FESTIVAL REPORT: Tuska Festival 2025
After 13 years of regular attendance, Tuska Festival is an established consistent in my life. However, in 2025, I found myself in a situation where two things were true:
I wasn’t particularly interested in the festival lineup.
I was accepted to give a talk at Archipelacon, which takes place the same weekend.
As such, Tuska 2025 was simply not for me this year. Fortunately, there are other people in my life who are just as enthusiastic about the festival as I am, so I gladly deputized them to take over for me! So for this year, may I present to you Metalkoernchen and ScarletMemory Photography! They’re going to do this year’s show-and-tell about Finland’s biggest mainstream heavy metal attraction!
Read about Tuska Festival 2023 here!
Read about Tuska Festival 2024 here!
This years photos were by ScarletMemory Photography! If you’d like to see more, check out them out here!
Hi, my name is Anna AKA Metalkoerchen, and I’m a 29 year old Austrian and metal enthusiast of 18 years. Bear offered me the opportunity to attend Tuska Festival in her stead this year, so how could I say no?!
This year, Tuska took place from June 27th-29th, similar to last year's dates. June in Finland is great, as it’s neither too cold nor too hot — the perfect weather to wear your favorite band hoodie and a matching battle vest. I arrived a day prior, met up with two friends (who were also going to the festival), and decided to exchange my wristband on the same day, since both of them had learned better in the past (spoiler: it is not recommended due to the very lengthy queues).
We headed over to Redi, the mall next to the Kalasatama metro station, which is where the Suvilahti venue is also located. The wristband exchange stations were very easy to find, even for a Tuska newbie like me. There were stickers on the floors and signs on walls guiding visitors out of the metro station to the right spot in the shopping mall. The VIPs and press got their wristbands in another place — my friends had purchased the regular 3-day tickets — but the counters were almost on the opposite side of each other. Neither of us had to wait for more than a few minutes, there were only a few people who had the same idea as us. Thankfully, Redi offers the opportunity to exchange the wristbands not only a day prior to the festival, but almost for the whole week.
There was also a Tuska merchandise shop in the mall where people could buy cups, caps, tote bags, earplugs, hoodies, shirts, and more. I especially liked the rainbow Tuska merch, since the pride parade simultaneously took place in Helsinki on Saturday, and we do love metalheads who are part of or allies of the LGBTQIA+ community and are proud to show it! The prices ranged from 3€ for the cheapest, one-time-use ear plugs, to 59,99€ for a hoodie (shirts cost 29,99€). My tip: preordering merchandise online and picking it up at the preorder desk will save you a couple of euros and a good amount of time, because you won’t have to queue and stress yourself about choosing something from the big range of goods.
In the evening, we decided to go to one of the best metal bars in Europe, The Riff, located in the city center. The audio there is great, the staff is friendly, the atmosphere pleasant… and the numbers of visitors was tremendous, as was to be expected. After all, fans and some band members, like those from DragonForce, gathered to drink and celebrate metal in unity before the big event.
Friday, June 27th, 2025
After waking up very excited for this day's lineup and strolling around in the city for a while, Emil and I decided to go to Kalasatama while my other friend, Nika, had to work. There, we joined the already enormous queue one hour prior to the gates opening, which was at 14.00. Obviously, we were too late to join the party of people who wanted to be first in the festival area, but that wasn’t our goal anyway. We wanted to spend our time looking at every opportunity Tuska was giving to its fans: a huge merch stand, saunas, hot and cold tubs, the expo, planning your own funeral (yes, you’ve read that right!), and obviously the food and drink booths. To my surprise, there was only one entrance for VIPs and press, even though the VIP tickets were sold out. Nevertheless, the waiting period was shorter than in the other queue, and there was a separate cloakroom, but I decided to wait together with my friend. [ed: we’ve been missing the press entrance for the past few years, so this was nice to hear!]
Horizon Ignited
While we waited, I downloaded the very handy Tuska app with all the important information that one might need for the festival. It not only showed the bands’ schedules with associated stages and the festival map — including a version highlighting adaptive areas for those with different abilities and needs — but also food selections with dietary filters like vegan, vegetarian, and lactose- or gluten-free, and information about Tiny-Tuska (an adorable name for the possibility of families joining the event with children on Sunday), sustainability, general rules, and even a harassment reporting possibility, among other options.
As we entered the area after the well-organized and surprisingly fast security check, we immediately refilled our bottles at one of the water refill stations. Several of those were scattered across Suvilahti, so I really recommend bringing your own flask (or even an allowed drinking horn) instead of buying a 4€ water on-site.
