Since last year Finland is yet another big rock and metal event richer. The Rock Fest immediately caught the attention of people all over the country and far beyond those borders with big names like Rammstein and Evanescence gracing the line-up. Despite quite a few obvious flaws and bugs in the organisation, it was an overwhelming succes and they quickly announced an even bigger event of this time 4 days on a brand new location. Of course we had to be there to see if they improved on certain things and if this would be a legendary festival in the making…

Day 3

For day 3 we didn’t make it in time for The Holy, but luckily managed to get to the main stage timely enough to catch Adept (***1/2). These Swedes play quite typical metalcore and I actually hadn’t heard of them before. But one thing is sure: when they hit a stage, the fucking rip shit up! A great discovery that started my day pretty damn well!

Power metal band Arion (***) has been a rising star in Finland, but today they kept all of their fans waiting because of some technical difficulties. Once they finally got the gig going they brought a class example of energetic and passionate power metal, though I didn’t stay around for long. Since they started late, I had to cut it short to move to the “Perkele” stage…

… to be in time for another legend of the Finnish metal scene. Mokoma (****) just released a brand new album and proved with it (and their gig) that they’re here to stay! The mix of death and thrash metal with a healthy dose of traditional Finnish melancholy is damn catchy even when you don’t understand a single word of the Finnish lyrics and grooves like hell. Throw on top of that the energy that radiates from every single band member and you have a show that makes the tent shake.

Sadly, I had to miss out on seeing Amorphis‘ show and hearing some of their new tracks live since I had a talk with Tyla Campbell of Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons. But I got on time to the “Kivi” stage to Reckless Love (***1/2)see  rockin’ the stage with their glam rock. I’ll never be a big fan of the music genre, but even I have to admit that an overly poppy and borderline gay show like this can be very enjoyable every now and then. Especially when it’s brought as energetic and professional as this band does it every single time they hit the stage.

Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons (****) just kept it simple and that worked like a charm. Phil Campbell was for most of his life the guitarist of the legendary band Motörhead and decided after the passing of Lemmy that he wanted to keep on making music. Do not expect thunderous hard rock/heavy metal like his former band, but rather bluesy and grooving hard rock. Being a family band (all other members except for the vocalist are Phil‘s sons), the vibe within the group is one of relaxed fun and friendship. All of the guys were smiling and had obviously a lot of fun bringing their music to us. Their setlist existed out of own work interlaced with Motörhead covers like Born To Raise Hell and of course Ace of Spades and even a version of Hawkwind‘s Silver Machine, to take us on a perfect round trip to rock ‘n’ roll heaven!

One of the so-called “Big Four” came to grace the main stage this weekend as well. Megadeth (***) traveled to Finland to show us all how a proper old school thrash metal show looks and sounds like. This was the first time I got to see these legends and to be honest, I was quite disappointed. The music was good and quite some of it sounds better than any of the new stuff of Dave Mustaine‘s former band and colleagues Metallica, but the show felt rather “lifeless”. Dave looked really tired and old if I dare say so, seemingly just getting through the gig on automatic pilot. And the higher energy of the other band members or arrival of mascot Vic Rattlehead during Peace Sells couldn’t really keep my attention to the show.

Finnish Maj Karma (***1/2) has given us quality music for a quarter of a century now and mounted the ‘”Kivi” stage to envelop us in their melancholic and gloomy melodic rock/metal. Frontman Herra Ylppö was the perfect portrayal of a tortured soul and screamed/sang his lungs out. I was impressed that live they manage to bring across the intense and doomy atmosphere of their music quite well, even while being touched by the sun.

For a “pick me up” after Maj Karma‘s rather depressing music, I couldn’t imagine anything better than another Turmion Kätilöt (****1/2) show! The industrial “disko” metal group is massively popular in Finland and no matter when you see them, you’ll have a blast for sure. They’re filthy, fun(ny), aggressive and always up for a party! MC Raaka Pee and his band of misfits tore the “Perkele” stage a new hole and managed to fill up the tent more than any other band during the whole weekend. I still miss Spellgoth somewhat, but in the mean time replacement Shag-U is starting to fit in better and better and the party goes on!

Headliner of the day has somewhat of a dubious reputation overall. Last time I saw Marilyn Manson (***1/2), he tried to create a certain atmosphere with a high amount of costume changes and interludes, which doesn’t work at a festival. Following that, the crowd reacted rather weak on his performance, which caused Mr. Manson to cut his show short. I remember being disappointed not having heard quite a few of his classics. So this show was a moment to redeem himself in my mind. And I have to say that it was definitely better this time on that level: I got to hear a whole bunch of the songs I grew up with like Disposable Teens, Rock Is Dead, Antichrist Superstar and The Beautiful People besides some of his newer songs from the Heaven Upside Down in a nicely balanced setlist. He kept his theatrics to a minimum as well, only changing his jacket every some time and using his classic speech podium from the Antichrist Superstar era besides a lot of smoke. Vocally and stage presence felt a bit lacking though. At times you could barely hear his voice, he seemed out of breathe or a bit “out of it”. Often feeling rather forced, there were still moments though where you could see bits of his old glory and danger. Not too bad I must say, but not mind-blowingly good.

Picture by Alisa Komendova Photography for Rockshutterz

Again we were put in the spot to make a choice between 2 “after party” bands: the American rap metal outfit Hollywood Undead and the Finnish groove metal band S-Tool. Even though S-Tool has some pretty cool music, we decided to go for the real party with Hollywood Undead (****). The 5 guys always manage to blow the roof off with their catchy blend of rap, hip hop, rock and metal and have gathered quite the loyal fan base. The came on the stage with their signature masks (that came off some time during the gig) playing some of their party hits like Undead, Day of the Dead and of course the booze and sex centered Everywhere I Go as the closer. The guys were constantly making fun, threw with samples and bits from other songs, took a fan on stage to let him play guitar with them and put in a bit of Metallica/Rammstein cover medley just to top it off. From start to finish it was one big party, with sparkles and all!

For more pictures go here.

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