Puska is a DIY-based metal music festival held yearly at the top of Taivaskallio Hill in Helsinki. The festival traditionally arranges an afterparty with some interesting bands as well. This year, the afterparty took place at the Ääniwalli premises on Saturday, July 13th, 2024.
We arrived at Ääniwalli during the latter half of the LUUTARHATONTUT show, as the main event at Taivaskallio and the afterparty had slightly overlapping schedules. When we arrived, LUUTARHATONTUT was already well underway, raging through their punk rock set. Although the audience was quite small at this stage, the band played with good energy and even managed to get some call-and-response from the few people who had already come to Ääniwalli. The band is a well-knit unit playing tightly together, and the political tones in the lyrics ought to resonate with today’s audiences.
Next, it was time to move from politics to the world of fantasy as the stage was taken over by VETTEN ÄPÄRÄT, a folk metal unit. They are already veterans of the metal scene, as the band originated in 2007. They still got it though; the evening showcased a band with a well-thought-out sound and look. The folk side here is not very prominent as there’s not a lot of folk music vibes in it. The melodic metal side, however, works, and the fantasy subjects in the lyrics undoubtedly appeal to the folk metal fanbase.
The third artist of the evening was SONIC POISON. The grindcore/death metal trio released their newest album last year. They play fast and furious, and the band knows their business when it comes to playing. On the other hand, the stage appearance could do with a bit more liveliness and crowd contact. During a short visit on stage by another vocalist, the stage action intensified noticeably.
The last artist of the night was MODEM, a well-hyped synth duo leaning toward the darker, gloomier side of synth music such as NEW ORDER or DEPECHE MODE. Most of the audience seemed to have arrived at the venue for their show, as they quickly pulled the crowd hanging in the yard inside.
Along with the synthesizers, there was an electric guitar on stage. Ville Valavuo handled most of the synths and all the guitar while Tytti Roto took care of part of the synths, played the saxophone, and handled all the vocals. When it comes to stage appearance, Roto is very much the centerpiece of the band. Her mesmerizing dance moves along with the kinky leather-and-chains look are about as cool as a stage act can be. In the green lights of Ääniwalli, they rocked the night to a perfect underground club feeling.
MODEM‘s show was a very nice way to dance the audience into the early morning hours and leave everyone eagerly waiting for Puska to return in the summer of 2025. Check the photos from Puska‘s afterparty below…
Luutarhatontut
Vetten äpärät
Sonic Poison
MODEM
Photos by Arto Alho