Seeing another immensely long queue at the merch stand, we decided to continue on our way to the Tuska expo, located inside a hall behind the main stage. As we found out later, people were mainly waiting in line to get a Lorna Shore shirt — one of the headliners — and those were sold out fast! Anyway, the expo was one of the things I was most excited about after reading about it in the 2024 review. I must admit, I am a big fan of supporting small artists and finding cool knick-knacks. My expectations were unusually high, and the booths and sellers did not disappoint at all! From rad self-designed shirts, hoodies and bags, to must-have accessories and real furs and animal bones, like minx skulls or reindeer radiuses and hooves… the expo had everything I expected and more. There was also a well-visited face-and-body-painting place and the possibility to get a tattoo or piercing, and a ritual stage, which sadly didn’t fit into my time plan but looked interesting.
Blood Command
As we continued to stroll around outside afterwards, Emil got hungry, so we started looking at the food options. We both decided to go for the brisket loaded fries with cheese for 12€ that satisfied us for quite some time. There were several other options to choose from, like bao buns, kebab, bowls, Korean and Thai food, pizza, and even Burger King… everything for sky high prices, of course, and half of them were only explained in Finnish, which both of us only understand to a certain degree. But the staff was always helpful — although sometimes clearly stressed from the crowds — and translated the ingredients for non-native speakers. However, for those with no rush to be anywhere, it was possible to dip out to the Redi mall to eat at the food court.
Most of the food booths were next to the main stage, with enough benches and tables to fit a huge storm of hungry fans, so the bands playing were very well heard by anyone taking a seated break or munching on a snack. I decided to order a handcrafted ice cream from Ape Gelato for dessert, but at 5,90€ for a medium scoop of vegan pistachio, I was left a bit disappointed (the taste was fine, just nothing extraordinary for that price).
Another unsatisfactory part of the set-up was the lack of hiding possibilities in case of heavy sunlight or rain (the latter occurred later that day, in fact, though my weather app told me otherwise). Only twenty benches were actively set up under a tent, some more were covered by trees, and they were almost always occupied. Additionally, those sitting at roofless spots had to fight off hungry, thieving seagulls.
Cradle of Filth
Since 2023, Tuska has had four stages: the rather small KVLT Stage by Inferno (which I will be talking about later in more detail), Nordic Energy Stage, Radio City Stage — located under a big tent near the entrance — and of course the biggest of them all, Karhu Main Stage. My main goal for Friday was to get to the first row at the Nordic Energy Stage, so after discovering most of the area, we continued there.
We heard the second half of Blood Command from the back of the crowd and waited until it was our turn to try and get as close to the stage as possible. That said, we got to the first two rows, which was great. After an hour, DragonForce started playing, who never fail to brighten up everybody’s mood. They had a 10/10 stage set-up, with two huge, inflatable dragons, and arcade machines on both sides that were also used as elevated platforms. Naturally, they asked for a moshpit during the most fitting song for it in the world: Taylor Swift's “Wildest Dreams,” in which I participated, got elbowed hard, fell, smashed both my knees, but was helped up immediately by the fans (one of them dressed as a monk), as metal etiquette desires. A beautiful experience, which shows once again that metalheads are just a bunch of sometimes-scary-looking, peace-loving people who support one other. In the end, “Through the Fire and Flames” got played, a classic and absolute joy to hear, especially the fast guitar riffs by Herman Li and Sam Totman.
DragonForce
My knees were bleeding and hurting pretty badly, so I decided to look at the Tuska app to find the nearest first-aid tent, which was next to the Nordic Energy Stage. Other injured people were already queueing to get their fair share of disinfectants and bandages, but I didn’t have to wait for long, and almost everyone was on their merry way to their next moshpit after leaving the mini-outpatient department.
As time went on, our day's favourites were next on stage: Marko Hietala and Tarja, lovingly called by their mashup-name “Tarko” by some fans (fun aside — as I had the opportunity to speak to Tarja briefly, and the nickname is very cute, in her opinion). By then, we found our way to the very front in the pouring rain — before the opening song “Frankenstein's Wife” let our hearts race — to celebrate the two ex-Nightwish alumni singing their own songs, but also duets like “Left on Mars," “The Phantom of the Opera,” and “Wish I had an Angel.” I have to say, after seeing them live several times this year on their Living the Dream Together Tour, it still excites me whenever I get to see them united on stage again. Every time they start holding hands and look at each other with big smiles on their faces or embrace in a hug, my heart melts and I want to go to even more of their concerts. But they are not the only ones who I paid attention to during the show: both Marko’s and Tarja’s bands are made up of great musicians who seem to have fun on stage, interacting with each other throughout the songs.
