Despite Ukrainian progressive metal powerhouse JINJER being hugely popular in Finland—and regularly drawing large crowds at festivals like Tuska Festival—the band had somehow never played their own headlining show in the country. All the more reason to finally change that. On February 24th, 2026, the band arrived at Kulttuuritalo in Helsinki to prove exactly why they had deserved a proper headline slot here all along.
The evening kicked off with the recently reunited Dutch progressive metal outfit TEXTURES. Having previously caught them at Graspop Metal Meeting a few years back, we were excited to see them again—and they certainly didn’t disappoint. In fact, it almost felt like they were too big for a support slot, as a large number of fans had already gathered early to catch their set. The crowd response and the band’s energy made it clear that many people were there specifically for them. We were excited to hear they will already return to Finland at Ankea Festival during summer.
Next up were rising progressive metal act UNPROCESSED, who had recently released their album Angel. Blending technical prog elements with catchy pop melodies, the band brought a fresh dynamic to the lineup. Their songs translated extremely well live, and from a sound perspective they arguably had the most balanced mix of the entire evening, making their performance particularly enjoyable.
Finally, it was time for the main event: JINJER. The band delivered a powerful performance accompanied by an impressive production setup, including a large projection screen displaying striking animations behind them. Aside from that visual element, however, the show remained quite minimalistic. The band moved quickly from song to song with very little on-stage banter, which in some ways made the set feel shorter than it actually was. A bit more crowd interaction might have added an extra dimension to the experience.
Musically, the set leaned heavily on newer material, but of course fan favorites like “Pisces” were not left out. In the end, it was a strong performance and a long-overdue headlining debut for JINJER in Finland. Check our photo gallery here…
Textures
Unprocessed
Jinjer
Photos by Laureline Tilkin
