Playlists

New Rock and Metal from Finland

Words by Music Finland

Published 3.2.2023

The first groundbreaking Finnish rock bands paved the way for future success already back in the 1970’s, with bands like Hanoi Rocks and Wigwam inspiring numerous Finnish artists with their success.

Ever since the late 1990’s Finnish rock and heavy metal bands have been household names all over the world. From stadium sized acts like The Rasmus, Nightwish and Amorphis, to cult favorites such as Beherit and Terveet Kädet, to fresh newcomers like Blind Channel and Cyan Kicks, the list could go on endlessly. Mind you, even Barack Obama knows that Finland has the most heavy metal bands in the world per capita!

On the New rock and Metal from Finland playlist we take a look at the most exciting new releases Finland has to offer. Listen to the playlist on Apple Music or Spotify and read more about the artists below! The playlist is updated regularly.

New Rock and Metal from Finland on Apple Music

New Rock and Metal from Finland on Spotify

Warmen

Metal band Warmen was formed by keyboardist Janne "Warman" Wirman, who has played with Children of Bodom from 1997 until their disbandment in 2019. Warmen started in 2000 as an instrumental-focused project, utilizing talents of various featured vocalists. In spring 2023, the band announced that Petri Lindroos of Ensiferum will be the band's new, permanent vocalist for their 6th album "Here for None", to be released in August 2023.

Hexvessel

Since their acclaimed debut “Dawnbearer” (2011), Hexvessel have released three albums of forest folk and bewitching psychedelia. They have played sold out headline tours in their homeland, been nominated for 2 Finnish Grammy awards, toured Europe together with bands like Sabbath Assembly and Alcest, graced the main stage at Roadburn in Holland and performed at SXSW in Texan and had their music on the charts and on many critics lists.

KYPCK

KYPCK ("Курск" or "Kursk" in the Western Alphabet) is a metal band, formed in 2007 and singing in Russian. The band's members include former Sentenced guitarists Sami Lopakka and Sami Kukkohovi. Their distinctive live performances have included Soviet Era video projections and peculiar instruments like the one-stringed bass Kypcklop, and a guitar built around a genuine Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle. KYPCK released their 5th and final album, the anti-Kreml manifestation "Prestuplenija protiv tšelovetšestva" ("Crimes against humanity") in the summer of 2023.

Mount Mary

Taking their clues from bluesy hard rockers such as Bad Company, Deep Purple, Mountain and Janis Joplin, Mount Mary is one for the true classic rock enthusiasts! The band was formed in 2019 by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Maria Hänninen, a busy session musician who has worked with the likes of Corky Laing, guitarist Petri Majuri (ex-Havana Black) and bassist Jukka Jylli (ex-Kingston Wall), with drummer Otto Haapanen complementing the line-up. Mount Mary's eponymous debut album saw the light of day in 2021, and was followed with "Diamonds of a Fool" in 2023.

Shade Empire

Shade Empire, which combines symphonic tones and various forms of extreme metal in its music, will release their sixth studio album "Sunholy" via British Candlelight Records in Autumn 2023. Founded in 1999 in Kuopio, the band's music combines different types of metal, rich melodies, symphonic orchestrations, brutal guitar elements and huge walls of synths.

Rytmihäiriö

Since 1988, Rytmihäiriö has been churning their decadent mixture of hardcore, thrash metal, with lyrics focusing on misuse of alcohol, homicides and the combination of the aforementioned topics. After a hiatus between 1992 and 1998, Rytmihäiriö came back and has been pretty much active since, despite various line-up changes. In 2023 Rytmihäiriö prepares to release their 8th album, christened with the name of their chosen musical genre: "Surmacore" (which roughly translates to "deathcore").

Rock Band from Hell

Rock Band From Hell is a new punk, rock, trap, pop…(you name it) – flavored band from Oulu. Even though the group is new for the most, these guys have played together since their childhood. Even the band’s name was originally invented when the band members were mere seven-year old ”punks”. In 2022 Rock Band from Hell signed a recording contract with Central Line Entertainment and began recording their debut album – and have so far released four pre-album singles.

Tarja

Tarja Turunen is one of the best-known voices in the international symphonic rock scene. Soprano, composer and songwriter, she reached international fame co-founding and being for nine years the voice and image of the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. After her Nightwish years Tarja has so far released a total of seven solo albums, along with live recordings and holiday albums.

