During last Saturday’s performance, the singer of Hammerfall said that it was the coldest sauna he had ever been, and indeed, this year’s Sauna Open Air festival in Tampere was marked by weather conditions that drifted from cold and rain on Friday to a sunny picnic day on Sunday. But despite bad weather, metalheads and sleazy rockers gathered early in order to see Amorphis, that opened the big stage on Friday. The Finnish metal band presented “Skyforger”, a concept album released a couple of weeks ago that has already received some rave reviews. This melodic death metal inspired by the epic of Finnish legend Kalevala was a remarkable way to start the festival.

In addition to Amorphis, Nightwish and Stratovarius on Sunday were the other big names of Finnish metal at SOA, but this time I was more interested in catching up with two upcoming bands playing the small stage. 45 Degree Woman have been around for some time, playing regularly in Helsinki and other cities in Finland. A few months ago the band released their second full-length, “Revival”, and obviously, those were the songs that were played at the festival. It was refreshing to confirm that the bands avoids metal music clichés and wagnerian choruses (at least in most of the songs). As a matter of fact, singer is more of a hard rock singer that a metal vocalist, and his stage presence seems to mimic Mark Lanegan’s seriousness and austere movements. The band hit the note with a couple of catchy songs (“I Don’t Live Today” and “Alone”) and the muscular “I Believe”, although I could not help thinking if those synth sounds are very convenient as they add unnecessary layers of sounds. But overall, it was an enjoyable set.

Mikko Viman of 45 Degree Woman

Right after Michael Monroe sat in with Duff McKagan’s Loaded for an invigorating dose of old school punk rock on the main stage, death metal band Medeia kill it on the second stage. This band from Tampere were called to fill in after Swedish band Meshuggah canceled at last minute. I am sure the guys of Medeia had already bought their festival tickets, since they are big fans of the Swedes, but instead of being among the audience, they got the opportunity to play and they clearly showed why they deserved to be there. I am not a death metal fan, but it was impossible not to be impressed by Medeia’s strong performance. They put aside all the make-up and death metal imagery. They just don’t need it as they deliver some bleeding guitar riffs, along with Keijo Niinimaa’s robust vocals. It is a sonic violence that any fan of the genre would love. Great attitude.

Saturday was Crüe fest day. Many people were sporting Mötley Crüe t-shirts, Mötley Crüe make-up and even Mötley Crüe hairdos. They did a pretty standard show, but the day had some top quality Finnish metal with Finntroll raising from the deep of Finnish forest with razor sharp metal.

Sauna Open Air concluded with classic metal giants Stratovarius and Nightwish on a nice and sunny Sunday evening. The festival overcome the threat of bad weather and had another successful edition, gathering people of all ages over three days of peace, love and metal.