For a band that used to be on Svart Records, it’s somewhat bizarre that GREEN LUNG had never been playing in Finland before this Heathen Neverland tour promoting their third record, “This Heathen Land,” (now out via Nuclear Blast). It was also interesting to choose to bring along the American UNTO OTHERS (formerly known as IDLE HANDS), which is a pretty unusual option for a gig where one would expect mostly a stoner/doom crowd. In this sense, certainly, SATAN’S SATYRS were more aligned with the main band, but the variety in the end was also part of the evening’s success. The evening was held at Korjaamo on February 11th, 2025. We hadn’t been to Korjaamo in quite some time, but not much has changed there, which ended up being fairly—but not entirely—full for the occasion.
The opening band had a very short set barely reaching half an hour, which is a bit of a pity when you think they came all the way from the US (like of course UNTO OTHERS). SATAN’S SATYRS are a familiar name to us as they have been occasionally popping by these parts before, never quite leaving enough of a mark for a headlining tour. The band—which counts their frontman as the only original member after a full renewal in 2023—has some nice grooves and the guys do their job well, enjoying themselves and warming up the audience in the process, despite the short time at their disposal. You’d think they would mostly focus on their latest record, “After Dark,” from last summer, but instead, they offer more of an overview of their earlier material as well.
UNTO OTHERS weren’t new to us either, given their opening spot a few years back on tour with ARCH ENEMY, BEHEMOTH, and CARCASS, which greatly helped them to reach the popularity they seem to enjoy even among the local audience. The beauty of having some different genres mixed up is that some people actually came to this gig mainly to see their show, and of course, watch the other bands while at it. The young band from Portland mixes American, Swedish, and Finnish Gothic rock influences into a formula that seems to strike a chord with many fans of the genre. They also had a much longer playtime than the previous guys, allowing them to visit most if not all of the highlights of their discography as well as a cover of the RAMONES‘ “Pet Sematary.” The dynamic performance of the guitarist Sebastian Silva was in stark contrast with the almost statuesque presence of vocalist Gabriel Franco with his trademark sunglasses, which might be part of the charm for the fans attentively focused on the show.
At this point, we were, however, getting more and more fired up for the headliners, who captured our attention with a brilliant show at Roadburn a couple of years ago and have been on our radar since. It took a bit to set up the stage with all the band’s props, including a horse skull with floral decorations, a fluffy ball of goat-like fur with long horns decorating a drum, and a big horned head in front of the backdrop that eventually raised up higher to face the audience. A bit kitsch—but in a good way—and of course, all rigorously with lit eyes.
When finally GREEN LUNG began their show with “Woodland Rites,” it became immediately clear that this would have been a good night: the vocalist Tom Templar was in great shape singing his lungs out from one side to the other of the stage, always at close contact with the crowd. Well supported by the two guitars and with the drummer and organist almost fading in the background, it was not until the fourth song, “The Forest Church,” that the guys from Albion introduced their latest effort to tonight’s audience, while the atmosphere became increasingly sweaty. With “Maxine (Witch Queen)” giving perhaps the most GHOST-like vibes of all (after all the singer’s voice has an uncanny resemblance to the various personas of Tobias Forge), we went into the encore singing along to “Graveyard Sun.” After a short break, the band came back to play four more songs, including “Old Gods,” “Let The Devil In,” and concluding the intense show with the more recent “One For Sorrow.” It was very easy to be dragged into the mood to sing along during the performance, and quite a few people were dancing to the music of the British occult stoner/doom rockers.
After the gig, the band also spent some time at the merch desk chatting with the fans and signing their items, even though the venue staff eventually asked everyone to leave, being a Tuesday and all. It was still very nice of the band to do so. When you leave the hall with a smile on your face still humming the songs from earlier, you can certainly say the evening was a success. Check our photo gallery here…
SATAN’S SATYRS
UNTO OTHERS
GREEN LUNG
Photos by Marco Manzi
