For the eleventh time – we’d say consecutive, but you know, COVID… – we found ourselves traveling to Hyvinkää to visit the biggest extreme metal event in the country, if not the Nordics at the very least: Steelfest Open Air 2023. Already in the train to town, one could hear people from different countries, lots of Americans and Germans for instance, who were slowly gathering for this 3-day marathon of darkness, black metal, and way-too-sunny weather for the season.
The final day of Steelfest XI began with way too much heat and sun. Good thing the first band was playing indoors. RUTTOKOSMOS is probably not a name that many have heard, but to show once again how small the scene is, we find J. Pervertor (RIDE FOR REVENGE) as a live guitarist. The guys had a pretty short set – but so is their discography – and there weren’t really many people yet when their show started. This did not stop them from unleashing their dark, grim sound into the hall, giving a glimpse of what the band was back around 20 years ago, just enough to tease the first comers.
Another mysterious band was SOTHERION, albeit for different reasons, as this is a new project by THE ORDER OF APOLLYON’s singer, including on stage other familiar faces from the surrounding scene. The French band displays a preference for a more traditional and raw sound, resulting in a captivating offer also in a live setting such as in this occasion.
VORNAT is also a rather obscure name from the depths of the Finnish BM underground that recently resurfaced and came here to make their existence known to the Steelfest metalheads. No gimmicks or anything flashy here, but just their satanic-inspired black metal.
It was up to EVIL INCARNATE to liven things up a notch, thanks to their old-school death metal, strong sound, and overall badass attitude. The trio might have suffered in the sweaty heat, but they still got the audience headbanging properly with their live material, including tracks from “Lucifers Crown” (released the following week).
Next up was WITCHCRAFT (a.k.a. the band formerly known as BLASPHEMOUS WITCHCRAFT, a.k.a. BLACK FEAST). The black/death metal trio has been around for quite a while and has generally delivered quite nicely in their live shows, so – unsurprisingly – this was also the case today. The response from the now more sizable audience testified that pretty accurately.
PENSÉES NOCTURNES was by far and wide the weirdest, most peculiar band in this year’s Steelfest. The Frenchmen had a bit of a clochard/French sailor theme in their appearance, and their instruments included trumpets and accordion, for instance. With a wink to popular and classical music, they transformed the area for the duration of their set into an old-school town festival. Needless to say, the performance was as eclectic as it sounds and the (very tall) frontman Léon Harcore gave a strong theatrical vibe to the show. The whole thing was rather picturesque.
After this peculiar experience, we went back to something more traditional with the black/thrash of Finnish URN. With steel pentagrams holding fuming incense and demonic figures in the background, they set the appropriate ambience for their ritual and gave their fans a convincing show divided between their three latest works. It’s difficult not to get dragged into the mood while watching URN play, so this time seeing their show was a nice treat as well.
MERRIMACK have seemingly evolved quite a bit over the years, up to when they found a more stable line-up back in 2010. Since then, they have also grown a lot in how they perform as a band, and that could be seen during this gig. The singer, Vestal, in particular showed much more of a personality compared to those days, making for a successful gig.
Back to the Norwegians, as it was NORDJEVEL’s turn to hit the stage. Going once again in “Norsk svart metall”-territory, the band made sure to give the fans exactly what they wanted. Dødadmiral didn’t miss occasion to incite them, while the band played a mixture of their new and earliest material. Even though NORDJEVEL isn’t maybe the biggest name out there, they always seem to know how to bring about a good show.
Something similar could be said for TORTURE KILLER. It always makes a strange impression to think that the bulky vocalist (same as in BLOOD CHALICE, in which he was wearing a long-sleeve) used to have really long blond hair back in the days. Digressions aside, the band proved to be that relentless death metal machine that the fans got used to in their 2 decades of career. Aside from the cover of MORBID ANGEL’s “Immortal Rites,” the band righteously spent a good part of the set on their “Swarm!” album, giving plenty to headbang to, as it could be seen from the many fans going crazy up there in the front. We dare anyone to say that this wasn’t a fun show.
TRUE BLACK DAWN painted the atmosphere with darker tones, although this time there were no meathook shows or anything like that. Wrath did what he does best, giving life to the songs with his vocals and stage presence, with the occasional black candle and human skull adding to the gravity of the show. Of course, the band is not just the vocalist and everyone’s performance made this one of the most engaging moments of the day – at least up to now. After all, you don’t need much of a spectacle when the quality is that good.
