Impaled Nazarene

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Impaled Nazarene
Impaled Nazarene Mika Luttinen 21 04 2012 01.jpg
Background information
Origin Oulu, Finland
Genres
Years active1990–present
Labels Osmose Productions
Members Mika Luttinen
Reima Kellokoski
Mikael Arnkil
Kim Lappalainen
Past membersKimmo "Sir" Luttinen
Tomi "UG" Ullgren
Ari Holappa
Mika Pääkkö
Harri Halonen
Jarno Anttila
Taneli Jarva
Marko Hietala
Jani Lehtosaari
Alexi Laiho
Teemu Raimoranta
Tuomo "Tuomio" Louhio

Impaled Nazarene is a Finnish extreme metal band that started as black metal but have incorporated elements of grindcore, thrash metal and death metal, and have grown more towards hardcore punk. [1]

Contents

History

The band formed in November 1990, with founding members Mika Luttinen, Kimmo Luttinen, Mika Pääkkö, Ari Holappa and Antti Pihkala. The band gained national success when their debut album, Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz, entered the Finnish charts. [2]

The band was infamous for their apparent hatred of the Norwegian black metal scene back the early 1990s; however, the band now seems to have disassociated themselves from that dislike. Luttinen later affirmed that "We have absolutely nothing against Norwegians. I even made up with Euronymous before he was killed so just forget this thing, it is ancient history". [3]

Impaled Nazarene stopped wearing corpse paint in the mid-1990s when black metal exploded, with Luttinen explaining that "we felt it was time distance ourselves a bit from the ridiculous ideas and statements that were circulating around the whole scene back then. And look around, we are not alone who have done this. Even Norwegian bands have dropped paint and other shit and are concentrating on the music instead of childish statements". [3]

With the release of Suomi Finland Perkele , Impaled Nazarene dropped some of their aggression and made a stylistic shift, but this direction ended with the removal of Kimmo Luttinen from the line-up. Mika Luttinen explained his dissatisfaction with Kimmo and how the band changed under his guidance:

The bottom line is that Kimmo [Luttinen - Mika's brother and the band's former drummer] changed our style pretty much after the release of Ugra-Karma . It was his vision of how we should sound, and the rest of us weren't happy at all. It is useless for a band like us to try to be a copy of Danzig or fucking Paradise Lost. So, after Kimmo was replaced, it was normal for us to go back to what we do best, i.e. play aggressive and fast metal [...] It was one guy who wanted to go a different way, and the rest did not agree. Nobody expected such a release as Latex Cult from us anymore, but we fucking proved that we are still here, doing our thing our way. We can get only nastier. [4]

After growing increasingly unpolished in delivery, the band made a shift, beginning with Nihil (2000) and the accession of Children of Bodom guitarist Alexi Laiho, towards a sound that has been described as "a benzedrine-fueled combination of thrash metal and Iron Maiden". [5] Luttinen explained that Laiho's role was critical: "it was clear that now that we had finally two guitar players that we kind of like wanted to get away from that punky kind of writing style and started just wanting to get more back to the metal feeling". [5]

Their ninth studio album, Pro Patria Finlandia , was a popular import album for Japan. [6] Impaled Nazarene have toured with bands including Cannibal Corpse, Mayhem and Dark Tranquility, traversing four continents and over thirty countries. [7]

On 16 March 2003, guitarist Teemu Raimoranta died falling off a bridge onto the ice below, in what was described as "an alcohol-related accidental fall". [8]

On 15 January 22, the band announced that – after almost 15 years in the lineup – Tomi Ullgrén had left the band, citing busy work schedules that interfere with the band's rehearsal schedule. [9]

Lyrical content

For most of their history, Impaled Nazarene has focused on Finnish nationalism (for instance in their song "Total War - Winter War" about the Soviet-Finnish war in 1939 and 1940), and have demonstrated a strong anti-communist bent, as exemplified in their song "Healers of the Red Plague" on Rapture . [10] Other lyrics revolve around war and Satanism. When asked about the hints of humour previously manifest in the lyrics, Luttinen affirmed that this was limited to Suomi Finland Perkele: "There will be no humour, we are not some fucking joke. If people find my lyrics funny, then, well, something is most certainly wrong in their heads". [3] The band has also maintained a tradition of including at least one song on every album which has the word "goat" in the title, which Luttinen considers a "trademark" of the band:

