29.10.2007 : Swedish metal fest - Sonic Syndicate, The Haunted, Caliban, Soilwork
This was hard and heavy Monday in Helsinki on the eve of Halloween – compromise-less and stubborn trash/modern/nu metal from Sweden, famous for its rough riffs and angry vocalists. The concert was sold out in advance, the fact that it was on a Monday evening made no difference. All bands have already tasted the Finnish stage before and won many fans over, quite an unexpected phenomena, as to me it sounded too American-influenced and so I would not expect Finnish metallers to be in the front rows for it.
Sonic Syndicate The youngest band of the night’s lineup, has already a surprising large following in this country. This summer the Swedes have already played once in Tavastia and since then the number of listeners, who know their lyrics, wear band’s merchandise and know the musicians by name, has significantly grown. Sonic Syndicate itself, full of energy and drive, took the stage with a force good enough for a headliner, and does not matter that they were the opening band, Nosturi was already hot and sweaty at this early hour. The mosh-pit was forming actively, so it was not long before some teenagers were already eagerly throwing themselves at one another and gladly bruising each other, colliding, with happy smiles on their faces. What a better effect can a band, not much older than the mosh-pitting activists, wish for on their first serious tour?!
Caliban Among the audience tonight, even at this fully packed venue and a sold out concert, I yet counted about 3 or 4 decent long-haired metal men in the crowd, as all the others were unnoticeably normal! And in this quite a strange atmosphere for me, a convinced ‘heavy metal = long hair’ philosopher, Caliban was the only band that looked good even though no hair banging was present. I have only seen Till Lindmann pulling it off, but that night I saw something very appealing as well. The German guest Caliban, who also has played at Tavastia a few years ago, was the most memorable vocalist of the evening, so passionate, although his roaring almost raw throat sounds were alarmingly good, as a singer of this genre, he really makes an impression. The band itself looked exceptionally stylish, in their matching shirts and excellent stage actions, knowing exactly where and how to act at what moment. Moreover, Caliban coordinates perfectly beyond the stage as well, directing their fans’ masses when and how to start the mosh pit, in which direction they should move and on what count, with much confidence and very powerful stage presence, the Germans have definitely secured themselves a few more appearances on Finnish grounds in the near future.
The Haunted Particapation of this band at any Finnish metal event can guarantee you a sell out, or atleast a 95% attendance rate, and regardless of the location: a tiny summer festival in some tiny forest at a lake or at a known venue like Nosturi. The Haunted is already a classic and earned itself a right to be within any critique or matters of opinion, yet I am unconvinced still… Maybe it’s that genre, but Haunted’s show does not appeal to me or rise any kind of interest. The band plays their set and that’s about all that happens, there are no more emotions, passion and drive. The singer is skillful enough, yet his band are just separate musicians, knowing their instruments and that’s where the chemistry ends. At the popularity rate that they have, I would definitely expect a show of a much better standard than to what I saw.
Soilwork Unlike the previous performer, Soilwork does an excellent live show and you don’t have to be the fan of the music or know the band so well anyway, but just seeing those men and with how much dedication and emotion they play, really makes you feel treasured and respected by the artist. Now we have an absolute headliner of the evening, no doubt. By the time Soilwork took the stage, Nosturi was exhaling fire and fresh charcoal – the heat and steam was literally floating in the air above the pulsating audience. At the first riffs the mosh-pit took off, although I guess in that state the hyped-up audience would have gone moshing to the Moomins’ theme song, left alone the Swedes’ rough metal, which from the upper floor literally looked like a meat grinder. Excellent performance, a Nosturi full of satisfied and overwhelmed metalheads, a Monday night could not have gotten any bigger kick.
Johannes Kinnunen and Fullstream records are fully thanked for provided presspass