Marko Hietala
Tarja
In between the two artists, I ran off to Karhu Main Stage to see one of the audience's favourites: Electric Callboy. They played at sold-out Tuska on the tent stage in 2023 already, attracting one of the biggest crowds back then. Two years later, they hit the big platform and many fans came to see them again, making me stand further back, but thanks to the big screens on either side, I still had the opportunity to see them well. The atmosphere was very good, as the big main screen behind the band showed several videoclips throughout the concert; big confetti canons, fire, and disco-like light effects were involved; and vocalist Nico Sallach interacted with everyone, including the people at the very back. During “Hypa Hypa,” a special guest joined them: Blind Channel’s Joonas Porko. Emotions were hit and left many fans weeping when he started singing an acoustic cover of Linkin Park’s “Crawling,” but the band also brought so much energy and the desire to dance with songs like “Every Time We Touch” (a cover of Maggie Reilly) and “RATATATA.” Conclusion: If you have the chance to see Electric Callboy somewhere near you, I really recommend it!
Electric Callboy
As the festival day slowly came to an end, there were other artists I still wanted to see, but was not able to: Bambie Thug, as they were overlapping with Marko Hietala — who I would not want to miss for almost any other band in the world — along with Bokassa and Imminence, as they were playing at the same time as Electric Callboy and Tarja, but I had my cautiously chosen priorities.
The headliner of the day was still about to play, so my friends and I wandered to Karhu Main Stage to see In Flames. Even though they are not in my Top 10 Favorite Metal Bands, I enjoyed their show and got infected by the crowd’s jumping and cheering to the songs. The drum and guitars, as well as Anders Fridén’s brutal screams were splendid, as was the light show on the rather plain-looking stage… which was actually a good thing, as it turns out, because during “Meet Your Maker,” a huge inflatable Jesterhead (In Flame’s mascot) showed up and occupied half the stage. My attention was completely taken by it, and I was impressed at how quickly the crew managed to make it appear and remove it again, as the next stage decoration — a big Owlboy with glowing eyes — started hanging from the ceiling during “Alias" and stayed until the end. During “The Mirror’s Truth,” Anders asked for not just one, but several circle pits, as he was also including the fans in the back, and the people delivered: I could see one huge running circle in the main stage pit and at least two smaller ones outside of it. But, to be honest, there was a circle pit happening in the front through most of the songs anyway — the people were hyped.
After a short, heartfelt speech and the day’s last song, “My Sweet Shadow,” Friday came to an end. The people who thought ahead and brought or bought a poncho or rain jacket happily left, whilst everyone else was soaked and probably cold (including me), but nonetheless satisfied. After my friends and I assembled again, we joined the crowd heading to the metro station. Public transportation was running later for the Tuska weekend, as hotels near Suvilahti were quickly booked to capacity and the visitors’ accommodations were scattered across town. We were lucky that ours was on the very east side of Helsinki, as the subway station to the city center was full with people waiting for a spot on the train to get to the afterparties or their hotels and apartments. Our side of the stop was almost empty, so we didn’t have to wait to let several full metros pass until it was our turn to go. We quickly arrived home, took a hot shower, drank tea, talked about amazing music, and went to sleep, enthusiastically waiting for the next day.
In Flames
Saturday, June 28th, 2025
On the last Saturday of June, as has been the case many years before, the highlight of pride month in Helsinki took place: the pride parade. Although it began right before this day’s starting artists at Tuska — Arion and Jarkko Martikainen — I decided to participate for as long as time allowed. My assumption that I might be seeing metalheads amongst the 100,000 visitors was unsurprisingly confirmed, as was my expectation for the festival’s crowd: many people came with rainbow flags or colorful make-up to listen to the day’s great lineup, including Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukas, Charlotte Wessels, Windrose, Cemetery Skyline, Orbit Culture, and headliner Powerwolf, among others.
The entering queue wasn’t as long as the day before (which was, as I found out later, the highest attended Friday at Tuska ever, with approximately 22,000 guests), so I was able to catch the second half of Arion’s show, at which point their vocalist, Lassi Vääränen, had taken his shirt off (a bit of eye candy for the fans, I’m sure). Sadly, the crowd was rather small and only interacted with the band when encouraged from the stage. Maybe it was because the gates opened earlier on Saturday and the majority of people came later, or because it was raining again and the ground was muddy, and that lowered the mood.
