Not all festivals cost huge amounts to attend or feature world-famous artists. Puska is an example of living urban culture: a DIY-based metal music festival held yearly at the top of the Taivaskallio hill in Helsinki. The artists are Finnish metal bands operating in the underground scene, there is one stage, and people bring their own beers. Admission is free, and everything is done on a volunteer basis. They sell a yearly shirt to fund some of the costs, but at the end of the day, it’s all done for the love of music, not money.
Naturally, we wanted to head out and see what Puska had to offer on a beautiful summer Saturday, July 13th. Up on the hill of Taivaskallio, people started gathering in little groups scattered here and there as the first band, BULLET TRAUMA, opened their show. And they opened with a kick to the teeth. Their aggressive thrash approach had quite a Sepulturesque vibe. During the show, the audience was slowly packing up the hill, and by the end, BULLET TRAUMA had a mosh pit worked up in front of the stage. The festival was off to a good start.
Next up was AQUA-WRECK, who offered a breather after the previous show. Their progressive rock swayed naturally and was nicely in tune with the sunny summer day. The band played skillfully, with the classic combination of guitar, bass, drums, and vocals, backed up with keyboards, horns, and percussion.
No more relaxing then, as OMNIVORTEX took the stage as the third band. Quite a lot of people seemed to have timed their arrival for the death metal band’s show, and suddenly the stage front was crowded, with the audience growing to its full—maybe around a thousand people scattered on the hilltop. OMNIVORTEX gave them what they wanted: a relentless, raging show with their quirky live appearance. Mosh pits became the standard, and the first crowd surfers started to test their ways.
Next up was FRIGID WINTER, a three-woman lineup playing black metal. The standout here was definitely the vocals delivered by vocalist-guitarist Megantereon, which worked really nicely. Otherwise, they could benefit from a slightly more lively stage act and a few more distinctive musical ideas, but there are some good building blocks here.
The evening went on, and it was time for MYLLY, a melodic punk band, to take the stage. With singalong choruses and cheerful bouncing energy, they found their fans in the audience. There were a lot of smiling faces during this show.
Then it was time for MØRKET, for us the main treat of the day. The band delivers a delicious mix of extreme metal and HC-punk tones in mixed Finnish-Swedish. They had the audience wrapped around their finger in a second, and after inviting people to the stage for stage diving, there was no hesitation. It was a show that leaves your body stinging with electric energy, like good metal can do.
The evening was then coming to an end, and it was time for GREEN KING to take the stage as the last artist. Since the afterparty at Ääniwalli was about to start, we only had time to witness the first 15-20 minutes of the show. During that time, GREEN KING delivered as expected: a great old-school heavy metal concert to end the day.
If there ever was a good way to spend a summer day, Puska definitely is it! Check our photos below…
Bullet Trauma
Aqua-Wreck
Omnivortex
Frigid Winter
Mylly
Mørket
Green King
Photos by Arto Alho
