Best Finnish Metal

Jyväskylä, Finland (2005 – present)

Five-piece metal band, formed in 2005. They have taken elements from melodic death metal, doom metal and progressive metal into their music. Wille Naukkarinen (guitars): “In Ghost Brigade, selling albums is not what it’s about. It’s about the feeling I get when I write a new song, which I only get when I know the song is good enough. The metaphor for that is “the fire”. That explains the title of the album. We are guided by fire.” A quote on their website states (by date of the debut release) “there’s nothing above or below us, no written word wise enough, just notes that carry the silent fire.”

Three best albums in my opinion:



(that was easy, they have released 3 albums thus far)

Jyväskylä, Finland (2000 – present)

Melodic Doom/Death Metal.

Three best albums in my opinion:

Lahti, Finland (1999 - Present)

Melodic Death/Gothic Metal band that saw daylight in 1999 as a solo project by Tuomas Saukkonen. The first line-up was gathered so that the band would be able to perform live. With many changes inside the band, they entered the studio to record an MCD called Gehenna. After two albums (My Darkness and 4.17 AM) and numerous changes in the line-up, Tuomas gathered an entirely new line-up in 2005 and went on to record the album The Ghost. The songs that didn’t fit on this album were released on Tuomas’ other project Dawn of Solace.

Three best albums in my opinion:

Joensuu, Finland (1997 – present)

Melodic death metal. They are influenced by doom metal. Their lyrics often deal with subjects such as darkness, mourning, loss, pain, and nature.

Three best albums in my opinion:

Muhos, Finland (1989 – 2005)

Originally formed as a death metal band. The band produced their first album “Shadows Of The Past” in 1991 with singer/guitarist Miika Tenkula. The next two albums “North From Here” and “Amok” and the following EP “Love & Death” had bassist Taneli Jarva as singer, but in 1995 Taneli decided to take a few years off to rest before starting a new band, The Black League. Sentenced recruited Ville Laihiala in 1996 and put out the album “Down”.

Three best albums in my opinion:

Helsinki, Finland (1995 – present)

Self-described ’epic heathen metal’ band formed in Helsinki, Finland in 1995. The group’s earliest formation consisted of cousins Ville Sorvali (vocals and bass) and Henri Sorvali (guitar and keyboards) who released various demos that were much more characteristic as being symphonic black metal, musically, than future releases. However, their albums contain occasional flashbacks to their black metal roots.

Three best albums in my opinion:

Helsinki, Finland (1990 – present)

Melodic / Progressive, and formerly Death/Doom metal band started by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari and Esa Holopainen in Helsinki, Finland in 1990. Amorphis absorbed and incorporated influences from many metal genres, and with time passing their sound evolved dramatically. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but with time they have evolved into making music that is more classifiable as doom metal with folk influences, and, more recently, progressive metal and hard rock, utilizing increasingly complex arrangements and a less brutal sound.

Three best albums in my opinion:

Helsinki, Finland (1996 – present)

Black/Dark Metal band Ajattara was formed in 1996, in Helsinki, Finland. The sound has been described as of primordial nightmare. Attempting to describe their music in less abstract terms, one could always mention it is predominantly mid-tempo, riff-heavy black metal with distant, astral synths. Yet that is just a lame scratch on the surface when dealing with such a true enigma as Ajattara undoubtedly are.

Three best albums in my opinion:

(2004 - Present)

Doom band. Was founded by Matti Reinola and Ari Niemenin.

Three best albums in my opinion:



(They've only released these two albums thus far)

Lemi (1996 – present)

Stam1na released it’s self-titled debut in the spring of 2005, but before that Stam1na was one of the most anticipated unsigned acts in Finland. The second album Uudet kymmenen käskyä was released in May of 2006 and the third album Raja February 2008. Stam1nas 4th album, Viimeinen Atlantis, was released on February 10, 2010.

Three best albums in my opinion:

(2008 – present)

Was born in the beginning of 2008 to reflect the darker personal side of the founder and sole member Tuomas Saukkonen (Before The Dawn, Dawn of Solace, The Final Harvest).

Three best albums in my opinion:



(that was easy, they have released 3 albums thus far)

Helsinki, Finland (2007 – present)

Progressive death metal band with a line-up consisting of former members of Amorphis as well as current members of Swallow The Sun, Moonsorrow, Rytmihäiriö and Kreator. The band was formed in year 2007 in Helsinki, Finland.

Three best albums in my opinion:



(They've only released one album thus far)

Ähtäri, Finland (1998 - Present)

The band’s name comes from the word noumenon, a philosophical term used by Immanuel Kant. It consists of five members: vocalist Antti Haapanen, guitarists Tuukka Tuomela and Ville Lamminaho, bass guitarist Hannu Savolainen and drummer Ilkka Unnbom. The roots of Noumena’s music may be found in the Scandinavian death metal tradition and 1980s heavy metal.