Arion
I decided to see a little bit of Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus’s performance as I was waiting for Charlotte Wessels and Windrose. The former caught my interest from having workEd with my all-time favourite artist, Tuomas Holopainen, and because it was their 10th gig here, making them Tuska veterans through-and-through. They had performed here on and off since the very beginning in 1998, when the festival took place at Tavastia and the VR warehouses. The band broke up in 2006, but buried the hatchet and reunited in 2016/2017 and with the album “Itkä pitkästä ilosta” turning 25 this year, they had the best reason to come back and relive it once more.
The stage was not decorated and the show wasn't full of effects, which isn't a necessity if a band has a lot of fans. One notable thing was Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus’s logo in the back: a crossed shovel and pickaxe with their name written around it. Honestly, if I hadn't informed myself what band was playing where at what time (and generally researched all the artists), I would have no clue who they were without it. Even though the band has released German albums, they sadly weren’t a big thing in Austria.
Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus
As Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus slowly came to an end, I decided to go and join my friend Sanna at Charlotte Wessel’s show at Radio City Stage, where she was eagerly waiting in the first row for one of her very favorite artists. It was really hard to decide which artist to go to, as Charlotte and Windrose were simultaneously playing at two different places, and while one is music-wise more to my liking, the other never fails to bring a lot of fun and energy to the crowd. I had to compromise and decided to leave after half of the show.
The gig from Delain’s ex-vocalist was great. The tent was full of people and Charlotte Wessels seemed to have a lot of fun with her bandmates. She really captivated her fans with her beauty and talent, enhanced by a wonderful, trumpet-sleeved green dress with embroidered yellow and red eye patterns, and fitting gloves with the same design (her clothes had a bit of a hypnotizing effect on me, especially when she held her hands in front of her face, and reminded me of one of those butterflies with fake eyes on their wings).
The setlist started with the very melodic “Chasing Sunsets” from her newest album, “The Obsession,” backed by keyboardist Sophia Vernikov’s vocals to achieve the song’s canon, followed with softer songs like “The Crying Room” and faster ones like “Dopamine" and “Ode to the West Wind” (prior originally featuring Simone Simons of Epica, latter Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy). Before the band played “Toxic," Charlotte explained how this piece is ever changing with shifting political issues and worldwide unfairness and silencing people, which is really important in today’s global tensions. Sadly, I missed my favorite song, “The Exorcism,” as I had to continue my way to Windrose.
Jarkko Martikainen
Arriving at the Nordic Energy Stage, there was no way I could even get close to the platform: the area was already full of people, holding inflatable hammers and pickaxes to the sky, vibing and roaring along to “Rock and Stone,” performed by the most known dwarf metal band who gave everything they got. Francesco Cavalieri was dressed in his iconic blue armor, as was the rest of the band. The songs, the outfits, the stage, everything was clearly Lord of the Rings-inspired, and it’s always a blast to see Windrose live for fantasy fans.
But the best was yet to come, as the group’s most popular cover song, “Diggy Diggy Hole” with an additional dance mix came up. People in the front went crazy, the majority of the crowd was singing, even in the back rows. Those with inflatable tools mimicked mining the sky and one guy was crowdsurfing in circles instead of the stage’s direction (because, after day one, there were “NO STAGEDIVING” signs installed at both sides of the platform, but for some reason, they were facing the fans? My theory is that the organizers wanted people to stop crowdsurfing, as this is a common safety precaution in Finland).
Windrose
Windrose ended their concert with “I Am the Mountain,” and thus I left to get myself some slightly overpriced festival food.
I decided to try out Bun X 2 = 16e, so as the name already suggests, two soft bao buns for 16€. They had two options, the first with pork BBQ ribs and the second, vegan option with pulled peas. Both looked great, but I decided to go for the first one. The buns were palm-sized but lavishly filled and served warm, and the smell and taste were mouthwatering. The waiting time was also quite short, as most people went to see other acts after Windrose, like Mokoma or Jiluka. I was satisfied for a long time and if they’ll come back to Tuska, I suggest trying them!
The next concert that I was interested in was Cemetery Skyline, but I found out Charlotte Wessels was doing an interview at the Tuska Forum, a room reserved for artists to talk about different topics. Hers was about “The Power of Community” and how she managed to grow as a solo artist after leaving Delain, and since Sanna wanted to go and check it out, I gave it a shot too. If you’re interested in what she had to say about writing her own songs, building up a fan base on Patreon, and how she got the community she very much respects and asks for opinions on a regular basis, I recommend checking out the Bleeding Metal Podcast with Kiki and Martha, as they said the interview was being recorded and will be released later. Hopefully there are no tech issues, like last year.
