Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody. It uses textural layers of sound which can reward both passive and active listening and encourage a sense of calm or contemplation. The genre is said to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual", or "unobtrusive" quality. Nature soundscapes may be included, and the sounds of acoustic instruments such as the piano, strings and flute may be emulated through a synthesizer.
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Nevalainen, and then bassist Sami Vänskä after the release of their debut album, Angels Fall First (1997). In 2001, Vänskä was replaced by Marko Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist role previously filled by Holopainen or guest singers.
The Rasmus is a Finnish rock band that formed in 1994 in Helsinki while the band members were in upper comprehensive school. The original band members were Lauri Ylönen, Eero Heinonen (bass), Pauli Rantasalmi (guitar) and Jarno Lahti (drums). Jarno Lahti left the year after and was replaced by Janne Heiskanen in 1995. Heiskanen quit the band in 1998 and was soon replaced by Aki Hakala. Pauli Rantasalmi left the band and was replaced by Emppu Suhonen in 2022. Best known for their 2003 hit single "In the Shadows", the band has sold 5 million albums worldwide and approximately 350,000 albums in Finland alone, and has won numerous awards, both domestic and international. The band represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with the song "Jezebel".
RinneRadio is a Finnish group of electro jazz pioneers. Operating on the boundaries of jazz and electronic music, RinneRadio fused jazz into ambient music and techno years before it became a worldwide trend and added hints of world music into it. In the third part, Suomi soi 3 ‒ Ääniaalloilta parrasvaloihin of a book series about popular music in Finland, it has been written that RinneRadio was several years ahead of their time when they started.
Teräsbetoni is a Finnish heavy/power metal band. Their first album, Metallitotuus, was released in 2005 and has so far sold more than 32,000 copies. Teräsbetoni has been strongly influenced by bands such as Manowar. The direct translation of the band's name is "steel concrete", Finnish for "reinforced concrete".
Blutengel is a German electronic music group formed by singer Chris Pohl after he had to leave Seelenkrank due to contractual and legal problems. The lyrics are written primarily in German and English and are presented with male and female vocals. The themes of the songs usually centre around themes common in Gothic fiction such as love, vampirism, sexual fetishism, death, and immortality. The band calls their musical style dark pop.
Poets of the Fall (POTF) is a Finnish rock band from Helsinki. The group consists of Marko Saaresto, Olli Tukiainen, Markus "Captain" Kaarlonen, Jani Snellman (bass), Jaska Mäkinen, and Jari Salminen.
Lauri Porra is a Finnish bass guitarist and a 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 Stratovarius. Porra is a fourth generation musician, and the great-grandson of famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.
Sajama Cut is a band from Jakarta, Indonesia. It currently consists of lead vocalist Marcel Thee, keyboardist Hans Citra Patria, lead guitarist Dion Panlima Reza, drummer Banu Satrio, and bassist Arta Kurnia. The band is well known for their changing styles of music, which ranges from noise pop, ambient, indie rock, baroque pop, folk rock, lo-fi, to electronica.
Slow or DJ Slow is a Finnish DJ and music producer. Slow is known for his nu-jazz style and for his production of commercial music for high-profile advertising projects for TV and cinema.
The discography of the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish consists of nine studio albums, one extended play, six live albums, seven compilations, eighteen music videos and twenty-two singles. The band was formed in 1996 by songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former vocalist Tarja Turunen; Nightwish's current line-up has six members although Turunen has been replaced by Anette Olzon and later by Floor Jansen, and the original bassist, Sami Vänskä, has been replaced by Marko Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist part.
The discography of Dream Theater, an American progressive metal band, consists of fifteen studio albums, one extended play, nine live albums, one compilation album, eight video albums, nine singles, and twenty-one music videos. The band was formed under the name Majesty by guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy while the three of them were attending Berklee College of Music in September 1985. The trio added keyboard player Kevin Moore and vocalist Chris Collins in order to complete their lineup. After the band released a demo entitled Majesty Demos, Collins was replaced by Charlie Dominici in November 1987.
Carbon Based Lifeforms is a Swedish electronic music duo formed in Gothenburg in 1996 by Johannes Hedberg and Daniel Vadestrid.
Sturm und Drang was a Finnish heavy metal/hard rock band from Vaasa formed in 2004. The band's original members were lead singer/guitarist André Linman, guitarist/backing vocals Alexander Ivars, keyboardist Jesper Welroos, bassist/backing vocalist Henrik Kurkiala and drummer/backing vocalist Calle Fahllund. Other members were bassist Joel Wendlin and guitarist Jani Kuoppamaa. The band started off as schoolmates covering bands such as Judas Priest and gradually started writing their own material. They were discovered in 2005 by record label HMC. Their debut album Learning to Rock was released in 2007 and eventually went platinum in Finland. Their second album Rock 'n Roll Children was released in 2008 and went gold within less than a week. The band is known for songs "Rising Son", "Indian" and "A Million Nights". As of 2010, the band has sold over 100,000 records. In 2014 the band broke up when members left to start their own separated projects.
Origo Sound is a Norwegian independent record label formed in 1990 in Norway by Harald Lervik. The initiative to start the label was taken after Tormod Opedal, an employee in Lervik's software company, in 1989 had decided to close his own label Cicada which had released two albums by the Norwegian composer Erik Wøllo. Wøllo had a new album ready to be released, and Origo Sound was formed the year after, with two albums launched in the autumn 1990, of which one was the new Wøllo album
Kinetik Control is a Finnish rock band formed in 2004 by the composer and lyricist Sauli Vuoti. The band's sound used to incorporate electronic elements to rock and pop music, but nowadays the music is more pop oriented. Kinetik Control has released eight singles, one EP and three albums. Kinetik Control's most known songs are "The Mutt", "No-One Knows About Us", "Give A Little Love", "All Fours" and "Chinese Medicine", which featured Michael Monroe as a guest musician.
Inkakai is a Finnish rock band founded in 2021 by singer/songwriter Caleb Daniel Lit. The band originally formed as Bleak in 1997, briefly performed as Flamer in 2009, and as Fireal from 2009 to 2021.
Hevisaurus are a Finnish heavy metal band that formed in 2009 with music aimed at children. The band members are known for performing in dinosaur costumes. Hevisaurus's debut concert was at the Elämä Lapselle charity concert on September 9, 2009. Their first tour started at the Tavastia Club in Helsinki on November 22, 2009.
K-X-P is an electronic rock band from Helsinki, Finland. The band consists of Timo Kaukolampi, Tomi Leppänen (drums), Anssi Nykänen (drums), and Tuomo Puranen (bass). For their second album II the band are signed to Melodic Records in the UK.
Bittersweet is the first studio album by Life On Planet 9, the pseudonym used by American hard rock band Lo-Pro when releasing music of a more experimental nature. The album was released on August 20, 2011. The album's origins trace back as far as 2007, when Lo-Pro participated in an acoustic tour with Staind frontman Aaron Lewis. Tracks started as acoustic rock material, but as they developed, they gained further ambient and electronic elements. The sound strayed so far from their original hard rock sound that they decided to release it under another name.
