Speed Metal Party 2024

It's a bittersweet feeling thinking about last weekend - oh, I am aching all over but that's not what I'm talking about. We had full-on thrash metal in my hometown! But on the other hand the venue was half empty...

Tampere, Finland, 17th of August in 2024. The tradition of speed and thrash hits the Tullikamari once again. Back at it are of course the event's driving forces, our local boys of Prestige and Dethrone. Malicious Death popped in from our capital, Helsinki, and Maniac Abductor decided to let one rip at Tampere instead of their hoods at Joensuu.

Our guests from abroad were headed by the Australian Nothing Sacred. Heathen from the Bay Area arrived to Finland for the first time ever. Evil Invaders from Belgium was there to close the house.

Seven bands, seven hours... that's... a whole lotta thrash!

Malicious Death brought the first notes of thrash with a few twists of punk. The ripping raw vocals of GG certainly calls for a specific ear, as it completely changes everything else happening on the stage. His squeeze was harsh and grating, contrasting the devil-may-care pulse of the band.

When the first notes were struck the venue was... emptyish. But! it was fairly early: the doors opened 5pm / 17:00. Saw some of the bands in the bars around the area which was nice. Beer is unsurprisingly a good common denominator. Some talked about them feels before a gig regardless of being at it for more than three decades. Super nice people. Note to self: next time, photos.

It's been 10 years since Malicious Death released their latest album Last Nail into the Coffin but it looked like they were pretty amped up - especially the guitarist Obadio, who was shredding like a maniac (as he should) and nigh lying flat on the deck or at least on his knees, punishing the guitar with a grimace. There was some rigidity to it but the attitude was all there. GG kept wandering the stage through the act, feeling his way around the music and giving it all he had.

Absolutely the right way to start the evening even though the band wasn't my cup of tea. Gotta appreciate the performance, and you know... I'll give their new anything a spin for sure.

Our Aussie friends Nothing Sacred brought an interesting change of pace - regardless of some proper shredding by their apparently new (or gig) guitarist, they were a lot more formulaic and routined. Clearly a more touring band - they've apparently opened for example for Megadeth back home at down under.

Can't beat that with a stick!

The on-and-off vocalist Chris Stark has settled with the band and interestingly shifts the tone more towards Power Metal with his vocal bravado. The guy was also head-butting band mates and definitely wanted to put on a bit of a show. Joining him was a young new fella, half others' age I'd wager, delivering a proper show of guitar antics and bringing welcome energy to the stage - no idea who the chap was unfortunately (pictured below on the left).

It was during their act that folks started to trickle in. I mean, the band came from bloody far away so they had better start coming in - but then again, so did some of the people I met on the crowd.

Furthest was the city of Rovaniemi which is Finland's biggest northern city, 8 hours by car from Tampere... or 6 days walking if you go by Google Maps.

Anyways, talked to few people online before the event but it turns out it was impossible to get a decently priced hotel room because the Speed Metal Party happened to coincide with Blockfest, one of our biggest yearly pop concerts. So, everything was pretty much booked.

Nothing Sacred's chaps came out to the audience after their set. Maybe they wanted to meet some of us and see what was coming next - because the audience certainly did!

They've been hailed as the new hope of Finnish thrash, and while not a young band anymore, they did bring a totally different kind of savage energy to the stage altogether. The act felt absolutely lively and in one fell swoop they made me forget the previous performers.

Maniac Abductor was clearly one of the bands people came to see as there seemed to be a semblance of a proper audience by now. A thrash act through and through.

It was clear something was amiss with their setup. I had been hanging onto the rail up till now but here I found myself worming away like a Fiji mermaid. The sound was rather garbage - especially on that right hand side of the stage where I had switched to after the previous two bands. Beer helped.

The bass was crushingly overwhelming and Saku Tauru's guitar sound was busted up before stopping to work entirely - nothing a little dive into the pit wouldn't fix as he quickly climbed back on the stage to show some hot sexy air guitar action and joined the vocalist Niklas Pappinen in delivering the sh!t.

Technical problems happen. Maniac Abductor delivered and seemed to have a bloody good time while at it. I love the band but they kinda lack the songs - you know? The force is indeed tangibly loud but to become truly epic you kind of need to stand out compositionally, too.

One punch, two punch. Success!

The drop from here was pretty darned brutal.

The first local band on the stage was Dethrone and it was obvious that they had been there from the very beginning of the Speed Metal Party event - specifically, 36 years ago in 1988. The vocalist Niko Airaksinen took the stage like a regular visitor, clearly happily spotting folks from the audience - might be friends or family, but I wouldn't put it past us maniac thrashers that they're very same people from 1988.

Wow, you're still alive!? - Not the vocalist of Dethrone

Dethrone is one of those bands that I prolly should've spent more time in the past with but for whatever reason, I haven't. I mean, their album The Decay of A Man from 1992 is something I listen to quite a lot. It reminds me of Anthrax's flippant skateboard metal manoeuvres and the funky side of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

See, even without you hearing the album, you got an idea on your head what its like from all that name dropping. Their debut in 1989 Let the Day Begin is a lot more serious - which, of course, isn't a bad thing. Just a factoid here.

Dethrone was rather uninspiring on the stage and it kinda came across awkward how much they kept thanking the audience. They do have an amazing history here with the event and people, but I mean, there's a time and place. Enough is enough. The drop in energy from Maniac Abductor was rather extreme and I noticed that I wasn't the only one who looked to pop out for a bit for some fresh air.

Or fresh beer.