The 69 Eyes

Going on in their fifth decade already, these "Helsinki vampires" (est. 1989) aren't showing any signs of slowing down. The goth'n'roll veterans' 12th album "West End" saw the light of day (or rather, dark of night) in 2019, with "11 up-tempo rock anthems full of heaviness, black memento mori moments and dark humour". The follow-up, 2023's "Death of Darkness" is a somewhat mellower affair, with even some country influences on the Kat Von D featured "This Murder Takes Two", to supplement The 69 Eyes' classic, melodic 80s-tinged goth rock sound.

The Vantages

The Vantages is a six-piece from Helsinki, led by vocalist Tim Mikkola along with Henri Schröter (dr), Aleksi Larkovuo (bass), Mikko Janatuinen (guitar) and Anton Froloff (gtr/keys). Formed in 2020, the group is now working towards their debut album. Inspired by Tim’s infatuation with guitar bands of the 60’s and british indie rock, their shared love of 70’s rock acts and early 00’s goth nostalgia, their sound and lyrics combine contrasting elements of crude and delicate in what are best described as decadent love songs.

Valkeat

Modernizing the sounds and playing styles of traditional Finnish instrument kantele and melting together traditional Finnish folk music and modern melodic metal, Valkeat has created a sound of their own. After releasing their first demo in 2015, the band was soon noticed by Finnish metal fans – as well kantele manufacturer Koistinen Kantele, who were quick to sponsor the band. Valkeat's eponymous debut was released to a warm welcome in 2017, and in 2023 the band is ready for a follow up.

I Revolt

I Revolt, founded in 2017, describes their music as "honest, riff driven, kickass metal with attitude" and "guitar hammering, solos, screams and growls", while adding that they use "no backing tracks, no bulls*it". With these admittedly old school elements, the fivesome has gathered a good amount of listeners – especially for their track "The Deep End", which has been played on Spotify almost a million times. After two ep's (Self-titled, 2017 and "Blocked", 2019) and a 3-year recording pause, I Revolt retuns with new music in 2023.

Bloodred Hourglass

Modern metal quintet Bloodred Hourglass (BRHG) was formed in 2005 in Mikkeli. The band is currently signed to Out of Line Music and has released five full-length studio albums. They're often considered a melodic death metal group, but their fifth studio album "Your Highness" (2021) showed the fivesome moving towards a more modernised approach in their sound, bringing in elements from metalcore and alternative metal as well as the introduction of clean vocals for the first time in their history.

Before the Dawn

Before The Dawn is a pioneering Finnish melodic death / gothic metal band. The group first saw the light of day in 1999 as a solo project of Tuomas Saukkonen. In January 2013 Tuomas Saukkonen announced that he was putting Before the Dawn to rest, and in 2021, the band was reformed. Their new album is due 2023, released by Stay Heavy Records.

Blind Channel

Blind Channel spices their melodic hard rock and nu-metal with electronic pop influences. The sextet originally formed in Oulu in 2014, has played hundreds of shows and toured in Europe with bands like Simple Plan, Amaranthe and Enter Shikari and the Spotify plays on their biggest songs count in millions. Blind Channel’s third album "Violent Pop" (named after the genre tag by which the band likes to label their music) was released in March 2020. Since their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021, the band 's audience has grown massively.

Temple Balls

Hailing from Oulu, northern Finland, Temple Balls is an energetic hard rock band. They have opened shows for acts like Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Queen and toured with Battle Beast, playing shows in Europe as well as in Japan. During their existence, Temple Balls has released three full-length albums, "Traded Dreams" (2017), "Untamed" (2019) and "Pyromide" (2020).

Red Eleven

Red Eleven are an alternative rock/metal band founded in 2009. So far the group has released four albums and one EP and gained over 1,200,000 streams on Spotify. The band has toured extensively since 2011 and have been an opening act for bands like Papa Roach and Katatonia. Red Eleven's music is melodic and approachable, drawing influences from 90's alternative rock, progressive metal and modern hard rock.

Outlanders

Outlanders is a new project between soprano Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish) and EDM pioneer Torsten Zenzelin. The project combines electronic music and Tarja’s soft, classical vocals with electric and acoustic guitars. Their single releases have featured Trevor Rabin and Al Di Meola.

Palehørse

Palehørse (f.k.a. Amendfoil) combines technical skills, in-your-face attitude, rough energy and catchy vocal harmonies in their music. After relasing two independent albums as Amendfoil, the grungy and progressive metal trio join Norwegian label Indie Recording, which is already home to bands like Kvelertak and Satyricon. Palehørse's self titled debut was released on Indie Recordings in 2019. The album's follow will see the light of day in 2023, and was preceded by the single releases "Unravel" and "Magnetism".

Anal Thunder

Melodic punk rockers (skatepunkers, some might even say!) Anal Thunder (founded in 1997) have managed to make quite a career for themselves, mainly focusing on song about getting drunk – their hits include bangers such as ”My God Drinks Magyar”, "War on Alcohol", ”Drink Myself to Death” and ”Kids on Alcohol”. The band even encourages their fans to send them drunken stories for lyrical inspiration! After a bit of a hiatus, Anal Thunder came back with a new single "My World" in 2023.

Black Magic Six

The duo Black Magic Six played their first gig in Chemnitz, Germany in 2007. Ever since they’ve performed in over 28 countries and released four full-length albums. Black Magic Six's music involves frantic rhythms and aggressive guitars and can be described as punk rock with blues aesthetics.

Wake Up Frankie

Wake Up Frankie appeared in the Finnish metal scene with their 90s-leaning groove metal with occasional nods to nu-metal in 2019. The neon-green addicted fivesome released one independent ep and half-a-dozen singles between 2019 and 2021, when they signed to Ranka Kustannus. Inevitably all this will lead to an album release – hopefully sooner than later!

Omnium Gatherum

Six-piece band Omnium Gatherum are known for their innovative combination of melodic death and progressive metal. Since their formation in 1996 in the town of Kotka, Omnium Gatherum has released eight albums – their latest, "Origin", was released by Century Media in 2021. During their long career, the band has toured widely in Europe, North America and the Far East with, among others, Dark Tranquility, Rotting Christ, Swallow The Sun, Insomnium and Sonata Arctica. After various line-up changes dow the line, guitarist Markus Vanhala is now the sole original member of the band.

Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz is a hard rock band formed in 2007, whose music has been heard in ads for Mercedes-Benz and ESPN. The band has played over hundreds of shows from Japan to North America, where they have toured with Sebastian Bach. After the split of the band's original members in 2018, frontman Archie Cruz became the primus motor of Santa Cruz, with 2019's "Katharsis" and 2022's "The Return of the Kings" being his latest full-length affairs.

Kalmah

Torchbearers in the swamp metal subgenre, Kalmah was founded in 1998. In less than year after its formation, the band was signed to Spinefarm Records. Their eighth album "Palo" was released in spring 2018, after which Kalmah took a few years of hiatus but are back on the metal circuit again! Their brand of melodic death metal, with influences from power metal, thrash and black metal, has found fans all over the world and their new self-titled album filled with killer riffs and melodic hooks, akin to Amorphis or Children of Bodom, should broaden the audience.

Balanche Breach

Mikkeli based quintet Balance Breach combines the elements of metalcore, post-hardcore and modern rock – along with the Nordic melancholy inherited in their DNA. Since 2019 the band has been signed to a German label Out of Line Music. On their 2nd album "ABYZMAL" , released in May 2023, Balance Breach addresses themes such as mental health problems, loneliness and death as well as violence between family members and intimate partners.

Egokills

Self-proclaimed “hippie metal superstars”, Egokills strives to play music that is is heavy but also beautiful, groovy and catchy, with soulful lyrics and big choruses. The fivesome was formed in Tampere, Finland around 2012, with years of experience in different fields of heavy music. Their debut album "Creation" was released in 2016, and followed by 2018's "Mellowhead".

Ember Falls

Ember Falls’ music is a mixture of aggressive electronics, pop and modern metal. Their debut album Welcome to Ember Falls was released in 2017. So far, Ember Falls have supported tours to bands like W.A.S.P. and Amaranthe and toured across Europe and even in Japan. The band is signed to Ranka Kustannus.

Playlists