It’s been just over two weeks since the annual 70,000 Tons Of Metal cruise docked back in Miami, the floating metal metropolis, where over 3,000 devoted fans from all corners of the globe – 81 countries this year, a new record for the cruise – converge aboard a luxury cruise liner for four days and nights of unyielding heavy music. With 61 bands on the bill, as usual, multiple stages, and Ocho Rios in Jamaica as the 2025 destination, it was an experience that defied any description, as elaborated as it could be.
Music cruises are nothing new under the sun, yet 70,000 Tons has taken the rather straightforward concept to a much bigger dimension. Yes, it’s a Caribbean cruise featuring live performances of some of metal’s most celebrated acts. But hardly captured what truly unfolded over those four consecutive days. Step aboard the Independence of the Seas, and you enter an entirely different world – one where hordes of metalheads wearing black tees of every imaginable metal band on the planet overrun a ship originally conceived for elegant vacations. There is a sort of dreamlike, electrifying atmosphere that is accentuated by the striking juxtaposition between the polished surroundings of the cruise’s colorful surroundings and the unfiltered energy of thousands of metal, like the unsuspected marriage of two very apart universes.
Unlike land-based festivals, where exclusivity and restricted areas often separate artists from fans, 70,000 Tons is uniquely intimate. Musicians roam freely among the crowd, sharing meals, trading stories, and even jumping into impromptu jams. You could find yourself sharing a drink with members of Ex-Deo, playing a poker hand with the guys from HammerFall, or striking a long chat in the elevator about the origins of thrash metal in Brazil with Sepultura’s Paulo Jr. Conversations flow naturally, and there’s no shortage of opportunities to raise a glass with your favorite artists, and that in itself, is worth the price of admission alone.
As you can imagine, the music itself is unrelenting. Each band performs twice, often with unique setlists, ensuring that even the most die-hard fans get something new, and I applaud festival organizer Andy Piller’s vision of refusing to label any band as a “headliner.” There’s no need for elitism or differentiation when the main goal is to ensure that every metal subgenre is represented, an aspect that also makes it easy to discover new favorites alongside legendary acts.
Shows begin as early as mid-morning and continue well past dawn, testing the stamina of even the most seasoned headbangers, with several bands starting their sets as late (or rather early) as 4:30 AM. The pool deck, home to the festival’s largest stage – dubbed the “Biggest Open-Air Stage to Sail the Seas” – is arguably the best perk of all, offering the rare experience of watching a death metal set while sipping a cocktail in the Caribbean sun, or headbanging your life away… from a hot tub, surrounded by like-minded strangers that for the next four days become your best friends.
And for anyone looking for a break between sets, there are plenty of distractions: from the already mythical metal belly-flop contest that draws just as many spectators some of the shows, to vocal or drum clinics – this year led by Trouble’s singer Kyle Thomas and Suffocation’s stickman Eric Morotti, to an almost unlimited supply of food at the Windjammer’s buffet, and last but not least the 70000 Tons Karaoke, which happens in the opening night and also as the very final event on the last day, that saw musicians and attendees flocking to the Solarium pool deck to take a stab at some of their favorites songs under the Caribbean stars.
Beyond the music and the quality of the performances, the cruise fosters an unmatched sense of community, where there’s no room for differences of color, nationality, religion (or the lack thereof), sex, age, ability, or gender. 70,000 Tons prides itself on being The United Nations of Heavy Metal at Sea, and if metal runs in your blood, you are welcomed here with open arms. Many attendees, known as “Survivors,” initially booked the trip as a one-time adventure, only to find themselves returning year after year, and the 2025 edition was no different. It has become a pilgrimage of sorts, and pre-cruise events like the Heavy Metal Beach Party in Miami extend the experience, making the entire journey the most expected annual vacation for hundreds.
Describing the performances is an enormous challenge I won’t even attempt – there’s no way to fully capture the experience in words, and frankly, I didn’t see every band, no matter how much I wanted to. The cruise set sail with uncontainable energy, as Onslaught wasted no time unleashing a furious thrash assault, sending bodies flying across the ice rink-turned-pit while celebrating Power From Hell with the fire it deserves. Twilight Force leaned fully into their symphonic fantasy spectacle, delighting fans with Dawn of the Dragonstar while planning an onboard Magic: The Gathering crossover for the truly committed.
Sonata Arctica dusted off classics that longtime fans were thrilled to hear again, with frontman Tony Kakko, now sporting a full head of gray hair, relishing the trip down memory lane, his enthusiasm shining through the ever-dancing lights and the chanting crowd. Candlemass brought epic doom to the Royal Theater with the seasoned confidence of veterans and later delivered a surreal sun-drenched set at the Pool Deck that created a stunning counterpoint to their shadowy sound. A little past midnight Kissin’ Dynamite’s hooks galore injected over-the-top energy into a crowd that had already ingested a considerable amount of booze, proving their glam-infused metal anthems hit harder than any caffeinated cocktail.
