Finntroll
| Finntroll | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 Finntroll at the Rockharz Open Air 2018 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Helsinki , Finland |
| Genre (s) | Folk metal , humppa |
| founding | 1997 |
| Website | www.trollhorde.com |
| Founding members | |
Guttural vocals , lyrics, keyboard
|
Jan "Katla" Jämsen (keyboard: 1997–1998, guttural vocals: until 2001, lyrics: since 2006) |
| Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta (until † March 16, 2003) | |
| Current occupation | |
Guttural singing, lyrics |
Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns (since 2006) |
guitar |
Samuli "Skrymer" Ponsimaa (since 1998) |
guitar |
Mikael "Routa" Karlbom (since 2003) |
| Sami "Tundra" Uusitalo (since 1998) | |
Keyboard |
Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali (since 1998, since 2004: only studio keyboard) |
| Heikki "MörkÖ" Saari | |
| former members | |
Singing, lyrics |
Tapio Wilska (2002-2006) |
guitar |
Tomi "Grönt Helvetes Kungen" Ullgrén (1997–1998) |
Electric bass |
Mikael "Ancient Lord" Harju (1997–1998) |
Drums, keyboard |
Rauno "Nattvind" Raimoranta (1997) |
Drums |
Samu "Beast Dominator" Ruotsalainen (since 1998) |
| Live support and session musicians | |
Keyboard |
Meiju Enho (Live-Keyboard: 2004-2005 for "Trollhorn") |
Keyboard |
Aleksi "Virta" Virta (Live-Keyboard: since 2005 for "Trollhorn") |
Finntroll is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki . It was founded in 1997 by Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta and Jan "Katla" Jämsen.
Band history
Foundation, Midnattens Widunder and Jaktens Tid
In January 1998 Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta and Jan "Katla" Jämsen recorded the first demo Rivfader . Raimoranta played guitar and bass, Jämsen sang and played keyboard. A drum computer took over the drums . From 1997 to 1998 Mikael "Ancient Lord" Harju on bass, Rauno "Nattvind" Raimoranta on drums and keyboards, and Tomi "Grönt Helvetes Kungen" Ullgrén on second guitar also belonged to the formation, but they were not or no longer on involved in the recordings of this demo. Although the demo was about 21 minutes long, it only contained three full songs and three instrumentals or intros. All three songs from the demo were later re-recorded for the debut album . The band has meanwhile offered the demo recordings for download.
After recording this first demo, other musicians joined the band: drummer Samu "Beast Dominator" Ruotsalainen, guitarist Samuli "Skrymer" Ponsimaa, keyboardist Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali and bassist Sami "Tundra" Uusitalo, whereupon the Finnish record company Spinefarm Records went on Finntroll became aware and signed the band.
After the first album Midnattens Widunder , which was released in 1999 and received mostly good reviews, the second album Jaktens Tid 2001 Finntroll, which was also highly praised by the trade press, brought the final breakthrough. Worldwide, Finntroll were still under contract with Spinefarm Records , only for Germany, the Benelux countries and North America the license was taken over by the German label Century Media .
Visor om Slutet and Nattfödd
In June 2002 Jan “Katla” Jämsen had to leave the band as a singer for health reasons after several operations on a tumor in his vocal cords, but continues to write lyrics for Finntroll. The new singer was Tapio Wilska , who had already recorded a spoken passage on the previous album as a guest. During this transition period, the acoustic mini-album Visor om Slutet was created , on which Jan “Katla” Jämsen was still partly involved. Four weeks before publication, Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta died on March 16, 2003 when he fell from the Pitkäsilta Bridge in Helsinki . With Mikael "Routa" Karlbom the band found a new guitarist, the album was specifically dedicated to the late Raimoranta.
In this new compilation Finntroll worked on their next album. In spring 2004 the song Trollhammaren was published on a pre-EP of the same name, which was released in advance of the new album Nattfödd . The short playing time of around 16 minutes caused irritation among fans and the trade press. In addition to the title track, four songs not included on the album were released. Despite the enormous changes within the band, Nattfödd was finally able to build on his predecessor musically and commercially. In addition to many positive voices about the album, it was also warned that the short playing time of just 36 minutes could have been filled with the additional songs from the EP.
