Tuska Festival – Suvilahti, Helsinki – First Day Review – 01/07/2022

por Emil Gil Bretón · 15/07/2022

The Return of Metal

After three long years of pandemic, the long-awaited Tuska Open Air Festival returns in its twenty-third edition. Again in the same place, in the old Suvilahti power plant in the city of Helsinki. The first day had a massive attendance of 16,500 metal lovers in its various genres and styles. The bands that met on that inaugural day perfectly represented that diversity of styles in metal that we mentioned in the previous lines: the never-old-fashioned nu metal of the Americans KORN; the experimental folk of HEILUNG; the extreme and at the same time melodic death metal of the Brits CARCASS; the arena heavy metal of BEAST IN BLACK; the danceable retro hard rock of the Swedes THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA; the thrash and speed metal with modern elements of the Finnish LOST SOCIETY; the stoner rock/ metal of the Americans RED FANG; the decadent and corrosive death metal of the Finnish CHURCH OF DEAD. This first day was completed with the following groups: PERTURBATOR, ELUVITIE, NORTHERN KINGS, ELDER, OMNIUM GATHERUM, ENSIFERUM, VERIKALPA, MARIANAS REST, THE RIVET, SHEREIGN, DETSET, POLYMOON, ABSTRAKT and NUMENTO. Below we have prepared a brief summary of some of the live performances that we had the opportunity to witness at this festival:

ELDER

The American stoner rock/metal band with progressive and psychedelic elements ELDER performed at the Inferno Stage. The quartet did not want to start the concert without first thanking the organization of the Tuska Festival and the band RED FANG for their help since the Lufthansa airline had lost all the band’s instruments at the Frankfurt airport.

Despite the loss of the instruments, the Americans treated us the audience with a superfluous hour-long performance in which they performed a handful of songs that made us forget about the bright sun and the high temperatures of that first day of the month of July. Among the songs performed we have to highlight «Blind», «Sanctuary» and «Dead Roots Stirring». Nick DiSalvo and Mike Risberg were in sync on guitars, while the rhythm section of Jack Donovan on bass and Georg Edert on drums didn’t miss a beat.

LOST SOCIETY

One hour later the Finnish quartet LOST SOCIETY performed at the Radio Rock Main Stage. The boys from the city of Jyväskylä shone on the main stage with a fresh and heavy sound, but we must point out that the band has evolved or changed their style a bit. The new performed songs “112” and “Stitches” combine various genres such as metalcore and electronic rock.

Although the band did not forget their roots in extreme metal so easily, and they gave us a handful of songs that combined the wildest thrash metal with the most chaotic speed metal: “Artificial”, “No Absolution”, “Deliver Me”, “Nonbeliever”, “Outbreak (No rest for the Sickest)”, “Riot”, “Blood On Your Hands” and “Into Eternity”. In short, sixty minutes loaded with pure adrenaline and an audience made up mostly of young people thirsty for metal!

PERTURBATOR

Later that afternoon on the Tent Stage, the performance of the French synthwave musician James Kent, better known as PERTURBATOR, took place. Kent was accompanied live by a flesh and blood drummer, who gave him that power and human rage that a drum machine cannot provide.

In addition to the three synthesisers that surrounded Kent, he used an electric guitar to emulate the industrial and synthetic sounds that accompany each of his songs. The atmosphere that was experienced during the hour of the concert was incredible (agile drums, rays of fleeting lights, electronic beats played at full speed), because years ago it was unthinkable to find an electronic band or artist in a purely metal festival. But this barrier has been shattered thanks to musicians and projects like Kent, CARPENTER BRUT and GOST who have shown that metalheads also want and have the right to dance.

RED FANG

Returning to the hot Inferno Stage we find the always funny but at the same time powerful band RED FANG. The combined deep voices of Aaron Beam and Bryan Giles provided the basis for the monolithic riffs by David Sullivan and Giles himself, while John Sherman destroyed the drums.

Incredible that this was the first experience of the American quartet in a music festival in the city of Helsinki, after having been visiting the capital area repeatedly since 2012.

The audience showed them all their support by shaking their heads, jumping and singing along to the songs. Nothing like listening to one of today’s most popular stoner rock/metal bands at full volume while having a cold beer on a sunny day. An hour of cavernous stoner with nice melody!