Ex Deo opened the second day and battled sea winds to deliver their Roman war cries at maximum volume, their historical themes taking a backseat to the sheer sonic force of Maurizio Iacono and his cohorts. Ihsahn’s solo presentations ventured into avant-garde territory, though persistent sound issues dulled what could have been a much more mesmerizing experience. Majestica brought power metal’s anthemic choruses, lots of on-stage liveliness, and skilled guitar solos by ex-Sabaton’s Tommy Johannson to signal the impending arrival of their new album Power Train, and the audience enjoyed every minute of it.
Dirkschneider’s addition to the lineup was a gift to the German faithful, who roared along to “Balls to the Wall” – the album itself was played in its entirety during their second show – and “Fast as a Shark” with unwavering enthusiasm, and the crowd cheered and clapped at unison, even more so during their pool deck set, when guitarist Fabian Dee Dammers knelt and proposed to his girlfriend on stage. Finntroll’s debut performance focused on the darker songs from their discography – opposed to the pool deck set with exhibited the partier side – and turned into an exhilarating display of death metal guitars combined with folk rhythm and melodies and adorned with moshing and singalongs. Reaching the very end of the day, Samael’s late-night blackened industrial set transformed the pool deck into a haunting gothic playground, where hot tubs and blast beats made for one of the cruise’s most wickedly absurd scenes.
Tankard welcomed back the metalhead crowds after the Ocho Rios stop, with a beer-drenched thrash party, with frontman Andreas ‘Gerre’ Geremia being at the center of it all. Trouble, led by Exhorded frontman Kyle Thomas, honored their legacy with a powerful The Skull anniversary set, proving that even in Eric Wagner’s absence, their doom still holds weight with gritty authenticity. Symphony X stunned with Michael Romeo’s dazzling guitar pyrotechnics, while Russell Allen commanded the stage with the authority of a metal titan.
Emperor’s second set, a full run of Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, stood in sharp yet beautiful opposition with their earlier, more atmospheric show that celebrated In The Nightside Eclipse, allowing their black metal epics to fully take flight, despite the glaring absence of Samoth, whose visa was never approved. Stratovarius kept the midnight crowd alive with a soaring display of Finnish power metal, where “Hunting High and Low” – declared by Kotilpeto as the song they cannot skip playing, turned into a full-throated singalong. Well past 2:00 AM, Delain endured significant weather delays but turned adversity into an explosive performance, with Diana Leah rising to the occasion as the winds threatened to take the stage with them.
As the final day heated up – both literally and figuratively, Flotsam And Jetsam kicked things off for the sleep-deprived faithful, balancing thrash fury with good-natured humor and delivering an energy-packed set of their landmark debut album, which served to enact the crowd’s energy despite the “early” hour. Later on, SepticFlesh took the stage, unleashing their chaotic fusion of black, death, gothic, and symphonic metal – a blend that proved they can drive the crowd into madness while remaining intensely atmospheric and at times downright psychotic.
As the day progressed, Swallow The Sun introduced an unexpected touch of elegance to the festival, incorporating six dancers from Ballet Finland into their performance of Plague of Butterflies. Their death-doom epics, already rich in melancholic grandeur, took on an even more theatrical dimension, an ambitious experiment that added a rare artistic flourish to 70,000 Tons.
In a stark contrast, HammerFall followed with one of the weekend’s most euphoric sets, drawing an enormous crowd that filled every available space on the pool deck, their bombastic power metal anthems had fists pumping and voices soaring, proving that even after days of partying, there was still energy left for one last triumphant singalong.
And amidst a cracking atmosphere, Brazilian metal legends, Sepultura, stepped onto the pool deck as the final set of the cruise, in what became a raw and celebratory sendoff, a reminder of their enduring power as a band as the notes of “Arise” and “Roots Bloody Roots” echoed into the Caribbean night – a fittingly ferocious finale, blending nostalgia, camaraderie, and sheer musical power in a farewell that left the high seas echoing with metal’s indomitable spirit.
After four days of non-stop music, chaos, and camaraderie, reality crept back in when the ship docked in Miami. For some, this was the end of an unforgettable adventure, and they are now more than glad they decided to come.
But for most, it means just a long twelve-month pause before next year’s inevitable return. “Was this your first 70K cruise?” someone asked us when exiting through customs. “You will be coming back, that I can guarantee you”, he affirmed with a smile while raising his arm to fist-bump me. And he’s bloody right. Because once you’ve experienced 70,000 Tons, it’s almost impossible to stay away.
Source: metalinjection.net