In 2004 the longtime keyboardist Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali decided not to tour with the band anymore, but to concentrate more on his private life and his other band Moonsorrow . Contrary to popular rumors, he has not left the band, but will be replaced on tour by Imperanon keyboarder Aleksi Virta. In early 2006, singer Wilska left the band due to internal disagreements. As a singer was then missing, the “No Mercy” tour was canceled. On April 5, 2006 the band performed at the Night Life Rock Club in Helsinki with Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns ( Twilight Moon ) as a singer.
Ur Jordens Djup , Nifelvind , Blodsvept and Vredesvävd
On March 30, 2007 the new album Ur Jordens Djup was released (in German "From the depths of the earth"). Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns, who was now firmly integrated into the band, acted as the singer. In autumn 2008 Finntroll played some concerts in Europe together with bands like Primordial , Eluveitie , Equilibrium , Månegarm and Catamenia as part of the Heidenfest tour. After that, the band announced their decision to take a tour break for about half a year to concentrate on the new album. A live DVD was also announced.
On September 4, 2009 the band signed a worldwide contract for three albums with the German label Century Media . Previously, all of the band's works were released worldwide through Spinefarm Records . Century Media held the license only in Germany, the Benelux countries and North America . On November 27th, 2009 the band announced on their Myspace page that the new studio album Nifelvind contained hot and eleven songs.
Nifelvind was published in Finland on February 17, 2010 and in Germany on February 19, 2010 via Century Media. A music video for the song Solsagan was previously releasedon January 16. Another video for Under Bergets Rot followed on April 5, 2010.
As part of the Paganfest 2010 , the band toured Europe from February 19, 2010 to March 14, 2010 together with Eluveitie , Dornenreich , Varg and Arkona . For Finntroll, Eluveitie and Varg this was also the album release tour, as all three bands had released a new album at the beginning of the tour. In 2011 Finntroll headlined the Heidenfest 2011 European Tour together with Turisas . On this occasion, a tour edition of the album Nifelvind was published at the end of September 2011 . In addition to the regular album, this includes a bonus CD with three previously unreleased, English-language cover songs.
The band's sixth studio album, titled Blodsvept (Swedish for blood enveloped ), was released on March 22, 2013 in Finland and on March 25 in the rest of Europe. The album was recorded in the Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki, mastered by Mika Jussila from Finnvox Studios. The title song of the album was published online in advance and was included as a supplement to the 83rd issue of Legacy Magazine in March 2013.
2014 appeared with Natten med de levande Finntroll (in German "Night with the living Finntroll") the first live album in the band's history, recorded in September 2008 in Amsterdam during the tour to Ur jordens djup . In the same year Samuel "Beast Dominator" Ruotsalainen left the band after 16 years and Heikki Saari, also known as "MörkÖ", joined the band as the new drummer.
The seventh studio album - and the first with a new drummer - was announced for August 2020. On June 25th, the album cover, name and track list of the new album called Vredesvävd was released on the Century Media Records Facebook page. At the same time it was announced that the album release had been postponed from August 14th to September 18th for "technical production reasons".
style
music
In their music, Finntroll combine metal sounds, mainly from the areas of black and death metal, with traditional instruments and sounds, especially the so-called humppa . The resulting music style is called "Trollish Hoedown Metal" by the band itself and creates its own division in the span of Black, Death and Folk Metal as well as the Finnish Humppa elements. Through the use of traditional instruments such as the accordion , various flutes , various wind instruments and also the piano , the music is very melodic and mostly very happy and catchy. In addition to Finnish influences, more recent releases also feature more Russian-inspired melodies, for example in the refrain of the Nattfödd song “Fiskarens Fiende”.
Some of the pieces have a Black Metal character, which becomes more or less melodic when mixed with the humppa. A typical element of the band is that rhythmic entries of the very present keyboard instruments are available as offbeats . Such rhythms are usually used more in ska or reggae . From a melodic point of view, the keyboard instruments are usually also leading the melody, while the typical rock and metal electric guitar usually only has an accompanying function.
Vocally, the band is based on Black Metal, but also on one of the oldest forms of singing in the world, the so-called joik of the Finnish natives ( Sami ), for example in the song “Jaktens Tid”.
