Gothic rock is a thing in Finland, we all are aware of that, but SLEEP OF MONSTERS always had a personal touch when blending elements from Mediterranean ancient cultures in their music, giving something unique as a result. Their third album “ΓΓΓ” was released in mid-May this year, via Svart Records, and we were eager to see them play live after its release. There were two different dates set for the release party: the one we attended, on June 15th at Semifinal in Helsinki, was added afterwards, as the one scheduled on June 16th was sold out in no time.
It was 28 degrees outside and probably even more in the venue: summer finally came, for better or worse. The show was scheduled at 20:00 but there was a delay, so people were relaxing in the meantime, some grabbed a drink, others were buying band’s merchandise. We noticed that the setlist was already on stage and we could not help but taking a peek: it consisted of new songs and a bunch of classics – quite promising!
The eleven band members got to the stage at 20:30 and we were impressed to see so many people in such a limited space. We were also wondering how comfortable it would be for them to play, but things went smoothly, luckily. After a short intro of “Enkoimesion,” which happens to be the very first track on their latest album, the first song they played was “Black Blacker than Black,” whose groovy energy impressed us a lot. Singer Ike Vil‘s warm voice is always very effective in making the atmosphere quite solemn, but this time there were some extra elements, if compared to the previous gigs of the band we have attended in the past, as the new songs do really imbue a ritualistic vibe that grew on us in that specific live setting. Right after the opening tune, Ike greeted the audience and introduced the following tune, “Alexandria”: its mysterious, mystical features were enhanced by some percussive elements, and the presence of four choristers, as crucial as it can be in such a band, added elegance and substance to the whole performance.
“Ædel,” the second-to-last tune on the new album and third song on the setlist, brought us to the ‘80s due also to its peculiar bassline and vaguely nostalgic vibe. We noticed that the people in the audience were getting closer and closer to the stage, and we all were enjoying the moment despite the heat. The main melody of following song “Language of the Birds” sounded quite exotic, a bit oriental, with a prog-like vibe, and took us to a different dimension; the theatrical feature of the performance got stronger, and we realized that we were not attending a mere live concert: we were so deeply involved in it that there were no barriers between us and the band.
The energetic yet classy touch of guitarists Sami Hassinen and Uula Korhonen did not go unnoticed, as a necessary ingredient in every rock music -related event. Ike announced “The Singer”: it felt to us that its main riff has some nice AMORPHIS vibes (on a side note, we would like to point out that Ike is none other than the man who translates their lyrics from Finnish to English), but it turned out being a powerful rock song in the band’s very peculiar style, with a vocal solo performed by the choristers that gave us goosebumps. He announced “Melinoe” and left the stage for a while; a quite creepy yet fascinating chant took over: we were witnessing an ancient Greek ritual with a rockish twist, and believe us, it was great beyond words. A massive bass line provided by Ande Kiiski made the whole thing even more intense – his presence on stage is always remarkable and we do believe that he adds a lot of groove to the songs.
Ike came back to the stage and keyboardist Janne Immonen took a 12-string guitar; the following tune, “Mother of Phantoms,” has a distinctive Spanish flavor, as captivating as it can be, and was performed by one of the choristers, Hanna Wendelin, who took the center of the stage next to Ike. The way their voices blended was definitely one of the many highlights that night, but the best was yet to come. A special guest joined them for a couple of songs, “Nyktophoros” and “Ivory and Horn,” who was none other than Pekko Käppi, with his handmade skull-shaped jouhikko. He has played on the album as well, but seeing him jumping on stage caught us off guard – we were eager to see him in a live setting, so it was a great surprise indeed! The sound of such an ancient instrument, although being quite typical in this area and fully part of Finnish folklore, made the Mediterranean-ish atmosphere even stronger, adding an occult flavor to the performance. Speaking of: Ike left the stage again and came back wearing a white robe and a mask. He was holding a goblet full of red wine, so the ritual officially began: we were witnessing the Eucharistos of Dionysos-Sabazius, which can be considered as the “original” eucharist; he splashed a few drops of wine on his bandmates, then on us in the front row, and after that he passed the goblet around and some of us drank from it, as it should be done in a proper ceremony. We felt blessed, literally.
During the following tune, “Ivory and Horn,” Pekko was still on stage with the band, playing a different jouhikko. His vigorous touch made us think that he can be considered like some sort of Jimi Hendrix of Finnish music, due to the passion and energy he conveys. The strong melancholic vibe provided a great conclusion to the first part of the set. Ike left the stage and then he came back to delight us with some older tunes we are quite fond of: “Poison King” and “Golden Bough” from their second album, “Poison Garden,” and during the latter, we became quite impressed by the emotional duet between Ike and chorister Tarja Leskinen, who took the center of the stage, and Sami’s epic guitar solo was the cherry on top.
The second last tune on the setlist was “Murder She Wrote,” from their very first album, “Produces Reason.” Hanna joined Ike in an intense duet, and we realized how much the band’s sound has evolved: although being an older tune, it felt different if compared to the times we heard it at a live show before, and we have the same opinion about the closing tune, “Nihil Nihil Nihil,” which felt like a full-fledged anthem: the audience’s reaction to it was passionate, as a proper closer to such a meaningful and engaging live gig. Ike introduced the band members one by one, while the choristers were delivering incredible voice solos that we will hardly forget.
In conclusion, we can openly say that SLEEP OF MONSTERS’ release party was a nice occasion to properly enjoy their new songs and experience an immersive performance that involved the audience on many levels. It was a cathartic, joyful event and we do hope it will not take long to see them again.
Written by Licia Mapelli
Photos by Mirko L.
Setlist
- Black Blacker than Black
- Alexandria
- Ædel
- Language of the Birds
- The Singer
- Melinoe
- Mother of Phantoms
- Nyktophoros (feat. Pekko Käppi)
- Ivory and Horn (feat. Pekko Käppi)
- Poison King
- Golden Bough
- Murder She Wrote
- Nihil Nihil Nihil
