Finntroll

Finntroll is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. They combine black metal with a type of Finnish folk music called humppa. Finntroll's lyrics are mostly in Swedish, the only exception being the song "Madon Laulu" on Visor om slutet. Finntroll's original singer, Katla, decided to use Swedish over Finnish since he was part of a Swedish-speaking minority in Finland and the sound of the language seemed to better suit the band's "trollish" outfit.^[1] Despite several vocalist changes, this tradition has continued.

To date, the band's discography includes seven full-length albums, a live album and three EPs. Their newest studio album Vredesvävd was released in 2020.

Finntroll was founded in 1997 with a line-up which included guitarist Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta and vocalist/lyricist Jan "Katla" Jämsen.^[2] A year later they were joined by guitarist Samuli "Skrymer" Ponsimaa, drummer Samu "Beast Dominator" Ruotsalainen, keyboardist Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali and bassist Sami "Tundra" Uusitalo, creating the first stable line-up of the band. The band's first demo, Rivfader, released the same year.

Their second album, Jaktens Tid, was released in 2001. The following summer, the band had their first time playing festivals in Finland and other countries. The album features yoiking by then Shaman vocalist Jonne Järvelä, later known as vocalist and guitarist for fellow folk metal band Korpiklaani.

The year after the release of the album Jaktens Tid proved to be a misfortune for Finntroll: some tours had to be cancelled, and vocalist Jämsen had to retire from the band due to a viral-based tumor in his vocal cords which could not be removed surgically; he retired after the release of the EP Visor om slutet.^[3] The EP was recorded in early January 2003, in a forest cabin near Helsinki. It was an "acoustical experiment", where Jämsen and the new vocalist Tapio Wilska (of Sethian and Lyijykomppania) shared the singing duties among them. Visor om slutet was released as a mid-price EP and held rank on the Finnish midprice chart for several weeks.

On 16 March 2003, shortly before the release of Visor om slutet, guitarist Teemu Raimoranta died when he fell off a bridge in Hakaniemi, Helsinki.^[4] After losing their last remaining founding members, the band continued touring Europe for two weeks, supported by the band Katatonia. Guitarist Mikael Karlbom was hired as a replacement for Raimoranta.

In 2004, the band released Trollhammaren("The Trollhammer"), a prequel to the soon-to-follow album Nattfödd("Nightborn"). Also in 2004, Sorvali stopped touring with the band, temporary musicians filling in for the remainder of the tour. Aleksi "Virta" Virta joined the band in an official capacity as second keyboardist in 2005.

On 29 January 2006, Tapio Wilska, vocalist of the band since 2003, was fired from the band. In a statement issued on the band's website, Wilska stated that he would like to keep the reason for his dismissal private.^[2] The band hired Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns of Chthonian and Twilight Moon as his replacement and full-time member on vocals.

A new album, titled Ur jordens djup("From the Depths of the Earth"), was released March 2007. This fourth album put more emphasis on epic keyboard riffs with very loud but melodic guitar. Former vocalist Katla was brought in to write the lyrics for this album, and continues in this capacity with the band. The last song contains an acoustic hidden track entitled Trollvisan which can be heard at 11:03 minutes. It is commonly believed to be the installment's "Aamund och Kettil song", yet there is no mention of the two priests in the lyrics, the song rather refers to "de kristna" ("the Christians") in general.

La banda ha grabado una actuación en directo para su primer DVD en directo. La fecha de lanzamiento aún no se ha confirmado. Han publicado su quinto álbum, titulado Nifelvind ("Vientos del Inframundo") , y Katla ha vuelto a escribir las letras. El progreso del álbum fue documentado por Trollhorn en un diario de estudio. ^{[ 5 ] [ 6 ]} El 15 de enero de 2010 Finntroll publicó un vídeo musical de la nueva canción "Solsagan" en su página de MySpace como anticipo del lanzamiento del álbum. El nuevo álbum se publicó en febrero de 2010.

El sexto álbum de estudio de la banda, Blodsvept, fue lanzado el 25 de marzo de 2013. ^{[ 7 ]}

El 13 de mayo de 2014, el baterista Samu Ruotsalainen reveló que dejaría la banda en julio de ese año; la banda confirmó que la separación fue amistosa. ^{[ 8 ]} Fue reemplazado por Heikki "Mörkö" Saari .

En junio de 2014, la banda lanzó un álbum en vivo, Natten med de Levande Finntroll ("La noche de los Finntroll vivientes"). ^{[ 9 ]} Thomas Woroniak de RockRevolt Magazine afirmó: " Natten Med De Levande Finntroll es imprescindible para cualquier fanático de Finntroll. Los seguidores del grupo han estado esperando mucho tiempo una grabación en vivo... la música es única y vibrante en color y tonalidad, y la interpretación es excepcional". ^{[ 10 ]}

El 25 de junio de 2020, la banda anunció que su próximo álbum, titulado Vredesvävd , se lanzaría el 18 de septiembre. ^{[ 11 ]}

En enero de 2026, la banda anunció que el vocalista Vreth se tomaría un descanso por motivos de salud y que Mathias “Kistelach” Dahlsveen (Vanvidd) se encargaría de las voces en la gira de invierno de la banda por Finlandia y Europa. ^{[ 12 ]}

• Sitio web oficial
• Finntroll en AllMusic