After a successful, short meet ‘n’ greet with Charlotte, I left Sanna behind with her idol to go and watch the second half of Cemetery Skyline, who were at Tuska for the first time. Again, they attracted a huge crowd, but watching them from the back was good enough for me, as I think the act’s fans should enjoy the opportunity of standing as close to their favorite artists as possible. I was able to hear some of their most popular songs like “In Darkness” and, my personal favorite, “Violent Storm,” before the vocalist Mikael Stanne promised to be back on stage later with his other band, The Halo Effect.
Cemetery Skyline
I decided to go and see Orbit Culture afterwards, who were playing at Karhu Main Stage. As with some other bands, I did not know a lot about them before my preparation for Tuska, but they were the band that caught my attention the most. I normally am a fan of vocals where I can sing along or at least understand the lyrics clearly (even in languages I don’t speak), with possible screams or growls in between, so I was surprised that I enjoyed the Swedish band to a greater degree than I expected, as their lines are almost not comprehensible at all for me. The reason for that feeling was a result of the melodic instrumentals with a good and mostly fast rhythm, as is required for groove or melodic death metal.
Their crowd was big — interacting with the band and vice versa — they had a fire show, and Johannes Eckerström, the vocalist of the Swedish band Avatar, joined them during “Vultures of North.”
Orbit Culture
With a bit of a heavy heart, I skipped Alcest and Insomnium to see one of the acts I was most eagerly waiting for: Eihwar (for I am a big pagan music fan), who were playing on the KVLT Stage. Remember when I previously told you I will come back to that again? Well, the time has come.
Insomnium
As Bear already mentioned that stage in her previous reviews, I also have to throw in my two cents on it. There was no chance to enter the building if you came right before the start of the show. Not only for Eihwar, but for other bands as well. Every time I came across the entrance (which was quite often, as the press room was on the opposite side), there was always a queue of people waiting for their turn to get in. For the French pagan artists Asrunn and Mark, who first appeared on YouTube in 2023 and rapidly gained popularity, that waiting line was over 400m long. The band even offered their sympathy on social media for those who didn’t even get a chance to see them live this time, but said they might come back to Finland for another concert. So remember kids: if you want to see any band at the smallest venue at Tuska, join the queue quite early, even during the prior performing act.
I previously heard from my press colleagues that entering the KVLT Stage was possible for a short time through my pass, so I cut the line, although I felt like quite the ass doing so. I lingered around at the entrance to not squish myself through the full and airless room, thus I didn’t get to experience the full potential and stunning outfits of Eihwar, but their trance-like songs like “Berserkr" and “Völvas Chant” were still clearly audible. I adored the opposing energy Asrunn and Mark were giving, as she was dancing around the stage with a handheld drum and he was stationary and calm, only singing and talking to the crowd in a very deep yet still powerful voice from time to time.
After exiting the crowded space, I got a notification from my friend Nika that there was a commotion going on in front of the Tuska entrances: the Russian band Slaughter to Prevail was about to play on the main stage and people, some with Ukrainian and Pride flags, gathered to protest their upcoming performance (I think we all know the reason why). I do not want to dig much into political views and beliefs here, as this is a festival and music report, but I have read and heard conflicting arguments about this band.
I decided to go and see what the situation was like in the crowd at Karhu Main Stage. Putting it shortly, there were still many fans vibing to their songs inside the main stage pit, but there were also people booing, showing them their middle fingers, or holding up one of the aforementioned flags. And as soon as Slaughter to Prevail’s vocalist, Aleksandr Shikolai, also named Alex Terrible, started talking about how someone can only change the world after looking in the mirror and finding flaws in themself first, I thought it would be better if I get myself something to drink before the main act started playing. The message was there, but honestly poorly executed and easy to take it the wrong way.
Slaughter to Prevail
And so, many fans were left disappointed and the band was not in one of Tuska’s social media highlights. The Halo Effect, however, apparently had a very happy and enthusiastic crowd.
The Halo Effect
As time flew by and the crew started preparing for the final act, Powerwolf, my friends and I decided to get to the first few rows inside the main stage pit, which was fenced and controlled by security and traffic lights at the entrances (green means go, red means there’s no space left). [ed: that’s an interesting change!] We managed to get relatively close to the platform, far enough from puddles so we wouldn’t get dirty if people started jumping, and waited for the power-metal fair to begin.