CARCASS

Back again at the Radio Rock Main Stage, the legendary English grindcore/melodic death metal band CARCASS jumped on stage around 20:15. The band was very intense and extreme on stage, with its two original members: the always restless Bill Steer on guitar and backing vocals, and the always quiet but cynical Jeff Walker on vocals and bass, with their long time (already 10 years in the band) drummer Daniel Wilding and live guitarist James “Nip” Blackford.

Despite some technical problems on stage regarding Walker‘s bass, everything went as normal with great moments. CARCASS always stands out in their concerts since the songs sound more raw and extreme live, in addition is always a highlight to listen to the duo of Walker and Steer on vocals with their powerful growls.

The setlist was very complete with 15 superfluous songs that ranged from their most recent albums “Surgical Steel” (2013, Nuclear Blast) and “Torn Arteries” (2021, Nuclear Blast) through their already classic albums “Reek of Putrefaction” (1988 , Earache), “Symphonies of Sickness” (1989, Earache), “Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious” (1991, Earache), “Heartwork” (1993, Earache), and “Swansong” (1996, Earache). The only extreme band that can make us stop eating meat with thunderous riffs and nasty lyrics!

THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA

Back to the Inferno Stage because the nostalgia and retro sound of hard rock from the 70’s and 80’s took over the audience with the performance of the Swedish band THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA.

The group in their live version was composed of Björn “Speed” Strid on vocals, David Andersson on guitar, Sharlee D’Angelo on bass, John Lönnmyr on keyboards, Jonas Källsbäck on drums, Sebastian Forslund on percussion. , and Anna-Mia Bonde and Anna Brygård on backing vocals. Festive and danceable hard rock in the same vein as bands such as SURVIVOR, JOURNEY, TOTO and FOREIGNER.

An hour-long set with songs that made those in the audience dance and remember the old days: “How Long”, “Sometimes the World Ain’t Enough”, “Divinyls”, “If Tonight is Our Only Chance”, “Burn for Me”, “This Boy’s Last Summer”, “Gemini”, “Satellite”, “White Jeans” and “West Ruth Ave”.

KORN

Finally, the most anticipated moment of the day on Friday arrived, the presentation of the nu metal pioneers KORN. We must point out that due to strict health and security measures, the band greatly limited the number of photographers near the stage in the photo pit, for which we had to take the photos from the audience and at a distance a little far away from the stage.

The Americans took the stage while a crowd cheered them at the top of their lungs and in the background the intro song «Dead» from the album «Issues» (1999, Immortal/Epic) is heard. Behind the drums, on a huge screen, it was projected various random images inspired by their latest studio album “Requiem” (2022, Loma Vista/Concord). The band was led by the charismatic Jonathan Davis on vocals, Brian «Head» Welch and James «Munky» Shaffer on guitars, Ray Luzier on drums and Ra Diaz on bass.

The band reviewed their long recording career and performed the singles that the audience wanted to hear: the danceable and at the same time noisy “Got the Life”; the most famous and extreme tongue twister “Twist”; the confession made song “A.D.I.D.A.S.”; the children’s song that is not for children “Shoots and Ladders”; one of the most distinctive songs of the nu metal generation “Freak on a Leash”; a song to reflect while you bang your head “Falling Away From Me”; among other.

Also, KORN gave us several fun and unforgettable moments, such as when in the final part of the song “Shoots and Ladders” they played a small part/snipped of “One” by METALLICA. They did the same in the song “Coming Undone” by introducing a small part/snipped of QUEEN’s “We Will Rock You”. At both times the attendees shouted in unison the powerful choir of these songs. Another moment to remember was the interactive instrumental battle between Ray Luzier and Ra Díaz on drums and bass.

The band said goodbye in style with their generational anthem «Blind» and thus gave the final closure to this first day of the Tuska Festival 2022. Only one hour of performance but 16 songs performed. Although KORN only offered us a 60-minute concert, we rate it as a remarkable gig because the band unleashed an impressive energy on stage and performed many of their hits that made them the undisputed kings of nu metal and alternative metal at the end of the 1990s and early 2000s.