In early 2026, US prog quartet EARTHSIDE announced their long-awaited debut European headline tour, including a date in Finland, too. Initially, the band was scheduled to play at the Ankea Festival in Tampere on the brink of summer, and I marked that date in my calendar with high hopes of being able to go. Well, life got in the way, but lucky for me, another date was added to the band’s touring schedule. Thus, these American auteurs of cinematic prog made their live debut in Finland at On the Rocks in Helsinki on Thursday, June 4th, 2026, just a day before their show at Ankea Festival. So, this gig marked a warm-up event of sorts for those impatient to wait another day – and a chance to see the band on stage for us unable to go to Tampere for whatever reason. For me, this show turned out to be the only chance so far to hear Daniel Tompkins’ vocals at a rock venue, even from a tape, because I have skillfully missed every TESSERACT show in Finland over the past 15 years. Yeah, I was curious to see how the band would execute the vocals live since EARTHSIDE does not feature a vocalist, and all those guest vocalists on their albums sport very unique and different styles and ranges. The instrumental versions of some of their songs released on the deluxe version of their haunting 2023 album “Let the Truth Speak” hinted that they might not go for the vocals at all, but as it turned out, they opted for using playback vocals on a couple of songs instead. Usually, I have rather mixed feelings about the vocals coming from tape, but more and more often of late, I’ve seen metal bands such as SWALLOW THE SUN and AMORPHIS do this with style, too. With this magical performance, EARTHSIDE joined the list of bands that can use playback vocals to add another layer to the music rather than take something away from it. What made this evening even more spectacular was the choice of warm-up acts. First, RIOGHAN further convinced me that they are fast becoming one of the most interesting new Finnish metal bands with all sorts of progressive and alternative leanings. Then, Canadian cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne proved once again that you can move mountains with just a looper pedal and a cello. He made quite an impression already in 2017 when he played the electric cello at the legendary Helsinki venue, Tavastia, with LEPROUS. Now, his weapon of choice was an acoustic cello, and he sure demonstrated what a beautiful and extremely expressive instrument it can be.
RIOGHAN set things in motion relatively early. I mean, the band started around 7.30 PM, at which time I usually go for a walkie with my doggo on the average Thursday. It’s becoming a habit to see RIOGHAN live once a year, it seems, and the band is getting better and better with each new show, Darcy Rioghan‘s harsh vocals, in particular. The growls toward the end of the set were particularly impressive this time around. It’s also becoming more evident that their star is firmly set on an upward trajectory; you only need to look at the bands they’ve been warming up for in recent years: WHEEL, SARA, and now EARTHSIDE. I’m saying the band is fast evolving into a headliner status – they won’t be needing to warm up for anyone soon enough. That said, I wouldn’t mind seeing RIOGHAN share the bill with, say, ODDLAND, at some point. The latter is releasing a new album later this year – and if ODDLAND can be regarded as the grand masters of djenty prog-metal in Finland, RIOGHAN is the next in line, for sure. Of course, I didn’t write down the setlist, being too overwhelmed by the delicious riff-o-rama, but I guess it was only a good sign. This bunch is already going places, and keeping up the good work, they will be going to even bigger places in the future – as a headliner, I reckon.
Raphael Weinroth-Browne is a Canadian cellist whose unique style is a wild mixture of neoclassical, progressive rock, and metal. I started following him on social media after seeing him on stage with LEPROUS back in the day, and I must say that he sure makes the cello sound bad-ass and metal, maybe even more so than, say, APOCALYPTICA. I mean, this legendary Finnish outfit is comprised of four guys, and Weinroth-Browne is just one dude with a cello and a pedalboard. I know that the cello can be quite an expressive instrument, having seen all sorts of cello performances from metal covers to sound meditation, but damn! Weinroth-Browne made his instrument of choice sing by turns like an angel and a banshee out of hell. In addition to his work with those Norwegian proggers, he has also collaborated with WOODS OF YPRES and SULDUSK, and that says a lot! His latest solo album, “Lifeblood” (2025), is a haunting musical journey – and one of its highlights, “Pyre,” delighted the crowd at On the Rocks, too. Speaking of which, it was nice to see so many people at the venue, checking out the warm-up acts. While Weinroth-Browne‘s signature style is maybe not “cello metal” per se, at least not like your average APOCALYPTICA banger or those other cello-metal acts around, he sure made those neoclassical flourishes and riffs kick ass just like any metal banger would have. As a bonus, he even incorporated THAT outro riff from “Deliverance” by OPETH into the last song in the set. I had high expectations from his show, because of all those live clips I’d seen online, plus that 2017 joint venture with LEPROUS, and he still managed to go one louder – his set at On the Rocks was nothing short of an amazing performance! Like someone once said on the Internet: who needs a band when you have an army of Raphael Weinroth-Browne?
