Espoo’s Kannusali decided to make Valentine’s Day extra romantic this year by organizing a small indoor festival, 6 Feet Underground, featuring some of Finland’s finest metal acts. Nothing says love like blast beats and breakdowns, right? The first day of the festival, on February 14th, 2025, brought together alternative metal outfit LUNA KILLS, metalcore act BALANCE BREACH, and melodic death metal legends BEFORE THE DAWN—a lineup perfect for those who prefer their heartstrings shredded along with their guitar riffs.
This was our second visit to Kannusali, and, funnily enough, also our second time seeing LUNA KILLS there. Espoo, being so close to Helsinki, is notoriously tricky when it comes to selling concert tickets, and scheduling a band’s set at 19:00 doesn’t exactly help. However, despite the odds, the band managed to pull a crowd, and judging by the amount of fresh LUNA KILLS merch in the audience, they’ve got some serious fans.
If you’ve been following this site for a while, you already know we’ve been championing these guys for ages, and it’s about time the rest of the world caught up. Luckily, the metal scene is finally paying attention, as LUNA KILLS recently signed with Sharptone Records, and their upcoming album, “DEATHMATCH,” is dropping on April 4th, 2025. Every time we see them, they manage to outdo themselves, not just with their increasingly tight live performances but also with their attention to lighting, soundscapes, and overall atmosphere between songs.
The setlist was heavily focused on new material, which makes sense, but if there was one missed opportunity, it was the absence of “love u,” a yet-to-be-released track that, based on the few times we’ve heard it, might just be one of the highlights of the upcoming album. And come on, what better day to play a song called “love u” than on Valentine’s Day?
If you haven’t checked out LUNA KILLS yet, please do yourself a favor and fix that immediately. You won’t regret it—unless, of course, you hate killer riffs, infectious energy, and bands that actually know how to put on a damn good show. In that case, well… good luck with that.
Another band we’ve been keeping an eye on for quite some time is metalcore outfit BALANCE BREACH. Admittedly, we can’t exactly remember when we last saw them live—time is an illusion, and so is our memory. It’s entirely possible that a few years have passed, but one thing is for sure: the band hasn’t stopped cranking out absolute bangers. Their upcoming album, “Save Our Souls,” is set to drop on March 7th, 2025, via Out Of Line Music, and based on what we heard tonight, it’s going to be one to watch.
Over the years, BALANCE BREACH has truly carved out their own identity in the ever-crowded metalcore scene, proving themselves as one of the most refreshing Finnish acts in the genre. They’ve always been great live, but somehow, we were still blown away by just how much they’ve leveled up on stage. The energy, the precision, the confidence—they’ve got it all.
Kicking things off with “Maniacs,” the band wasted no time in getting the audience involved. We were also pleasantly surprised by how heavily they leaned into their newer material for the setlist, which is always a bold move, but in this case, it absolutely paid off. Every song sounded tight, powerful, and—most importantly—made us even more excited for the upcoming album release. If “Save Our Souls” is anything like what we heard tonight, March 7th can’t come soon enough.
Finally, BEFORE THE DAWN was set to close out the first evening of 6 Feet Underground. We were a bit surprised that they didn’t draw a bigger crowd, but as we mentioned earlier, selling tickets in Espoo is about as easy as convincing a cat to take a bath. That said, the band didn’t seem to mind at all and delivered a stellar—albeit intimate—performance.
Since SWALLOW THE SUN‘s North American tour is about to start, we assume that that might be the reason that guitarist Juho Räihä was absent. However, stepping in to fill his shoes was none other than guitarist Vageliss Karzis, best known as Tuomas Saukkonen’s Greek bandmate in WOLFHEART.
We’ve seen the band a few times now, though one of us wasn’t too familiar with them, but we’ve always enjoyed the times we have watched their shows. They always seem to play tightly and their songs are really great, and specifically “My Darkness” stood out as a hauntingly beautiful track. Unfortunately, the other half of our team while being very familiar with the band, also couldn’t remember any titles, so our notes look like the ramblings of a sleep-deprived cryptid. Nevertheless, it was a fantastic show with a great setlist that had been switched up just enough to keep things fresh.
While Vageliss Karzis did a fantastic job filling in, we did notice him playing a few parts slightly differently—not in a bad way, but in a “let’s sprinkle in some personal flair” kind of way. Learning a whole setlist for a gig you’ll probably never have to play again isn’t exactly a walk in the park, but he handled it like a champ and brought his usual infectious energy. Meanwhile, bassist Pyry Hanski was busy headbanging his way through the entire show, which, to be fair, seems to be his default setting. There was some banter between singer Paavo Laapotti and the audience, which also seems to be a thing in Espoo, which was quite funny. It’s still a little surreal seeing Tuomas Saukkonen behind a drum kit instead of a mic stand, but let’s be real—the man could probably play a kazoo and make it sound metal. As a drummer, he’s just as impressive as he is a guitarist and vocalist.
BEFORE THE DAWN powered through an epic 15-song set, and by the end, the audience was completely blown away. Just days ago, BEFORE THE DAWN announced their signing to Reaper Entertainment, which pretty much guarantees them an exciting future ahead—we’re definitely not surprised. Not bad for a Thursday in Espoo!
Text and photos by Laureline Tilkin
- Unbreakable
- My Darkness
- Faithless
- Dying Sun
- Archaic Flame
- Chains
- Downhearted
- Winter Within
- Disappear
- Chaos Star
- The Dark
- The Black
- Wrath
- Deathstar
- Deadsong
