A kantele or kannel is a traditional Finnish and Karelian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the south east Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Estonian kannel, Latvian kokles, Lithuanian kanklės and Russian gusli.
Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including progressive metal, and folk metal. They frequently use the Kalevala, the epic poem of Finland, as a source for their lyrics.
Värttinä is a Finnish folk music band that started as a project by Sari and Mari Kaasinen in 1983 in the village of Rääkkylä, in Karelia, the southeastern region of Finland. Many transformations have taken place in the band since then. Värttinä shot into fame with the release of their 1991 album Oi Dai. As of 2009, the band consists of three lead female vocalists supported by three acoustic musicians. The vocalists sing in the Karelian dialect of the Finnish language.
Ensiferum is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "melodic folk metal".
Pasi Antero Koskinen is a Finnish heavy metal musician, currently the vocalist and guitarist of the band Datura Nemesis (2013–), but he is perhaps best known as the vocalist of the band Amorphis (1995–2004).
Tuonela is the fourth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis.
Elegy is the third studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis. It is their first to feature a majority of clean vocals, sung by new vocalist Pasi Koskinen. This also marks the first album with drummer Pekka Kasari who replaced Jan Rechberger and the only album with keyboardist Kim Rantala. The music and lyrics are inspired by the traditional Finnish ballads and poems compiled in the Kanteletar by Elias Lönnrot in 1840.
Tales from the Thousand Lakes is the second studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis. It is a concept album based on the Finnish national epic, Kalevala.
Voice of Wilderness is the second studio album by Finnish folk metal band Korpiklaani. It was released on 1 February 2005 through Napalm Records.
Esa Holopainen is a Finnish musician, currently the main songwriter, occasional lyricist, founding member and lead guitarist of the Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis. He is one out the two longest standing members of the band and one of the four original members in the band.
Tomi Samuel Koivusaari is the current rhythm guitarist and former vocalist of the Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis. He started playing at the age of 12, his first band was Violent Solution formed in 1987, with him on guitars and vocals, Esa Holopainen on guitars and Jan Rechberger on drums. The band played thrash metal, recorded a demo and an EP. He also formed a death/doom band called Abhorrence in 1989, and recorded a demo and an EP. Both bands broke up in 1990, but Tomi was not a member of Violent Solution since he formed Abhorrence.
Far from the Sun is the sixth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis.
Am Universum is the fifth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis. This album was a departure from the doom/stoner metal influence on their previous album, Tuonela, featuring more of a vocal-driven hard rock sound. This is the first album to feature Niklas Etelävuori on bass who would remain in the band until 2017 and the last album with drummer Pekka Kasari who left in 2002.
Kai "Hiili" Hiilesmaa is a Finnish record producer and musician. He is the vocalist of the rock band The Skreppers, former drummer of the doom metal band KYPCK and former keyboardist of the rock band Daniel Lioneye. He has worked with several internationally recognized rock groups, including his near 20-year association with Finnish band HIM.
Privilege of Evil is the first EP by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis released in 1993. It is a collection of demo material from Amorphis' early career recorded in Timo Tolkki's (Stratovarius) TTT Studio in 1991. At that time only two of these songs were picked for the band's first 7" single, but the full session was released two years later on this EP. On the EP's reissue by Relapse Records, the band became upset to hear that their early material was released. The material on this EP was originally meant to be for a split album with Incantation, which never materialized. Incantation's half of the split would only be released individually sixteen years later as the Blasphemous Cremation EP.
Mannhai is a Finnish stoner rock band from Helsinki. The band was formed in late 1999 by bass player Olli-Pekka "Oppu" Laine and guitarist Ilkka "Ile" Laaksomaa. Soon they were accompanied by a young drummer, Mikko "Junior" Pietinen, and the following year by lead singer Jani "Joãnitor" Muurinen.
Skyforger is the ninth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis. Like the previous album, the lyrics to Skyforger are English translations of Finnish poems based on the Kalevala and written by Pekka Kainulainen. Unlike the two previous albums, it is based on different parts of several episodes, but all told from a single character's point of view. In this sense it is a return to Tales from the Thousand Lakes which told stories from different parts of the Kalevala. The last two albums focused on Kullervo and Lemminkäinen, respectively, and this one focuses on Ilmarinen.
The Beginning of Times is the tenth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis, released on 25 May 2011 in Finland, 27 May in Europe and 7 June in the United States. Like previous Amorphis albums, The Beginning of Times, is a concept album. The central character of the songs is Väinämöinen, described by the band as "the iconic hero of Finnish mythology".
Olli-Pekka Laine is a Finnish musician, currently as a bassist in Finnish metal bands Amorphis and Barren Earth (2008–). He was also formerly in other Finnish metal bands, Nuxvomica (1990), Rytmihäiriö (1991–1992), Mannhai, Chaosbreed (2003–2005) & Kiljuvelka-70.
Circle is the eleventh studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis, released on 17 April 2013 through Victor Entertainment and on 19 April 2013 through Nuclear Blast. Recorded at Petrax Studio in Hollola and at 5K Studios in Helsinki, it is the first Amorphis album since Far from the Sun (2003) not to be produced by Marko Hietala, or to be based on the Finnish national epic Kalevala. Instead, Circle was produced by Peter Tägtgren and focuses on an original story penned by lyricist Pekka Kainulainen.