Our very first EP was called Goat Perversion. And then it continued [...] actually on our website, I asked the question, "Do you want us to continue having the goat songs, yes or no?" and everybody else except one guy said "Yes, continue with the goat song. We want goat songs". So I said "Okay, you want goat songs, and so goat songs you shall get!" The thing is that when you are doing a goat song, the song is called "Goat Sodomy", you can be sure that it's not going to be deep social commentary of our problems. The goat songs will have Satan, the goat songs with have goats, the goat songs will have bleeding rectums, they will have blood, shit, all things that we all love and like. [11]

Impaled Nazarene's Nihil (2000) is the only album that has been subject to a ban. However, this has caused additional problems for the band as, according to Luttinen, "Somebody seem to have really something against us and unfortunately that somebody has power enough to get our shows cancelled". [12] Luttinen has been critical of the performance bans that the band has suffered in Germany and Poland, which he made explicit in the lyrics for Manifest (2007). In response to a question about the lack of sexual themes on Manifest, Luttinen responded:

There was no need to write about pussies or fucking. There was a need to point out certain things to braindead Germans. History repeats itself in Germany right now and where shall all this end? We are supposed to have same common laws inside [the] European Union but at the same time countries like Germany or Poland can do whatever they want to. It makes no sense to us. [12]

In June 2017 the hardcore festival Ieperfest in Ypres (Ieper), Belgium, removed Impaled Nazarene from the line up after threats of violence from protesters. The reason for the protest was the band's lyrics condoning homophobia and rape. The festival organizers issued the following statement:

Dear music lover, After a firm debate - that's what you do in a democracy - the organization decided to cancel Finnish band IMPALED NAZARENE (in mutual consent). Otherwise we can no longer guarantee everyone's safety at our beloved festival. [...] Ieperfest consists entirely out of volunteers. People with boundless love for music, but also full-time jobs, families and children. Threatening the personal integrity of our volunteers and visitors in today's context of attacks and raging violence... some of you should think twice! [13]

In November 2024, there was a stir about the Eindhoven pop venue Effenaar in the Netherlands, after it had booked the band for the Eindhoven Metal Meeting on December 13 and 14. [14] A petition 'no far-right bands in the Effenaar', in which the arrival of Impaled Nazarene was strongly condemned, was signed more than a thousand times. [15]

Members

Current line-up
Former members

Timeline

Impaled Nazarene

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Split albums

EPs

Demos

Singles

DVDs

Related Research Articles

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Mika Kristian Luttinen is a Finnish vocalist who formed the black metal band Impaled Nazarene in 1990. After numerous line-up changes, he remains the only original member. Besides his main project, Mika has been involved in various other bands around the globe, such as the Canadian metal band Obscene Eulogy and the French black punk band, The Rocking Dildos which was formed by owner of the French label Osmose Productions, Hervé and himself. While in Impaled Nazarene, he was also involved with the band, Diabolos Rising, together with then Rotting Christ keyboard player, Magus Wampyr Daoloth. Luttinen has made notable guest appearances in many bands, such as The Crown, Hypnos, Ancient Rites (Ancient Rites singer Gunther Theys was also Mika's best man at the latter's wedding. Mika has stated that his songwriting is influenced by many early thrash metal bands, such as Sodom and Kreator. Elements of Motörhead's music are also incorporated into his work, such that an Impaled Nazarene single was named Motörpenis.

<i>Ugra-Karma</i> 1993 studio album by Impaled Nazarene

Ugra-Karma is the second studio album by Finnish black metal band Impaled Nazarene. It was originally released on 1 December 1993 via Osmose Productions, and re-released in 1998 with two bonus tracks and a different cover art, because the original one was taken without permission from a work by Madame Koslovsky; Osmose was sued because of that.

