† NillaMora †

The fourth Helldone Festival in Helsinki, Finland will be as warm, loose and easygoing as it's always been. There's one new thing though, more of a sort of added bonus as Helldone Festival does a road trip.

This time around HIM, KYPCK (pronounced ..Kursk') and 45 Degree Woman take the festival on the road, to the cities of Oulu and Tampere. While this fearless trio shares some good vibes with the rest of the country, Helldone HQ in Helsinki is rocking to the sounds of Stam1na, Diablo and Godsplague on Monday 29th , and The 69 Eyes, Negative and Sara on Tuesday 30th . New Year's Eve marks the eagerly awaited return of the road warriors. 

During the past couple of years, the Helldone Festival has also been proud to present some cool bands from overseas but you have…

NEGATIVE was honored in the "Best Finnish Act" category at MTV's European Music Awards Thursday night (November 1) in Munich, Germany .

The band is currently taking a break from touring and getting ready to start the recording sessions for its fourth album. A 2008 release is expected.

Russia's HeadBanger.ru webzine has uploaded photos from NEGATIVE's October 26, 2007 concert at Club Apelsin in Moscow. Check them out at this location.

NEGATIVE will release its new DVD, "In the Eye of the Hurricane", in Finland in early 2008. In a recent interview with HeadBanger.ru, the band's frontman Jonne Aaron said the following about the DVD: "We shot two live shows for it, and we’re not sure yet which one is gonna be on the DVD. One was recorded at Pakkahuone here in Tampere and the other one was recorded at Nosturi in Helsinki. At…

Venus Doom
HIM
Sire

by Mike Villano

Although it's only starting to penetrate the consciousness of U.S. listeners, the past decade has seen Scandinavia become the not-so-quiet center of the hard rock and metal universe. Once better known in musical circles for the spate of early-'90s black-metal-related church burnings than for any actual music, today's scene finds bands as disparate as Turbonegro, Nightwish and Opeth all coexisting under the big tent of heavy rock music.

Finland's HIM has been at it for a decade now, and this, their sixth studio album, finds the band in a bit of a holding pattern. Band leader/Johnny Depp-look-alike Ville Valo's vocals are still as moody as ever and his lyrical themes dark as a Nordic night, but something's missing from the mix this time out. The album centerpiece, "Sleepwalking Past Hope," best illustrates the album's dilemma. An ambitious, sprawling…

Which Finnish artists do you want to compete for the prestigious award "Best Finnish Act" at this year's MTV Europe Music Awards?

Now YOU have the chance to vote to decide which five acts will make it to the finals!

All you have to do is to check out the list below and start voting!

On November 1, 2007, the 14th MTV Europe Music Awards will be held in Munich, Germany!

 

Click Here to vote 

Rocker VILLE VALO has hit out at a smoking ban in his native Finland, branding the policy "c**ty". The Him frontman is disappointed by the government's decision to bar smoking in public places - including the country's restaurants and bars - which came into effect on 1 June this year (07). But chain-smoking Valo insists he will use his status as a celebrity to flout the ban - by claiming the habit "is part of his artistic licence". He says, "I would rise to the barricades just for the fact that it's such a c**nty idea! "I understand totally if restaurants where you eat would be totally smoke free. But imagine you can't sit at the pub, smoke a fag and meet new people? What the f**k are you going to do? Onstage it doesn't really matter because I have the artistic licence of claiming that it's…