Johnny Hexx is what I like to call metal adjacent. Although not actually a metal band, they play a style that a large number of metal heads gravitate towards. Similar in style to Wardruna or Heilung, Johnny Hexx plays Germanic, Pagan Folk music. Whether this is your style or not, Johnny Hexx stole the show at the Whitestown Viking Fest this year.
On the stage of Meara Klubi vol. 28 Ratface, Final Assault, Hävitys, and I,Cursed performed and our photographer Cristina was there to take some shots.
Ratface is a Finnish hardcore punk band piloted by MC Respektor. It was founded in 2006 in Helsinki. The band’s lyrics mainly deal with alcohol use and drunkenness. Final Assault is a Finnish thrash/punk-hardcore band formed in 2009. Hävitys is a Finnish grindcore band from Jyväskylä in 2010. I, Cursed is a death-grind band formed from Pori, at the core of the bands are musicians familiar from Atlases, Oceanwake and Marto.
Meara Klubi‘s second event of the year saw three very different bands on stage Matti ja Tappo, Surut and Juggling Jugulars. Matti ja tappo plasy upsidedown crossover since 2017. Surut is a blackened hardcore band from Tampere, founded in 2017, that combines the explosiveness and psychoticism of hardcore, screamo and black metal with the soaring melodies of post-rock and blackgaze. Juggling Jugulars play melodic hardcore punk, the band was founded in 1989 and has been active throughout its existence.
Our reporter Cristina was there and took some photos from the performances of Matti ja Tappo and Surut.
Meara Klubi inaugurates 2024 with the first event of the year and three bands on stage: Askel, Svarta Havet and Sunniva.
Sunniva is a fusion of sludge, doom and post-metal, founded in Turku in 2016. Svarta Havet plays post-hardcore and metal that defies definition and ripples in shades of black. In the band’s disconsolate lyrics, the loss of nature and the eco-crisis, fear and anxiety for the future and hatred towards the capitalist destruction machine of the north of the world come to the fore. Askel is a band founded in Helsinki in 2022 that plays cold, painful and loud sludge.
Here some photos of the night by Cristina Gregori.
Memoira are back stronger than ever with a new singer Krista Schröter. Before releasing new music the band played three gigs, one of which was in Pori and we were there to see the new line-up at work. The energetic pop metal band Segmentia opened the gig.
Here some photos taken by Cristina Gregori.
This time on the stage of the Meara Klubi three bands with different genres created a noteworthy show. The first to take the stage was Vanguardian, an extreme technical heavy metal band from Jyväskylä resurrected from the ashes of the thrash band Inkvisitor in 2019, followed by Folkrim, a band that plays a combination of metal and traditional instruments inspired by beer and nature that brings good mood everywhere. Closing the evening was Psychework, with singer Antony Parviainen and guitarist J-V Hintikka (ex-Machine Men), who offers melodically strong, dark and progressive heavy metal with impressive orchestrations and an undeniable talent for the dramatic.
Here some photos taken by Cristina Gregori.
This time on the stage of Meara Klubi played Split Iris, Balance Breach and Khroma. Split Iris is a progressive metalcore band that combines elements of djent, deathcore and many other sub-styles of modern metal. Balance Breach is one of the most promising metal bands from Finland, its music combines wistful melodies, furious energy and big choruses in such an irresistible way that it has been noticed not only in Finland but also in Central Europe. Combining low-key groove, electro, hip hop and ambient, Khroma has done several foreign tours since its founding in 2010, the most recent being a massive 37-gig European tour with the Jinjer in autumn 2019, as well as a 10-gig club tour in the fall of 2022, with the crowning gig at Cologne’s Euroblast festivals in October 2022. Khroma has also warmed up for the band Gojira, performed in addition to the 2013 Tuska Festival at several festivals in Central Europe and visited Japan for a showcase gig.
Here some photos taken by Cristina Gregori.
The first edition of MonoMassive, organized by Meara Music, was held in Pori at the Annis house of cultures on September 9th. Six bands took turns on the two stages: Anzillu, Atlas, Where’s My Bible, Medeia, Black Royal, and Rytmihäiriö. The festival was sold-out thanks also to the possibility of participation of young people under 18 years of age. Hopefully the festival will be repeated next year.
Here some photos taken by Cristina Gregori.
Also this year The Offering had the opportunity to be present at Porispere, the festival that has been held every first weekend of August for more than 10 years in Pori. The particularity of the festival is to offer a wide range of musical genres over the three days, ranging from metal to pop and everything in between. Notable names this year included Within Temptation, Airbourne, Stratovarius, The Rasmus, Beast in Black, Turmion Kätilöt, Diablo, and Stoned Statues to name a few. Sunday was the day dedicated to families called Minispere, for the occasion on the stage performed Käärijä, who represented Finland at the last edition of Eurovision, missing the victory by very few points with his “Cha cha cha”. The festival was sold out on Saturday and Sunday, the weather was also forgiving with summer temperatures and only an hour of rain on Saturday. Below the photoreport by Cristina Gregori and Miika Riikonen.
This was Swiss metal band Chaoseum’s first trip to the United States and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t know anything about them or who they were. I was told by one fan that they are very similar to Korn and Jonathan Davis. Overall though, they were pretty good. Not extremely heavy, but definitely a good band if you like Korn or similar bands.
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