Norther

Norther
Norther performing live at Wacken Open Air
Background information
Origin	Espoo, Finland
Genres	Melodic death metal, Metal(Aleski's Style)
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Century Media, Marquee Avalon, Spinefarm
Associated acts	Children of Bodom, Amberian Dawn, Ensiferum, Wintersun, Naildown, Cain's Offering
Website	www.norther.net
Members
Kristian Ranta Aleksi Sihvonen Heikki Saari Jukka Koskinen Tuomas Planman Daniel Freyberg
Past members
Petri Lindroos Toni Hallio Tuomas "Stubu" Roni Korpas Sebastian Knight Joakim Ekroos

Norther is a Finnish Melodic Death Metal band from Helsinki, Finland.

History

Norther was originally formed by Kristian Ranta, Jukka Koskinen, Tuomas Planman, Petri Lindroos and Toni Hallio in the year 1996 after various of early stage band formations. The band kicked into gear with its debut release "Dreams of Endless War" through Spinefarm Records in 2002. The first album entered the Finnish charts at position 17, and the response was excellent. The band began playing shows in and around the Helsinki area, and the buzz grew like wildfire. Being prolific songwriters, they almost had an album's worth of material ready before the debut record was released in every corner of the world. Soon the guys barricaded themselves inside the famous Astia Studio with producer extraordinaire, Anssi Kippo. The album 'Mirror of Madness' came out in early 2003 entering the Finnish charts at position 11. It was a step forward for the band, a logical continuation of the onslaught begun with "Dreams of Endless War". A step towards a more old-school sound combined with their intense approach to modern death/black metal. After touring with Dimmu Borgir and Hypocrisy in late 2003 the band went back to the studio to record the successor of "Mirror of Madness". In early 2004, Norther released its third full length album "Death Unlimited". It received very good feedback from the media all around the world. It also hit the Finnish charts for weeks like the previous albums at position 17. "Death Unlimited" was probably the heaviest Norther sound so far. The style had also changed into more death metal and atmospheric feelings.

Norther played several shows in 2005 and then recorded an EP, "Solution7" to release some unheard material. This piece was recorded at Astia Studio with close friend and Producer Anssi Kippo and was also featured in the official Finnish charts at position 5. This time Norther wanted to bring in something new, adding Kristian's clean vocals for extra spice.

In the summer of 2005, Norther headed to Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden (In Flames, Soilwork, Hammerfall, Arch Enemy, Opeth etc.) to record their fourth full length album named "Till Death Unites Us" with producers Fredrik Nordström & Patrick J. Sten. Soon after the recordings of the album Toni Hallio left the band to pursue other interests. It didn’t take long until Heikki Saari was found to take over on drums. After the release in January 2006, "Till Death Unites Us" got an excellent response in Finland hitting the official Finnish charts position 6 and was also praised abroad. It showed rage but also delivered the softest songs in the band's history. Later the same year the band composed the theme song (Frozen Angel) for a major Finnish feature film, "V2 – Dead Angel" produced by Solarfilms Inc. The band is also featured in the film. In February 2007 Norther released a new EP, 'No Way Back', which only came out in Finland and later in Japan. The record immediately hit position number 1 in the Finnish charts.

Later that year the band had great club gigs and festival appearances across Europe (Wacken, Masters of Rock, etc.) while writing new material for their forthcoming album. Early August the guys entered the Astia Studios to record the new album with Anssi Kippo. After a two month session the band played sold out shows in Finland, re-visited Studio Fredman to mix the album and then hit the road again with Amoral & Drone for a European tour.

Petri Lindroos left the band as lead vocalist on February 1, 2009 and was replaced by Aleksi Sihvonen on April 14, 2009. On October 5, 2010 Norther entered Astia Studios to begin work on their 6th studio album. The album is entitled Circle Regenerated and was released April 19, 2011.

Band members

Current members Aleksi Sihvonen – clean vocals & harsh vocals (2009–present) Kristian "Kride" Ranta – guitars, clean vocals (2000–present) Daniel Freyberg – guitars, backing vocals (2009–present) Jukka "Jukkis" Koskinen – bass (2000–present) Tuomas Planman – keyboards, synthesizers, electronics (2000–present) Heikki Saari – drums (2005–present)

Former members Petri Lindroos – harsh vocals, guitar (1996–2009) Toni Hallio – drums (1996–2005) Tuomas (Stubu) – bass guitar (1996–1997) Roni Korpas – guitar (1996–1999) Sebastian Knight – keyboards (2000) Joakim Ekroos – bass guitar (2000)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

• Dreams of Endless War (2002)
• Mirror of Madness (2003)
• Death Unlimited (2004)
• Till Death Unites Us (2006)
• N (2008)
• Circle Regenerated (2011)

Demos and EPs

• Warlord (2000)
• Solution 7 (2005)
• No Way Back (2007)

Singles

• "Released" (2001)
• "Unleash Hell" (2003)
• "Spreading Death" (2004)
• "Spreading Death" (DVD) (2004)
• "Scream" (2006)
• "Break Myself Away" (Online Single) (2010)

Videography

Video	Album	Length
"Released"	Dreams of Endless War	4:12
"Mirror of Madness"	Mirror of Madness	4:32
"Death Unlimited"	Death Unlimited	4:55
"Frozen Angel"	No Way Back / N	4:07
"We Rock"	N	3:57

Covers

• "Youth Gone Wild" (Skid Row) − found on Dreams of Endless War, Released (CD single) and Warlord (Demo)
• "Final Countdown" (Europe) − found on Dreams of Endless War
• "Smash" (The Offspring) − found on Mirror of Madness and Unleash Hell (CD single)
• "Tornado of Souls" (Megadeth) − found on Death Unlimited and Spreading Death (CD single)
• "Sabotage" (Beastie Boys) − found on N (Japanese version)
• "Bimbo" (Lambretta) − found on Circle Regenerated (Limited Edition)

References

External links

• Norther's official website
• Norther discography at MusicBrainz
• An interview with Jukka and Petri @ ME Metalhour
• Norther at Encyclopaedia Metallum