FINNISH-METAL.NET – MONTHLY METAL COLUMN #1 – JANUARY 2006 Finland has been the cradle of some of the best musicians in the world over the last decades, ranging from world-wide known musicians to the ones who are only recognised by the fans, but whose musical ability should not be underestimated in the least. Whether it concers keyboards, vocals or guitars, Finland has provided the metal-scene with a respectable amount of top-musicians and therefore it most definitely deserves this overview of the past decades. Roughly speaking, the Finnish Metal legacy began in the 1980's with the rise of bands like Stratovarius and Stone. (Alexi Laiho on stage with Sinergy, Tuska 2004) Stone, only active until 1991, when the band split up due to musical differences, left quite an impression and created an image for beginning bands to live up to. Most notable of those band influenced by Stone is Children of Bodom up to this day. The band including one of Finland's best young-generation guitarists, Alexi Laiho, has its roots in the early 1990's. Even more notable is the fact that former Stone guitarist Roope Latvala currently plays guitar in Children of Bodom. While Roope Latvala was a big influence to Alexi Laiho's playing back in the time Children of Bodom was still known as Inearthed, they first shared the stage in the Power Metal band Sinergy until Alexi got Roope to join his own band where they now play guitar side by side. (Roope Latvala on stage with Sinergy, Tuska 2004) (Stratovarius 2005) The first mentioned, Stratovarius, is one of those bands any self-respecting metalhead should know. Apart from guitarist Timo Tolkki and vocalist Timo Kotipelto, meanwhile both also respectable solo artists, this band was joined by no one less than Jens Johansson in 1995. Jens is still one of the best keyboard players in the world and with a reputation of playing with none less than Dio and Yngwie Malmsteen, Stratovarius would have been foolish not to take Johansson on board. Apart from Stratovarius Jens Johansson has been featured on many records, ranging from melodic power metallers Sonata Arctica to a project by Dutch guitarist Arjen Lucassen (Star One). Halfway in the 1980's Tarot, the first actual heavy metal band from Finland, released their debut album. Until this day they have continued to produce groundbreaking heavy metal albums, though never really reaching the world-public. However, the band around the two Hietala brothers has achieved notable national fame. Bassist and vocalist Marco Hietala gained additional success by joining Nightwish in 2002, just before the release of their album "Century Child". The end of the 1980's / beginning of the 1990's saw a rise in Death Metal with bands as Sentenced and Amorphis, which both gradually changed their style to more melodic music over the years, and both bands are still highly respected in the metal scene. Unfortunately Sentenced announced "The Funeral Album" to be their last and in honour and with pride they lowered the flags in 2005. Sentenced has carried along one of Finland's most notable vocalist; Ville Laihala. He is a name not many people will forget too easily and after all he is still active with his own band Poisonblack, featuring himself not only as main songwriter but also as vocalist and guitarist. Amorphis still rocks on, releasing their 9th album in 15 years time next year, now with Tomi Joutsen (Sinisthra) on vocals after the band parted from their singer in 2003. Former vocalist Pasi Koskinen is still active in several other bands such as the black/doom metal band Ajattara (there known as Ruoja) or stoner rockers Mannhai. (Sentenced before their split-up in 2005) Charon, raised in 1992, carries a similar story. They started off with Death Metal, but slowly changed their music style over the years, having released their fifth studio album recently. The Melo-Death scene surely has its own history, too. From the beginning of the 1990's with bands as Kalmah, at that time still known as Ancestor, or Eternal Tears of Sorrow saw the light of the day, until halfway through the nineties when bands like Norther and Insomnium emerged. Similar it went with the (Melodic)-Black metal bands. For example Catamenia have not wasted their time either. The band released 6 albums in only a 7 year period, which is quite a lot considering some bands only produce one album every 2-3 years. In the middle of the 1990's Folk Metal shot up from the ground with bands like Moonsorrow, Ensiferum and Finntroll, all bands which are still gladly known for their music. Also Korpiklaani, which changed their name from Shaman to Korpiklaani, is still one of Finland best folk bands, combining folk influences, with heavy guitar riffing and good vocal parts. Ensiferum brought forth another great guitarist; Jari Mäenpää, whose abilities with the guitar really became obvious once he departed from Ensiferum and finished his own project Wintersun. This technical mix of folk, melodic and death metal is mostly carried by the guitar parts. Jari Mäenpää was joined by Teemu Mäntysaari (Imperanon) for live performances. This relatively young guitarist, who still is to make name in the metal scene, does not just follow in the footsteps of his partner on stage. Even taking on Gary Holt (Exodus-guitarist) for a solo battle on stage, clearly states his motivation, and I could not more gladly grant him the position of one the leading guitarists in the world if it was up to me. From somewhere in the 1990's onward Finland also saw the rise of power metal bands, with bands as Sonata Arctica, having already released four albums, and newcomer bands such as (Jari Mäenpää, Wintersun) Naildown and Kiuas, who have both just released their debut album. Kiuas did not only get their debut album nominated for newcomer of the year at the Finnish Metal Awards 2005, also guitarist Mikko Salovaara was nominated for player of the year. Sonata Arctica also does not really need an introduction to its members. Just like Alexi Laiho, Sonata Arctica's guitarist Jani Liimatainen was featured on the cover on many guitar-magazines. Thusfar, Finland has produced many highly respected musicians and I'm sure many more are to follow in the coming decades. - Rhoutna (with additions by Silence) (Pictures taken by Silence (2), Stratovarius.Com, Toni Härkönen, Marjo Koivumäki).