live music

At War with Reality live. Who could pass up this opportunity? Well, not me. Especially with the chance to watch some of it through the lens. At the Gates showed in their recent Helsinki gig that no matter how long a great band takes between albums, that what you get live will have as much raw passion as the original crowd favourites. The night was accented by Rotten Sound's aggressively brilliant opening set.

This year, At the Gates released their first new album in nineteen years. Hearing it performed live, in my new home of Helsinki, was something I was not going to miss. Opening up a night of excellent music, friends and memories were Vaasa's intensely brilliant Rotten Sound.

The Black Dahlia Murder teamed up with Finland's Nerve End to bring an onslaught of midweek Extreme and Melodic Death Metal to Helsinki's Tavastia Club. With a crowd of loyal locals, and special guest 'Rocky', Nerve End set the mood high and heavy hitting. The Black Dahlia Murder whipped the crowd into a circle pit frenzy. With no crowd barrier, Trevor Strnad reached straight into the front row to shake hands, and this photographer had to stay light on her feet to avoid moshing Finns.

Moonsorrow have come from a garage in Pukinmäki, to a worldwide fan base and even an Australian tour. They were one of the Finnish Folk bands that built up their country's reputation. They're even in a museum in Hungary. But they hadn't played a home crowd in two years when they headed back to the Virgin Oil Co in Helsinki.

For the first time since 2012, Moonsorrow played their home crowd in Helsinki and days later words are still failing me when I attempt to describe the night. The longest set ever, fans from all over the world, and the long brilliance of Tulimyrsky. 1065: Aika was played for the first time in Finland. It was also the first time a lot of people saw Crimfall live with their new female vocalist, Sara Strömmer.

Chainmail, warpaint and drinking horns were once again the business of the evening in Helsinki as Ensiferum, Turisas and Thaurorod shared the stage on Easter Sunday. A passionate crowd of local fans and visitors from all over Europe drank, moshed and raised their fists to an evening of anthemic metal.

Watain brought their occult ritual to Helsinki last January, joined by fellow Swedes In Solitude. We were there to try to catch some of the heady black metal in pictures.

A mighty scoop of riffs and good times.

Presented by Welkin Entertainment, Perth heavyweights Chaos Divine are hitting up Perth, Melbourne and Sydney for their newest release, The Human Connection.