Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band. Formed in 1984, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. The band's line-up has changed many times, and after guitarist Timo Tolkki's departure in 2008, no founding members remain. Currently, the longest standing member is singer Timo Kotipelto, who joined in 1994.
Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup consists of drummer Tommy Portimo, lead singer Tony Kakko, keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg, guitarist Elias Viljanen and bassist Pasi Kauppinen. All the musicians of the band's history except Portimo also acted as backing vocalists.
Timo Antero Kotipelto is a Finnish musician best known as the lead singer of the power metal band Stratovarius, whom he joined in 1994, as well as fronting his own band Kotipelto.
Timo Tapio Tolkki is a Finnish musician best known as the former guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer of the power metal band Stratovarius. With his tenure lasting for more than twenty years, he was the longest standing member of the band before his departure in 2008. After leaving Stratovarius he formed two supergroups named Revolution Renaissance and Symfonia, both of which have since disbanded. In a 2011 article by Guitar World magazine, Tolkki was included in the all-time top 50 list of the world's fastest guitarists.
Kristian Ranta, also known as Kride, was the guitarist of the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther, until their break up in 2012. Kristian has composed most of Norther's best known songs including Frozen Angel, and is also credited for renaming the band. Ranta has played the guitar on all the band's full-length albums, the most recent being Circle Regenerated (2011) and N (2008), and contributed clean vocals to the Solution 7 EP, Till Death Unites Us, the No Way Back EP and N. He has formed an experimental side project named Gashouse Garden with Children of Bodom drummer Jaska Raatikainen.
Lauri Porra is a Finnish bass guitarist and composer who has written scores for films and other media, as well as commissions from orchestras such as the Lahti Symphony and the Finnish Radio Symphony. He is also known for his work as the bass guitarist in the Finnish power metal band Stratovarius. Porra is a fourth generation musician, and the great-grandson of famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.
To-Mera are an English progressive metal band from South Oxfordshire. They were formed in 2004 and play a technical style of metal characterized by long songs, multiple time changes and jazz interludes.
Satanic Warmaster is a Finnish black metal solo project formed in 1998 by Lauri Penttilä in Lappeenranta, who performs under the stage name Werwolf.
Winter's Verge is a power metal band formed in Nicosia, Cyprus in 2004. Winter's Verge is one of the best-known bands from Cyprus and one of the few artists signed to an international record label. They have participated in overseas tours, most notably with Finnish band Stratovarius. Their latest album entitled The Ballad of James Tig was released in September 2020 by Pride & Joy Music.
Polaris is the twelfth studio album by power metal band Stratovarius, released on 15 May 2009. It is the first Stratovarius album to feature bassist Lauri Porra and guitarist Matias Kupiainen, following former bassist Jari Kainulainen's departure from the band in 2005 and former guitarist Timo Tolkki's departure in 2008.
Kasperi Heikkinen is a Finnish guitarist who is best known as a member of symphonic power metal band Amberian Dawn. He played in the band from early 2007 until late 2012. He is also the guitarist for Finnish metal bands Merging Flare and Guardians of Mankind, which is a Gamma Ray tribute band. Heikkinen performed with German metal band U.D.O. from 2013 until 2017. He currently resides in Helsinki.
Elysium is the thirteenth studio album by power metal band Stratovarius, released on 12 January 2011 through Victor Entertainment (Japan) and on 14 January through Edel AG (worldwide). It is the last Stratovarius album to feature longtime drummer Jörg Michael, who left the band in 2012. Elysium reached No. 1 on the Finnish albums chart, as well as reaching the top 80 in five other countries. "Darkest Hours" was released as a single, reaching No. 4 on the Finnish singles chart.
Blackoustic is a collaborative acoustic album by Stratovarius and Cain's Offering vocalist Timo Kotipelto and ex-Sonata Arctica and Cain's Offering guitarist Jani Liimatainen. The album was released on October 19, 2012, and entered the Finnish charts at #13 the first week. The album is self-financed. While initially only sold during performances, the album was eventually released through the Earmusic label, which had released the prior Stratovarius albums since Polaris.
Nemesis is the fourteenth studio album by power metal band Stratovarius, released on 22 February 2013 through Edel AG. It is the first Stratovarius album to feature new drummer Rolf Pilve, who replaced Jörg Michael in 2012. The album was first announced on the band's official website on 24 November 2012, with the track listing being revealed on 5 December 2012. Nemesis reached No. 3 on the Finnish albums chart. A preview of "Unbreakable", the album's first single, was made available on YouTube and was released on 25 January 2013.
Santa Cruz was a Finnish hard rock band formed in 2007 in Helsinki by Archie Cruz and Johnny Parkkonen. The band's music has appeared in TV commercials for Mercedes-Benz and in sports compilations on ESPN.
Eternal is the fifteenth album by Finnish power metal band Stratovarius, released on 11 September 2015 (Europe) and 18 September. Eternal reached No. 5 on the Finnish albums chart. Singer Timo Kotipelto composed three tracks and wrote most lyrics together with his Cain's Offering partner and former Sonata Arctica member Jani Liimatainen.
Enigma: Intermission 2 is a compilation album by power metal band Stratovarius, released on 28 September 2018 worldwide. The album has a collection of rare Stratovarius tracks spanning four of their studio albums: Polaris, Elysium, Nemesis and Eternal. It also includes three new tracks: "Enigma", "Burn Me Down" and "Oblivion", along with four orchestral versions of previous Stratovarius songs. The album is a follow-up to 2001's Intermission.
Best Of is a compilation album by power metal band Stratovarius, released on 6 May 2016. It has 28 different songs spanning the band's entire career, hand-picked and remastered by the band. It also includes one new track, Until the end of Days. The album is split into two CDs, the limited edition also containing a third CD with songs from the Wacken 2015 live performance.
Angel of Sodom is a thrash metal band that originated out of Helsinki, Finland. The band was created in 2009, founded by Eero Tertsunen, who also performs in Renascent, and Michael Majalahti. The band has released one studio album in 2015 and an EP in 2016. In 2016, the band went on a hiatus, due to Tertsunen moving to Bloomington, Indiana in the United States.
Survive is the sixteenth studio album by Finnish power metal band Stratovarius, released on 23 September 2022. It is the first studio album of the band in seven years.
