Highlights and insights, my time at Hellsinki Metal Festival 2026

Photos by Pasi Eriksson

Article by Mikko Toukola

On Friday I made my entry after work and landed at Wormwood concert in the Ice Hall. Their melody construction seemed to have a lot of personality as did the combination of crossover influences; the soundscapes, obviously rooted to black metal bounced around the darkened core at times colliding with genre bending musical elements. When the sound morphed into a dub reggae pulse engulfed by the spirit of a unending spruce forest instead of sunny beaches I grinned the most. The band performed well though not being able to rehearsal for the last couple of months or so – apparently rats had infested their rehearsal space and the combat for the room was real and ongoing – as mentioned by the vocalist after one of the many so- called “rock n roll endings”. They seemed to love doing those. I mean, why not – they are entertaining. The set was concluded with a massive, epic trip of track. I saluted and moved forward.

The festival area was organized in such order that everybody would come and go through the Ice Hall’s exhibition and bazaar hallways to the open-air festival area and back. I Fast tracked through the area – lots of interesting stuff but now is not the time. Up on my radar was Carcass, who would start on the main stage right after me getting a cold one as my companion to the show.

The sun was blasting from a clear sky and in combination with the ultra-heavy delivery of the band felt like being in sauna – Carcass obviously being the stove heated glowing hot.

Regardless of the quite early play time, being at four o’clock, the front of the stage was already oozing people and getting close to the stage wasn’t too easy. I’ve never peered too much into Carcass’ discography but during their set had a realisation of how big of an impact they’ve had on so many bands that came after – directly or indirectly. Some more recent artists dear to me, too. Anyway, chunky and mean riffs (check!) followed each other and the bands groove kept deepening my grunt face every turn. It required discipline not to spill the beer. Their set was solid mayhem straight from the get-go to the very end.

Straight after came Ikinä and the Choir of Hecate – and boy, were they epic. This unique lineup delivered crushing developments and dissonant soundscapes. They represented more

modern approach with down tuned guitars and powerful, catchy choruses loaded with emotion. The band took the podium to talk about their values; solidarity, unity and equity. Specifically important topic risen was the violence towards women, which happens to run unfortunately deep in Finnish households; Finland being at the top of the European statistics. Amid the show a moment of silence was held for those lost their lives being the victims such visceral behaviour. I appreciated the gesture and rising important issues altogether.

The Choir featured the band every now and then, Finnish folk instrument Kantele had a moment in the spotlight, and a drum solo was in the trick bag as well. Lots of moving parts kept the show rolling almost in a theatrical manner. A song I recognized made an appearance; a pop rock group PMMP’s Lautturi got brilliantly reframed. Irony lies in the fact mainstream radio music is the dark side of the moon for me regarding to the vast musical sphere existing.

So basically, my routine was to see a show, meet our photographer Pasi for sitrep, get a new cold one and write some notes in between everything. Surprisingly often my writing session was interrupted by a friend spotting me from afar and coming over for a chat and I might tag along to roam the area. Beyond that the loop was almost unbreakable, so I’ll keep mainly at the band memos.

Bloodbath was a beast of a band. Their raw and gritty death metal was driven to the extreme and delivered with prestige and power. Breakneck arrangements and very stylish, dynamic compositions. All melodies and harmonies were suffocatingly evil, grooves tight as spandex, but the bands heaviness bloomed the most during the slower segments. I was a little bummed out about a dude bouncing all over the stage, many times, with a smartphone recording content for whatever social media channel, I dare to presume. Moshing my way to ignorance was the solution and I got on with it fast. Anyway, Bloodbaths brutality was elevating, and I was happy to receive my share.

Time to eat. To my pleasure I discovered a van serving Philadelphia Cheesesteak in the area. One of my favourite treats and hard to come by in Helsinki. I enjoyed the delphicious meal at the grandstands of the Ice Hall, which were accessible during the whole time providing a sort of haven to sit down in the dark for a while.

A pro wrestling session was about to begin and for the first time I got to experience this peculiar clash of art and sports live. Great character intros, massive drama, serious damage dealt on both sides, crowd cheering for more. Now that you imagine a full stadium, downscale tenfold and you’ll have a pretty good image of what’s going on. I found it entertaining as the showmanship was taken as far as it should be but unfortunately didn’t happen to catch any of the other matches held during the weekend.

