The guys on stage in Helsinki

Nosturi hosted the last concert of the successful European Silent Waters Tour featuring Insomnium, Swallow the Sun and Amorphis, three Finnish bands that gather many of the qualities that have made Finnish bands so popular lately: good quality music with a twist, not just following the trends of the style their music is supposed to belong to, but adding little elements here and there, which makes it more complex and interesting, certainly deserving a second listening (and many more).

Thus, it's obviously not surprising that the tickets for this event sold out already a long time before the day itself, and the environment inside the venue had turned really warm, sweaty and crowded already by the time the first band of the night hit the stage (which is not so common, at least in Finland). Insomnium barely had the time to play some of their most famous songs, which included "The Killjoy", "The Elder", "Bereavement", "The Gale", "Mortal Share" and "Drawn to Black". The crowd received a little surprise gift though, when Mikko Kotamäki from Swallow the Sun hit the stage and joined Insomnium to perform a cover of the song "Blinded by Fear" of the Swedish death metal band "At the Gates", which was welcomed with cheers and raised arms. Insomnium finally left the stage with "The Void of Caring", and the band will now take a break (except for a last show in their hometown Joensuu, in January 2008) to enter the studio and begin the recording of the new album.

Juha in Helsinki

Next came the turn of Swallow the Sun. Strangely enough, instead of the classic intro from "Twin Peaks", they were welcomed on stage by a rather happy-humppa song, as the band members looked at each other quite amused. Later on we got to find out that they had themselves tried to convince the sound technician of Insomnium to play that song as an intro for Insomnium, but while they didn't manage convince the technician, they got it themselves in return. Swallow the Sun filled the place with the deep and dramatic melodies of their music, with songs such as "Hope", "The Morning Never Came", "These Hours of Despair", "Descending Winters", "Don't Fall Asleep", "The Morning Never Came" and "Swallow", making it clear that the great moment the band has lately been enjoying (the performed in Wacken 2007, had a tour in the USA and another one in Europe, and have already been confirmed for some important summer festivals in 2008) is not only due to the quality of their music, but also to their great live performance.

And last but not least, Amorphis came on stage in their hometown to provide the last act of the tour in which they have been presenting their successful new album "Silent Waters" throughout Europe. At this point, the lack of space in the surroundings of the stage was such, that the attempts to change one's position in the venue might at least have been considered foolish (my thanks go to whomever invented the fences for the photopit!), but the show proved to be way worth the money and troubles suffered. Tomi Joutsen proved once again what a great singer and performer he is, mastering not only the newest but also the older songs, and showing how good growling and clean vocals can be successfully combined by the same person. The band entertained the audience with songs from basically all albums, from the newest to some old rarities, including most of the "hits": "I of Crimson Blood", "Alone", "Against Widows", "The Castaway", "Sign", "My Kantele", "House of Sleep", "Silent Waters", "Black Winter Day", "The Smoke", "Sign from the North Side", "Into Hiding", "Shaman", "Towards and Against", ...
About one hour and a half of great music, which also included a little "surprise celebration" of their own, when Aleksi Munter And Mikko Kotamäki from Swallow the Sun joined the band during one of the songs, while their band-mates Matti Honkonen and Markus Jämsen jumped around the stage spreading balloons and ribbons all around.

Loud Arts