2005 was end of an era for Nightwish, but it was also the beginning of the end for the Golden Age of Finnish metal music. Looking back at those times almost 20 years later feels almost unreal. Nightwish, Children of Bodom, Sentenced, Amorphis, Moonsorrow, Finntroll, Swallow the Sun, Ensiferum, Kalmah, Turisas, Insomnium, and the list just goes on and on, all of those bands were more or less at the top of their game around 2005, and the amount of solid "second tier" bands behind them was staggering. Some of them have of course kept making great songs and albums, but 2005 was the absolute zenith and heyday of Finnish metal greatness. This concert can well be seen as the culmination of the rise of Finnish metal, and maybe the last gig of Sentenced three weeks earlier can be seen as the symbolic first step down from the heights. After 2005 things started withering down, first slowly but ever more steadily, until we come to this day. Some of the greats are still around, new bands still pop up, but you can't but admit that both the quality and the quantity are but a shadow of the former glory. I happened to meet a foreign dude a few years back who had traveled to Finland thinking that we are still the metal wonderland we were 20 years ago, but in reality it's much like walking across ancient ruins when you expected to find a vibrant city full of life for a metal tourist these days. He was absolutely baffled because there were no metal bars anywhere and gigs were few and far between. At least 10 years late, brother...
