Tony Kakko’s new project Himmelkraft unvelied another piece of the enigma with the second single ‘Paika’, featuring Johanna Kurkela and JP Leppäluoto! The self-titled debut album is set for release in March via Reaper Entertainment!
News Posts
Finnish metalcore stars Balance Breach are getting closer to releasing their new album ‘Save Our Souls’ with Out of Line Music in March and shared their latest single ‘Strangers In Crime’ featuring Melissa Bruschi of Hand Of Juno on guest vocals!
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Finnish pop metal outfit Memoremains delivers a full-blood party song with ‘Stand Up’, the perfect song to take a little break and let everything go!
People in Finland, make sure you catch them live supporting Enemy Inside in a couple of months!
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Finnish pagan black metal unit Havukruunu are taking one step closer to the release of their new album ‘Tavastland’ via Svart Records next month by unleashing second single ‘Havukruunu ja Talvenvarjo’!
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Finnish outfit Royal Sorrow unveiled a mesmerizing and infectious new single and video with ‘Evergreen’, out via Inside Out Music! Catch the band live at Tuska Festival this summer!
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Finnish alternative hard rock trio Luponero released their new single and video ‘Everything / Nothing’, a track from their upcoming debut album to be released with Icons Creating Evil Art!
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Finnish melodic death metal outfit Horizon Ignited release yet another single with ‘Ashes’, adding another layer of intensity by bringing in Jaakko Mäntymaa from Marianas Rest on guest vocals! Their new album ‘Tides’ is set for release next month via Reaper Entertainment, catch them after on their mini release tour in Finland or in summer at festivals like Tuska!
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Finnish melodic death metal band Defiled Serenity released a stunning take on Rihanna’s track ‘Unfaithful’, featuring Karisma on guest vocals and another song from the upcoming debut album ‘Within the Slumber of the Mind’, set for release next month via Inverse Records!
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Last year, Finnish metalcore veterans One Morning Left has an amazing year with the release of their latest album ‘Neon Inferno’ via Arising Empire, but now they’re aiming even higher by making a bid for Eurovision with their new high-energy single ‘Puppy’!
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For the first time since long, Finnish thrash metal band Kamala is back with new music! Get ready for a proper punch in the face with ‘Sota sisällä’, out now!
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Album Reviews
Korpiklaani is a great example that music is universal. With their 12 studio album ‘Rankarumpu’, they prove again that they’re a great folk metal band that never disappoints. Out on Nuclear Blast Records.
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Recorded in a contemporary art gallery, Hanging Garden reinvented their signature gothic doom sound into a dreamy, ethereal type of shoegaze on this outstanding live EP ‘Citylight Sessions’, out on Agonia Records this should appeal to both longtime followers of the band and fans of later day Katatonia or even The Gathering.
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With ‘Clear Cold Beyond’ Sonata Arctica are re-visiting their faster and heavier roots and will delight older fans, while possibly surprising some of their more new fans. Out via Atomic Fire Records (Reigning Phoenix Music) since last Friday!
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The fifth installment “Dismal Spells Part II: The Night Circus” from the project Druadan Forest invites us to traverse through this sonic creation of V-Khaoz’ visual worlds, released on February 23rd via Werewolf Records.
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Tampere’s Everwave are giving us an early Christmas present, with their slow roasted second album ‘Another Lifetime’ which dropped on December 1st. They spiced up their existing sound with some new elements and took their music another step forward.
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Finnish symphonic black metal collective Vargrav presents its third opus entitled “The Nigthold”, and resuscitates the principles of symphonic black metal with superior quality, out via Werewolf Records on December 15th.
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Finnish melodic black metal stalwarts Moonlight Sorcery paint shimmering landscapes of winter on their first studio album “Horned Lord of The Thorned Castle” which amalgamate the fantasy style of Scandinavian melodies with a sense of fantasy. Out now via Avantgarde Music!
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The Finnish veterans …And Oceans have delivered one of their best works to date ‘As in Gardens, So in Tombs’ which stands as their most accomplished album since their masterwork debut ‘The Dynamic Gallery of Thoughts’. This is simply a feast for fans of symphonic and melodic black metal. Out via Season of Mist.
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Smoulder’s sophomore record ‘Violent Creed of Vengeance’ continues the epic quest of this Canadian-Finnish fellowship through the realm of epic heavy metal doom. Out via Cruz Del Sur Music.
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Finnish post-punk revivalists Grave Pleasures have released their new record ‘Plagueboys’ with Century Media Records a couple of weeks ago. A celebration of bleak early goth as if it were a lost record from the eighties, while still being remarkably upbeat and danceable.
