The third day of Tuska 2025 kicked off on a somewhat uncertain footing; the rain was gone, but the wind was blowing so hard that the side screens had been removed from all the stages during the night. The weather forecast had predicted rather violent gusts of wind to occur throughout this Tuska Sunday, so the screens had to go – safety first. It got pretty windy, on occasion, but otherwise the weather was just fine. In terms of music, this year’s Tuska Sunday brunch kicked off with the Finnish melo-black-pagan-something squad, HAVUKRUUNU, on the Nordic Energy stage and the up-and-coming alternative-rock hurricane, CYAN KICKS, set on the Radio City stage. The former was clearly targeted at us elderly metalheads, and the latter at the younger metal demographic. If I were to act my age, the most obvious choice in a situation like this would be HAVUKRUUNU, obviously. Since I have made peace with my inner teenager, I was equally thrilled to see CYAN KICKS, as well. Choices…
I decided to start from the Radio City tent and then, at some point, move my aging bones toward the Nordic Energy stage. CYAN KICKS is a band whose name should ring a bell for everyone in Finland after they finished second in the Finnish UMK 2022 song contest, the winner of which is selected to represent Finland in the Eurovision song contest. I think it was that particular song, “Hurricane,” during which I started to think that I should head for the Nordic Energy stage if I wanted to catch any of HAVUKRUUNU‘s set. Then, I thought, “Maybe one more song? Just one? And then I’ll go…” It’s just that the next song, “Echo,” was another banger. Maybe I could check out one more song before leaving? Well, eventually, I managed to gather enough strength to leave, but it happened quite late in the set; thus, my HAVUKRUUNU experience was remarkably shorter than I had originally planned. The above UMK song was not the only song that I recognized. The high-octane riffer, “Dancing with Demons,” rang a bell, too. I instantly thought that I must have heard it before, somewhere. At home, I realized I had already added the song to one of my Spotify playlists. Dementia, much? Even with that torso of a set that I witnessed before heading for the Nordic Energy stage, CYAN KICKS proved one hell of a band! Their music is unashamedly pop, maybe more feel-good, high-energy arena rock than tr00 metal, at least if you ask any of us gatekeeping metal geriatrics. Whatever. This band slaps hard! Their performance at Tuska 2025 felt like a shot of adrenaline, just like any of the deathcore juggernauts on the main stage, even though the band’s modus operandi was less about punching you in the face with ultra-brutal and steel-hardened metal riffs and more about a happy-go-lucky mix of pop, rock, and good vibes. It’s no small feat that they had me transfixed in astonishment so long that I almost missed HAVUKRUUNU entirely.
HAVUKRUUNU has coined one of the best band names ever. It translates as a “Crown made from the needle-bearing branches of the coniferous tree.” Their music is an equally ingenious mix of metal with prefixes such as “melo,” “black,” and “pagan.” Their new album, released earlier this year, is a conceptual affair harkening back to 1237 AD, when the Tavastians rose in a rebellion against the church and drove the popes naked into the frost to die. Charming? Oh, yes! I managed to catch a song and a half of their set – and the epic closer, “Tähtiyö ja hevoiset,” not-so-gently reminded me that the album, “Tavastland,” released in February, is still on my to-do list. There are so many great bands and so little time… Now, I must get my shit together and get it done. Even though I’m a prog nerd at heart, the band’s haunting mixture of bombast, fury, and melancholy sounded so unique that I just fucking loved it – and their live delivery was top of the class, too! Yeah, I need to check out that new album ASAP; if this Tuska performance of one and a half songs was anything to go by, it just might end up on my Best Finnish Metal Albums of 2025 list… I’ll be surprised if it won’t. HAVUKRUUNU has been compared to MOONSORROW, and I overheard something like that at Suvilahti, too. That Finnish folk-black act is already one of my all-time favorites, so…
