I love Finland’s SONATA ARCTICA. There, I’ve said it. Do not expect an unbiased review of their tenth studio album, ‘Talviyö’. However, do expect a mind-blown exercise in foaming at the mouth excitement.
It is always an event when SA release a new record. Their 2016 release (‘The Ninth Hour’) was my favorite album of that year and ‘Talviyö’ is reaching out to me with those neverending harmonies that take the band above the average power metal combo.
Finnish Folk Metal Superstars KORPIKLAANI are currently touring Europe alongside Turisas and Trollfest in support of their latest studio album ‘Kulkija’. To celebrate, the band released a special tour edition, which includes the ‘Beer Beer’ CD, featuring 14 different versions of the eponymous track. Taken from this CD is also “Bier Bier,” sung by Tankard‘s Gerre, who even wrote the lyrics for the adaption. Continue reading
‘Omega Prayer’ is the second full-length studio album from Finnish blackened death metal band, Abhordium, released on October 27th, 2017 and distributed by Plastic Head Distribution. A common issue with extreme metal albums such as this one is that the music can tend to suffer from lack of variety, causing many of the songs to sound similar to each other. Such is definitely not the case with ‘Omega Prayer.’ Each track on the record offers something uniquely different while never straying from its overall darkly chaotic and brutal atmosphere. Continue reading
Finnish symphonic metal band, Nightwish release epic, cinematic trailer for ‘Decades,’ a painstakingly selected collection of twenty-two of the most quintessential Nightwish tracks recorded throughout the band’s history. Available on March 9th, 2018, on Nuclear Blast Records, ‘Decades’ is more than just a greatest hits album, but rather a musical journey through some of the key moments of discovery and evolution the band has experienced since their 1996 inception until today. Continue reading
There is a bit of sad news that is coming out of Finland’s folk metal band, ENSIFERUM, as their sole female member, the talented Netta Skog has decided to quit the band as she wants “to move on and focus on other things” and thus “head into new adventures.” Netta joined the band in 2016 and was a part of their most recent album, ‘Two Paths‘, she played the accordion and also toured with the band all over the world, even though her stay was short lived. This unfortunate but inevitable news hits us before the band sets itself into a mini Asian tour where they are slated to play three shows in China and two shows in Japan starting this New Year’s Eve. As per the band’s official statement, they “are not looking for a replacement” as of now, and will still go ahead and play all their scheduled gigs without Netta. The band promises to announce their future plans soon.
Iron Griffin is a one man band from Finnish drummer Oskari Räsänen (of the band “Mausoleum Gate”) who recently signed a contract with Gates of Hell Records (a Cruz Del Sur Music imprint). Razanez stated: “IRON GRIFFIN is a new project which started about a year ago as a one-man band mostly to improve myself at playing different instruments and writing music. Session vocals are done by my friend and spectacular singer Toni Pentikäinen. “The future of this project is living right now. I will continue working with new material and try to search for players to form a ‘real band,’ maybe. But this EP is a good start for me and the journey continues in one way or another.” Okari handled almost every single aspect of this album, the lyrics, all instruments, recording, mixing and even the artwork was done by Okari himself. The few outside contributions were from session lead vocals by Toni Pentikäinen (Madwill), intro by F.F. Nieminen, and mastered by Wiched Iscanius. The album released on August 23, 2017. Continue reading
Finnish progressive metal band Damnation Plan are here in 2017 to release a masterpiece for the masses. Damnation Plan formed in 2004 in Espoo, Finland. The band released their first EP in 2007, ‘Darker World’. They took a little bit of a hiatus after that but then regrouped in 2011 to begin work on their first full length album. In 2013, that album, ‘The Wakening’, was released on Coroner Records. The lineup of the band has not changed since 2012 and consists of: Tommy Tuovinen doing harsh and clean vocals, Asim Searah also on clean vocals, Antti Lauri and Kalle Niininen on guitars, Jukka Vehkamaa on bass, and Jarkko Lunnas on drums. Starting work on this new record almost two years ago, the time has finally come. Damnation Plan’s second full length album, ‘Reality Illusion’ will be dropping on March 10th 2017 on Inverse Records. The mixing was done by Dan Swanö at Unisound Studios. You can preorder ‘Reality Illusion’ here. Drummer Jarkko Lunnas had this to say about the new release: Continue reading
Finnish melodic death/thrash metallers RE-ARMED have released an official video for “Lullaby of Obedience,” a track from new album ‘The Era of Precarity’. The song has a harsh yet melodic feel that is reminiscent of Swedish speed metal. The video was filmed with a GoPro and the clips therein are taken from “The Era of Precarity” tour. RE-ARMED released ‘The Era of Precarity’ worldwide on September 30 via Finland’s Saarni Records. The physical core of the album is packed into a stylish digipak, which is made from ecological materials. The enviromentally conscious band has pledged to donate 50 cents from the sale of every copy to Karma Ry (organisation), which supports elder people and young adults in band’s hometown area with their activities to prevent disenfranchisement. You can pick up a copy of the album here and not only enjoy their music but help those in need. Continue reading
Sometimes you come across a band and you start listening to their music and you just don’t want to stop. This is what has happened to me when I discovered the Finland based band I, Captain. The band was formed by Axel (Vocals, Bass), Viktor (Drums) and Andreas (Guitar) in 2013. It was a year later that Lukas (Guitar) became the final addition to the band and really completed their sound. It would only take the band a couple years to release their debut in January 2015. The EP titled ‘Surf the Supernova’ was 5 tracks of mesmerizing Psychedelic stoner rock. The band recently followed up their 2015 EP with the 3 track demo ‘Mantras for Mindlessness’. They released these 3 songs in April of 2016 and advised the songs will be re-recorded for their upcoming album release. Continue reading
Photo by: Sasu Riikonen
Dark Buddha Rising are a Finland based band that has been creating music since 2007. They are preparing to release their fifth studio album titled “Inversum”. The album is the follow up to their 2013 release “Dakhmandal”. The new album will be hitting shelves on September 25th and marks the band’s first release on their new label Neurot Recordings. Dark Buddha Rising is comprised of six members and have a very unique sound that really puts them outside the box when compared to other bands in the metal world. Continue reading
