Hellsinki Metal Festival 2025

The doors on Friday, the first day, opened at 1pm. A relatively big crowd was waiting to get in. In front of the ice hall was what appeared to be a stage, but was in reality a fancy tent for the security checks.
Once in, everything felt very familiar. The layout was basically the same as last year. So are the two big outdoor stages at the parking lot and the indoor stage with the wrestling ring inside the ice hall. The VIP area, food area, and art stands were between and around the stages. Also the One Eye Tattoo studio had a big booth, where you could get a spontaneous tattoo or some cool merch. There seemed to be more arts and crafts stands than in 2024. Most of them had genuine arts, while a small number sold the typical festival stuff.  After the first few bands, it was time to get some energy into my system. This led me [Dänu] to the King Kebab stand and oh boy… I hate to say it, but that was the worst kebab I ever had. Especially sad, because in the previous years, the food was so much better. In selection as well as in taste. Also missing was the (penis- and vagina-) waffle stand.

It took a while, till around four and the area felt as packed as it gets. Not a surprise, since Friday was sold out.
I was drawn to the show of Decapitated. Unfortunately, the sound quality was a little bit underwhelming in the beginning, but got a little better later on. Despite that, the hall was packed.

Around 9pm it got all of a sudden very crowded in the walkways around the hall. A short glimpse outside revealed the reason. It started to rain. Typically for the region, it only rained for about 15 minutes and then went back to sunshine. The beauty of the location is this indoor area, so the Festival did not let anyone stand in the rain. But many choose to, for a good reason. Fear Factory was up and delivered a solid show.

For many, the gig of King Diamond was Friday’s highlight. Very theatrical, a lot of story telling and an overall great performance by King Diamond. If you`ve seen it before, there is nothing new. But King Diamond is always entertaining. 

Moonsorrow was the last artist for the day and set the indoor stage on fire! Quite literally, since it was one of the few, (even the only one!?) who had pyros inside. 

Saturday started with a decision. Luna Kills under the bright scorching sun, or Brutal Sphincter. This kind of overlap was unfortunately a few times the case, but hard to avoid with three stages. I decided to go and see the female fronted modern metal from Finland. And it was a hot show. Great performance and the crowd grew in numbers song by song. There were even some group exercises. Like clapping and jumping. This woke the crowd up and was well received. Lähiöbotox was next on my list of bands to see. Those were not on the lineup originally, but are now as a replacement for Ill Niño. The U.S based Nu Metal pioneers could not make it to this year’s festival.

After that, the Canadian Deathcore band AngelMaker. Known for their ferocious and dynamic sound, they have become a significant force in the deathcore scene. Their show drew a fair number of people to see the show and the band itself delivered an excellent performance. This act would have also fit nicely into a later slot, but of course, not everyone can play in the evening.

After Angelmaker it was time for grindcore pioneers as Napalm Death started their show.  Napalm Death was just as energetic and entertaining as they are supposed to be. The band is strongly political, and their stage banter revolves around topics that are clearly important to them. The songs blasted through one after another and although the band’s set time was a bit early, the energy on stage was spot on. 

Perhaps the most debated act of the day after Rabbit Cult was the French metalcore band LANDMVRKS. For some, their modern metalcore sound didn’t quite feel like the most natural fit for Hellsinki Metal Festival’s lineup. However, this sentiment didn’t show on the field. The audience embraced the band with open arms, and their performance quickly turned into one of the most energetic of the day.

The pit was in full motion, and the band’s intensity clearly rubbed off on the crowd. LANDMVRKS proved that, whether or not their style divides opinions on paper, in practice they can ignite a festival stage with ease. In hindsight, their set might have been the perfect warm-up for the next artist to follow as Hatebreed was about to enter the stage. 

A band I [Dänu] was very excited about was Sigh from Japan. And to no surprise, they did deliver a show, far away from the standards. A total of 7 people (two of them were minors) and some decorations filled the ice hall stage to the brim. The show started with the guitarist, drawing a katana, that catched fire and was burning for a few seconds. Very cool. Another entertaining factor was beside the music itself, the two kids. While the older one was mostly in the background, the younger kept walking back and forward, with tongue out, horns in the air and hands on the drum. A little into the set, we got some more traditional Japanese instruments. The show was popular. So popular in fact, that they had to limit the amount of people entering the hall. After a certain point, the security only let people in, when people came out. Although it was packed, it never got claustrophobically full. A common theme for Finnish shows in general. They all like their personal space.

Not so much personal space had the wrestling performers while putting on a show between the shows in the ice hall. Because why not, there is wrestling happening three times a day. The events by FCF Wrestling were a  welcome mixup and did attract a few people, but not as many as they would deserve.

One of the bands I [Sami] had been looking forward to the most was the American hardcore pioneers Hatebreed. Having never seen them live before, my expectations were high and they did not disappoint. The band stormed the stage with the furious energy and attitude they are known for. Frontman Jamey Jasta immediately took control of the crowd, and we even got the first pyrotechnics of the day.

The audience’s excitement was undeniable. For the first time at Hellsinki Metal Festival this year multiple circle pits erupted and it felt like the Finnish crowd had truly loosened up, maybe thanks to a few beers. The energy was unmatched and easily the best of the day so far.

Hatebreed delivered all their essential anthems, from Destroy Everything to I Will Be Heard and As Diehard As They Come. It was an excellent set that reminded everyone why they are considered genre-defining. Hopefully, we’ll see Hatebreed back in Finland again very soon.

The next one on my [Dänu] list was Cult of Luna. And this was the only band who started with a delay. And if you wanted to see Hatebreed, you only got 15 minutes with them. But this did not seem to happen a lot, due to the fact that these two bands draw a slightly different crowd. As in many instances, the organizers got a good feeling for which bands to play in tandem. After that we had the shows of Marduk, not my cup of tea, so I skipped them. Me And That Man was interesting and worked better for me than listening at home.

Almost last on the timetable was Venom. The place was packed and we got dragged down to Hell and back to the ‘80s. The festival’s motto was quite a perfect match, since almost every song had a Hell related name. Although I was not super familiar with the material, I found myself enjoying the show.

At around 1AM the majority of the visitors left the area and took some great memories from yet another two days in Hell with them. And if that was not enough for you, there was an after show party in On the Rocks. I checked out at this point, getting to old for those kind of shinanigances 😉

A big thanks to All Things Live for the smooth organisation, great band selection and the hospitality in general.