The next treat on the main stage, TURMION KÄTILÖT, delivered quite a surprise. They played at Tuska 2022, but back then, it overlapped with the Tuska Tour arranged for all the journos, photographers, and such. So, I missed most of their show, but if my memory isn’t full of holes already, they did not pull a crowd of this size then. I had no idea the band was THIS popular – the ocean of people in front of the main stage just went on and on and on… as far as you could see. Then again, the band sports some similarities with the German party boys, ELECTRIC CALLBOY, which had made Suvilahti feel pretty crowded on Friday, to put it mildly. For some reason, I had previously thought that TURMION KÄTILÖT was something like the Finnish version of RAMMSTEIN. Okay, these two bands have a thing or two in common – like the overall industrial aesthetic – but now that I really paid attention to their music, stage antics, and energy, I’ve gotta say that I was wrong. Quite a few of their songs come off almost like a somewhat obscene mixture of old Finnish schlagers from the 1970s (“Finnhits” as we used to call them) and metal. Obscene in a good way, that is. I mean, what could possibly be funnier than blending metal riffs with Eurodance beats, singalong choruses, and schlager melodies? Then, sporting two vocalists whose jovial chats in between songs are laced with naughty jokes, toilet humor, and whatnot, I couldn’t help but think of the notorious Finnish party boys from times immemorial, SLEEPY SLEEPERS. The dynamic duo at the helm of that legendary act later formed LENINGRAD COWBOYS, with which the international metalheads are probably more familiar. Humor music, sure, but exceptionally well executed, just like TURMION KÄTILÖT. The show was a real blast. This time, they didn’t play the song “Teurastaja,” which was my son’s favorite when he was five years old. Speaking of which, the Tuska Sunday was, once again, kid-friendly between 14:00 and 18:00. Children (0-12 years) were welcome to the festival with an adult (with a valid ticket, of course) to get a taste of what it feels like to be at a metal festival. So, you could spot kids here and there – and I must say it surely was a heart-warming sight to see toddlers making the horns with their little hands or moshing their head to the music. My kids are almost adults already, listening to DEFTONES, BRING ME THE HORIZON, and black metal, so I guess I must’ve done something right. I can still remember, though, how they both moshed in front of the TV when I was watching the CULT OF LUNA live DVD, “Fire Was Born,” back in the day. This year, TURMION KÄTILÖT had brought guest vocalist Netta Turunen along as well. I believe she also featured on the band’s 2023 album “Omen X.” Her lovely voice was a nice touch amidst all the industrial mayhem. What a great show!
Next, it was time to make tough calls, once again. Trap-metal sensation KIM DRACULA was set to start on the Radio City stage any minute, and, on the Nordic Energy stage, Finnish folk-metal legends KORPIKLAANI were about to kick off. I’m such an insufferable Johnny-come-lately when it comes to Finnish folk metal, so I had never seen KORPIKLAANI live before. Yeah, can you believe it? The word on the street claimed, however, that this Australian freak circus was the closest thing you could have to early MR. BUNGLE, the band which just happens to be one of my biggest all-time favorites! I almost dismissed these rumors as nothing but a big bag of hot air, but the thought just didn’t leave me alone – what if they ARE? I’d read something about KIM DRACULA being the biggest TikTok sensation at the moment, which news didn’t exactly convince me one way or another – TikTok fame is not much of a merit in my books. Still, you would have to be either THE real shit or not right in the head to even try something as dissociative as MR. BUNGLE‘s early classics. These options are not mutually exclusive, though… So, I was literally torn in half trying to make up my mind between KORPIKLAANI and KIM DRACULA. Otherwise, I guess the vast majority of Tuska attendees didn’t have to struggle with this – metal teens chose the Radio City stage and older metalheads opted for the folk-metal bacchanalia next door. And me? Once again, I reasoned that I could catch KORPIKLAANI somewhere else, maybe even pretty soon, but this might be my only chance to see KIM DRACULA, so I chose to navigate toward the Radio City tent.