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Gig Reports
Modern metal outfit CyHra came to present their latest album ‘The Vertigo Trigger’ to their Finnish fans starting with a show at Yo-Talo in Tampere, with support band Neonfly, turning the night into a celebration of good music and community!
2023 was the year when you could say that Demolition 23. are back, and they are here to show what a true punk rock ‘n’ roll show is. This unit only released one album in 1994 with a lot of critical acclaim, achieving legendary status that still stays almost 30 years later, and they destroyed Tavastia in Helsinki back in October!
André Linman together with Johnny Nordström and Tuomo Unkuri performed some of their favourite Christmas songs at Vaasas Trefaldighetskyrkan earlier this month. From pop classics to church chorales, there was surely something for every taste.
Amorphis managed to captivate our reporter once again when attending to their stop at Pakkahuone in Tampere on their “Halo Finland 2023 Tour”, a wonderful night hosted by TuskaLive and Greybeard Concerts & Management.
To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Poets of the Fall went on tour through Europe and we caught them on the last stop in Tampere at the Pakkahuone venue to start the last month of the year in style. And went on an emotional journey through the history of the band with them.
A couple of weeks ago, Apocalyptica brought the amazing experience of ‘Matka Mieleen – Kaamoksen Sellot’ to Tampere’s Tuomiokirkko, an experience our reporter won’t be forgetting any time soon!
A report of the captivating performance piece that was the theatrical black metal show of Witch Club Satan!
Last month, we got to go to the very last stop of the Polish black metal collective Batushka “Black Pilgrimage tour 2023” at Vanha Ylioppilastalo in Helsinki, with the good company of Arkona, Aeternam and Varang Nord!
Earlier this year, Hexvessel released their new album ‘Polar Veil’ via Svart Records, taking the psychedelic folk rock towards the black metal origins of their leader Mat “Khvost” McNerney. And to celebrate the release, they did a few release shows in Finland, of which we got to enjoy the captivating Helsinki show in Kuudes Linja, with support from Unfyros.
Poisonblack returned for a couple more shows in October 2023, organized by Fullsteam Agency. We were present for the gig at Klubi in Tampere, a true celebration of the gothic metal legends they are.
Photo Reports
Pictures of the “Rise from the North” tour striking down in Helsinki, Finland with In Flames, Arch Enemy and Soilwork bringing some of the best the world of melodic death metal has to offer!
With their 5th album ‘Attracted To Danger’, THE NEW ROSES are currently on tour in Europe. With MOONSHOT from Finland as the support act, the German rockers are thrilling the masses. At their gig in Stuttgart, we had the pleasure of witnessing this amazing rock performance.
Vola’s ‘Friend of a Phantom’ tour passed through Finland last week and hit Tampere’s Pakkahuone on Tuesday November 5th. It was a filled with emotion, not only from Vola, but also the support acts Feather Mountain and Charlotte Wessels. This almost overwhelming rollercoaster ride of emotions was brought to us by TuskaLive.
Within Temptation dropped by in Helsinki on their “Bleed Out tour 2024” that is taking over arenas all over Europe and treated us to a visual and musical spectacle like only they can deliver. With them they brought guest artists to do some songs with them and support band Annisokay!
The pictures of an amazing night with the headlining show from Future Palace at On The Rocks in Helsinki, with the support from Our Promise and Revnoir!
The last weekend of October, Apulanta played two glorious shows at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland in front of a huge crowd of fans, and joined by Lahtis Sinfonia Orchestra. A show that somehow felt simultaneously simplistic and very grand, with a well-thought-out light show and setlist featuring rarely played tracks live!
Smash Into Pieces were back in Finland a while back, and we got to see their show at Tampere’s Pakkahuone, where they played in front of a full house alongside Cyan Kicks. A wonderful night of good music and atmosphere, hosted by Live Nation Finland.
1349 and Kampfar joined forces to invade Europe with their Norwegian black metal onslaught and brought along the Danes of Afsky, and we caught them at their stop at Ääniwalli in Helsinki for a much needed black metal fix at the start of our week!
GHØSTKID came back to Finland to play an excellent show at Tavastia in Helsinki, and they brought with them Within Destruction and SETYØURSAILS for a splendid night of modern metal and metalcore!
This past summer, Assemble The Chariots released a monumentally epic debut full-length album, a concept album that is the first chapter of a massive world they’re building. And there was only one way to properly celebrate this: by having a release show, playing the album from start to finish live as it’s intended to be listened to. And with the addition of supporting guests acts IA and Lightbearer, it was truly a mind-bending night to remember for a long time! If you want to catch Assemble the Chariots live, this weekend is your shot with their show at Helsinki Techfest this Friday and their first ever arena show with Lost Society in Järvenpää this Saturday!
