Saturday, May 17th, 2025, marked an early Christmas for fans of quality metal as SARA and RIOGHAN shared the stage at Ääniwalli, Helsinki. The thing is, we’re on the brink of summer already, and no one has yet challenged these two acts for grabbing the awards for the absolute best two Finnish metal albums of 2025. Thus, missing this opportunity to see them both in a two-birds-one-stone fashion would have been a cardinal faux pas. Yes, even though I saw RIOGHAN warm up for WHEEL just last November, and also attended SARA‘s sold-out album release party at On the Rocks just a couple of months ago. Both performances had left quite an impression, what with the nothing short of insane energy levels and all. Thus, I was rather curious to see whether these bands could keep up the momentum. Well, they did. With the new venue oozing a somewhat different vibe altogether compared to On the Rocks, the combination of sweaty, Berlin-esque underground rock-club feel and both bands’ flawless, high-octane stage presence made this evening feel very different from those shows I’d seen earlier in that prestigious downtown venue. I think Ääniwalli has slightly bigger capacity, too, so it’s no wonder everything felt tighter, almost literally, with the venue being packed almost full.
My new favorite Ostrobothnian metal rogues, RIOGHAN, kicked off with the opener, “Dreams,” from their latest album, “Kept.” The song is a pretty good calling card, showcasing what the band is all about: alternative metal with electronic flourishes and atmospherics to add a nice air of smoky mystique to the pounding riffs. I’m not sure whether my memory serves me right here, but I reckon the band had a guest keyboardist at On the Rocks last year, whereas now the synths were all playback stuff. Well, it’s not such a big deal with this bunch; the synths provide us mostly with some atmospheric background and the occasional melodic line. The most haunting keyboard parts on the new album were contributions from SILENT SKIES keyboard luminary Vikram Shankar, anyway, and – alas! – I don’t think we’ll be seeing him join the band on stage anytime soon from across the Atlantic. Now, THAT would be something!
The setlist was rather nicely balanced between the band’s two albums. Songs from the band’s 2022 debut “Different Kinds of Losses” were scattered here and there among the songs from the new album. Now that the new album has fully grown on me, there was only one haunting piece missing – RIOGHAN did not play their most haunting song ever, “Distance.” On the other hand, they did make up for it by sending shivers up my spine with other brilliant moments, so it wouldn’t be fair to hold that against them.
I must admit to being somewhat at a loss for words here. What could I say about the band’s performance without sounding like a hopeless fanboy? The band fucking rocked. Touring with WHEEL seems to have done a lot of good for RIOGHAN. Vocalist Darcy Rioghan pulled her signature harsh vocals even better than the last time, not only those high-pitched Harpyian shrieks but also those low-register gutturals. Impressive! It seems very likely that RIOGHAN won’t be warming up for bigger bands much longer. They are on track to become the next big thing in the Finnish alternative metal market, no doubt. It has been a great privilege to witness a band finding its strength; they were pretty amazing last year, but now they are even better! The atmospheric and djenty, somewhat VOYAGER-esque closer, “Edge,” brought the show to a close on a high note, as it only should. Next time these rogues are in town, do yourself a favor and check them out.
If RIOGHAN‘s warm-up show almost made me run out of superlatives, SARA‘s headlining performance was by far no less arduous a task to put into words without repeating myself. I guess it speaks volumes that the band nearly sold out Ääniwalli, too, despite having played in Helsinki so recently. The venue was packed – and it’s no small feat, given that the capacity is something like twice that of On the Rocks! It’s nice to see that SARA is finally getting the recognition that the band deserves after 30 years. Then again, with their level of execution on stage, it was bound to happen. This show was the band’s last club date of the Hallava Tour before the festival season, and, to kick off the summer with a bang, the band played a special set comprised of 20 songs in total!
SARA opened their set with the haunting new single, “Hyvästi Kapteeni.” The song is quite a tear-jerker if you know the story behind the lyrics, so I must say I’m quite puzzled how the band’s vocalist, Joa Korhonen, can sing it night after night with such emotional punch. It was something utterly unreal at Ääniwalli, especially considering how the venue, an old industrial estate, resembled an underground techno bunker in Berlin rather than a rock club. Then again, there probably isn’t a better feeling than to have your heartstrings tugged at in such a dark and desolate environment of concrete and steel with a bunch of like-minded metalheads. It’s all about the beauty of contrast.
The setlist was pretty close to the one SARA played in January, with a good few songs added from the new album as a bonus. I brought a couple of friends along who were not so familiar with the band’s older material, and they also shared my opinion that the old songs did fit quite seamlessly in the setlist. They couldn’t point out which songs were from the band’s early years and which from, say, 10 years ago. Sure, the live arrangements might not follow the original down to a tee, but I feel compelled to say this again: SARA‘s back catalog is easily one of the most consistently great album runs in the history of not only Finnish metal but music, in general. Yes, despite the versatile nature of each installment – or, maybe exactly because of that. The band has done industrial, nu metal, postrock, and whatnot over the years – and always pretty damn well!
One of the highlights was, obviously, the sing-along anthem and fan favorite from 2006, “Vieläkö Muodostan Varjoni,” with vocalist Korhonen giving the crowd a chance to sing their hearts out in the chorus. There’s just something mesmerizing in standing in the middle of metalheads in such a grim-looking rock dungeon with everyone around you singing about that vague feeling of wistful yearning for something, desiderium. This song slapped pretty hard at On the Rocks, in January, but given the totally different vibe of the venue, this time the song hit somewhat harder, even. The band’s longtime fans were treated to a few more old bangers, but, as much as they catered to us old nostalgics, the new songs felt just as much like highlights. I’m guessing “Hallava” is my Album of the Year.
With the gig almost coinciding with the release of the new SLEEP TOKEN album, I couldn’t avoid thinking about it, here and there. Okay, I’d only listened through it maybe once or twice by now, but with the obvious similarities being there, let alone SARA‘s vocalist having been rather outgoing with his admiration of the band, I must say that, yes, SARA‘s new album resonates with a somewhat SLEEP–TOKEN-esque air on occasion. The combination of atmospheric melancholy and bouncy metal riffs works wonders, especially live. Still, if I were to compare these two, I would say that SARA does it better – those 30 years of mileage shine through, especially on stage. The delivery was flawless throughout. My friend condensed the live marathon into a single word: ”Tight.”
Just recently, I read somewhere that, as humans, we can grow further as a person through the aesthetic experience, the peak experience, in particular. If this special event wasn’t one of those, I don’t know what is.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Photos by Evgenii Dobrianskii
Rioghan Setlist
- Dreams
- Hands
- Skin
- Home
- Promises
- Reflection
- Bruises
- Motion
- Edge
Sara Setlist
- Hyvästi Kapteeni
- Se Osa Joka Rikkoo
- Ei Me Olla Ainoita
- Lumo
- Liminaalitila
- Valtameri Ovella
- Vielä Muodostan Varjoni
- Laine Kerrallaan (Maa Oli Tuolla Jossain Kun Päivät Muuttuivat Vuosiksi)
- Raskas
- Avaa Se Ovi
- Ikuisesti
- Vaeltaa
- Alku
- Ethän Vielä Kuole
- KSK
- Rauhan Aika
- Hiljaiset Siivet
Encore:
- Anhedonia
- Tanssiin
- Tahto