Well, the show proved that the rumors were correct. KIM DRACULA was not just every bit as dumb a band name as MR. BUNGLE, but also the music proved just as deranged, dissociative, and enchanting as those lovely bangers on “Disco Volante” or “California” before Mike Patton & Co decided to go full-on nostalgia tripping down the vintage thrash-metal route. Plus, what sets KIM DRACULA nicely apart from being merely a pastiche of MR. BUNGLE‘s or John Zorn‘s past achievements in craziness were the addition of the deathcore elements. I guess that’s what made it trap metal? One other thing that I was more than glad to notice was that KIM DRACULA seemed to appeal to the younger metal demographic a lot! I mean, back in the 1990s, when I pulled out NAKED CITY‘s “Torture Garden” album at a party, my high-school mates looked at me like I was insane. Lastly, the real icing on the cake was that the vocalist behind this freak show, Kim Dracula, turned out to be one hell of a singer! Sure, they pulled a shit-ton of “Pattonisms” but that’s not a small feat either – there aren’t that many metal singers who have the talent to pull any of that stuff off, not like this. So, to think that I almost chose not to check them out… It sure gave me the chills. It’s impossible to single out the highlight of the performance since it was pure eargasm all the way through. Well, especially the short rendition of “Careless Whisper” by the band’s saxophonist in between all that sonic violence. Priceless! I noticed, however, that some of the songs seemed to get the crowd particularly excited (in addition to the Lady Gaga cover) – “Drown” and “Killdozer,” the latter of which closed the set. For a long time, I thought that the avant-garde squad, DARTH VEGAS, was the best thing to come out of Australia, in terms of beautiful but deranged sonic mayhem. KIM DRACULA is sure putting up a good fight to change that. While it really sucked that I had to skip KORPIKLAANI, I’m pretty sure it would have sucked even more to miss something like this. I mean, the show was nothing short of a comprehensive mindfuck! Even NOTHING MORE vocalist Johnny Hawkins agreed. One thing was for sure: KIM DRACULA‘s latest studio album, “A Gradual Decline in Morale,” released in 2023, got added not only to my Spotify playlists but also to my Levykauppa Äx shopping list.
The next treat on the main stage was yet another must-see for me since I hadn’t seen APOCALYPTICA on stage since 2006. That show, if my memory serves me right, focused on their original compositions, especially from their fifth, eponymous studio album that had already become a huge success in Finland by that time. This show was going to be something completely different – a METALLICA set, celebrating the latest installment in their haunting catalog, “Plays Metallica Vol. 2,” released last year. Everybody would know the songs by heart, and those who had seen the band on stage even once knew for certain that this was going to be a kick-ass show. So, when Ennio Morricone‘s timeless film composition “The Ecstasy of Gold” started to play as the show’s intro, you knew this would be something epic.
“Ride the Lightning” from the new album kicked off the set into motion, and what a set it was! The setlist was a straight-up Greatest Hits compilation of METALLICA classics, with these APOCALYPTICA versions splitting rather equally between their two METALLICA cover albums. One song, “Creeping Death,” was from the 2016 remastered edition of that 1996 debut, “Plays Metallica by Four Cellos.” While the band’s “Women’s Magazine celebrity” (as Perttu Kivilaakso addressed Eicca Toppinen) acknowledged that it sure was a crazy idea to arrange thrash-metal classics for cellos in the beginning, some of the songs sounded quite beautiful, actually. The mellow part in “Master of Puppets” was a bit goosebumpy, to be honest, and the cello arrangement of “Blackened” was pure gold, too. Then, I must admit that their new album has slipped by my radar entirely, so I didn’t know what to expect when Toppinen introduced the last song so that, unless you’d been living in a parallel reality, you instantly knew that it was going to be “One.” Well, if this particular song had been the most important METALLICA song ever to Toppinen, so it had been to me, back in the day. When I first heard it in 1988, it stopped the world in its tracks for a moment. If it was bizarre to think that it was 30 years from the APOCALYPTICA debut, it was even more unreal to realize that this thrash-metal epic came out almost 40 years ago! Then, this live cello rendition of that titanic classic did exactly the same: it stopped the world in its tracks for – what? Nine minutes?! There was quite a lot of stuff coming from tape: full-on symphonic orchestra as well as the song’s lyrics spoken with a lot of gravitas that sounded an awful lot like James Hetfield. I’m pretty sure these were easily the goosebumpiest 9 minutes that I’ve ever experienced at Tuska Festival during these last 4 times that I’d been here. I’m pretty sure, though, that even without the extra coating of nostalgia, this show closer will be forever remembered by many. This year, the festival hosts repeated quite a few times that every day at the Tuska festival was the “Main” day. At this point, it started to really feel like that. IN FLAMES blew my mind on Friday. ALCEST did the same on Saturday. APOCALYPTICA was the first to do that on Sunday. The first? Yeah. The first.