Seeing Prestige at the stage was a variation on a theme and it felt a lot like these are guys who are coming home after a day's work - possibly hitting the man cave on Friday evening after everyone else is asleep. It was a bit different how the audience greeted these two "grand old men" of Dethrone and Prestige. They've been here since the beginning.

It's kind of dumb to talk about how this or that band would've deserved more success on the account that we're talking about Thrash Metal here, which is darned niched anyways.

However, there's no denying they've had a long run and still manage to pull a great gig. The vocalist Aku Kytölä is a fun guy at the mike and the whole band had great time playing really old stuff like Force of My Hate from their debut album Attack Against Gnomes back in 1989.

Going forward, these grand old men acts don't really work back-to-back. There's just too much history and general baggage that doesn't have anything to do with the music itself and seems to affect the mood of the event.

Half times are for weaklings

Five bands later, I found myself thinking: man, I really need to sit down. Its a bit different going to these kinds of things where you absolutely want to see everything, rather than attending some outdoors fest where you can park you butt on the lawn and have a beer or whatever, and chew the fat with people old and new. You usually have a handful of bands you want to see so you have some downtime to rest up.

Here, I had been banging my head for several hours.

Speed Metal Party was on Saturday and clearly some folks had been partying on Friday already, so they were a bit in a bad way, stumbling around like the undead. Some people left the event as it was a bit too much at this stage. There should've been a pen with nice benches at the end of the hall where you get in only if you properly toot the breathalyser.

The main attraction to most was undoubtedly HEATHEN. It's a funny thing what a little stagecraft does because you immediately knew these guys to be from the country of showmanship. Simply put, the band set the stage (and audience) in fire. It was funny (sad) how the vocalist, Dave White, had to goad people closer to the stage a few times - which had me chuckling because damn, if that's not a very Finnish problem for international bands to have in Finland. We've excelled in social distancing for generations before COVID.

Unsurprisingly the setlist consisted a lot from their latest 2020 released album Empire of the Blind. On contrast they played few from the first album Breaking the Silence, which was released back in 1987.

Now, this is one of the reasons I love live shows. A lot of life fits into three decades of moshing, and seeing a band that acutely rips through their catalogue you are reminded what you might've fallen in love with in the beginning. It kinda brings you closer to the group on a somewhat personal level, and in a way that makes you go: "yeah, can't beat the clock".

Heathen had more stage time than bands before them. I mean, of course, they're the main act. By far the biggest and in Finland for the first time. They played in Helsinki the next day and I heard that unfortunately there wasn't a huge crowd.

Again, thrash metal, but more importantly: it was a bloody Sunday!

Who in their right mind thinks its a good idea to have a concert on a Sunday?

That's right. No one.

But, I guess they wanted to whip something together seeing as Heathen was here. Prestige travelled with them to Helsinki, as well as another Finnish thrash metal band called Jumalation. I'm not the biggest Heathen fan myself due to too much Power Metal or Progressive Metal nuances - give it to me straight!

Finally, the band I had been waiting for! Evil Invaders blasted unto the stage like a bat out of hell. Joe, the vocalist, sported his trademark knives and screamed (with) his spine out. If there was a band that epitomes the theme of the evening its this one: genuine thrash delivered with relentless speed.

In Deepest Black was a good reminder that these guys aren't just thrashers but a real, proper band - which I'm sure you know that there's a requirement to: you have to be able to compose more than one kinds of songs. Kinda the thing I was talking about with Maniac Abductor and them having no songs.

One of the biggest in the scene for sure, or at least most revered. There's a crapton of new Thrash Metal bands, but very, very few strike it like Evil Invaders do.

Apparently there was a chance that they would've cancelled due to Joe's flu. Fortunately they made it

In that context the cover that they like to do, Venom's Witching Hour, gave Joe a nice respite as guitarist Max jumped the mike.

Proper good stuff.

It was 0:30 am when the guys started and I was feeling it; my feet hurt, my throat was sore, I was hungry when I wasn't yawning.

Seven Hours of Thrash Metal... is a lot

Yeah, the bands did not play for seven straight hours. They had to set up and take down their gear so there was the typical downtime in between. At the ascetic venue of Tullikamari there wasn't that much to do while waiting. The available terrace seats filled before the breaks and the only option viable was to hit the bar - standing.

There definitely should've been more seating options with proper tables. And, there was. Just that the club area was closed down, which was more than a little bit disappointing.

If you look it from an organiser's point of view where you want to corral and bring people close to the music (and not have as much people on duty and on the pay) it makes sense. They might've originally have the area open, but then looked at the tickets sold, and decided that it was better to not have people scatter all over.

I mean, I can get behind that. The concert hall did feel emptyish even through the main acts of the evening. Regardless, the mood was good.

Well, there were some tables at the end of the concert hall. People sat on them stubbornly like ticks through the evening - which was kinda interesting. Didn't really go well as some of the bands had to yell people to come closer to the stage.

But, I can sort of understand them, too. Seven hours of thrash is a bloody lot.

What am I talking about?

See you next year!

PS.

I didn't know I wanted to make this site when I was at the gig moshing like a maniac. Hence, the iPhone crappy pics. Anyways, I'll focus on bring the Spotify Playlist goodness, but I'll prolly do these brief reports when seeing sh!t live.

The whole idea of the site are the Thrash Metal Playlists on Spotify, which I'm curating and monitoring on a nigh daily basis. There's so much awesome stuff released that it pisses me to no end that these bands don't find the audience - maybe my stuff here will help a bit!

Stay tuned for some proper Playlist posting!

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Let there be Mmmosh! ✊