Nordic souls, Gothic hearts – Cemetery Skyline’s first club show at Tavastia, Helsinki 19.3.

The arrival of spring was already visible in the not-so-cold Helsinki, and with a mild climate outside, it was inside the legendary Tavastia that things were ready to get warmer with the supergroup Cemetery Skyline ready to play their first official club show after the first live appearance last year at John Smith Festival.

The opening act was the band The Eternal, originally from Australia, nowadays the group is half Australian and the other half Finnish, with musicians such as Jan Rechberger (Amorphis )and Niclas Etelävuori (ex-Amorphis, Flat Earth). The gothic/doom metal of the band, led by vocalist/guitarist Mark Kelson, was well received. It was also nice seeing Jan and Niku together again on stage.

After a small delay of five minutes, Cemetery Skyline‘s intro started at 21:50 in an already full Tavastia. As soon as the quintet reached the stage, they were celebrated with enthusiasm by everyone. The audio heard on the speakers was still gettin the final touches with volumes and frequencies when the setlist began with “Behind the Lie”. Song after song, the skill of each member began to be presented, as seen in “The Darkest Night”, with a beautiful bass sound by Victor Brandt, known for his live performances with Dimmu Borgir.

The first speech took place before “Anomalie”, in which vocalist Mikael Stanne, known for his extreme vocals on swedish bands Dark Tranquillity and The Halo Effect, commented on this being the band’s first official gig of a regular show and how happy they were to see the venue full of fans. In “The Coldest Heart”, Santeri Kallio, one of the band’s main composers, and known for his decades of work in Amorphis, was definitely having fun on the keyboards, while the charismatic guitarist Markus Vanhala, another familiar face from bands like Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum, continued bringing his energy and wild guitar tone in songs like “Never Look Back”.

When the album Nordic Gothic was released last year, the first shock was hearing Mikael singing clean vocals, but seeing him live on stage, it seemed so natural and the vocalist made a point of showing how comfortable he was in this new phase of his career during the debut of the tune “When Silence Speaks”. Vesa Ranta is one of the most beloved drummers in the Finnish scene, especially for his career with legendary Sentenced, and after so many years, his intensity remains impeccable, as performed in “Torn Away”.

The cover of Roy Orbison‘s “I Drove All Night” had a few loud choirs in the audience by fans already wearing the band’s merchandise. Up until that moment, it was possible to observe something that dictated the rhythm of the show: despite the lack of stage chemistry of the band, since this tour is their first full shows ever, the joy, fun and happiness on the faces of each of the five members was contagious and present in each song performed, and this was reflected in the eyes of the fans who showed up for a sold-out night.

Stanne also commented on how songs that were born four years ago during the pandemic are now part of a band formed alongside friends and how surreal it has been to live this experience. Sande and Vesa continued bringing their groove vibe to the show when “In Darkness” was performed, but it was during another debut that the blue lights that colored the stage gave visual form to the beautiful performance of “Alone Together”, which once again showed the band’s Nordic gothic DNA.

The encore began with a surprise for Finnish fans, with Sentenced‘s instrumental version of the national classic “Konevitsan kirkonkellot”, which served as an interlude for the band’s biggest hit “Violent Storm”, with its chorus sung by hundreds of fans. After 12 song, the five musicians said goodbye after the traditional final photo with the audience, and although Cemetery Skyline‘s debut as a band is still recent, it has already shown that the classic gothic metal is still alive and with a strong and loyal fan base. May Mikael, Sande, Markus, Victor and Vesa continue spreading the word of darkness in a romantic way that only the Nordic side of the world can express, and so we will continue together being light to each other in the darkest nights.

Words and images by John Wins

You can listen to Cemetery Skyline‘s debut “Nordic Gothic” here: