Playlists

New Rock and Metal from Finland

Words by Music Finland

Published 4.1.2019

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 HIM, Nightwish and Children of Bodom, to cult favorites such as Beherit and Terveet Kädet, 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 Spotify or Apple Music and read more about the artists below! The playlist is updated regularly.

New Rock and Metal from Finland

Oranssi Pazuzu

With their two latest albums Valonielu and Värähtelijä, Oranssi Pazuzu's combination of quirky progressive psychedelia and Nordic black metal has been met with praise from both fans and critics alike, and earning them nominations for Nordic Music Prize and Teosto Music Prize.

Nightwish

Nightwish was originally formed in Kitee, Finland, in 1997 by keyboardist and songwriter Tuomas Holopainen. During their over two-decade existence, these metal giants have risen to become one of the biggest symphonic metal bands in the world. In April 2020 Nightwish will release their ninth studio album "Human. :II: Nature".

Apocalyptica

Since they formed in 1993, Finnish orchestral rock band Apocalyptica has released eight studio albums featuring numerous cello-based instrumentals along with some vocal-based songs. Whatever styles they’ve explored - from atmospheric interludes to fast, battering rhythms - their music has been gripping, dynamic and full of melody.

Blind Channel

Blind Channel combines electronic pop influences with hard rock and metal. They have 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 was be released in March 2020.

S-TOOL

Fans of Finnish heavy metal might see some familiar names in the lineup of S-TOOL: the band, whose debut album was released in 2017, features members from Sentenced, Poisonblack, Entwine and Lullacry. S-TOOL, however, differs from the aforementioned in their hard rock and thrash metal oriented style, with influences drawn from bands such as Entombed and Pantera.

Endless Forms Most Gruesome

Endless Forms Most Gruesome is a 'one-mand-band plus singer' duo formed by Swallow The Sun's Juuso Raatikainen and Ghost Brigade's Manne Ikonen. If the line-up concept is quite rare, their sound is more traditional: "chaotic fuzz, heavy grooves and guttural growls, heavily influenced by Triptykon and Ghost Brigade as well as groovy American bands like Korn and Deftones", as the band themselves say.

One Desire

One Desire is a hard rock group who draw influences from classic rock bands like Journey, Toto, and Def Leppard. Although the band is relatively new, the members have plenty of past experience from various bands and projects: guitarist and producer Jimmy Westerlund as a producer and songwriter (Negative, Joel Madden, Pitbull) vocalist Andre Linman as the leader in Sturm und Drang and Jonas Kuhlberg in Paul Di’Anno’s band and MyGrain.

Turmion Kätilöt

Turmion Kätilöt is an industrial metal band from Finland, formed in 2003 by MC Raaka Pee and Dj Vastapallo. They are known for their live show full of energy and dedication – as they do not hesitate to throw in scenes of self-mutilation or whatever comes into their minds.

Waltari

Waltari is a rock band playing crossover music that combines the punk rock attitude with some craziness from the progressive rock and new wave scene. In a musical adventure that began already in 1986 and has taken the band across Europe, Waltari has found a place in the hearts of crossover metal lovers everywhere.

Lost Society

Founded by frontman Samy Elbanna in 2010, while the band members were still teenagers, Lost Society are known for their fierce live energy. The band's first three albums “Fast Loud Death” (2013), “Terror Hungry” (2014) and "Braindead" (2016) represented quite traditional thrash metal style in the vein of Testament, Anthrax, Kreator and early Metallica – with the mosh parts and all. In 2020 Lost Society returned with their 5th album "No Absolution" and a more modern metal approach.

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.

Mokoma

Five-piece metal band Mokoma combine thrash metal and death metal with Finnish melancholy rock influences. In early 2000s the band rose to success with their album "Kurimus", which is considered to be the first thrash metal album sung in Finnish. Since then they’ve established a loyal fanbase, not just in Finland but also in Japan. 2020 saw the release of their 11th album "Ihmissokkelo".

