GALLERY: 16.5.2026 Steelfest – DAY 3 @ Villatehdas, Hyvinkää

August 1, 2026

The last day of Steelfest began under the sunlight of the early afternoon with an old acquaintance from Sweden: DEMONICAL. In a renewed line-up, including a new singer and drummer compared to the last time we saw them, they got to sweat it out on the outdoor stage in front of the early crowd of the day. The band managed to kick-start the day by putting everyone in a good mood with their performance, which included a cover of RAMONES‘s “Somebody Put Something in My Drink”.

As FAMULUS AB SATANAS could not perform at the festival, they were replaced by NOCTURNAL SORCERY, which isn’t new to this festival, having performed here three years earlier. Like their Swedish colleagues, these black metallers also had some line-up changes since, but nonetheless played an honest show, diligently fulfilling their role and entertaining the audience in their short set.
Things really got going once MORGAL, confusingly also in a partially renewed formation, took the stage on the outside. Their music was impactful and aggressive as ever, as they had the opportunity to showcase some material from their latest effort, “The Seventh Circle”.

Here, one could see from the excitement of the fans that the band still has it; in fact, with one extra guitarist, it felt even more energetic.
BEZMIR – one of the projects created by the multitalented Severoth – set a very different tone with its DARKSPACE-y atmospheric black metal, the whole band covered in capes and very minimal lighting, creating the mood for the performance. One of the guitarists was wearing two small LEDs under the hood that gave him an alien-like vibe, looking in the darkness like eyes on both sides of his head. Definitely more introspective music than the previous band – speaking about void and “cosmic stuff” – the live went perfectly in unison with their offer, and by now, here at this festival, most should be quite familiar with Severoth‘s skills when it comes to this sort of gloomy, spacey, cold atmosphere.

We saw CIRITH GORGOR only a few months earlier in Howls of Winter. While here the Dutch act had a much earlier showtime, with a mid-afternoon slot in the sunlight of the outdoor stage, they offered a very similar set. The band performed for a good part of the show once again with two vocalists on stage, when Nimroth came on stage wearing his corpse paint heavily reminiscent of Satanic Warmaster in the older days. Their show was a brief return to a more aggressive sound, as fans of MARDUK and ENTHRONED, with a sprinkle of traditional Norwegian black metal, might have accounted for the biggest part of their audience.

Probably the band with the longest name in this edition, IMPERIAL CRYSTALLINE ENTOMBMENT (or ICE – no, not THAT ICE…) came from Maryland, US, to bring colder, icy winds. The band definitely stays true to their theme, and in that sense, it might have been a good fit to have them play on the same day as SEVEROTH, rather than BEZMIR (surely there are a lot of other different factors affecting the running order, as we know well). All dressed in white and with the singer waving a staff as if he were some kind of ice wizard (or Gandalf the White), they further leaned onto Scandinavian influences in their music, spacing evenly during the gig through their discography. Another similarity with the SEVEROTH set was the use of the foam machine to create a snow/blizzard effect, although, unlike before, today that was not deemed dangerous for the people standing in front of the stage.

When we first came to know TORTURE KILLER many, many moons ago (back then, Pessi Haltsonen still hadn’t joined the band), it was as if they hadn’t yet found their right dimension. There were quite a lot of similar death metal acts in Finland in those years, but the fact that they managed to stand the passing of time, and even got better at it, is a testament to how these guys have become a name to reckon with. A whole lot of it is thanks to their devastating intensity live, considering they haven’t really been very prolific in releasing new material: one EP aside, we need to go back 13 years for their last full-length. Regardless of this, it’s always entertaining to see them play these days, and they are one of those bands you can truly count on when it comes to setting the crowd on fire in Finland with their brutal, crushing music.

