Metal bands from Finland

Ajattara produced black metal and lived for about 7 years up till 2006 when the band broke up.
Founder of the band, Pasi Koskinen, is an ex singer for "Amorphis" and current singer for "Shape of Despair" and a singer guitarist for "To Separate the Flesh from the Bones".

The sound of Alghazanth can best be described as melodic black metal.
Their line-up has changed quite over the years, cureently M. Kotamäki for the vocals, Thasmorg and Grimort for the guitar sounds and Gorath Moonthorn on the drums.

Marko Pukkila and Tony Smedjebacka formed Altaria in the year 2000. With just drumms and bass, Altaria had to look for some guitar players and a vocalist. Johan Mattjus was that vocalist who later got replaced by Jouni Nikula then by Taage Laiho and finally Marco Luponero.
The band switched form 1 guitar player to 2 during several line-up changes. Jani Liimatainen and Emppu Vuorinen were two names that ring bells in metal music, but the 2 current guitar players are Petri Aho and J-P Alanen.
Altaria released 3 albums so far, before that there are 2 demos that were used to convince the music labels.

The band started out in 2000 with "Wound Creations" under the Spikefarm Records label. Their second album "Decrowning" was soon released and continued with the success.
Band members are Ben Varon (Guitar), Silver Ots (Guitar), Niko Kalliojärvi (Vocals), Erkki Silvennoinen (Bass) and Juhana Karlsson (Drums).

This is one of the older bands I review in this lens. Amorphis was founded in 1990, by Esa Holopainen and Jan Rechberger. They are still in the band, joined by Santeri Kallio, Niclas Etelävuori, Tomi Koivusaari and Tomi Joutsen.
In 2007, their 8th album will be released, each one of them a big success, Relapse Recaords did a good thing signing up these guys.

The eighties, when British heavy metal was popular, was a time of influences and new genres. 1985, Timo Rajala (drums), Timo Kytölä (guitar), Jani Pellikka (guitar) and Timo Sukupolvi (bass/vocals) founded the Metal Circus which was later on shortened to MC. A band which tried to take these new influences, and make something good out of it.
MC kept performing with the same setup. Lead singer was Marko Haikonen then Jallu Bergäll then Rami Lindqvist and whenever there wasn't one available, Timo Sukupolvi was on duty.

The nineties brought change. Not only was the name changed to Resistance (1992) and later Ancara (1996), it was also a time for line-up changes.
Mika Rajala was recruited for the bass, Sammy Salminen became the new lead singer. The four members (Timo Rajala (drums), Timo Kytölä (guitar), Mika Rajala (bass), Sammy Salminen (vocals)) searched for a second guitar player. Riku Melen tried from 1990 to 1991 and Arsi Leino from 1992 to 1995, but after that, they went back to 4 members.

To be able to record their own creations, Timo Kytölä founded the Peacemakers in 1996. A professional recording studio with state of the art material. The basic idea was a good one, but the price tag of a professional recording studio was too much to bare alone. Other bands started paying for the use of the studio, but the effort needed to run it was negative to the band Ancara.

After 2 slow years, 1998 & 1999, Ancara finally found its fifth member. Juice Wahlsten, an old friend, joined the ranks to play the second guitar.

The new millenium brought better times for Ancara. 2003 started with the recording of 6 new songs. They were all released as promo singles (Black snow, Burn in hell, Too Far Gone, Bound to Roam, Come Apart and Why). The end of 2003 was different though. Timo Kytölä decided to step aside and leave the band, not a light decision, since he was one of the founding members and a cornerstone of the band.
Samuel Hjelt stepped in to fill the spot, and the band is since then composed of 5 members:
Timo Rajala (drums), Mika Rajala (bass), Sammy Salminen (vocals), Juice Wahlsten (guitar/backing vocals), Samuel Hjelt (guitar/backing vocals).

Their latest realease, Beyond the Dark, will be available in March 2008.

The Dawn

Track list
1. Flower Garden
2. Why
3. Under Life
4. Comes Around Goes Around
5. Too Far Gone
6. Black Snow
7. Burn In Hell
8. Come Apart
9. Bound To Roam
10. The Dawn
11. Rebel Yell

Beyond the Dark

Track list
1. Circles
2. Deny
3. Snowflower
4. Scarred
5. Just For Me
6. Cranium Tension
7. When Everyone Else Is Gone
8. In Silence

Uniqueness. That's the keyword applicable to the Apocalyptica sound. If you want to categorize it, your best option would be melodic metal, but there is so much more to be discovered.
The band sprung from the mind of 4 students of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki who had a great and unique idea to start covering metal songs with their cello band. When Eicca Toppinen and his 3 friends got to play at an after party for metalheads they were discovered by Kari Hynninen of Zen Garden Records and were promptly offered a contract.

Their 1996 debut album "Plays Metallica" sold million copies worldwide and Apocalyptica was born.
In 1998 they released their second album, "Inquisition Symphony", another batch of covers from songs by Faith No More, Pantera and Sepultura. New wit this album was their own original material. 3 songs written by themselves and played with great enthusiasm showed how much more Apocalyptica was.

The third album "Cult" featured almost entirely original songs and the cover band evolved to a sound of their own.
With "Cult" the band had been reduced to 3 members, and with the release of "Reflections", Apocalyptica worked together with Dave Lombardo (Slayer drummer) to give their sound another new impulse. Apocalyptica decided to enlist a full-time drummer, and Mikko Sirén joined the band.
The new drummer and a lot of guest performances made the fifth album their best so far. "Apocalyptica" by Apocalyptica, it can carry their name with proud.

Their latest release "Worlds Collide" didn't steal its name. Apocalyptica decided (unlike their previous albums) to not do all the work themselves. Song writing, producing and some vocals were opened to other guest performers. This enriched the Apocalyptica sound to what it is now, with unexpected new ideas and tricks.

Current members
Eicca Toppinen: Cello
Perttu Kivilaakso: Cello
Paavo Lotjonen: Cello
Mikko Sirén: Drums