Into the Moshpit – Stereotypes Part II

(c) Scandinavia in the World

If you still remember my last post you will remember that I wrote about stereotypes among other things. There is one stereotype that we have not talked about, and because it is by far the most widespread of stereotypes about Finns, it will get its own post. Here it comes: absolutely all Finns are Satanist metalheads who torch churches for fun.

D’uh.

 The Finnish love for Heavy Metal has become part of common knowledge in the rest of Europe ever since Lordi won the Eurovision Songcontest in 2006. Anyone still remember that? It is true that there is more Metal and Hard Rock on the big Finnish radio stations than here in Austria (or in Germany for that matter). People also seem to have a lot fewer problems with men letting their hair grow out. (There’s even long-haired male window dummies in the ‘Clothes’ section at Stockmann (comparable to Galeria Kaufhof or Karstadt)). It’s also true that quite a lot of great Metal bands hail from Finland (Korpiklaani for example, who are great fun in concert, or Sonata Arctica who are more in the Power Metal line, or – the poster boys for Finnish Melodic Death Metal – Children of Bodom, or.…..you get the drift.) And to top it all off, there even is a documentary called ‘Promised Land of Heavy Metal’ investigating the Finnish Metal scene.

I have only been to two Metal concerts during my time in Finnland: Korpiklaani and Sonata Arctica, coincidentally. Both were great fun, but the best part for me was that I actually understood most of what Tony Kakko was telling the audience between songs. But there were a few other things that were nice about the concerts. For one thing, there was nearly no moshing at the front of the stage. That might, however have had something to do with the bands rather than the people. Theoretically, I get that moshing must be quite the adrenaline rush and some fun; practically, I just don’t have the stature to do that kind of stuff (especially because most of the people I see moshing are either twice my height or twice my weight), which is why I mostly keep away from the very front. But something else was very…well, Finnish. Remember what I wrote about strict ID controls when it comes to buying alcohol? Well, it turned out that when a band is playing in one of the bigger venues, like Pakkahuone where Sonata Arctica were playing, the floor is divided into a general area and an 18+ area. That’s of course where the bar is. As I said before: no-nonsense.

When it comes to churches, though, things are actually a bit topsy-turvy. Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki regularly hosts a Metal Mass (fin.: Metallimessu) which draws quite a lot of teenagers. They even managed to get an article in the Washington Times, for whatever that’s worth.

And just so you know, there are Finns who don’t like Metal (I know at least two. Or maybe three.)

Another Fun Fact About Finland: The annual Air Guitar World Championships have been held in Oulu, the sixth biggest Finnish city, since 1996.