Playlists

New Rock and Metal from Finland

Words by Music Finland

Published 26.1.2022

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

The Rasmus

One of Finland's biggest music exports in the past decades, The Rasmus' (founded in 1994 in Helsinki) big triumph came with the international smash hit "In The Shadows" (2002) and subsequent albums "Dead Letters" (2003), "Hide from the Sun" (2005) and "Black Roses" (2007). The Rasmus has sold 5 million albums worldwide, and about 350,000 albums in Finland alone. They have won numerous awards, both domestic and international. The Rasmus has started the year 2022 with a single release "Jezebel" to compete in Finland's selection for Eurovision Song Contest 2022.

Stratovarius

Power metal giants Stratovarius, originally formed in 1985, are one of the most successful Finnish metal bands. Since their formation, Stratovarius has released 15 studio albums. During its existence, the band has gone through many lineup changes, and after founding guitarist Timo Tolkki's departure in 2008, there are no founding members remaining in the line-up. Currently, the longest standing members are singer Timo Kotipelto and keyboardist Jens Johansson, who have joined in 1994 and 1995, respectively. In September 2022, Stratovarius will release their first new album after 7 years.

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 being influenced by acts such as Biffy Clyro and Nothing But Thieves.

Pretty

Pretty is a garage punk band from Helsinki. The Pretty sound is raw and powerful with somber lyrics. They have been perfecting their first full-length for the last year. “Blackouts” is the second single release from it.

Parashyne

Parashyne is a project of vocalist and composer Tanja Härkönen. Parashyne’s music is melodic and catchy, with elements from rock, heavy metal and pop music. The first upcoming EP is made in co-operation with the guitarist Samuli Federley and bassist Strutter.

Wolfheart

Melodic death metal band Wolfheart returns with Tyhjyys, their third album. The frontman of the band, Tuomas Saukkonen, is also known from his former bands Black Sun Aeon, Before the Dawn and Dawn of Solace.

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".

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" being his latest full-length.

Sammal

Sammal is an ambassador of Finnish progressive rock hailing from Turku, Finland. The trio has got their fourth album out in October, 2022. Sammal has been compared to Uriah Keep and Black Sabbath, but they have decided to be just Sammal instead.

Oceanhoarse

Oceanhoarse is a heavy metal group formed by former members of Amoral, For the Imperium and Mygrain in 2018. The foursome released their debut ep "Voluntary Bends" in 2019 and played shows together with Beast in Black. Their debut album, a live offering named "The Damage is Done – Live!" saw the light of day in June 2020.

Shiraz Lane

Melodic and 80s-leaning hard rock quintet Shiraz Lane 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 will come out with a third album in 2022.

Sonata Arctica

Power metal band Sonata Arctica, formed in 1996 first with the name Tricky Beans melds sweeping, melodic compositions and meaty riffs with clean vocals. Their orchestral take on European heavy metal has gained a great audience both nationally and internationally. The band has dropped albums steadily since 1999, the latest "Acoustic Adventures volume one" in 2022 via Atomic Fire.

Luna Kills

Melodic but hard hitting alternative rock trio Luna Kills has a great number of gigs under their belt, varying from clubs to festival stages. They have also played small tours in Russia and Sweden and shared stages with bigger cats like Thundermother (SWE), Reckless Love (FIN), etc. Preceded by singles such as "Liar, liar", Luna Kills are coming out with their second album ”not to be bitter, but it helps” in summer 2021.

Balboa Son

Blending melodic alternative rock, metal guitars and electronic sounds, the one-man project Balboa Son (a.k.a. Aleksi Oksa) released his first ep "Ghost Fog" in 2021. The ep was followed by a new single "Made in Mayhem" in June 2022, with more new music coming later in the year.

Somehow Jo

Somehow Jo is a progressive-alternative metal foursome hailing from Tampere harvesting its own style and combining different genres. They debuted in 2015 with the album "Satans of Swing" and their sophomore full-length "Tusk" saw the light of day in 2019.

Andy McCoy

Finnish rock’n’roll icon Andy McCoy is best known as the guitarist and songwriter – along Michael Monroe – in seminal 1980’s glam rock band Hanoi Rocks. After Hanoi Rocks’ second round (2001–2009) he has mainly stayed away from the limelight, producing more visual art than sleazy rock’n’roll, but in 2018 McCoy came out with the surprise ep “Soul Satisfaction”, which will be followed with an album in 2019.