Blackbraid was full of energy and really threw themselves at it during the gig. Name of the game was black metal with capital B made of sticks, which was delivered with the force of a hurricane. The mosh pit didn’t lack action either. Their compositions displayed great awareness of the traditions within the genre; influence-wise pearls got picked and then infused with indigenous music tradition, resulting in epic and majestic soundscapes. Though the indigenous influence seemed to play a lesser part, maybe some old spell took place in Helsinki – at least coincidentally during their show, the sky got shrouded in clouds and the tropical pressure suddenly relieved. First time during the day I felt a little cold and over time the weather went back to what it was.

I took a stroll outside the area and walked past football fields next to the Ice Hall. Some young team got to practice while Black Label Society playing live soundtrack to carry their game. I reckon the band would’ve been happy about the fact. Back at the area came realisation of me being conversed; I’ve “always” thought BLS was somehow overkill and gave me the ick, so to speak, but seeing them a couple of times has gradually turned me into a fan. More is more, everything to the max, virtuosity displayed on all instruments while putting so much heart and soul into the delivery. Their showmanship and authenticity were from another world and got me thinking how rare it seems these days; everybody being so cool and all. Couple of “Hey I know this song” -moments along the road, maybe next time I’ll know them all. BLS was impressive. Extra kudos for superb bassism on the four-string.

Cryptopsy had the aura of pissed off hornets after immediate vengeance against whole humanity. Very technically demanding tracks, manic AND dissociative structures – pure chaos – just the way I like it when seeking the ultimate release. Probably the most severe beatdown I’ll encounter during the festival, it’ll be hard to top this. The vocalist reminded me of some wicked conductor as his mic free hand had a life of its own. The intro tapes were brilliant, my favourite being the first bars of Beethoven’s Moonlight sonata leading into groove (not) so vile it’ll give you nightmares. Special mention about the bassism, holy smokes.

Mawiza was easily the outfit with most personality. Their industrial-laden, progressive tracks were transcendental and the machine precise beats kept me hypnotized. The songs felt more like stories, incorporating vocals sung in their native language, Mapuzungun – which sounded amazing. Transforms from segment to another were creative and felt fluent. Immense aggression, powerful chants. traditional instruments, noise like horrors of war – which was a subject risen in speeches between songs.

Mawiza has travelled to perform for us as far from Wallmapu, sacred lands of South America, home of the Mapuche Nation. The band aims to preserve ancestral roots, rescue indigenous moral values and to promote biodiversity conservation, guided by the indigenous worldview

and struggle, according to their Bandcamp page. Those themes came across live well. They have endured the oppression long and their bravery as underdogs felt moving and inspiring.

Their spiritual presence was also on another level; the band felt very connected and acted as a unit. Togetherness was almost touchable. High vibrations. Oh, and there was a cover of Metallica’s Battery. What more to add.

I overheard someone saying, “all alcohol is beer to me”, which kind of translated into the ignited, excited mood in the area. I kind of got onto same wavelength too, though having just a couple cold one’s along the day.

Accept was all caps. Literally, the notes were:

“START THE PAAAARTYYYYY
HEAVY METALLLLL
TICKS LIKE A SINGER
FLAMES AND LIGHTS AND THEN SOME PANDEMIC!!!!!”

You’ll get the idea.

Carpenter Brut continued all caps saga:

“SUPERCHARGE THE PARTYY NOWWWW AUDIOVISUAL EXPERIENCE ELECTRONIC MUSIC
PEOPLE PLAYING INSTRUMENTS

NODJ
NECK BROKEN ON THE DANCEFLOOR SENSE OF TIME AND SPACE: DELETED MANIAC COVER
THANKS AND GOODNIGHT”

New dawn, new day. Time to enter HMF.

My Saturday kicked off with the final moments Numento’s performance. Their vocalist structs me as charismatic and talented; a powerful and diverse lead for a fitting band. Dramatically melodic yet crushingly heavy compositions were delivered as pyrotechnics blasted more heat on already scorching day. Talk about a warmup!

