Contrary to every possible weather forecast promising rain, Tuska Festival 2015 in Suvilahti, Helsinki was held during a scorching hot weekend of festivities. So hot, that the debut of the Finnish Sauna tent at the Tuska Libre bar area seemed a bit uncalled for.

Fans a Tuska Festival, photo by Tuska Festival

Do people come to festivals like Tuska for the bands or just for the occasion? It seemed like this would be put to the test with some of the least star power of the lineups from Tuska the last few years, but with an increased amount of investments in the food stands and other attractions. The biggest worries of not enough people showing up faded quite quickly. Already by the time of Ghost Brigade, still during office hours, the area was getting filled up fast. A quick math exercise at the bar would set the course for the weekend – large, 1L beers would come off quite a bit cheaper than the smaller cans only third of the size – a dangerous realization a lot of people seemed to be making while queuing up on their first cold ones at the bar area fittingly named “Heavy Drinker’s Corner”. Ghost Brigade’s “Elämä on tulta” is an impressive track that when delivered with the band’s fierce intensity would get people on the right mood.

Fans headbanging, by Tuska Festival

Lamb of God tore open one of the biggest pits of Tuska’s 18 year history, perhaps only second to Slayer in 2008. Hence it was questionable if Sabaton’s headliner slot – despite all their excessive and impressive pyrotechnics, and their drumset set up atop a gigantic tank – was really in place. The Helsinki crowd was certainly more hungry for Lamb of God after their 2013 cancellation due to vocalist Randy Blythe’s unexpected imprisonment in Czech Republic, whereas Sabaton is a more common visitor to Finland.

Lamb of God played two tracks from their upcoming album VII: Sturm und Drang, namely ‘512’ and ‘Still Echoes’, which seem to be continuing their well known sound that truthfully hasn’t changed much apart from Randy Blythe’s expanded use of various vocal techniques. LOG was as active on stage as ever, but Randy’s voice seemed a bit worn out – a small detail that didn’t take away from the intensity of the show. While Sabaton’s performance seemed more polished and rehearsed, LOG’s was just pure murder with no fancy extra toppings. The band dedicated the track ‘Ruin’ to their Finnish friends from Children Of Bodom, and ‘Now You’ve Got Something to Die For’ in particular to Roope Latvala, who’s departure from the Finnish melometal band was announced a month ago.

Sabaton, by Aku Axel Muukka

Sabaton, by Aku Axel Muukka

The bands at Tuska need to stop their shows already at 10pm, but the festival has also its official afterparty club gigs at various Helsinki venues, and there’s plenty of competing events trying to grab their share of the long haired crowd, too. Good advice is just to follow the buzzing crowd into the decadent Helsinki night.

WORDS BY LH

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TUSKA FESTIVAL/Timo Asoaho/Aku Axel Muukka