After TDB’s show, AUSTERE felt a bit off, or somewhat underwhelming. There was some anticipation towards the depressive black metal of the Australian duo (joined among others by TOTALSELFHATRED’s A. on guitars), but the gig as a whole just didn’t quite connect as expected. In this sense, their Finnish counterpart in this festival had better success, and it’s quite possible that the ambience didn’t play much into AUSTERE’s favor either. This is the kind of stuff you’d want to see being played in a small, dark, run-down bar while lonely sipping your drink (or just listen in the darkness of your home, of course).
NATTEFROST, in comparison, hands down killed it, to the point the night might have as well ended here if it wasn’t for a bunch of other good shows – including URGEHAL! – later on. The guys showed up on stage all bizarrely wearing a cockade of sorts on top of their shirts, and overwhelmed the audience with a barrage of songs from the infamous “Blood & Vomit” and the following “Terrorist (Nekronaut pt. I.)”
Much like the previous day with CARPATHIAN FOREST, there was also room for more covers: “Bite It You Scum” (GG ALLIN & THE MURDER JUNKIES), and “The Gate of Nanna” (BEHERIT), the latter especially appreciated by the most avid black metal fans. With the more punk-ish and “fuck everyone” attitude, this turned out to be even more enjoyable than the CF set on Friday. Plus you don’t get to see NATTEFROST live every day!
Worth noticing also how at some point even Dødsadmiral from NORDJEVEL joined the party on stage (he seemed to enjoy popping up here and there during the weekend).
NUNSLAUGHTER chose Steelfest as the ground for their only show on European soil for this year, which is to say how this festival has become a cornerstone in the musical landscape not only in Finland but on an international level. These “Devil Metal” veterans leave little to be desired, and Don of the Dead was brilliant in his performance, grabbing the crowd’s attention from the get go with his moves and crazy looks. The band fit the bill of this festival like a glove, one can really say they slayed it out there!
One of the most awaited moments for many was definitely URGEHAL’s show. In the month of both the birth and death of Trondr Nefas, this gig – as with all shows after his passing – has certainly a strong meaning for the band, dedicating these performances as a “Dødsmarsj for Nefas.”
One of the truest satanic black metal bands, URGEHAL had as such a very special place in the festival, representing also a unique occasion for their fans to remember their comrade and at the same time celebrate their music all as one. With Morten Shax and Sorath Northgrove taking turns on stage on vocal duty, this gig was definitely one of the most intense and rich of emotions. “Dødmarsj til Helvete,” “Satanic Black Metal in Hell,” and “The Eternal Eclipse,” are just a few of the classics that both honored the band and their career, as well as pleased the ears of an enthusiastic audience, who went completely wild out there.
The last two bands, SATANIC WARMASTER and WARMOON LORD had come to fill in the gap from the last-minute cancellations announced just about a week before, and they did so with proper dedication.
SATANIC WARMASTER had one of their best shows in recent history. Werewolf himself seemed to be enjoying it more than usual, and the crowd was just fantastic out there for the last show on the outdoor stage. Aside from the new songs found in the latest “Aamongandr,” of course one of the most successful one of this set was the super-favorite “The Vampyric Tyrant.” It was refreshing to see such a good show by SW, as they really seemed to feed on the energy emanating from the audience.
WARMOON LORD most likely did not expect that the task of closing the festival would fall on them. They did so by putting up a solid show, covering both their full-lengths as well as material from the split with VULTYRIUM. Throughout the gig, one had to wonder whether the frontman asked himself the question of how not to stab someone else or himself with that really dangerous-looking pointy metal arm cover, but that aside this was most likely the strongest gig so far from the Lahti-based artist.
The late hour, and darkness descending before ultimately closing the final curtains on the festival made it also a very fitting setting for their music, so it wasn’t surprising that quite a few people were still present till the very end.
This year’s Steelfest felt way easier, in a way, than the mammoth version of the last year’s tenth anniversary (and I don’t even want to imagine how would it be to follow, without breaks, a one-week-long festival!). Despite that, it was still intense, busy, full of quality bands, some good new discovery, some confirmations, as well as the occasional – very fast – catch up with familiar faces. All that a festival should be like, if you try not to miss anything, that is. Honestly it’s not even surprising anymore how things can be running smoothly and the bands stick to their allotted schedule so nicely year after year (and when there actually are issues, these are as invisible as possible to the main audience). After all these guys have been at it for over a decade, and they seem to know what they are doing pretty nicely.
Even faced with some important cancellations a week or so prior to the event (DØDHEIMSGARD, VED BUENS ENDE, NOKTURNAL MORTUM), they managed to find good replacements, which didn’t really feel at all out of place or just casually put there to fill in an empty slot; instead they actually added to the overall experience of this edition as a whole. This is the way to go. While maintaining hopefully the same spirit: onwards and upwards!
Text & photos by Marco Manzi