Three best albums in my opinion:

(2009 - Present)

Six-piece band performing atmospheric metal music. The seed of the new band was planted when Vesa Ranta, having taken a break from music after Sentenced, began to overcome his post-Sentenced battle fatigue and lack of musical motivation. The idea of a new band – or bands – was eventually brainstormed over a period of time between Vesa and his friends, including gentlemen Miika Tenkula, Aaron Rantonen, Janne Markus and Mikko Uusimaa.

Three best albums in my opinion:



(They've released two albums thus far)

(2004 - Present)

Stoner rock. Awsum. I'm speechless.

Three best albums in my opinion:



(They've only released one full length album)

Pudasjärvi, Finland (1994 - Present)

Melodic death metal band, that incorporates symphonic metal music in their songs. The band was officially formed in 1994 by Jarmo Puolakanaho, Altti Veteläinen and Olli-Pekka Törrö, after some previous various metal projects (Andromeda, M.D.C, D.W.N) between 1991 and 1994, involving some or all of the three members.

Three best albums in my opinion:

Turku, Finland (1996 – 2007)

It is probably audible that Fall of the Leafe is rooted to extreme metal in one way or another. Besides the metallic taste, some may find flavors of strange 80’s pop and rock there, as well as hints of grunge and seventies action rock. What what we listen to naturally filters into our own sound too. Our music is largely guitar-driven, melodic, layered and in some people’s opinion, horrible. In general, it is somewhat faithful to the heritage of rock music.

Three best albums in my opinion:

Kouvola, Finland (1996 – present)

Viikate (meaning “Scythe” in English) is a heavy metal rock band, formed in 1996 in Kouvola, Finland. It is known for its melancholy lyrics, drawing inspiration from Finnish romance movies of the 1950s and Finnish singers of the era, including Reino Helismaa. Their style has been variously described as “Helismaa-metal”, “wire-metal” and “death schlager”.

Three best albums in my opinion:

Oulu, Finland (1995 – present)

Melodic black metal band founded by original members Riku Hopeakoski and Mika Tönning. Catamenia means "menstruation". The band didn't know about this until a fan pointed it out to them after the release of their debut album. Catamenia is also a kind of bird.

Three best albums in my opinion:

Finland (1995 – present)

A Four piece melodic death metal band formed in 1995.

Three best albums in my opinion:

Finland (1997 – present)

Folk metal band that combines black metal with a Finnish form of polka called Humppa. Although they are from Finland, Finntroll’s lyrics are in Swedish (the country’s second official language), because Swedish sounds “damn trollish”, according to the band’s first vocalist, Katla (whose native language is Swedish).

Three best albums in my opinion:

Helsinki, Finland (1996 – present)

The band began in early 1996 under the name of Requiem, and was assembled by guitarist Petri Lindroos and drummer Toni Hallio accompanied by two other musicians. In the beginning, the band suffered from the lack of a proper rehearsal place, but in late 1997, guitarist Alexander Kuoppala (ex-Children of Bodom) found a suitable place for them to practice at Lepakko; around this time the band decided to change their name from Requiem to Decayed. Their luck was short-lived, however, as their new rehearsal place was soon to be demolished.

Three best albums in my opinion:

Helsinki, Finland (1995 – present)

Ensiferum (Latin ensĭfĕrum (neuter adjective) meaning “sword bearer”) is a folk metal band. In 1995 Markus Toivonen played guitar with some friends in a band called ”Dark Reflections”, which played mainly covers of certain heavy metal bands including Megadeth, Pantera and many others. Later on, Markus felt that the band in which he was playing offered him very little inspiration and wanted to play something different. Markus was hugely inspired by folk music and also found himself fascinated with melodic death metal bands like Amorphis and Dark Tranquillity.

Three best albums in my opinion:

Doom metal band singing in russian language. The band’s name is a mock pseudo-cyrillic imitation of Курск (Kursk), which is a city in Russia. KYPCK’s crew features vocalist E. Seppänen, guitarists S. S. Lopakka and S. Kukkohovi (both formerly Sentenced), bassist J. T. Ylä-Rautio and drummer A.K. Karihtala. KYPCK’s previous drummer K.H.M. Hiilesmaa (a renowned producer for HIM, Lordi, Sentenced, Moonspell, Apocalyptica and many others) was also in charge of KYPCK’s heavy and (in its original sense) grinding production. It is likely that he will continue working with the band in the future.

Three best albums in my opinion:



(They've released two albums thus far)

Symphonic metal band. Anette Olzon was announced to be the replacement for former vocalist and frontwoman Tarja Turunen.

Three best albums in my opinion:

The name of the band comes from one of the most famous Finnish murder cases of all time. (The murdering of three teenagers one night at Lake Bodom back in the 60’s.)

Three best albums in my opinion:



(Yeah, the first three releases)