Viikate

Viikate
Viikate at Kuopio Rockcock music festival 2008
Background information
Origin	Kouvola, Finland
Genres	metal rock rautalanka folk
Years active	1996 – present
Labels	Ranka Recordings
Website	www.viikate.com
Members
Kaarle Viikate Simeoni Viikate Arvo Viikate Ervo Viikate

Kaarle and Ervo, 2005

Viikate (in English, Scythe) is a Finnish metal band from Kouvola, formed in 1996. The band is known for its melancholic lyrics, drawing inspiration from Finnish romance movies of the 1950s and Finnish singers of the era, including Reino Helismaa. Their style has been variously described as "Helismaa-metal," "wire metal," and "death schlagers." The band began with Kaarle and Simeoni Viikate who remained the only members of the band until 2001, when Arvo and Ervo joined. The band's most well-known hits are Pohjoista viljaa (Northern Crops), Ei enkeleitä (No Angels) and Viina, Terva & Hauta (Booze, Tar & The Grave).

Kaarle and Simeoni got the idea of starting the band when watching Lyijykomppania's last concert.

Members

• Kaarle Viikate (Kalle Virtanen) — vocals, guitar
• Simeoni Viikate (Simo Kairistola) — drums
• Arvo Viikate (Ari Taiminen) — guitar, vocals
• Ervo Viikate (Erkka Koskinen) — bass, vocals

Discography

Albums

• Noutajan valssi (transl. 'The Reaper's Waltz') (2000)
• Vuoden synkin juhla (transl. 'The Grimmest Jubilee of the Year')(2001)
• Kaajärven rannat (transl. 'Shores of Lake Kaajärvi') (2002)
• Surut pois ja kukka rintaan (transl. 'Sorrows begone and Put a Flower on Your Chest')(2003)
• Unholan urut (transl. 'The Organs of Oblivion') (2005)
• Marraskuun lauluja I (transl. 'Songs of November I')(2007)
• Marraskuun lauluja II (transl. 'Songs of November II') (2007)
• Kuu kaakon yllä (transl. 'The Moon Above Southeast') (2009)

Collections

• Kuutamourakat (transl. 'Moonlight Gigs') (2004) (Contains all the EPs made with Longplay Music from 1998–1999 and the singles Odotus, Piinaava hiljaisuus and Iltatähden rusko.)
• Parrun pätkiä (2006) (transl. 'Pieces of Baulk') (Contains all the EPs made with Spinefarm Records from 2000-2004.)
• Marraskuun singlet (transl. 'Singles of November') (2008)
• Kuutamo, kaiho & katkeruus (transl. 'Moonlight, Longing and Bitterness') (2011)

EPs

• Vaiennut soitto (transl. 'Silenced Playing') (1998)
• Roudasta Rospuuttoon (transl. 'From Frost to Rasputitsa') (1999)
• Alakulotettuja tunnelmia (transl. 'Depressified Feelings') (2000)
• Valkea ja kuulas (transl. 'White and Translucent') (2001)
• Kevyesti keskellä päivää (transl. 'Lightly Amidst the Day') (2002)
• Iltatähden rusko (transl. 'Afterglow of the Evening Star') (2003)
• Kuolleen miehen kupletti (transl. 'Dead Man's Couplet') (2004)
• Kesävainaja (transl. 'Summercorpse') (2009)
• Linna Espanjassa (transl. 'Castle in Spain') (2010)

Singles

• Odotus (transl. 'The Wait') (2001)
• Piinaava hiljaisuus (transl. 'The Agonizing Silence') (1997, 2002) (record / remastered)
• Ei ole ketään kelle soittaa (transl. 'There's No One to Call') (2002)
• Nuori mies nimetön (transl. 'A Nameless Young Man') (2002)
• Kaunis kotkan käsi (transl. 'The Beautiful Hand of the Eagle') (2003)
• Leimu (transl. 'Flame') (2003)
• Pohjoista viljaa (transl. 'Northern Crops') (2005)
• Tie (transl. 'The Road') (2005)
• Vesi jota pelkäät (transl. 'The Water You're Afraid Of') (2005)
• Ah, ahtaita aikoja (transl. 'Ah, Tight Times')(2006)
• Ei enkeleitä (transl. 'No Angels') (2007)
• Me olemme myöhäiset (transl. 'We Are the Late') (2007)
• Orret (transl. 'The Roosts') (2007)
• Viina, terva ja hauta (transl. 'Booze, Tar and the Grave') (2009)
• Kuu kaakon yllä (transl. 'The Moon Above South-East') (2009)
• Hautajaissydän (transl. 'The Funeral Heart') featuring Topi Sorsakoski (2010)

Music videos

• "Hanget" (1999)
• "Kylymä" (1999)
• "Alakulotettuja tunnelmia" (2000)
• "Korutonta" (2000)
• "Viattomien lasten päivä" (2001)
• "Nuori mies nimetön" (2002)
• "Leimu" (2003)
• "Tie" (2004)
• "Ah ahtaita aikoja" (2006)
• "Me olemme myöhäiset" (2007)
• "Viina, terva & hauta" (2009)
• "Eräs kaunis päivä" (2010)

DVDs

• Leimu DVD-single (2003)
• V-DVD 1: Viikate-videogaala (2008)
• V-DVD 2: Viikate-iltamat (2010)

In addition to CDs, Viikate has also released some of their albums on vinyl records and cassettes. There has always been one extra track on the records and cassettes that is not on the CDs, except on the Christmas album Vuoden synkin juhla.

External links

• Official Viikate site (Finnish)
• Fun site Viikate (Russian)
• Discography
• Viikate Lyrics with translations at lyricstranslate.com