Hellsinki Metal Festival 2026 – Day Two Report: Assemble the Chariots, Numento, Iotunn, Sepulchral Curse, Kalmah, Eluveitie and Opeth

Day Two of Hellsinki Metal Festival 2026 in Helsinki picked up exactly where Friday left off — three stages, blue skies over the outdoor areas, and a bill that ran from homegrown newcomers to some of the biggest names in progressive and melodic metal, with Eluveitie's late-evening folk metal party outdoors on Hellsinki-02 and Opeth's late-night headline set on Hellsinki-01 the single most anticipated performance of the day. Metal Madness Weekly spent the day between the barrier and the backstage area, camera in one hand and microphone in the other.

Day Two in Pictures — In Order

Assemble the Chariots, Numento, Iotunn, Sepulchral Curse and Kalmah — the full photo run from Saturday is in the gallery below, in the order we shot it, followed by the interview portraits from backstage.

Assemble the Chariots — An Early Statement

Under a bright afternoon sky and with their logo towering over the outdoor stage, Assemble the Chariots opened our Saturday with a set built on atmosphere and weight rather than speed. Blue wash lighting, smoke drifting across the deck and a crowd that had clearly arrived early on purpose: a strong, confident start to the day and one of those slots that sends people straight to the merch tent afterwards.

Numento — Finnish Melodic Metal With a Full Production

Numento brought banners, a proper light show and one of the most polished stage presentations of the afternoon. Symphonic-tinged melodic metal with clean and harsh vocals trading places, big choruses aimed straight at the field, and a band that plays like it belongs on a stage this size. The crowd response — phones up, fists up — suggested plenty of new listeners were made in that half hour.

Iotunn — The Progressive Highlight of the Day

Iotunn were, for many people in the field, the reason Saturday sold. The Danes' towering progressive death metal translated beautifully to the open air: soaring clean vocals over crushing riff work, that huge monochrome backdrop behind them, and songs long enough to build entire arcs while still landing every payoff. Genuinely one of the best-sounding sets of the whole weekend.

Exclusive Interview — Iotunn's Drummer

After the show we sat down backstage with Iotunn's drummer for an exclusive Metal Madness Weekly interview, talking about the set, the writing process behind their latest material, the band's rise on the European festival circuit and what comes next. Watch the full video interview in the player above, or listen to it as a Metal Madness Weekly podcast episode on Spotify — the interview portraits are in the gallery below.

Sepulchral Curse — Death Metal Indoors

Indoors on Hellsinki-03, Sepulchral Curse turned the arena into something closer to a ritual: blood-red wash lighting, white beams cutting through the smoke, and Finnish death metal delivered with old-school conviction. A darker, more claustrophobic counterpoint to the sunlit outdoor stages, and exactly the kind of set that rewards stepping away from the main field for half an hour.

Kalmah — Swamp Metal on the Main Stage

Kalmah closed our photo run with a masterclass in Finnish melodic death metal. Flying-V guitars, that unmistakable twin-lead attack, the ornate backdrop and a field of horns from the barrier to the back fence — pure swamp metal in the early evening sun. Two decades in and they still play like a band with something to prove.

Backstage — Eluveitie and Kalmah Interviews

Saturday was also the busiest interview day of the weekend for us. Alongside the Iotunn conversation, Metal Madness Weekly recorded backstage interviews with Eluveitie — who played their own set later in the evening, outdoors on Hellsinki-02 from 21:15 to 22:30 — and with Kalmah. Folk metal and melodic death metal from two very different corners of the scene, both in candid form. The full Eluveitie video interview is now live and playing in the third player above, the Iotunn conversation is in the players at the top, and the Kalmah interview follows next. Portraits from all sessions are in the gallery below.

Everything Else on the Saturday Bill

Doors opened at 13:00 and, as on Friday, there was far more music than one pair of ears could cover across the two outdoor stages (Hellsinki-01 and Hellsinki-02) and the indoor Hellsinki-03 room.

Hellsinki-01 (outdoor) ran Numento at 14:15, Misþyrming at 16:00, Paradise Lost at 18:00, Triptykon performing Celtic Frost at 20:00–21:15 and Opeth closing the festival from 22:30 to midnight. Opeth were without question one of the most anticipated artists of the entire day — the name that came up again and again in the queues, at the bar and backstage — and the crowd that gathered in front of Hellsinki-01 before their set was the largest of the weekend. They delivered a long, patient, beautifully lit headline set that sent Hellsinki 2026 out on progressive rather than brutal terms.

Hellsinki-02 (outdoor) opened the day with Assemble the Chariots at 13:30, then Iotunn at 15:00, Kalmah at 17:00, Cyan Kicks at 19:00 and Eluveitie in the evening slot from 21:15 to 22:30, drawing one of the biggest crowds on that stage all weekend.

Indoors on Hellsinki-03 the line-up was Sepulchral Curse at 15:00, Orly at 16:30, Horna at 18:00, Tungsten at 19:30, and then the weekend's most talked-about one-off: Misþyrming & Nergal performing Behemoth's 'Sventhevith' from 22:00 to 23:00 — a black metal summit that packed the hall wall to wall. The Kovenant closed the room, and the festival, from 00:00 to 01:00.

The Saturday programme also included FCF Wrestling in the arena, with a championship bout at 17:15 — Juhana 'King Kong' Karhula vs. Severi Koski — keeping something happening between sets.

Day Two Verdict

If Friday was about extremity, Saturday was about range: Assemble the Chariots' weight, Numento's polish, Iotunn's ambition, Sepulchral Curse's darkness, Kalmah's melodic firepower, Paradise Lost and Triptykon's monumental takes on the old ways, Misþyrming & Nergal's Behemoth tribute, Eluveitie's late-evening folk metal party and, as the day's most awaited act, Opeth's headline patience — plus three backstage interviews in a single day. Hellsinki Metal Festival 2026 finishes its second edition looking like a permanent fixture on the Nordic festival calendar.

Read our Day One report for Wormwood, Omnium Gatherum, Carcass, Ikinä, Bloodbath, Black Label Society and Accept, plus the exclusive Jukka Pelkonen interview.

— Report and photos by Tomi Perrakoski / Metal Madness Weekly