Ending our 2010 festival summer was simply Finland’s best annual metal event, Oulu’s Jalometalli, and unlike on previous years, this time we had splurged on Miasma Magazine’s festival package, including a bus trip both ways, and most importantly, a hotel room.  While travelling several hours on a “regular” bus wasn’t the most comfortable travelling option, it certainly was the most economical for those of us not getting student discounts for train tickets, and sleeping in a hotel room was from another world when compared to a tent night at Nallikari Camping… Not to even mention the breakfast buffet included in the price.  As the list of bands looked pretty damn awesome once again as well, everything was set for a weekend of total metal madness in the dying Northern summer.

Friday's third band Rytmihäiriö was the first one we caught, and despite my love for surmacore, I was disappointed – and it wasn't just about my lack of drunkenness.  When compared to the supremely intense headliner performance that they had done at Tavastia a week before, the sound was clearly crappier, and the crowd smaller and a lot less enthusiastic, making the Gambina-fueled energy from the stage just fade into the wide emptiness of the big hall.  The band wasn't to blame, though; they delivered their ruby-red message with the familiar drive one can expect from them every time, and Une added in some new twists, like altering the first lines of "Jumalaton näytelmä" suitably to "kun anniskelualueelle ei oltu päästy sisään...", and telling how drummer Otto had pissed on his own Whitesnake shirt on their way to the festival.

Destruction on the outside stage got to be the first foreign act of the festival, and although they weren’t impressing me right from the start, after a couple songs the motor really started running, and the Teutonic thrash trio ended up doing a very enjoyable show.  While the set not-so-surprisingly consisted mostly of their classic 80’s material, ranging from the frantic thrashing of “Bestial Invasion” to the juicy mid-tempo riffing of “Life Without Sense”, some newer material was also presented.  Some kind of a statement from a member of the audience or not, a roll of toilet paper flew onto the stage just as the band were playing the title track of their newest album D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N., almost hitting the guitarist!  Indeed, in comparison to other performed tracks from the new millennium such as “The Butcher Strikes Back” or “Thrash ‘til Death”, the freshest cuts seemed the weakest, and one older song that I was still left craving for was “Total Desaster”.  Nonetheless, a good display that Destruction isn't ready for the grave yet.

The next unmissable band of the evening were the brutal death metal legends Suffocation, who were, quite amazingly, playing in Finland for the first time in their over 20-year career.  Whereas I’ve always preferred the catchiness and atmosphere found in European death metal over the technicality and brutality often emphasized in the American kind, the latter can surely offer a potent live experience when performed with such skill and power that Suffocation possesses.  Apart from his murderous growl, credit also has to be given to Frank Mullen’s unique hand-moves, apparently known as the thing that Frank Mullen does with his hand.  On the contrary, quite a lot less inspiring were his fuck-filled speeches between the songs, but I guess that's more of a rule than an exception when it comes to American bands (and magazine editors).  Spotting his constant fuckyeahs made for a good drinking game though, and dedicating "Breeding the Spawn" to all the mothers present was somewhat of a clever twist.  Although the band unarguably performed with the expected level of professionality and energy, in the end they didn't manage to evoke any deeper feelings in me with their brutalizing tunes.

A thrillingly unexpected addition to the bill, and my most anticipated highlight of the festival were the murder metal masters Macabre, whose previous Finnish visit in 2004 had weirdly been limited to one free gig in Ahvenanmaa.  Dressed in the fearsome costumes already made familiar from their clever photoshoots, the band bombarded the audience on the inside stage with a delicious selection of their serial killer anthems from all four full-lengths and more, with bassist/vocalist Nefarious calmly introducing the songs by illuminating the true gruesome stories behind them.  For the opening track of their debut EP Grim Reality, the band invited a guest vocalist, Impaled Nazarene's Mika Luttinen, who introduced "Serial Killer" as "the best song by the best band ever", and I can hardly disagree.  The set also included two tracks from the new Human Monsters EP, one of them being a cover of Venom's classic "Countess Bathory", which I would've rather seen replaced by a couple more cuts of their own, and while none of Macabre Minstrels' Morbid Campfire Songs were heard, a short tender acoustic moment was given in the form of "Mary Bell".  All in all, a mindblowing performance from a unique band, who I would've obviously loved to play a lot longer!

For me, Carcass didn't seem like such an exciting headliner, as I had already seen them three times during summer 2008, and while each of those times I had enjoyed them more or less, they just couldn't quite reach the intensity of their classic works on stage, and I saw no change in this at Jalometalli.  Then again, I'm not sure if most fans even came for anything more than to witness their tender youth favorite one more (or maybe even for the first) time for a gory trip down memory lane, and I'd imagine that part of the audience was pleased, as long as they weren't expecting a set filled with the sleazy goregrind of their earliest works.  Not that I'm accusing Carcass of a half-assed performance, but especially after the total massacre Macabre had delivered, the show just wasn't able to maintain my interest for very long after the fierce and catchy opener "Corporal Jigsore Quandary".

Saturday morning began with the shocking discovery of Necrosadist of Satanic Evil on our hotel room floor.  The relieving part was that there was no bloodtrails, billhook or vaseline tub to be found, so apparently Virtuaali-Seppo had forgotten to pay a visit.  After a nutricious breakfast, some Manowar, and a couple hours of quality time spent with the Mexican hitman Renaldo Coralba, it was finally time to head towards the festival, as missing the Tampere hellbangers Urn wasn't an option.  Despite its catchy and rocking quality, their black/thrash seemed a bit too grim to work on the main stage in broad daylight, and even the quality material and gig experience they've amassed during their over 15-year career couldn't change the feeling that this wasn't exactly their time and place.

