The spooky season means one thing in the heavy music scene: Hellsinki Industrial Festival is back. This annual event brings together industrial music enthusiasts for a cutting-edge lineup featuring avant-garde acts and genre pioneers. This year’s festival was held on November 3rd and 4th, 2023, at Äaniwalli, with a pre-club on November 2nd, 2023.
The first day of the Helsinki Industrial Festival felt quite manageable, with some free time between the bands. However, the second day seemed more rushed, especially towards the evening’s final performances.
Once again, I encountered a bit of difficulty following the schedule, and it resulted in me missing the first show of the evening, DEVIL-M. Accustomed to the first performance typically starting at the small stage, I mistakenly checked the timing for SUZI SABOTAGE and arrived early for her show. However, this time, the first performance had already begun at the main stage. Despite missing most of their set, I managed to catch DEVIL-M’s last song in its entirety. Unfortunately, I couldn’t snap any photos as it took me a while to unpack at the cloakroom. Nevertheless, their performance piqued my interest, considering I had spent numerous hours listening to them throughout the week. I definitely plan to catch another show from them when the opportunity arises. I sincerely hope that next year there will be a schedule posted in a flyer format, as is common with most festivals. This would make it much easier to keep track of everything, as opposed to constantly navigating a Facebook event page.
SUZI SABOTAGE provided a solid Gothic kickoff for the small stage, incorporating a slightly more balladic touch than the other high-energy performers who later graced the stage. Personally, I wouldn’t mind having more slow-paced music like hers interspersed between the constant “tykitys,” as we say in Finland. The first show I managed to catch on the main stage was TYSKE LYDDER from Germany, a completely new name to me despite the band being as old as I am. In addition to having the most hilarious merch, they truly infused the audience with positive energy. Next up was another German act, INTENT: OUTTAKE. Although a very familiar artist to me, this was my first time experiencing their live performance.
The next band came all the way from the USA. FGFC820 is well-known for their military themes in songs, merch, and cover art, and their stage performance wasn’t any different, complete with added salutes. The following energetic duo, MOAAN EXIS, took me by surprise. The vocalist took enough airtime to compete with a The Simpsons episode and utilized every inch of the stage available. With such an intense show, it was challenging to even keep him in focus while attempting to snap photos. This kind of energy on stage is truly enjoyable, and they definitely deserve a spot on the main stage next time!
Hitting the main stage next was one of the most well-known names in the genre, GRENDEL. Despite attending numerous shows and festivals over the past decade, I had somehow managed to miss GRENDEL‘s live performances entirely, so it was a real treat to check this one off the bucket list. I thoroughly enjoyed JD Tucker‘s stage charisma and how engaging he was.
The final act on the small stage was HEARTLAY from France. Delivering a solid show with a mix of alternative metal vibes, they provided an excellent conclusion to the live performances on the small stage. Closing Hellsinki Industrial Festival was ROTERSAND, another well-known name for anyone familiar with the genre, and this recognition was palpable in the tightly packed audience. Unfortunately, I realized after the show that my memory card had been corrupted, resulting in the loss of all the photos from their amazing performance. This glitch seemed to affect the entire camera operating system, preventing me from capturing any more shots of the Club Infektio crew entertaining us for the rest of the night. Concerned about the possibility of my camera being damaged, I decided to head home and attempt to fix it. Luckily, a simple reboot of the operating system resolved the issue, though I still couldn’t recover any shots from the ROTERSAND show.
All-in-all, this year’s Hellsinki Industrial Festival was a success. I eagerly anticipate next year’s festival and have certainly discovered a few new bands to add to my playlist!
Suzi Sabotage
Tyske Ludder
Intent: Outtake
FGFC820
Moaan Exis
Heartlay
Grendel
Photos by Richard Forsman
