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Finnish Metal Expo 2011 - Day 2 - 2/19/2011 - Kaapelitehdas - Helsinki

Next morning was way better. Turmion Kätilöt woke up the hangover audience around 4pm. Everyone seemed to be a little tired, but the Kätilöt were not bothered by that. Every ass on stage was shaking like always. Nothing was wrong with the sounds, everything was clear and that allowed all of us to enjoy Finland’s own disco satans. The performance was flawless with its ever so perverted and humorous features. I have always been fond of the way this band handles the audience. TK is very much an interactive band, more than the average metal bands. This of course brings the band closer to their fans, that had filled the venue once again. The setlist was full of all-time favorites, and the band’s last song was their mega-hit, ”Teurastaja” (The Butcher). It’s always a pleasure to watch a gig that is played with such comfort, experience and dark sarcasm!

Less humour was on the table when Corroded from Sweden was playing. These guys were dead serious, but the rock attitude was definitely there. The singer was a little too Hetfield-ish to me, not sure if it was the idea or not. The second song was a slow, weeping grumble. It wasn’t the best choice for a second song since there was already just ten people in the audience, and during this song they started to leave. I was already worried: was this going to be the flop of the year? How wrong I was! The playing got better quite soon and the balls were there again, and also the audience started to come back. More of this, less of that moaning, boys!

Next up was The Man-Eating Tree, with their interesting stage arrangement. The synth girl was sitting, which I guess it makes her more of a pianist. This band is known for its ”itotallyhatemyselfsomuch” sort of sounds, and it offered to the listeners just what they were expecting. There were at least four girls crying in the front row! I liked the simplicity of everything. The strong tempo, those melancholic melodies and the stories their music tells could make this one a future classic. TMET is one of those bands that I think it sounds better live than on cd. The sounds are thicker and more alive on live gigs, you don’t get the same impression on a record. So don’t just sit there listening to their album, go to see them!

The last one for me was Battle Beast. A band that won the Metal Battle in Wacken Open Air 2010. And no wonder! At first I was skeptical, I just saw a little furry woman on the stage, and being an anti-80’s fan I was already pissed off. Luckily I stood there for a little longer and the band started playing. The show was amazing from the start! I couldn’t believe my ears when this woman opened her mouth! She’s the new Blackie Lawless, I tell you! I don’t know how she does it, but she’s good. Qualified rock metal! This band will take care of our children’s music taste.

Kvelertak is a strange band. They combine rock, punk, metal and lyrics in Norwegian about Norse folk stories. What is stranger is the fact that less than a year after their debut record came out, they’re already playing to a huge crowd in Finland. Of course, the band plays massively catchy music, and it’s practically impossible to see their gig without dancing, moshing and all-out rioting along to them. That kinda helps.
The sounds were kinda off again, a lot of the guitar leads were lost in the muddled soundscape, making the band look kinda comical with their three guitarists. The performance was furious, the guitarists were jumping and running all around and the vocalist gave it his absolute all.
It was one of the best gigs of FME definitely, except for the end. Suddenly, the players just dropped their instruments while they were still on and just walked off the stage. People of course expected more, since they had still over twenty minutes of play time left reserved for them. But there was nothing more. The feedback was allowed to run for five minutes until a pissed off stage manager came and turned the amps off. The worst anti-climax I’ve ever seen after such a great gig. It kinda ruined the rush that their playing had caused. No matter if you’re trying to be punk or whatever, this is not how you’re supposed to treat your fans. A huge minus to an otherwise superb gig.

(by Markus Karppinen)

Finally the long awaited moment, highlight of this whole 2011 edition of the FME, comes when Heta Hyttinen announces from the stage the arrival of a German tank called Accept, which took renewed shape with the addition of the new singer Mark Tornillo. And it’s from the new album that the bands start spreading “Teutonic Terror” among the crowd, going crazy on the moves of Wolf Hoffmann and excited to see again this new Accept after the show of last May inside an almost-sold-out Virgin Oil.
One thing that always impressed me is the “electricity” and the charge that this band can create, really connecting with the audience as they all seem to have great fun both on and off stage! This evening is no less, and you can really feel it when it comes to classics such as “Restless And Wild”, “Metal Heart”, “Neon Nights”... like the band and the fans could be united as one, yelling and singing the choruses together.
I might sound like an old grumpy man now, but sometimes the sound was maybe a bit too loud. Nothing disturbing though, since the show has been enjoyable from the beginning to the end. And all the attention of the nearly 1000 people in front of the stage was for Tornillo and company when in Kaapelitehdas you could hear the first notes of “Princess Of The Dawn”.
As expected the encore provides pieces of pure “awesome-ness” with “Fast As A Shark” and the final “Balls To The Wall”, what you don’t expect, is that “Pandemic” in between, but also the new material needs space, right?
Now what I’m wondering is, without any offense, if our little big Udo Dirkschneider isn’t maybe biting his nails to see all the success of this Accept reunion. Sure without the blonde German singer it’s not as the original, but what the hell guys, it’s still one hour and a half of exceptionally well-performed pure fuckin’ Heavy Metal!!!
On a last note, a special acknowledgment to Wolf and Peter for their ability to throw their guitar picks as far as to reach the drinking area, and hit some poor guy directly in the forehead. That’s impressive!

(by Marco Manzi)

Setlist Accept:
01) Teutonic Terror
02) Bucket Full Of Hate
03) Starlight
04) Breaker
05) New World Comin’
06) Restless And Wild
07) Son Of A Bitch
08) Metal Heart
09) Neon Nights
10) Bulletproof
11) The Abyss
12) Aiming High
13) Princess Of The Dawn
14) Up To The Limit
15) Burning
--------------------------
16) Fast As A Shark
17) Pandemic
18) Balls To The Wall

I had really high expectations from what I’ve heard about Ghost, both on cd, and about their live shows. I didn’t get disappointed even the slighest bit. It was amazing! For me one of the best gigs of the whole festival, that’s for sure.
This mysterious band which merge Black metal with psychedelic rock has a show in the show just to see the scene costumes of its members: a ghost-like cardinal the singer, and hooded grim-reapers the others.
Their only record is very well represented in todays set, which starts after a long intro, with “Con Clavi Con Dio”, followed by the song about the famous countess Bathory, “Elizabeth”. The show is really involving for the audience, which unfortunately is not even comparable in numbers with that of Accept. After all is the last band of the festival, but it’s a great ending!
The problem is that it’s really way too short, but the band itself doesn’t have many arrows to shoot with a single album. Still “Satan Prayer” and “Prime Mover” are incredibly good to hear in this half-dark atmosphere of an emptying Kaapelitehdas. And when the singer announces that “the moment has come for the last ritual”, put aside the feeling of a premature ending, what’s left is to enjoy this last pearl of the night, and leave completely satisfied towards one of the many afterparties. See you again in Tuska, Ghost!

(by Marco Manzi)

Setlist Ghost:
01) Con Clavi Con Dio
02) Elizabeth
03) Death Knell
04) Satan Prayer
05) Stand By Him
06) Prime Mover
07) Ritual


Photos:
Ghost


Accept


Kvelertak


Battle Beast


The Man-Eating Tree


Corroded


Turmion Kätilöt


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