As for the main dish, it goes without saying that seeing EARTHSIDE on stage was a Christmas-come-early for me. “Let the Truth Speak” was the album of the year in 2023, regardless of genre, and considering what other banger albums came out that year, that was no small feat! My original plan was to go to the Ankea Festival, but then, something else came up, and I was pretty bummed – until the band’s surprise announcement for another show in Finland! Then, as if I wasn’t hyped up about the gig already, I sneak-peeked their recent setlists from the setlist.fm, only to find out that the setlist seemed to remain the same from one show to another – and what a setlist it was! On the other hand, it’s relatively easy to play a “Greatest Hits” type of setlist when your discography is comprised exclusively of bangers. Of course, I didn’t make notes at the venue, but I think the setlist was the same as it had been in the previous shows during this tour.
The set kicked off on an epic and immersive footing, with the single, “Frozen Heart ~ Burning World,” which was released last year when the band celebrated the first anniversary of “Let the Truth Speak” by heading out on their first-ever North American headline tour. The song is an instrumental affair, showcasing the essence of the core band – the atmospheric post-rock leanings, the emotions, and the storytelling. At this point, thinking the band was going to pull an all-instrumental show, I figured it was still going to be a blast if this opener was anything to judge by. The opening song was a leftover from the “Let the Truth Speak” sessions, whereas the following song was another instrumental affair, the newest single, “A Dying Star,” released last month. It sure kept up bludgeoning the senses with the force of, yes, a dying star. Keyboardist Frank Sacramone delivered some pretty nasty and furious piano runs during the song – and further into the show, he pulled some pretty furious stage moves, too! I mean, I’ve seen some artists jumping around the stage like toddlers on a sugar high – STAMINA and ENTER SHIKARI, I’m looking at you! – but Sacramone won the championship belt in this game, hands down, or, well, he actually didn’t keep his hands down much…
Then it was time for the first song that originally featured vocals on the album. “We Who Lament” was one of the absolute highlights of “Let the Truth Speak,” and half of the song’s magic came from the spirited vocals by Keturah. The song plays off her vocal strengths to such a remarkable degree that I was curious to see how EARTHSIDE would pull it off on stage. The instrumental version on the deluxe edition of the album is pretty good, but the original is obviously a little bit better for this very reason. So, it stands to reason that the band opted for using playback vocals for this song. They pulled the same trick with those songs that originally featured Daniel Tompkins on vocals – “A Dream in Static” and “Let the Truth Speak,” respectively. I reckon it would have proved nigh impossible to find a replacement live vocalist who could have done both Keturah‘s and Tompkins‘ vocal parts convincingly enough. Plus, the title track of their latest studio album features so many vocal layers that it would have called for an army of vocalists.
As a special treat, Raphael Weinroth-Browne joined the band for the last few songs – and to a resonant effect, I would like to add. Finally, the evening was brought to a haunting close by the song that had started it all, according to the band’s guitarist Jamie Van Dyck – “The Closest I’ve Come” from the band’s 2015 debut album “A Dream in Static.” It was nothing short of a mind-melting closure for a haunting evening. Of course, I might be slightly biased here since I’m an incurable sucker for both prog and post-rock, but I’ve noticed that there seems to be something of a consensus about EARTHSIDE‘s peerless knack for mixing these two ingredients in the same sonic bowl with style. I’m pretty sure this show will remain one of those live experiences that I will still cherish in the nursing home, reminiscing to everyone, “You shoulda been there, you ol’ bastards! It sure was a blast!”
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Earthside setlist
- Frozen Heart ~ Burning World
- A Dying Star
- We Who Lament
- A Dream in Static
- Watching the Earth Sink
- All We Knew and Ever Loved (with Raphael Weinroth-Browne)
- Let the Truth Speak (with Raphael Weinroth-Browne)
The Closest I’ve Come (with Raphael Weinroth-Browne)