I have seen Powerwolf live several times already, but it’s still a blast and a lot of fun to experience them live, because they have so much to give, music- and appearance-wise. The stage decorations included several platforms, camouflaged by covers in Gothic architectural optics, cut-out “church windows” with built-in monitors that were either showing beautifully glowing LED lights or fitting clips to the songs, as was the humongous screen behind the band. It was the best stage of the whole festival and a real feast for the eyes — talking about every detail would take up too much of this blog.
The band members in their matching makeup and robes were welcomed by the crowd with huge applause, some even howling like wolves. Starting off strong with the song “Bless ‘em With the Blade,” a huge success was guaranteed for the evening. Pyrotechnics, exploding confetti, an incense burner, and fireworks were utilized throught their whole concert. During “Fire and Forgive,” vocalist Attila Dorn disappeared and came back with two flame throwers. Similarly, organist Falk Maria Schlegel came up close with a Powerwolf flag, spitting fireworks from the tip during “Sanctified with Dynamite.” The band interacted a lot with the crowd, making us clap, sing in unison (I was especially audible during the song “Stossgebet,” as I was one of the few people who could sing along to the German lyrics), or splitting us into two groups, left and right, separately and loudly screaming HOO and HA before and during the day’s last song “Werewolves of Armenia." Powerwolf promised to be back in Helsinki in February 2026 and with this, said their goodbyes for now. We managed to get a setlist for Nika, who saw them live for the first time, and wandered off to the festival’s exit.
Powerwolf
Sunday, June 29th, 2025
As the last day of the festival approached, the queues at the entrances were getting shorter, although Tiny-Tuska was taking place (basically a “bring your kid to the concerts for free” event). The lineup looked promising and the crowd’s seeming favorite, Lorna Shore, was the day’s headliner. I assume people were getting tired after two days of celebrating until midnight (if not longer, considering there were afterparties every night); additionally strong winds were coming up according to the weather forecast. I managed to quickly get through the security check and my plan was to visit the sauna and hot tub area before it got overcrowded in the afternoon again.
Cyan Kicks
What would a Finnish festival be without a sauna, and there was not only one, but three of those at Tuska! One was located in the VIP area, to which I didn’t have access, and the other ones were on the edge of the festival area in a grassy, elevated spot. In the same space were benches, a bar and two tubs — hot or cold — and of course a booth where one could loan a towel and a disposable pefletti [bench cover for sanitary purposes]. Two huts were giving people the opportunity to undress and take a shower before the sauna, though there were no lockers to stow away clothes or valuable things; still, the area felt safe enough to just leave my stuff hanging on a rack.
The saunas were mixed, so I brought my bathing suit, like many others. Some people were naked, and that was completely fine, as is normal and preferred in Finland. There were two saunas to choose from: a bigger one with a big window, most of the time covered in steam so passersby couldn’t see a thing, fitting up to five people, and a smaller, more private one for up to three people. I decided to go to the big one, which was at a pleasant 80°C. Afterwards, I stepped into the hot tub, which was more lukewarm, but I was there quite early in the day and it was still warming up.
Both tubs were located near the elevated area’s fence, where visitors could perfectly listen to the bands playing on the main stage, although the view was covered by the surrounding trees. I managed to hear the start of Turmion Kätilöt’s show before taking another shower and dressing up to go and see a bit of it as well.
I had seen TK live once during their tour with Nightwish, and they were cool to watch with their makeup and crazy outfits. I enjoy their style, mixing techno and metal, but couldn’t sing along to most of the songs. As I came closer to the stage, I saw that the big side monitors had been precautionarily removed due to the impending storm, so I was only able to spot the silhouettes of the band members from afar. But their stage performance paired with cool visual effects in the back and lasers were worth staying anyway. Netta Turunen, who collaborates with Turmion Kätilöt occasionally, came to join them for several songs. Vocalist MC Raaka Pee talked to the crowd, in Finnish of course. Overall, the concert seemed to be a success.
Turmion Kätilöt
Slowly but surely, I grew hungry. Remember when I talked about cheaper options for food and drinks at Tuska? Well, there was a little Alepa-store in the area, selling stuff for the price of a normal grocery store in Finland. They had sandwiches, sweet and savory treats, water and juices, energy drinks, and even iconic yellow baseball caps, slippers, sunglasses, and ponchos with their logo (I wish I would’ve known that on the first day). The big con: you have to spend a lot of time in the queue, or go shop when everyone else is at some big gig elsewhere.
Then I went to Nordic Energy Stage to see one of my favorite folk-metal, humppa-inspired Finnish bands, Korpiklaani, just to realize that not only the monitors were removed, but the back of the stage was opened up and the crew didn’t put up any big banners or flags behind the artists. As a result, the stage scenery was looking rather unpolished, empty, and somehow improvised, though I know it normally looks better, as I’ve seen Korpiklaani live in Vienna already. The crowd wasn’t very big at the start, so I got close to the photo pit.