The next act on the indoor stage was an even older name of homegrown darkness, who certainly seemed to be in a more suitable setting.  While I've never detected the often made Celtic Frost comparisons very strongly in Black Crucifixion's music, somehow in a live sítuation this influence was channeled in a considerably clearer manner, guiding nicely into the right mindset for the headliner of the day.  Despite the unavoidable associations towards the Swiss masters, their sound retained its originality, with the highlight of the set for me being the hypnotic "Serpent of Your Holy Garden" from their finest moment, the 1993 MCD Promethean Gift.

Some more original-sounding domestic extreme metal from the early 90’s was served in the form of the (second) final gig of Demilich.  With the beginnings of the band dating back 20 years, their unique technical death metal has gained quite a cult following over the years, not least due to Antti Boman’s inhumanly low burps.  While they certainly deserve the credit they get, in my books there are several more captivating bands than Demilich that the old Finnish scene has to offer, and when listening to the band I often get the feeling that the vocals steal a bit too much of the attention from the high-class musical expression.  Whereas live Boman’s vocals seemed to have a growlier quality to them, the familiarly lousy sounds of the indoor stage and the static appearance of the players made the gig feel like a treat to the die-hards, and just a curiosity to the rest.  Cepeatinres.

As all of Gorgoroth’s gear, from their costumes to the instruments, were still on their way when the band was supposed to go on, their gig was moved to the end of the night, and the empty slot allowed the thirsty festival attendees to get properly hammered for the brotherly metal spirit that was to follow.  While I wasn’t really interested in hearing Ross the Boss’ own material, the fact that another old man of war, Scott Columbus, was joining him on stage to also perform a good deal of material from the first six albums of the kings of metal made it much more appealing.  Especially the final hits “Hail and Kill” and “Battle Hymn” just simply killed, and, by the way, the acoustic intro of the latter seriously sounds like some newer Amorphis tune... those damned Manowar rip-offs!

Despite the praise that Celtic Frost’s last full-length Monotheist received, I never really got into the album that much nor had I seen them live, so I was quite surprised how instantly impressive Triptykon’s Eparistera Daimones sounded, and knowing their set was to include several Celtic Frost classics as well, I was expecting Saturday’s headliner to be one of the festival’s highlights.  As it turned out, I didn’t have to be disappointed.  While the immense force of the newest material was showcased with tracks like “Goetia” and “Descendant”, balancing between hypnotic dragging and possessed rage so compellingly, the majority of the frosty part of the set rightfully consisted of songs from To Mega Therion and earlier attacks, with the interesting addition of “Babylon Fell (Jade Serpent)” from Into the Pandemonium.  As much as I enjoyed hearing undying anthems like “Procreation (of the Wicked)” and “Necromantical Screams” performed live with such conviction, the most utterly heavy and hypnotic part of the set was the last half an hour.  Consisting of only two newer songs, “Synagoga Satanae”, which Celtic Frost apparently used to end their sets with, and “The Prolonging”, this was the climax that made Triptykon’s performance not only the top one of the festival, but also one of the greatest gigs I’ve ever witnessed.

After Triptykon's exhaustingly intense performance, Teatria's hall was filled with Angel Witch's energetic, even joyful heavy metal spirit, as these NWOBHM legends launched a classy set of tunes, justifiably ruled by their self-titled 1980 debut.  While "White Witch" stuck out as my favorite of the bunch, the set-closing title track was definitely the audience highlight, with the crowd continuing to chant the chorus even minutes after the band had left the stage.  No wonder, as the song has such an unforgettable chorus that once having heard it, you can't get it out of your head even if you wanted to – believe me!  Whilst the ultimate heaviness of the previous act had left me feeling quite mentally and physically drained, as if sunk into an abyssal coma, Angel Witch's emphatic show picked me up, wrapping up the festival in a pleasant manner.  Since the only remaining band was Gorgoroth, whose slot had been moved to the end of the night, and worse yet, set to begin an hour after Angel Witch, we were among the fair part of the audience who didn't feel like it was worth sticking around until 2:30am to see these black metal divas hit the stage, and headed back towards the hotels for a Thorrendous afterparty instead.

The amount of bands had been reduced by a couple since the previous year, which made it possible to give bands longer playing times.  Whereas the shortness is often one of the biggest flaws of festival sets, unfortunately not every band chose to make use of this special opportunity, like Melechesh who didn't play even near to the 75 minutes that they could have.  Apparently Gorgoroth’s set didn’t come close either, although their original slot was of the same respectable length.

While band picks were once again top-notch, and arrangements seemed to work well, the outside of the festival area wasn't quite as cosy as on previous years.  If the surrounding areas already looked desolate and industrial before, this time even the comforting little grassy knoll to drink your own beers on during less must-see bands had been fenced off, not leaving much space for the thirsty people to hang out in.

Although next year the 10th Jalometalli should still be taking place in the same familiar hoods, apparently after that the festival will have to move, with one possible new location being Kuusisaari, where it would accompany Oulu's other rock festival Qstock.  While Teatria has served the festival quite well over the years, a change of scenery might not be such a bad thing; I, for instance, wouldn't mind getting rid of the messy sound that often plagues the bands on the inside stage.  Come what and where may, as long as Jalometalli keeps bringing us the best in metal (and for as long as I’m still welcome), I will be there, and so should any other Finnish metalhead who's into the underground, the extreme and the old school.