Even though the Hellsinki Metal Festival had some damned good acts that were hard to pass up, some of us still still felt the draw to that sweet, sweet Kotka festival that we love so much: Dark River Festival. With acts like local INSOMNIUM and STAM1NA, as well as popular Gothenburg act DARK TRANQUILLITY and the rarely seen at festivals MACHINE SUPREMACY headlining, it was absolutely worth heading out east for a couple nights!
Friday’s gates opened at the ripe hour of 14:00, with HEATHEN HEARTS opening the day on the smaller stage. They were an all-new act for us, with a generally heavy sound with some nice melodies and groove in there. Though it was a little hardcore for my taste, it sounded like they were putting on a very solid show.
Next up was VORNA, who were well-anticipated because of their fantastic new album from this year, “Aamunkoi.” Interestingly, these guys have a similar vibe to SWALLOW THE SUN live, wherein they sound fantastic, but sunny day atmosphere doesn’t suit them. Ideally, one sees this band in some sort of early morning fog setting, or perhaps a gloomy late night after rain. Nevertheless, they were spectacular, the vocalist sounded amazing, and “Kallioilla” was a huge highlight of the day.
ROTTEN SOUND seem to always put on a glorious show, though they’re very much too hardcore for me, personally. Nevertheless, we gave them a listen while having lunch and it sounded brutal as hell. The crowd even had a little moshpit, though the space was limited.
SAOR were another new name for me, though I’d heard of them on many occasions. On seeing them for the first time, I learned that the music comes from one Andy Marshall, so presumably he has a live band that accompany him. They certainly left a solid impression in their wake – while they haven’t done anything new genre-wise, they’re doing an admirable job of creating awesome soundscapes, at times hugely assisted by what I assume was a soprano vocalist, because she sounded so eerie and haunting. Some of the riffs left a mark as well, so perhaps I should spin one of their albums sometime.
This was the only festival slot for FEAR OF DOMINATION that I’ve caught this summer, but they’re always such good energy and fun that it’s worth going to watch. This is only the second time I’ve seen them since Jessica Salmi joined on vocals and I must say that she’s holding the torch magnificently. They had a good selection of material, including plenty of favorites from “Metanoia,” as well as some newer material, and classics like their cover of THE BLOODHOUND GANG‘s “The Bad Touch.” The best part of the set was when Saku Solin (vocals) hopped down to sing from the conga line, since it seemed to look like fun.
It seems like OMNIUM GATHERUM are pretty regular performers at Dark River, which is certainly not a complaint. I generally make a habit of at least popping by their shows and watching a few songs, as I know them to be a consistently solid live act. This time around, I felt a very stark realization that I haven’t listened to any of their albums more than once since “The Red Shift” (2008). They’ve clearly grown so much since then and they sound so good that I was next-door to ashamed that I haven’t paid closer attention. Luckily, this was a good event to pay attention to, as it was a special Beyond 10 Years show, with guest guitars in a few songs from Joonas “Jope” Koto.
Somewhat unusually, it seemed like a few bands had slightly shorter sets than their time slot allowed, or the festival had arranged for a touch of quiet in between a handful of bands, because there was upwards of 5 minutes break after both HEATHEN HEARTS and OMNIUM GATHERUM played.
BATTLELORE have made an unusual return to the festival scene in recent years, after having gone on an indefinite hiatus a few years back. In fact, I seem to have fully missed that they released a new album last year: “The Return of the Shadow.” Naturally, I wasn’t familiar with the new songs, but they nevertheless put on a fun and fantasy-filled show, so yet another album was added to my ever-growing to-listen stack after their set.
Finnish festival staple TURMION KÄTILÖT need no introduction at this point. There is simply a checklist to observe: is there a freakshow (no), can you see Saku Solin‘s balls (I wasn’t up front, but probably), and is the music thumping and danceable (obviously yes). So no freakshow here, which is unsurprising because it’s a smaller event, but they did have a really cool lighting setup, made of a variety of diamond-shaped lights that flashed independently and in waves and blasts. I also noted someone in the crowd blissfully vaping and exhaling into soap bubbles throughout the set, while a fellow nearby was catching the bubbles… in his beer? Surely, there’s always something odd to see at a TK show. Also noteworthy was one of their last songs, which I didn’t recognize, but it sounded so different from what I usually expect from them that I was rather surprised.
Another interesting pick was I AM THE NIGHT, as apparently Markus Vanhala is a tireless machine who wants to perform with three bands in 2 days… and I thought Saku Solin was a stage addict! It’s certainly fun to see him doing something a little different from the usual melodic material. They’re definitely not my style, but they put on a really solid set.
STAM1NA were the headliners of the night, which was a bit interesting considering they play at a lot of festivals and aren’t necessarily a big crowd-puller; many audiences will have them through the summer for free at other events. The crowd here didn’t seem to mind, as the festival area was thick with inebriated metalheads, happily going crazy. There was a nearly immediate nostalgic kick via the classic “Kadoneet kolma sanaa,” though the setlist covered a full nine of their albums, with “Novis Ordo Mundi,” “Raja,” and “Elokuutio” having strongest representation. There were no unusual gimmicks, like prisoner suits or wetsuits, but the performance was wildly energetic and a lot of fun. It’s been a while since I’ve watched them and it was a very pleasant flashback to when I used to watch them more regularly, though the new material sounds strong as well.
There was some general disappointment that the festival shirts were understocked, and we heard that the toilets had a malfuction at some point as well, but otherwise things seemed to be running smoothly and the bands were all sounding strong. The crowd seemed full of smiles as well, so hiccups aside, it seemed as though Friday had gone over well!
Text by Bear Wiseman