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.

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.

ENPHIN

Finnish meta-rocking freebirds Mr. Peter Hayden were known as PH on their albums Eternal Hayden (2017), and Osiris Hayden (2019), where they dug even deeper into synthetic sounds as well as industrial and shoegaze influenced textures. In 2022, the band introduced yet another new monicker: ENPHIN. Under the new name and with a debut record "End Cut" out in June 2022, the band promises "Fine-art museum-level workmanship for apocalyptic illegal factory raves and lysergic come-downs."

Edge of Haze

Progressive rockers Edge of Haze has been treading the line between heavy and serene since 2010. The band combines progressive metal music with cinematic atmospheres and strong melodies. Edge of Haze's debut album "Illumine" was released in 2014 and followed by "Deluge" in 2017. The foursome readies themselves for the release of their third album in late 2022.

Erja Lyytinen

Back in 2003, guitarist Erja Lyytinen was the first woman to graduate from the prestigious Sibelius Academy majoring in electric guitar. These days Lyytinen has a 7 album strong catalogue and she has toured around the world with the likes of Walter Trout and gained several international accolades – such as the European Blues Award – for her music. Lyytinen’s 2019 album “Another World” sees her breaking through the boundaries of the blues genre.

As I May

As I May is a four-piece modern melodic metal band from Mikkeli, Finland, formed in 2016. The band's music's soul lies within catchy melodies and big choruses as they combine modern elements, yet keeping the focus on the heavier side. The band debuted with the album "My Own Creations" in 2019, which was followed by "Karu" in 2022.

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 2019, which was followed by a string of singles that were collected to the ep "Not Your Kind" in 2021.

One Desire

One Desire is a hard rock group who draw influences from classic rock bands like Journey, Toto, and Def Leppard. The band's members have plenty of past experience from various bands and projects, such as Sturm und Drang, Paul Di’Anno’s band and MyGrain. One Desire's eponymous debut (2017) included the big single "Hurt", which now has more than 3,5 million streams on Spotify. Their sophomore album "Midnight Empire" was released in May 2020.

Memoremains

Memoremains fronted by singer Johanna Ahonen, throws in a combination of catchy pop hooks, hard metal riffs, groovy uptempo beats and symphonic elements. After releasing over a dozen singles and the ep "Louder" between 2017 and 2019, the quintet came out with their full-length debut "The Cost Of Greatness" in 2020. Despite having just a few years of service, Memoremains has already toured around Europe, as well as their home country.

Blame Me!

Blame Me! is a fresh, melodic female fronted alternative rock band blending anthemic choruses and huge walls of guitars and synths. Drawing influences equally from punk pop and melodic metal, Blame Me! first gained attention through Tuska Festival's band contest, after which the foursome started touring both locally and abroad in countries like Estonia and Russia. Blame Me!'s single releases through 2019 and 2020 have been playlisted on domestic radio stations and streaming services alike.

Michael Monroe

The ever-energetic Hanoi Rocks frontman and songwriter has made a long and successful solo career since his legendary sleaze rock band finally called it quits in 2009. Monroe’s last releases have been critical and commercial successes, with 2011's "Sensory Overdrive" winning Classic Rock magazine’s ‘Album Of The Year’ award. His four-piece band includes ex-Hanoi Sam Yaffa and former New York Doll Steve Conte.

Stenfors

The band formed by the former Hanoi Rocks guitarist Jan Stenfors (also known as Nasty Suicide) and his family plays rock and blues. Stenfors released their debut single “Then it’s gone”, a classic rock song with catchy hooks, in early 2022.

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.

DIRT

DIRT is five-piece metal band and has been signed to Ranka Kustannus since 2021. They got off to a flying start with their 2019 debut EP “Low Life”, which has since gathered well over million streams. After a handful of singles throughout the last years, the grungy rockers are planning to release their full-length debut in 2022.

Kiss Disease

Kiss Disease’s music blends together power pop, street rock and catchy choruses in a personal way. After the release of their self-titled EP in 2020, they started gaining attention in the Finnish underground circles resulting to a record deal with Svart Records. They’re about to release their debut album in summer 2022.

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