Finnish Heavy Metal

Subgenres of Heavy Metal

Black metal (Norway) Classic metal (England) Death metal (United States) Glam metal (United States/England) Power metal (Germany, England) Folk metal (Finland/Sweden) Thrash metal (United States/Germany) Symphonic metal (Finland) Etc. etc. etc.

Heavy metal in Finland

Most known Finnish metal acts: Korpiklaani (folk) Children of Bodom (death metal, kind of) Impaled Nazarene (black metal) Nightwish (symphonic metal Moonsorrow (symphonic folk metal) Sonata Arctica (symphonic power metal) Ensiferum (folk metal)

Heavy metal in Finland cont’d

Finland is renowned for its folk metal and symphonic metal, these are its signature genres.

Part of the reason for this can be explained by the Kalevala and Jean Sibelius.

Korpiklaani songs are in Kalevala meter, and in general many Finnish acts look to the Kalevala for inspiration.

Furthermore, Finland’s long tradition of classical music (like Sibelius) gave rise to its more evil cousin, symphonic metal.

Popularity

Heavy metal is hugely popular in Europe/Scandinavia.

Finland has ~2700 metal bands (according to metal archives) for a country of ~5 million.

Germany has like ~7000 for a country of ~80 million and it has a renowned heavy metal scene.

Why is it so popular in Finland?

Korpiklaani

Characteristics

Lyrics mainly about booze. Beer Beer, Happy Little Boozer, Bring us Pints of Beer, Vodka, Juodaan Viinaa (Drink Booze), etc. etc.

Fast songs, based around a polka format (accordian, fiddle) with metal guitars/drums and rock style vocals.

Used to be called Shaman and sing in Sami, now sing in mostly English/Finnish with a few Sami joik (Sami chanting) tunes thrown in.

Moonsorrow

Characteristics

Very long songs (often 8 minutes+ and sometimes as long as 30 minutes).

Atmospheric sounds and chanting around a sometimes folkey black metal core.

Often sing about Finnish history and nature.

Lyrics in Finnish

Ensiferum

Characteristics

Fairly conventional song structures, usually with a galloping drum beat.

Occasionally throw in acoustic guitars and Kantele (Finnish string instrument) playing to add flair and folkey feeling.

Lyrics are often about heroic deeds, especially as found in the Kalevala and Finnish history.