I'm doing something a little bit different - telling a story of my recent adventure through Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland through the music the influenced and guided the journey.
I've always been willing to make a drive to see a good show. An hour or two or even six doesn't stand in my way. Sometimes (especially depending the state of the metal scene where you live) you have to go to extra lengths to see your favorite bands play. Using this idea as inspiration, we (me and my metalhead partner in crime) decided to embark on a two week trek across Scandinavia to see the sights, visit the landscapes, and to see the places where metal lives.
I've always been willing to make a drive to see a good show. An hour or two or even six doesn't stand in my way. Sometimes (especially depending the state of the metal scene where you live) you have to go to extra lengths to see your favorite bands play. Using this idea as inspiration, we (me and my metalhead partner in crime) decided to embark on a two week trek across Scandinavia to see the sights, visit the landscapes, and to see the places where metal lives.
The first stop was Helsinki, Finland for the Tuska Open Air Metal Festival. Even on our first night, we learned the value of following the music. After getting some pastries and caffeine (not the wisest dinner choice) we followed the sounds of outdoor music. Stepping into a crowded courtyard, flanked by outdoor bars, a glamed-up cover band faithfully cranked out some classic 80’s eighties tunes into the infinite Helsinki sunset. This detour was not in any of the guidebooks we read while researching the trip. We were all the better for that. It feels like most tour advice assumes that you’re most interested in churches and museums and whatever things deemed ‘quintessential’ to the places you visit. Many pages are dedicated to giving you the most authentic experience in the shortest amount of time. I’ll admit that were occasionally victims to this kind of rapid tourism, but fortunately had enough other activities planned that forced us off the well-beaten path.
And so we continued to follow the path of music. Like mountain streams gathering into a mighty river, the legions of metal fans cascaded into Tuska in the waning hours of Friday afternoon. We were there to see Amorphis in particular, but the preceding bands were also worth the trip. Fellow Fins, Wintersun played an inspired set, full of their characteristic virtuosic playing and vocalist Jari Maenpaa’s dynamic howl and screams. The Norwegian metal band, Ihsahn, played some headbanging metal, tinged with black and doom themes. As the crowd cleared from the stage after Ihsahn, I dodged the seagulls to score some food and then settled in at the front of the Amorphis stage, watching from a slight distance as Bolt Thrower hammered home an energetic set on the opposite facing stage.
As Bolt Thrower closed their set, anticipation mounted for Amorphis. Soon the band took the stage for the opening of “Shades Of Gray.” Frontman Tomi Joutsen charged the stage, grabbed his microphone with both hands, and bellowed a death growl to the cheering crowd. The set included eleven songs, spanning past albums Eclipse, Skyforger, Elegy, and Tales From the Thousand Lakes and drawing heavily from their recently released epic story, Circle.
I figured if you’re going to travel thousands of miles to see a band, you might as well stand in the front row. I think this is true of many aspects of being on vacation, whether you’ve travel a long distance or just down the road. It is your time to experience your surroundings however you would like. In this age of information, everyone will offer their must-see opinions. Granted, much this advice is probably well intentioned, but it is far more rewarding to work at doing what you want and being satisfied that your personal checklist was fulfilled.
Our stay in Helsinki was short. The next day we caught a train to Savonnlina, in Eastern Finland to see a castle. We left the vibrant city for some peaceful days overlooking Olavinlinna. This was my first experience with European trains. Despite living on the overpopulated US eastern seaboard for my entire life, I do not have much experience with trains. But everything we read about traveling suggested that taking the train was best way to go. Public transportation has some inherit problems – first, the public: other people. I would normally prefer to walk 20 minutes than take a 4 minute ride on a crowded subway or bus. Second, there is the matter of schedules. Trains come and go at specific times whether or not you’re prepared to depart. The added stress of planning to be in a certain place at a certain time (or face the consequences) diminishes the value of public transit’s efficiency in my mind. If you are going to take the train, I recommend early morning (not for this metalhead) or late/sleeper trains. I found train travel to be somewhat dull. As the scenery whisked by and with my Scandinavian metal playlist on shuffle, sleep was never too far away. It may not be the thing to do, but please just give me a car. I’d rather be lost in a foreign land than asleep on a train. At the end of the (literally) we made our destinations and settled into a few relaxing days eastern Finland, punctuated by sounds of birds and some Amorphis tunes blasting from our phones, just to keep the concert playing.
