Unholy (Finnish band)

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Unholy
General information
origin Imatra , Finland
Genre (s) Black Metal (at first), Black Doom
founding 1988 as Holy Hell, 1996, 2012
resolution 1994, 2002, 2012
Website http://www.unholy.fi/
Current occupation
Jarkko Toivonen
Electric guitar, keyboard
Ismo Toivonen
Pasi Äijö
Jan Kuhanen
former members
Drums
 Kimmo Hänninen
Drums
 Mika Arponen
Electric guitar
 Waltteri Myllynen
Electric guitar, keyboard
 Veera Muhli
Electric guitar
 Jade Vanhala

Unholy was a Finnish Black Doom band from Imatra that was formed in 1988 under the name Holy Hell , disbanded in 1994, reunited in 1996 and disbanded again in 2002. In 2012 the band played the last concerts as a conclusion.

history

The band was founded in 1988 by the guitarist Jarkko Toivonen and the singer and bassist Pasi Äijö in 1988 under the name Holy Hell. A first demo followed, called Kill Jesus , before the band changed its name to Unholy shortly afterwards. Under the new name, a second demo Procession of Black Doom followed in 1990. Ismo Toivonen could then be heard as guitarist and keyboardist. In the same year, another demo appeared with demo 11.90 . The next demo Trip to Depressive Autumn was recorded in 1991, whereupon Jan Kuhanen was heard as the new drummer. The demo was also distributed in Europe by Lethal Records and in the US by Wild Rags Records . Due to the success of the demo, the band reached a contract with Lethal Records, which in early 1993 released the debut album From the Shadows . In the following years there were disputes with the label, whereupon the group separated from this and signed a contract with Avantgarde Music . The second album The Second Ring of Power was recorded in the spring of 1994 in a studio in Imatra. After the album was released, the band suffered some setbacks and performances had to be canceled. The band then broke up in December 1994.

In the summer of 1996 three members of the band got together again to re-found the band, whereby Toivonen was no longer in the band. The band got their contract with Avantgarde Music back. The group began work on the next album in September 1996. After the band signed the contract with Avantgarde Music in spring 1997, they went to the studio in July 1997 to record the album Rapture , which was released in February 1998. In the period that followed, the band was already writing new songs and by the end of May 1998 had enough songs together for their next album. During this time Veera Muhli came to the band as keyboardist and singer, so that the band became a quartet. In mid-July 1998 the band went to the Astia Studio in Lappeenranta . After the recordings were mixed at the beginning of September, the album Gracefallen was released in March 1999. Until then, Jade Vanhala joined the band as guitarist. Due to the little success of the album, the group separated from Avantgarde Music. Since the band could not get a contract in the following years, the band broke up in March 2002.

In the following years, the band signed a contract with Rusty Crowbar Records , about which the first demo Kill Jesus under the name Holy Hell and the demo Trip to Depressive were released as separate limited recordings. The demos Procession of Black Doom and Demo 11.90 were released as a set. Meanwhile, Avantgarde Music sold the release rights to Peaceville Records , via which the albums were re-released. From the Shadows and Gracefallen came out in April 2011 and Rapture a few months later. The Second Ring of Power was the last to be re-released in autumn 2011. Gracefallen also included a previously unreleased song Gone , while Rapture with Petrified Spirits and Covetous Glance contained two live songs from the year 1999th The Second Ring of Power included a live bootleg DVD from 1994 as a bonus . In early 2012, the band was planning to start again for the summer of that year. Toivonen was now back in the band. After their last appearance at the Dark Bombastic Evening Festival, the band broke up in August 2012.

style

According to metalfromfinland.com , the band played a mix of Black and Doom Metal under the name Holy Hell . The band was one of the first Finnish bands in the Doom Metal area. According to Kerrang magazine, Unholy is said to have burned albums by the Norwegian black metal bands Burzum and Mayhem on stage . In an interview with doom-metal.com , Ismo Toivonen spoke out against the black metal scene and described the lyrics as stupid.