Next, as per the original Tuska timetable, American alternative-rock outfit NOTHING MORE was supposed to play on the Nordic Energy stage. For some reason, though, there had been a change, and they had swapped time slots with BATTLE BEAST. The reason was disclosed later when those Texan rockers hit the stage. So, I spent the next 60 minutes or so wandering between the Radio City tent and the outdoors stage next door. In the tent, the Knoxville bunch, WHITECHAPEL, ruled with an iron fist. I’m still not the biggest fans of deathcore but – goddamn! This band put on one hell of a show with their sonic ultraviolence! I’m not sure about what songs the band played since I’m not familiar with their albums, but what I heard sounded pretty impressive, so I might have to check out their latest full-length, “Hymns in Dissonance,” released in March. The audience pretty much ate from the band’s hands, as we say in Finland.
I’m not exactly sure what subgenre of metal BATTLE BEAST represents. Some say it’s power metal. Some say it’s heavy metal with disco beats. One thing is beyond dispute, though – their vocalist, Noora Louhimo, is one hell of a powerhouse singer! In my ears, the band sounds like the metal version of ABBA. Yeah, I’m fully aware that this particular moniker has been used to ridicule the music of GHOST, but I mean it as a compliment. Let me elaborate: BATTLE BEAST seems to be a firm believer in the power of strong melodies, just like Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. Their songs stick to your head like gum, so that, even if you’re not exactly their biggest fan, you might find yourself humming the melodies from their songs. I know this is risky for my metal reputation, but perhaps, I could let you in on a secret: I’ve got each of those classic ABBA albums in my record collection. There, I said it. I don’t yet have BATTLE BEAST‘s whole album catalog there, yet, but… one day, I just might. At this year’s Tuska, I think the gods of fortune were generous with me; I managed to wander around the venue just when the band played my favorites – “Last Goodbye” and “No More Hollywood Endings.” I wasn’t familiar with some of the other songs that I heard but – fuck me! This band knows how to put up a good show!
For me, the rest of the Tuska Sunday was one eargasm after another, even though it meant that I also missed something equally awesome. I saw MOTIONLESS IN WHITE the last time they played at Tuska, two years ago. While they represent something completely different, I can’t help getting strong LINKIN PARK vibes from their songs. I mean, their biggest bangers are full-on metalcore, but still, the effect they have on me is very much like the biggest heart-crushers in LINKIN PARK‘s catalog – touching, even, on occasion, but always catchy and groovy as hell. As far as metalcore goes, MOTIONLESS IS WHITE belongs to the upper echelons of the genre, no doubt. Still, the band that was set to play in the KVLT stage sweatbox next was something that I would not miss for the world.
