Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Saarihelvetti, the festival set over the beautiful island of Viikinsaari, took place on August 2nd and August 3rd, 2024. This year’s festival brought together metal enthusiasts from across Finland and beyond, offering a blend of atmospheric beauty and relentless heaviness.
The festival kicked off with a powerhouse of a lineup with bands like Finnish melodic death metal squad WARMEN, Italian symphonic death metal outfit FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE. Every year, the festival also adds lots of local talents to the bill with DETSET, HERO DISHONEST, RYTMIHÄIRIÖ, and KIUAS taking the crown on the first day. Unfortunately one of the festival’s highlights, NEKROGOBLIKON, had to cancel its appearance, but Finnish symphonic deathcore act ASSEMBLE THE CHARIOTS, who recently released their new album, “Unyielding Night,” were a suitable last-minute addition to the lineup.
The first day’s highlights were undoubtedly WARMEN‘s appearance, ever since the release of their recent album, “Here For None,” the band has been a staple at the Finnish festival scene. Since the band’s slot is usually longer than the run time of their recent album, they can also include a couple of CHILDREN OF BODOM tracks, as well as their hit cover song, “Somebody’s Watching Me,” which is always a high note to end their set with. While their original material stands on its own and are very strong songs, a lot of people enjoy the band playing some of CHILDREN OF BODOM‘s oeuvre, it usually goes hand in hand with mosh pits, headbanging, and lots of shouting and singing along from the audience, despite the rain. WARMEN has truly been a highlight during the festival summer of 2024 and it was no different at Saarihelvetti.
FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, who were set to release their new album, “Opera,” on August 23rd, were another definite highlight of Saarihelvetti. With much precision, the band was able to play 7 tracks, of which they only included one single, “Pendulum,” but the crowd warmly welcomed it. With much precision and anima, the band played a solid show, proving they’re a staple in the symphonic death metal scene. This definitely was one of the most packed shows of the entire weekend.
Check our photo gallery Saarihelvetti‘s first day including shows of DETSET, RYTMIHÄIRIÖ, HERO DISHONEST, KIUAS, ATLAS, WARMEN, DEATHCHAIN, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, and ASSEMBLE THE CHARIOTS here…
Detset
Rytmihäiriö
Hero Dishonest
Kiuas
Atlas
Warmen
Deathchain
Fleshgod Apocalypse
Assemble The Chariots
Extras
Photos by Sami Hinkkanen (Facebook/Instagram) & Fabiola Chacon (Facebook/Instagram)