Today’s back and forth from inside to outside and viceversa had now brought us face to face with IFERNACH, another return for Steelfest, having performed here only two years before. This time, however, the show was much different, featuring SARKRISTA‘s Revenant as a second vocalist, and a setlist divided between IFERNACH and MOOSEGUT (another project by the mainman Finian Patraic). To top it off, a cover of WINDIR‘s “Journey to the End”, which is always cool to hear in any shape and form. The two-vocalist dynamics here worked nicely, considering both the imposing stage presence of Revenant and the really good display shown today by Patraic, and the rest of the band. Admittedly, this was a much more interesting show than we had originally expected before stepping in front of the stage!

From North to South America, we met outside the cult Colombian trio ERZEBET, the “King Diamond-ish” look of the vocalist/guitarist – and founding member – Nosferatu Dark Moon added some folklore to the already eclectic show, in true Latin American spirit. Raw and savage black metal for the entertainment of an already fired-up crowd, this was another rare glimpse into the South American scene of old, that we would not have otherwise witnessed easily if it weren’t for Steelfest.

It took SHAPE OF DESPAIR to slow things down a bit, letting people enjoy some good old Finnish funeral doom (not something you normally see much here, except for this same band). Being able to reset your heartbeat after running at full speed was quite nice, and sitting down to enjoy their music in the background was perhaps one of the most chilled moments for us in the entire festival. After all, especially the previous two days, had seen some really intense acts on both stages, so taking things slow for a while was extremely welcome (not to mention the undisputed quality of their music).

Heading towards the end of the day, and of this edition as a whole, it was WARMOON LORD‘s turn. This time playing outside (probably a first from all previous appearances at Steelfest), what starts to feel a bit like the house band over the past few editions, actually proved why that is the case and why it doesn’t get old or boring, all the contrary. Certainly, adding Necrosis as a live vocalist – as we have already had many occasions to witness – proved to be a really good choice for the Lahti-based band, which now focused their set on the latest “Sacrosanct Demonopathy”. The change of stage compared to their previous shows at this festival didn’t impact the atmosphere; if anything, they seem to have performed in front of an even bigger crowd, and it suited them really well.

A few minutes before the end of their show, it was announced that LIFELOVER, who was set to play just right after them inside, would not perform tonight. This came as a confusing announcement, and so close to the actual showtime, that unfortunately, there was nothing the organizers could do about it, other than try to notify the audience on their channels. A lot of people still showed up in front of the stage, where they had ultimately been informed about the cancellation. Surely that was a huge bummer to many, as it looked like quite a lot of people bought a Saturday ticket with the aim of seeing them, and there were plenty of fans with LIFELOVER shirts and hoodies around. To this day, the band has never released a statement about it, and it’s unlikely at this point that they will. So, on the positive side, we actually had time to mingle with the crowd and have a drink without having to run from one end to the other, which was actually quite nice.

Eventually, INQUISITION made everyone forget about all this with yet another great gig, showing why they seem to always be more than welcome to play here. The duo glued the crowd with their eyes and ears towards the stage for the entire duration of their set, and as expected, they didn’t leave anyone disappointed. This iconic black metal duo has shown time and time again why they are so magnetic and their music so appealing to the fans. Tonight they did just that, and we get the feeling that many people were perfectly content with this being their last show of the festival, instead of going back for one more with Attila‘s TORMENTOR.

The Hungarians did exactly what was expected: a setlist full of the band’s classics for the die-hard fans, with their vocalist wearing something resembling a jute bag held by thick ropes. He sure is an interesting frontman, and he knows how to entertain his audience. For example, we would have been really disappointed if there had been no bones or skull involved, and the band as a whole appeared really tight and in good shape. The one downside to the show was the lack of the live guitarist who has been accompanying the band in recent years, but then again, all eyes were focused on their vocalist of MAYHEM fame, and the ears still had their fill with a solid sound and a very good set overall. It was a nice way to send everyone off to their homes until next year.

We stand by our thought that this year’s lineup was incredibly good, already starting from Thursday, which usually is a bit of a slow(er) day for this festival. In fact, the event was almost sold out, to the point that the area sometimes felt really full, at least in comparison to the last few years post-COVID. After all, when a festival has been able to establish itself as such a solid reality for this long, we believe that people inevitably reward the effort, and we hope things will keep going like this for many years to come.