From the Shadows is "[dark, viscous and vicious music [...] in appealing quality [and with] a highly independent [m] sound", said Frank Albrecht in Rock Hard . He clarified his statement by remarking: “Sure, the basic ingredients are the same as with other bands in this genre, but the execution is different. There is quite variable vocals, lots of weird melodies, surprising acoustics in between, all kinds of sound effects and nine overly long and varied songs. ”He used Cathedral and The Gathering as a comparison . Albrecht's colleague Kai Wendel wrote that Rapture “should probably disappoint everyone in Schwarzheim, unless they are also into Doom sounds”. For him, "the music of the northern lights is a little too boring, as the songs drag themselves too much over the playing time, although they definitely have their charms". Unholy “has to be credited with the fact that the many very atmospheric and monumental parts create a depressive and gloomy mood that doesn't have much in common with the hippie attitude typical of many genre criminals . So who is on melancholic dark rock that without superficial Kiffer manages conditions influencing the fate, the disc should definitely check them out again. "

According to Robert Müller from Metal Hammer , the band played progressive Doom Metal with Death Metal influences on From the Shadows , "something like Cathedral with comical breaks ". Müller stated in his review of The Second Ring of Power : “Black Metal is made up of the subject (although the lyrics are a catastrophe) and vocals, the tempo, on the other hand, is slow, ominously vibrating, which is vehemently supported by the fascinating influences semitone industrial sounds and weird crypt rock à la Christian Death ”. According to Müller, "massive minor riffs are like pack ice around your heart " in Gracefallen . Meanwhile "the plaintive female chants and the gloomy Gothic arrangements that play around them ignite ".

Discography

as Holy Hell
  • 1989: Kill Jesus (demo, self-published)
as an unholy
  • 1990: The Procession of Black Doom (demo, self-release)
  • 1990: Demo 11.90 (demo, self-published)
  • 1991: Trip to Depressive Autumn (demo, self-published)
  • 1993: From the Shadows (Album, Lethal Records )
  • 1994: The Second Ring of Power (Album, Avantgarde Music )
  • 1998: Rapture (album, avant-garde music)
  • 1999: Gracefallen (Album, Avantgarde Music)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Garry Sharpe-Young : AZ of Doom, Gothic and Stoner Metal . Cherry Red Books, London 2003, ISBN 1-901447-14-6 , pp. 432 f .
  2. ↑ a b Jason Ankeny: Unholy. Allmusic , accessed December 7, 2013 .
  3. ↑ a b Biography. (No longer available online.) Metalfromfinland.com, archived from the original on December 13, 2013 ; Retrieved December 7, 2013 . 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.metalfromfinland.com
  4. ^ History. unholy.fi, accessed December 7, 2013 .
  5. ^ Lee Barrett: The Black Metal Directory. LEE BARRETT of Darkness fanzine leads a dark tour around the Blackest Metal… In: Kerrang . No. 436 , March 27, 1993, pp. 36 ( fmp666.com [JPG; accessed December 11, 2013]).
  6. ↑ Heiko Isselee, Kostas Panagiotou : Unholy. Interview with Unholy. doom-metal.com, accessed December 7, 2013 .
  7. ^ Frank Albrecht: Unholy. From the Shadows . In: Rock Hard . No. 69 , February 1993, Record Review, pp. 86 f . ( rockhard.de [accessed on January 16, 2015]).
  8. ↑ Kai Wendel: Unholy. Rapture . In: Rock Hard . No. 132 ( rockhard.de [accessed on January 16, 2015]).
  9. ↑ Robert Müller: Unholy. From the Shadows . In: Metal Hammer . February 1993, p. 57 .
  10. ↑ Robert Müller: Unholy. The Second Ring of Power . In: Metal Hammer . July 1995, p. 54 .
  11. ↑ Robert Müller: Unholy. Grace traps . In: Metal Hammer . July 1999, p. 163 .