing, shouting and jumping up to the last song.
Known as one of the best and most consistent hardcore bands, having been around for over 2 decades, Comeback Kid coming back to Finland was something we weren’t going to miss out on! And we were proven right, with an absolutely explosive night where the packed venue turned into pure chaos as soon as Comeback Kid played one single note, with stagedivers and crowdsurfers galore and a constant pulsating moshpit. And the support they brought with them only fleshed out this amazing night of hardcore music with the NY-based Spaced and crossover misfits Prowl!