Brother Firetribe

Brother Firetribe is an AOR-inspired hard rock band, formed in 2002 by Nightwish guitarist Emppu Vuorinen. They have released four albums on Spinefarm and Universal Records, and are releasing their fifth one in spring 2020 – this time without Emppu Vuorinen playing, who is now concentrating on Nightwish, but still remaining a member in Brother Firetribe.

Korpiklaani

Since they formed in 2003, Korpiklaani has become one of the most acclaimed groups in the genre of folk metal, with instruments like fiddles, accordions and hurdy-gurdy in the mix. After their 2018 album "Kulkija", the band has released nearly a dozen versions of their malty anthem "Beer Beer" in different languages, along other drinking songs such as "Jägermeister" and "Land of a Thousand Drinks".

Lordi

Finland’s number one monster rock band Lordi rose to global fame after the Eurovision victory in 2006, with their catchy hard rock hit ”Hard Rock Hallelujah”. Since then, the group have toured in Europe, US and Asia several times and released a steady string of albums. The band’s tenth full-length, an 'imaginary compilation album' named "Killection", will be released in early 2020.

Marko Hietala

Marko 'Marco' Hietala is a Finnish heavy metal vocalist, bassist and songwriter best known as the a member of the symphonic metal band Nightwish. He is also the vocalist, bassist and founding member in the heavy metal band Tarot, formed in 1985. In early 2020 he released the english-sung version his solo album "Pyre of the Black Heart", originally recorded as "Mustan sydämen rovio" in Finnish the year before.

Shiraz Lane

Melodic and 80s-leaning hard rock quintet Shiraz Lane's was founded in 2011. Their debut album "For Crying Out Loud" was released in 2016 by Italian label Frontiers Music Srl. Between 2016 and 2017 the group toured across Europe with likes of Lordi and Brother Firetribe, and 2018 saw the release of their sophomore album "Carnival Days". Now signed to Ranka Kustannus, Shiraz Lane came back with the single "Do You" in August 2019.

Block of Flats

Block Of Flats, a 4-piece rock band from Porvoo, Finland formed in 2013. Their sound is a mixture of modern indie punk rock and big catchy choruses.

Oceanhoarse

Oceanhoarse is a new heavy metal group formed by ex-members of Amoral, For the Imperium and Mygrain. The band has so far released a few singles and played shows together with Beast in Black.

Smackbound

Smackbound is a metal band from Helsinki. All of its members are professional musicians. The founder of the band, singer Netta Laurenne, has made a very versatile career as a singer from opera to musicals and cover gigs.

Cyan Kicks

Helsinki based alternative rock foursome Cyan Kicks sparked interest with their singles such as Gasoline, Satellite as well as their rocking cover of Clean Bandit’s Rockabye. Fronted by singer Susanna Aleksandra the band combines electronic sounds and pop hooks with a modern hard rock sound. Their debut album "I Don't Love You" was released in August 2019, with 13 songs about “chaos, lies, self-destruction, determination, fearlessness and the passion to follow your dreams”, as the band states.

Tarja

Tarja Turunen is one of the best-known Finnish 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. 2019 sees the release of Tarja's 7th solo album "In the Raw".

Vesperith

Experimental black metal artist Vesperith’s (neé Sariina Tani) music is spawned from “atmospheric drones, screeching distortion, and mesmerizing ambience, suddenly blowing up into euphoric, phoenix-like waves of bewitching guitars and hypnotic siren song”. Her debut album, produced by Jun-His (Oranssi Pazuzu, Waste of Space Orchestra) is released November 2019 and has already been compared to the likes of Wolves in the Throne Room, Darkspace, Swans and Björk.

Playlists

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.

New Rock and Metal from Finland

Oranssi Pazuzu

Nightwish

Apocalyptica

Blind Channel

S-TOOL

Endless Forms Most Gruesome

One Desire

Turmion Kätilöt

Waltari

Lost Society

Hexvessel

Mokoma

Brother Firetribe

Korpiklaani

Lordi

Marko Hietala

Shiraz Lane

Block of Flats

Oceanhoarse

Smackbound

Cyan Kicks

Tarja

Vesperith

100 Finnish songs you should hear

New Experimental Music from Finland

New World and Folk Music from Finland