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<i>Nihil</i> (Impaled Nazarene album) 2000 studio album by Impaled Nazarene

Nihil is the sixth full-length release by Impaled Nazarene. It was released on 16 June 2000 through Osmose Productions. Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom plays guitar on the album. Laiho has also composed songs "Cogito Ergo Sum" and "Zero Tolerance". The album recently entered Germany's Index List which means the album may not be advertised in public or sold to minors. The song "Zero Tolerance" is infamous due to its homophobic lyrics.

<i>Suomi Finland Perkele</i> 1994 studio album by Impaled Nazarene

Suomi Finland Perkele is the third full-length album by Impaled Nazarene, the last to feature both Luttinen brothers. It is infamous due to its nationalistic themes; for example, in the lyrics to "Total War - Winter War". "Suomi" is the Finnish word for Finland and "perkele" ("devil") is a common Finnish swear word.

<i>Latex Cult</i> 1996 studio album by Impaled Nazarene

Latex Cult is the fourth full-length album by Finnish black metal band Impaled Nazarene. A music video was made for "1999: Karmakeddon Warriors".

<i>Pro Patria Finlandia</i> 2006 studio album by Impaled Nazarene

Pro Patria Finlandia is Impaled Nazarene's ninth full-length studio album. It was released on Osmose Productions in 2006.

<i>All That You Fear</i> 2003 studio album by Impaled Nazarene

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<i>Absence of War Does Not Mean Peace</i> 2001 studio album by Impaled Nazarene

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<i>Rapture</i> (Impaled Nazarene album) 1998 studio album by Impaled Nazarene

Rapture is the fifth full-length album of the Finnish black metal band Impaled Nazarene. It was released in 1998 on Osmose Productions.

<i>Death Comes in 26 Carefully Selected Pieces</i> 2005 live album by Impaled Nazarene

Death Comes in 26 Carefully Selected Pieces is the tenth album by the Finnish black metal band Impaled Nazarene. It was recorded live at the Tavastia Club in Helsinki on 19 December 2004 and released in 2005.

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<i>Manifest</i> (Impaled Nazarene album) 2007 studio album by Impaled Nazarene

Manifest is Impaled Nazarene's tenth full-length studio album.

<i>Road to the Octagon</i> 2010 studio album by Impaled Nazarene

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<i>Vigorous and Liberating Death</i> 2014 studio album by Impaled Nazarene

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References

  1. ↑ Sharpe-Young, Garry (2007). Metal: The Definitive Guide. Jawbone Press. p. 396. ISBN   9781906002015.
  2. ↑ Archived 8 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 3 Zamora, Bruno. "Impaled Nazarene" Tartarean Desire. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  4. ↑ Hoeltzel, Steve (9 April 1997). "Nazarene With a Fax Machine: CoC chats with Impaled Nazarene's Mika Luttinen". Chronicles of Chaos. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  5. 1 2 Schwarz, Paul (14 January 2002). "Nazarenes Aren't the Only Fiends: CoC chats with Mika Luttinen from Impaled Nazarene". Chronicles of Chaos. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  6. ↑ "Blabbermouth.net". Blabbermouth.net. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  7. ↑ "Global Domination". Globaldomination.se. Archived from the original on 25 November 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Finntroll Guitarist's Death Was Alcohol Related". Blabbermouth.net. 18 March 2003. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  9. ↑ Impaled Nazarene (15 January 2022). "News from the Nuclear Headquarters: UG has decided to quit Impaled Nazarene. His busy work schedule simply does not meet our busy rehearsal schedule". Facebook .
  10. ↑ Archived 15 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ Dujardin, Audrey (29 March 2006). "Interview with Impaled Nazarene" Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine . Tartarean Desire. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  12. 1 2 Kwakkel, Mart (4 December 2007). "Interview with Impaled Nazarene". Rockezine. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  13. ↑ "Ieper Fest". Ierperfest.com. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  14. ↑ "Optreden van homofobe metalband in Effenaar is onzeker". Omroep Brabant (in Dutch). 30 November 2024. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  15. ↑ van den Heuvel, Frank (1 December 2024). "Homofobe band op Metal Meeting? Effenaar beraadt zich". Eindhovens Dagblad, DPG Media. Retrieved 1 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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