Finntroll
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| Finntroll | |
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 Skrymer and Vreth with Finntroll in 2006
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Vantaa, Finland |
| Genres | Folk metal, black metal, humppa, viking metal[1] |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels | Spinefarm, Century Media |
| Associated acts | Moonsorrow, Ensiferum |
| Website | www.finntroll.net |
| Members | |
| Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns Samuli "Skrymer" Ponsimaa Mikael "Routa" Karlbom Sami "Tundra" Uusitalo Samu "Beast Dominator" Ruotsalainen Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali Aleksi "Virta" Virta |
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Finntroll is an extreme metal & folk metal band from Vantaa, Finland. They combine elements of black metal, death metal, and folk metal with a type of finnish folk music called humppa. Finntroll's lyrics are mostly in Swedish, the only exeption being the song "Madon Laulu" on Visor Om Slutet. Finntroll's first singer Katla decided to use Swedish over Finnish since he was part of a swedish speaking minority in Finland and the sound of the language seemed to better suit the band's "trollish" outfit. Despite several vocalist changes, this tradition has since been continued. As of December 2009, the band's discography includes 4 full-length albums and 2 EP's, a fifth album is finished and waiting for it's release in early 2010.
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[edit] History
Finntroll was founded in 1997, by Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta (guitarist of Impaled Nazarene) and vocalist Jan "Katla" Jämsen. Their first demo, "Rivfader", was recorded about a year later, in 1998. After the demo recording, drummer Samu Ruotsalainen (from Barathrum, Shape of Despair and Rapture), guitarist Samuli Ponsimaa, keyboardist Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali (from Moonsorrow) and bassist Sami Uusitalo joined the band. The record label Spinefarm got interested in the band then, and made a contract, yielding the album Midnattens Widunder as a result.
The next step for Finntroll was the album Jaktens Tid ("Hunting Time"), which was released in 2001. This album managed to climb to rank 20 of the Finnish album charts, exceeding expectation of band and publisher alike. The following wave of popularity attracted the attention of Century Media, which began promoting Finntroll for the rest of the world. The following summer, the band had their first time playing on open air festivals in Finland and other countries.
The year after the release of the album Jaktens Tid proved to be a misfortune for Finntroll: some tours had to be cancelled, and in the aftermath of his problems, vocalist Jämsen had to retire from the band due to a viral-based tumor in his vocal cords which could not be removed surgically; he retired after the release of the EP Visor Om Slutet.
Said EP was recorded in early January 2003, in a forest cabin near Helsinki. It was an "acoustical experiment", where Jämsen and the new vocalist Tapio Wilska (of Sethian and Lyijykomppania) shared the singing duties among them. Visor Om Slutet ("Songs Of The End") was released as a mid-price EP and held rank on the Finnish midprice chart for several weeks.
Shortly before the release of Visor Om Slutet, Raimoranta died by falling off a bridge in Hakaniemi, Helsinki after having consumed too much alcohol, according to the official story. Mika Luttinen (from Impaled Nazarene) said that it wasn't an accident, but suicide[citation needed]. Finntroll didn't dissolve after losing the last founding member still in the band[2], but decided to go on, touring for two weeks in Europe, supported by the group Katatonia. The guitarist Mikael Karlbom was hired as a replacement for Raimoranta.
In 2004, the band released another EP, Trollhammaren ("The Trollhammer"), and an album called Nattfödd ("Born Of The Night").
In early 2006, the band embarked on their first North American tour, along with the influential thrash metal band Sodom.
On January 29, 2006, Tapio Wilska, vocalist of the band since 2002, was fired from the band. In a statement issued on the band's website, Wilska states that he would like to keep the reason for his dismissal private.
Following Wilska's parting with the band, they decided to take on Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns of Chtonian and Twilight Moon as a full-time member on vocals.
A new album, titled Ur Jordens Djup ("From The Depths Of The Earth"), was released March, 2007. This fifth album put more emphasis on epic keyboard riffs with very loud but melodic guitar and downplayed some of the polka elements. Former vocalist Katla was brought in to write the lyrics for this album.
After being a session member on keyboards since 2005, Aleksi "Virta" Virta was made a full time member in late 2009.
The band has recorded a live performance for its upcoming first live DVD. A release date is yet to be confirmed. They have finished mixing their sixth album, working-titled Mot Skuggornas Värld ("Towards The World Of Shadows'") according to the band's website, and Katla is again writing the lyrics. There is a studio diary being kept by Trollhorn which can be found here. The new album will be in stores sometime during early 2010, the exact release date is yet to be confirmed by Century Media.
[edit] Members
| Role | Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–1998 | 1998–2002 | 2002–2003 | 2003-2006 | 2006-2009 | ||
| Vocals | Katla | Tapio Wilska | Vreth | |||
| Guitar | Somnium | Routa | ||||
| Guitar | None | Skrymer | ||||
| Bass | None | Tundra | ||||
| Drums | machine | Beast Dominator | ||||
| Keyboards | Katla | Trollhorn | Trollhorn / Virta | |||
[edit] Current members
- Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns – vocals (2006–present)
- Samuli "Skrymer" Ponsimaa – guitar (1998–present)
- Mikael "Routa" Karlbom – guitar (2003–present)
- Sami "Tundra" Uusitalo – bass (1998–present)
- Samu "Beast Dominator" Ruotsalainen – drums (1998–present)
- Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali – keyboards (1998–present)
- Aleksi "Virta" Virta - live keyboards (2005-present)
With:
- Jan "Katla" Jämsen – lyrics (1997-present)
[edit] Former members
- Tomi Ulgren – guitar (briefly 1997-1998)
- Katla – vocals and lyrics (1997-2002)
- Pete Eskelinen – vocals (briefly in 2002)
- Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta – guitar (1997–2003) (deceased)
- Tapio Wilska – vocals (2002–2006)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
- Midnattens Widunder (1999)
- Jaktens Tid (2001)
- Nattfödd (2004)
- Ur Jordens Djup (2007)
- Mot Skuggornas Värld (working title) (early 2010)
[edit] EPs
- Visor Om Slutet (2003)
- Trollhammaren (2004)
[edit] Demos
- "Rivfader" (1998)
[edit] Videos
- "Bastuvisan" (1998)
- "Jaktens Tid" (live, 2001)
- "Skogens Hämnd" (2001)
- "Födosagan" (live, 2002)
- "Trollhammaren" (2004)
- "Nedgång" (2007)
[edit] References
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