Compared to the one time I’ve seen them in Austria, the people did not get as excited as I expected. Jonne Järvelä was giving a small speech (in Finnish, of course) and tried to encourage us to clap along to some songs, but barely anybody joined in, which was disappointing. At least a polonaise marched through the audience and some smaller moshpits started forming during songs like “Saunaan,” “Gotta Go Home,” and “Metsämies.”
Korpiklaani
During the gig, I met Lady Enslain (Bear's friend who you might remember from last year’s report) who I got to know and befriend during the aforementioned Living the Dream Together Tour, as she is their merch rep. She brought her family along because Tiny-Tuska, as mentioned at the beginning, was taking place, and kids aged 0-12 were entering the festival for free with a supervising adult between 14.00 and 18.00. Many children wearing ear protection were present on Sunday, with some adults even attending with their babies. You wouldn’t think a metal festival is a place for minors, but it seemed to work out perfectly, and everyone was looking out for them!
After Korpiklaani’s last song and an epic drum solo by Samuli Mikkonen, I was able to score a setlist and, together with the Enslain family, went back to Karhu Main Stage to get a glimpse of the next artist.
Apocalyptica was up, and as with Turmion Kätilöt, I only saw glimpses, for the crowd was gigantic and I couldn’t get really close, but I prioritized staying with Lady Enslain and her fam and listening to the Finnish instrumental cello-rock band (as they call themself) from the back rather than trying to fight my way to the front. The songs were all covers from Metallica — Apocalyptica recently released another cover album of their songs — and listening to the fans sing along to the string instruments was a joy. They got particularly loud during big hits like “Enter Sandman” and “Master of Puppets.” There was a Finnish speech before “Seek & Destroy,” to which everyone applauded and I still haven’t figured out to this day what it was about.
Apocalyptica
Together, we went back to see Battle Beast. Noora Louhimo gave an interview about encouraging future generations at the Tuska Forum earlier that day, already dressed in her new yet iconic, horned outfit (courtesy of Ilmatar Couture). She talked about everyone being welcome at their shows, outfit inspirations, the importance of personal boundaries, and how nobody should be nice at their own expense. Again, if you want to listen to the whole inspiring interview, it will eventually be available on the Bleeding Metal Podcast.
Battle Beast is an epitome of power metal in my opinion. They bring really crowd-infecting high energy to the stage through Noora’s mighty voice and fast instrumental skills, while looking like they have a lot of fun performing together. Even though Noora said the song “Steelbound” is the most challenging for her to sing right now (as she gave everything during the recording), she hit every single note, nailing the song completely. People were moshing, dancing, and clapping along to it, as well as to “No More Hollywood Endings,” “Wings of Light," “King for a Day,” and others.
Battle Beast
After the show was over, it was time to say goodbye to Lady Enslain & co. and take a little break. The majority of the day’s visitors had arrived at the festival area by then, which got a little overwhelming after three days. I went to the press room for a drink, randomly meeting Tim Mikkola, the vocalist of The Vantages, who was very nervous about giving an interview with one of my colleagues. He seemed like a very sweet and polite person, so I decided to go and see their show after my break.
The line to get a spot inside the KVLT Stage building was long again and I spotted my friends, Emil and Nika, waiting for the band Noiduin, who were up afterwards. I again cut the line thanks to my press pass to see two songs by The Vantages, who I did not know before at all. They often get compared to HIM (especially likening Tim’s voice to that of Ville Valo) and I can see why, but they’re not exactly the same. Still, I had a nostalgic feeling, because I was listening to HIM in my teens. The Vantage’s songs have a melancholic touch, whether instrumentally or lyric-wise, and I imagine listening to them during a rainy car ride in autumn would just hit the right spots. I will definitely listen more to them in the future!
Lorna Shore was about to make their appearance on Karhu Main Stage, but on the other hand I didn't want to miss the Finnish folk band Noiduin.
I lingered around at the back of the crowd, again only seeing the littlest bit of the band since the big monitors were still down (opposing what the securities told me at noon, but safety beats vision from the last rows, of course). The deathcore headliner started with the song “Sun//Eater,” which has a nice and slow prelude quickly transitioning into heavy and impressively fast beats. As Will Ramos took the stage, he immediately asked for moshpits, and the people listened and gave him what he wanted, even in the back. Before the second song, “Cursed to Die,” he requested crowdsurfers, and the fans cared far more about delivering for him than the festival’s restrictions.