Texts
Despite their Finnish origins, Finntroll sing their lyrics in Swedish , as Swedish sounds "damn trollish ", as Jan "Katla" Jämsen, the first singer, once established. It is also his mother tongue, as he belongs to the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland . In terms of content, the band orientates itself not only on troll stories but also on nature, war and pagan themes. The texts are partly based on existing troll myths and deal with various kings and tribes of trolls. This was already noticeable on the debut album Midnattens Widunder , whose lyrics deal, among other things, with how trolls wage wars against people of different faiths and then eat them. On each of the first three studio albums there is a short piece about the two priests "Åmund" and "Kettil" and their fate. The title of the song ends in … visan (Swedish for the… song ). On Ur Jordens Djup, the fourth album, there is another "... visan" track, which however no longer has the two priests as its theme. In the song “Kvällning”, after around nine minutes of silence, the hidden track is heard, which is called “Trollvisan” on the website.
On the fifth studio album Nifelvind , the band completely turned their backs on the troll theme. Instead, she turned to the subject of death and Norse mythology . Finntroll singer Vreth explained the departure from the trolls as follows: “Up here in the north we use many different creatures to describe different things in our lives, such as fear, murder, birth, etc. Many of these themes appear in the album. “With reference to Nordic mythology, the band partly approached Pagan Metal lyrically .
Discography
Studio albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 FI
|
|||
| 1999 |
Midnattens Widunder Spinefarm Records |
- | - | - | - |
First publication: 1999
"Monsters of Midnight" |
| 2001 |
Jaktens Tid Spinefarm Records |
- | - | - |
FI20 (2 weeks) FI |
First publication: September 18, 2001
"Jagdzeit" |
| 2004 |
Nattfödd Spinefarm Records |
- | - | - |
FI22 (3 weeks) FI |
First published: April 19, 2004
"Night Born" |
| 2007 |
Ur Jordens Djup Spinefarm Records |
DE91 (1 week) DE |
- | - |
FI23 (3 weeks) FI |
First published: March 28, 2007
"From the depths of the earth" |
| 2010 |
Nifelvind Century Media |
DE31 (1 week) DE |
AT61 (1 week) AT |
CH44 (1 week) CH |
FI8 (1 week) FI |
First published: February 17th, 2010
"Hell wind" |
| 2013 |
Blodsvept Century Media |
DE73 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH79 (1 week) CH |
FI10 (3 weeks) FI |
First published: March 22nd, 2013
"Blood Encased" |
Web links
- Finntroll on Myspace
- Finntroll at MusicBrainz (English)
gallery
- Finntroll, line-up at Rockharz 2018
Singer Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns
Guitarist Samuli "Skrymer" Ponsimaa
Guitarist Mikael "Routa" Karlbom
Bassist Sami "Tundra" Uusitalo
Drummer Heikki "MörkÖ" Saari
swell
- ^ 5th anniversary of the death of Finntroll guitarist Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta , metal-hammer.de, accessed on February 2, 2017
- ↑ Thread in the FINNTROLL New Singer ( memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ finntroll.net, February 19, 2009; News no longer available.
- ^ Finntroll sign with Century Media Records. Press release, centurymedia.com, September 8, 2009; Retrieved April 26, 2010
- ↑ Finntroll announce the title and tracklist of their new studio album. Press release, centurymedia.com, November 27, 2009; Retrieved April 26, 2010.
- ↑ Finntroll - New Video + Making Of . ( Memento of the original from April 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. metalnews.de
- ↑ Finntroll - Video released! ( Memento of the original from April 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. metalnews.de
- ↑ Finntroll publish Special European Tour Edition of “Nifelvind” . Century Media, Sept. 12, 2011; Retrieved March 15, 2012.
- ↑ Information on 'Blodsvept'. ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Finntroll on the official website.
- ↑ Finntroll - Blodsvept. Encyclopaedia Metallum: Metal Archives : March 13, 2013
- ↑ Official Facebook page . Facebook, November 15, 2019; accessed on November 29, 2019.
- ^ Century Media Records. Retrieved June 25, 2020 .
- ↑ Finntroll. The Emperor-Danny-Elfman mix. ( Memento of the original from September 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. whiskey-soda.de, interview with Vreth about the album Nifelvind in March 2010; Retrieved April 26, 2010