Iotunn brought into life a fascinating combination of post-, power- and black metal. Yet another talented and versatile vocalist with technically full-on capable band. Clean segments

felt as serene as captivating and distorted parts were full of grit and energy. Iotunn doesn’t seem to do short songs; when a new track starts, you’re set on for a journey. Regardless of the meandering song structures the progressions felt the most natural and easily approachable. If I had to pick one universal characteristic to resemble Iotunn’s music, it would be bravery.

MisÞyrming hit the spot. Their black metal was ridden with overwhelming rage and aggression and was delivered with diversity. Scale varied from groovy and fast, darkened expression to slower, depressing but sublime segments into nightmarish warcries – the creativity was over the top, these guys are carving their own path and having a vision of their own. After an hour of total devastation I still craved for more and was delighted about the fact there would be more this groups intensity served soon enough.

Time to eat. This time I decided to exit the area and enjoy an Athletics Jumbo Snitchel at the trustworthy brewery and restaurant Viisi penniä, located very close by the festival area. Short review is 5/5, the food melt into my mouth. While waiting for the meal to be served I wanted to go through the memo, searched for my phone (sorry to all you romantics who thought I’d have a pen and a paper) to figure out it’s lost. Arrangements would require staying out of the festival for a while longer, but I decided to briefly check out Paradise Lost before embarking on the hassle mission. Total strangers to me, but still I found myself feeling eerie nostalgia – perhaps some teenage crush has predisposed me unknowingly back how knows when?

To return to Triptykon plays Celtic Frost gig was supreme. Their weirdness was fascinating; totally liberated coming to compositions and arrangements, the vision would unfold piece by piece. The approach seemed spiritually alike Pentagram’s Bobby Liebling’s processes, and I’d love to see them collaborate in the future. Triptykon appeared a heartwarming personality, who didn’t take anything for granted and performed with great focus on the duty.

Especially their doom metal tracks hit hard and heavy (from the Monotheist album, according to my better-informed friend) but I learned regardless of which branch of metal was reached the band sounded unerringly like Celtic Frost. Extra kudos for maintaining such groove during such slow tempos and for the beautiful vocal harmonies provided by the bassist.

MisÞyrming and Nergal playing Behemoth’s Sventevith had, quite obviously, the most coherent set of the weekend – in which I indulged with eyes closed, being static as close to the stage as possible without getting sucked into the mosh pit enlarging like a black hole. At this point I’m sure everything MisÞyrming touches turns into gold and Nergal fronted the group accordingly. What a trip.

When transferring to see Opeth, I came by lost and found stall. Guess what – ye olde telephone had been found and returned unharmed to the kiosk now returned to the not very loving owner. Lucky thing! Anyway, at least for I it requires a certain state of mind to be fully

enjoy Opeth, and I had little difficulties tuning in. Supposedly I wasn’t the only one, I overheard someone saying “this is sexy as an eBook” which I found somehow abstract yet very profound expression. Nonetheless, even though my back hurt like it left home by themselves, the band had the better of me – I zoned out into the projections running on the screens and got immersed in their sprawling sonic net. A few gags here and there in between tracks brought me back to Earth to have a laugh. I saw them previously in Tuska Metal Festival in 2024 and back then their set was entirely based on the albums with growling vocals, discarding the clean and proggy side. This year we had both in balance, creating very dynamic compilation of tunes. After seaweeding through most of the set, I decided to drop the second phone quickly back home and make the final comeback to witness The Kovenant. I wanted the chance to rave freely.

Well, I didn’t read the memo. No entry curfew set at midnight, when Covenant would start, was made familiar to me at the gates a quarter past. Premature ending to the brilliant Hellsinki Metal Festival on my behalf, but I can’t complain – two days’ worth of top tier metal acts were more than enough to leave one battered but satisfied.

While littering the memo Bloodbath, Cryptopsy, Celtic Frost, Mawiza and MisÞyrming blasted loud in the stereos.

Day One :

Accept :

Black Label Society :

Blackbraid :

Bloodbath :

Carcass :

Cryptopsy :

Horizon Ignited :

Ikinä & Choir Of Hecate :

Mawiza :

Unleashed :

Day Two :

Assemble The Chariots :

Cyan Kicks :

Eluveitie :

Horna :

Lotunn :

Kalmah :

Misþyrming :

Numento :

Opeth :

Triptykon performs Celtic Frost :