Seeing Lorna Shore live for the first time, I understood why the people like them. Their melodies are beautiful and the lyrics deep (although mostly unintelligible), often thematizing the loss of a loved one. There were fans crying and comforting each other. If you don’t understand why emotions grow big during their shows, like me before my research about them, I recommend watching their video, “Pains Remain: Trilogy.”
Other than that, they implemented a lot of fire during their gig, there was a hat was flying around in the crowd pit, and the communication with the fans was strong. Lorna Shore promised to come back to Helsinki in February 2026.
Lorna Shore
I then rejoined my friends in the queue for Noiduin. The line grew longer with every passing minute and, similarly to Eihwar, I believe not everyone got the chance to see them. But, we waited long enough to enter the crowded building, already filled with muggy air.
The stage and instruments were neatly decorated with bones and twigs, and the band members were wearing fitting clothes and head decorations. If you have ever been to a Heilung concert you can imagine the looks and vibe of Noiduin, as they are similar. Emil and I managed to get a spot next to the only window, feeling the very-needed fresh wind gusts every now and then.
Compared to Lorna Shore, their songs were calm with the potential to induce a trance-like state (or maybe it was the quality of the air). They are mostly, if not exclusively, in Finnish, underlining their inspiration coming from the country’s mythology and folklore.
People in the crowd were dancing like they were part of a big ritual and I could see they were really enjoying themselves.
Noiduin
After the show came to an end 5 minutes earlier than planned, we went over to the small stage to get a closer look at the details. The band members came back to help the crew put away the decorations, so I even had the opportunity to talk to them for a minute, asking if it is true that they build their own instruments. Impressively, it is true, taking them up to three weeks, depending on the device.
And thus, the festival came to an end. Time flies if you’re having fun, especially with friends. People gathered at the entrance, making new or talking to old acquaintances, seemingly not wanting to leave yet. But leave we did, as I had to catch my flight early the next day.
Final Thoughts
I feel like I could go on and on writing this review, but it's longer than I initially planned already, so I'll keep the summary short at least. Thank you, if you've come this far, from the bottom of my heart!
I have been to several festivals throughout my life, some bigger and some smaller, and I must admit, I am not the biggest fan of camping on-site (mostly due to people misbehaving, like relieving themselves on tents and stealing stuff, mixed with never getting enough sleep and the agonizing summer heat or mud everywhere when it is raining), thus, Tuska Festival was one of the best events I have visited so far, because it was close to Helsinki’s city center and I could just go to my temporary home after the shows. Yes, there are additional costs you have to consider, like booking a hotel, hostel, or an apartment, but it also comes with great opportunities: a hygienic shower opportunity and a good rest during the night in a proper bed.
Motionless in White
All the concerts were good, although the crowd sometimes seemed to not be in the moment. [ed: not uncommon for Finland — enthusiasm levels here are alarmingly low compared to other countries] I was more than pleased to see some of my favorite acts again, like Marko Hietala, Tarja, and Powerwolf; I finally saw some old favorites live for the first time, like Battle Beast; but there was also the chance to get to know new acts like Noiduin and The Vantages. There were plenty of sidequests the festival was offering to its visitors too, like going to the sauna or taking a relaxing bath in a hot tub. I was not impressed by the food prices, but after all, it’s a festival, and I am sure the booth operators had to pay their fair share to even be able to sell anything in the area (although, I am not sure how this works in Finland). [ed: usually a percentage of their sales goes to the festival]
The festival is obviously growing bigger each year, drawing 60,000 visitors this year. I’ve met a lot of international fans (one was even had a gigantic pole with an Austrian flag throughout the event), some as early as in the plane I took to Finland on Thursday. Questioning why they’re coming so far to see the concerts, their answer was mostly “because of the vibe.” Most of the attending bands were touring and coming to their country on a regular basis, but the people made friends here, making going to Tuska an annual ritual. They even buy the early-bird tickets, not knowing which acts will come next year. If that isn’t dedication, I don’t know what is.
Nothing More
If you ask me if I will come back, my answer is most likely. If Finland was closer, definitely, as I cannot imagine spending my time in any way better than meeting friends and going to metal concerts and the pride parade on the same weekend. Unfortunately, I am scared and not a big fan of destroying our environment by flying. Nevertheless, depending on next year’s line up, I am planning on taking the days off from work already. So maybe I’ll see some of you when the time for Tuska 2026 comes!
Tuska Festival 2025, Sunday
Text by Anna S./Metalkoernchen; photos by ScarletMemory Photography
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