FESTIVAL REPORT: Maaliskuun Musta Messu 2024
A View from Behind the Merch Table
If you ever wanted to know where the last place you’d find me is, it’s probably at a black metal festival. As a lover of melodies, as well as being someone who’s just not that interested in shrieking vocals, it seems like a festival you could chase me with, so to speak. However, I’ve been attending Maaliskuun Musta Messu [March’s Black Mass] in Lahti for 3 years now… first, because they had Machinae Supremacy headlining; last year, because I was interested in some of the lineup and doubled as a merch helper; and this year, Enslain was fully in charge of merch and Chrissy wanted some company as she, too, is not really into black metal. It was a 12ish-hour day for us, but despite the long hours, I appreciate the event and I’ve enjoyed watching it grow over the past few years!
We arrived before 15.00 to get everything counted and set up and arranged, but we were at it non-stop until the doors opened around 18.00 or just prior. As we set up, we caught some of the sound checks and heard some strange and interesting things coming off the stages!
The festival had been held the previous two years at what I think is a newer venue in Lahti called Sammiosali, but this year it had moved over to the famous local music hall’s club, Finlandia-klubi, which gave them a bit more room. In fact, this year’s event may have been fully doubled in size because there were two stages facing one another on opposite sides of the club, with the main stage outside the bar area and the secondary stage within.
Now, for the most part, I’ve always been able to appreciate certain things about black metal, even if the genre is not my favorite. For example, Azaghal had really solid heavy, melodic death metal that dipped in and out of black metal harshness, while Bob Malmström was full-on hardcore, screaming/belching, and rough. Interestingly, I think I’ve seen their singer around in the journalism circles… isn’t he from a Swedish radio show? Sargassus—one of the winners of the event’s band contest—were a bit melodic and extremely loud, while Warmoon Lord was full-on corpse paint and spikes black metal. The other competition winner was Anyala, who, interestingly enough, were more melodic metalcore-ish, and it was very cute to see that there were some very young children (between the approximate ages of 3-10) in their shirts in the crowd, so I’m guessing they had some family present. Where’s My Bible remain the most-enjoyable black-learning metal band I know these days, though their set was less folky this year than last year. It did, however, stand out for a guest appearance from Riina Rinkinen, whom you may remember also recently did a guest slot with Frozen Factory—goes to show just exactly how diverse she is as a vocalist!
Kallomäki were one of the acts we were intrigued by during the sound check, because they had quite a few people on stage, all dressed up in fantastic mythological, folky outfits, with two clawed dancers supplementing the show, which all matched their folk/Viking sound. Torture Killer were less thrashy than I expected, but still heavy, growly, with some solid wailing riffs, while the Lahti Burlesque put on some nice performances to good tunes. I didn’t leave my post to check them out but I did see one girl with some feather fans that were so big they may have been wings, which was fun to see from afar. Wolfheart wrapped up the night—I’ve seen them many times, so I know them to be very solid performers who put on yet another very heavy show.
However, if there was one band that was quite out of place in a way that worked for me, it was The Gallows Dance. They were dressed up in a sort of haunted wild west style that really brought me to the Shadowfell setting you can find in the Forgotten Realms lore. The music also completely suited the style, boasting banjos, cajón, and a blindfolded vocalist wrapped in chains. They also win the award for the most interesting piece of merch I’ve seen in a while: a gravestone! So even though this festival was definitely not attuned to my personal taste, I did still find one new act that I really enjoyed.
Having a bit more space this year also allowed for a few more merch stalls, with last year’s homemade jewelry folks back again (I see them quite regularly at festivals) and two new booths, one with a bunch of ladies selling accessories and another for Rauta, who seem to do jewelry and metalwork of some sort. It was also fun to see the surprisingly wide age range of attendees, as we sold some shirts to what we assumed were one of the bands’ grandmothers, while there were also a few people there that were were quite sure were below the drinking age (not including the literal children, of course), though maybe I’m just old and think all young people look like teens nowadays. There weren’t any food options this year, which I do understand, as last year’s nacho cart was a bit of an overpriced disappointment and though I didn’t find myself hungry, perhaps that could be an option again in the future, just because this was a long event.
Overall, for a festival that doesn’t focus on music that I like, I tend to always have a surprisingly good time and I really enjoy the atmosphere. Black March Events have done a great job of improving and expanding on the event every year, so once again, I’ll be curious to see where it goes next time! Perhaps you’ll see me there again next year, who knows?
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