The Finnish supergroup of psychedelic death metal, OCTOPLOID, was a rather odd choice for the tiny sweatbox. I mean, with the band featuring myriad members from AMORPHIS as well as from MANNHAI, CHAOSBREED, and BARREN EARTH, the venue was going to be packed to the full and then some. Oh, it was. Lucky for me, I had hauled my weary old bones to the venue in good time. The band’s debut “Beyond the Aeons” came out last summer, and the album release party was, along with the Tuska weekend, one of the absolute highlights of the year. Needless to say, I was “a little bit thrilled” about this gig – and, in retrospect, OCTOPLOID‘s performance at Tuska 2025 proved one of those once-in-a-lifetime gigs that I shall speak fondly of years from now. Last summer, the live vocals were handled by Mikko Kotamäki of SWALLOW THE SUN. He also featured on the album, like Tomi Joutsen of AMORPHIS, who took care of the vocals for this Tuska appearance! As a bonus, there were two guest keyboardists – Kim Rantala of AMORPHIS and GIANT ROBOT fame, and Antti Myllynen, who currently plays in AZGAROTH and BARREN EARTH. I guess this whole thing was some sort of “Easter egg” for those in the know – how often do we get the chance to see legends of this caliber in such a small sweatbox venue?! Then, about the music…
[Insert every cuss word you know here…] The show was something unbelievable! If the album release gig felt like reliving some of the most memorable shows by the legendary Finnish retro-psychedelia act, KINGSTON WALL, in the 1990s, this KVLT stage performance felt even more so, especially during the long instrumental sections. It is no secret that KINGSTON WALL is one of the biggest inspirations behind this whole project led by AMORPHIS bassist Olli-Pekka Laine. What elevates the band to a league of its own is the unique mix of vintage psychedelia and that lovely, early-1990s death-metal sound. This is obviously a passion project, which you could tell by the joy that filled the stage when the band kicked off. These guys had fun playing these songs, and the audience had even more so just listening! As a bonus, we got to see Tomi Joutsen drop his signature growls clad in a somewhat hippie-like costume. Next time, when the word has gotten around, this band won’t fit into a small shoebox like the KVLT stage if they come to Tuska – that’s for sure! The setlist was comprised mostly of songs from the band’s debut, with a couple of new songs thrown in, plus a real treat – a cover version of “Relief” from the 1996 AMORPHIS album, “Elegy.” Now, I’m telling you: you don’t get to see something like this very often! After the show, I said to my friend, “I might as well start heading home ‘cos after OCTOPLOID‘s mind-shattering performance, nothing will probably impress me much.”
Lucky for me, I didn’t. The thing is, the last two performances that I saw at Tuska this year actually did impress me just as much. First, hailing from Texas, NOTHING MORE took the Nordic Energy stage and pulled such an insane show that it left everyone speechless. I knew that the band had some killer songs, but I had no idea whatsoever that their vocalist, Johnny Hawkins, was THAT good. I was somewhat curious about the Australian metalcore squad, POLARIS, too, playing simultaneously on the Radio City stage, but after a few songs, there was no way I could leave in the middle of a show like this. The reason for the change of timeslots was disclosed quite early on during the show as Hawkins gave a big shoutout to BATTLE BEAST for lending their slot for NOTHING MORE. The band’s gear nearly didn’t make it to the festival in time. This gave me flashbacks of VOLA‘s first Tuska performance in 2022 when they had to play with borrowed gear.
I’m not quite sure what genre label would be the best fit for NOTHING MORE‘s music. Some say it’s modern rock, while others feel it’s more like alternative metal. I’ve also seen people call them “Octanecore,” but I haven’t got the slightest idea what the hell that even is. Whatever the music was, in terms of genres, it sure as hell slapped on stage. This squad was by far the biggest pleasant surprise of Tuska 2025. I assumed they would be okay, but – sweet mother of Beelzebub! NOTHING MORE kicked ass so hard that I won’t be able to sit for a week. One of the absolute highlights of the set was their 2017 hit “Go To War,” obviously, because I knew it already. However, the setlist was practically a continuous cavalcade of bangers, one after another, so I’m more than curious to see them again when they return to Finland in November for a couple of shows. Later, at home, I found out that the band had scooped three Grammy nominations in the United States, after years of struggle. I’m not surprised – this band rocks. I overheard quite a few overwhelmed comments about the show in the audience; apparently, not many were familiar with NOTHING MORE before coming to Tuska, but I bet that those who chose to see these Texans in action will probably remember this Sunday evening for a long time.
Then, it was time for the epic finale of Tuska 2025. Deathcore sensation LORNA SHORE was the headliner on Sunday, just about to start on the main stage, but since I’d seen them only 2 years ago at Suvilahti, I had other plans. Yeah, I knew they would rip the mosh pits apart, like last time. Plus, I could check out the live footage from Yle Areena later. The thing is, just a few weeks before the Tuska weekend, my wife introduced me to the music of the Finnish dark-folk sages, NOIDUIN. So, when I realized that they would be the “headliner” of the sweatbox venue for Sunday, I thought I could live myself much better if I did not let this chance slip by.
In a way, NOIDUIN was THE headliner of the Tuska KVLT stage. The show did resonate with the epic air of closure – darkly shaded and ethereal, yes, but closure all the same. The band’s music was a haunting mix of shamanic atmosphere and pell-binding dark folk, played by self-made instruments. On occasion, the songs came off more like ritual chants, and it was bloody well mesmerizing! The band is kind of like the baby sister of HEILUNG; the music is just as intense, and the atmosphere is just as magical, but the lineup is just substantially smaller. I have sorely managed to miss HEILUNG‘s last two visits to Finland, but to be able to witness NOIDUIN bring the Tuska Festival 2025 to a haunting close totally made up for it. After the show, some people even went so far as to claim that this was the absolute highlight of this year’s Tuska. Well, the Tuska hosts insisted this year that every day was a “main” day. I don’t know… APOCALYPTICA, OCTOPLOID, NOTHING MORE, and NOIDUIN on the last day sure felt like the icing on the cake for me.
Meanwhile, back on the main stage, the tension had reached that deliciously unbearable level right before the apocalypse — and right on cue, LORNA SHORE stormed in with “Sun/Eater,” instantly tearing a hole in the sky. You could almost feel three days’ worth of pent-up adrenaline erupt all at once. After the first round of sonic punishment, frontman Will Ramos looked out over the crowd and asked the obvious question: “Where the hell are the crowdsurfers?” And sure enough, bodies started flying — maybe not quite as many as you’d see at, say, Hellfest or Wacken, but hey, this is Finland. We warm up slowly. Still, when LORNA SHORE are in full blast beat mode, it doesn’t really matter what the crowd’s doing, the music alone is enough to summon a thousand-yard stare and an existential crisis. The band threw in some new material too, including “Oblivion” from their upcoming album “I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me” (yes, that’s the actual title, and no, I don’t think it’s about springtime). If the new tracks are anything to go by, the everblack is festering quite nicely.
When LORNA SHORE played Tuska in 2023, it was raining sideways and I remember thinking, well, this makes the “Pain Remains” trilogy even more soul-crushingly dramatic. Turns out, though, that it doesn’t really matter if it’s rain, shine, or fire raining from the sky, those songs hit like a freight train regardless. The wind was howling this year too, almost in sync with the breakdowns, which feels oddly appropriate for music that sounds like grief being screamed into a black hole. The set leaned heavily on “Pain Remains,” no surprises there, but they tossed in some older material for good measure. And then, of course, there was that moment where Will Ramos single-handedly summoned the biggest wall of death the grounds could handle. And credit where it’s due: the crowd delivered. It might’ve even been legendary, if not for the slightly annoying new “pit system” setup that kept part of the crowd fenced out. The moshpit gods were willing, but the infrastructure said no. Still, for those lucky enough to be inside the gates, it was absolute carnage. Beautiful, sweaty carnage.
And then came the encore — the “Pain Remains” trilogy — wrapping up the entire festival in the most devastatingly beautiful way imaginable. Whoever had the genius idea to put LORNA SHORE as the last band of the weekend, give that person a medal, a beer, or at the very least a heartfelt bro-hug. Because honestly, nothing else could’ve topped that ending. No fireworks, no confetti, just soul-ripping anguish, cinematic breakdowns, and a crowd collectively ascending into the emotional void. And honestly, isn’t that what Tuska is all about? I mean, it literally translates to “pain”… how fitting is that?
So, it seemed an awful lot like Tuska did it again; the first announcements of headliners and the later announcements for other bands did not strike me as something extraordinary, at first. Yeah, in the lineup announcements, there were a few must-see bands, then a handful of bands that I knew would be okay, at least. Then, there were quite a few bands that I had never heard of. Now, after three days of hard legwork, head-bobbing, and music, I’m not sure what I just went through. I had been caught by myriad pleasant surprises over the weekend; I had felt overwhelmed almost non-stop, especially on Sunday! I had been mindfucked beyond reason a good few times, and, most importantly, despite my shit-show for a body felt like falling apart when I walked out the festival gates, I was happy like a child in a rollercoaster ride. What an emotional rollercoaster this 3-day extravaganza had been!
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Photos by Laureline Tilkin
