It’s not often that heavy metal is namechecked by the world's most powerful leaders, but in 2016 then-US President Barack Obama suggested that Finland's political system was linked to its music scene. “I do want to point out that Finland has perhaps the most heavy metal bands in the world per capita and also ranks high on good governance,” said Obama. I don’t know if there’s any correlation there.”
We don’t know about good governance, but Finland certainly does have a ridiculous amount of metal talent in residence. We give you the lowdown on ten of the bands that put the country on the map…
Amorphis
Though bands such as the UK’s Skyclad pre-date them, Amorphis helped kick off the international folk metal explosion in the early ‘90s when they began adding elements of traditional folk and prog to their death metal template. They have continued to utilise such elements in the intervening years while also drawing upon Finland’s national epic The Kalevala, a sizeable work of poetry and mythology.
Beherit
Though Norway is obviously the more famous country as far as black metal goes, Finland deserve serious kudos for giving birth to Beherit in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s. Explicitly Satanic and utterly primal, their ritualistic assault earned a legion of followers and influenced many later groups. The band still remain popular despite their sporadic and unpredictable activities.
Children Of Bodom
Melodic death metal meets virtuoso guitars: Children Of Bodom took the spirit of eighties heavy metal and thrash, and married it to a contemporary death metal framework, helping to make solos cool again in the process. Balancing shredding skills with a taste for hell raising, Bodom became one of Finland’s most popular bands before mainman Alexei Laiho disbanded them in 2019 and started a new band, Bodom After Midnight.
Nightwish
Another Finnish trendsetter, Nightwish’s seemingly-unlikely combination of symphonic heavy metal and operatic vocals effectively launched an entire sub-genre of epic, female-fronted bands. Ridiculously popular, the band have shifted millions of units to become the nation’s third biggest musical act (regardless of genre), maintaining their status despite changing their vocalist on more than one occasion.
Apocalyptica
A fine example of Finnish eccentricity and musical dedication, Apocalyptica began life as another seemingly insensible combination of musical elements – in this case, Metallica and cellos – but gradually moved away from cover songs to instead create a unique combination of metal and classical inspirations. They have earned themselves a dedicated following internationally while also becoming respected enough at home to be commissioned to create a work for the national opera company.
Impaled Nazarene
Epitomising the stubbornness, heavy drinking, morbid humour and batshit craziness that one often finds in Finnish extreme metal, Impaled Nazarene began life as a somewhat primitive black metal band but quickly went off into a new universe entirely, with a punky, nihilistic, stripped-down and sometimes almost avant-garde assault on the senses.
Turisas
Taking the folk and symphonic metal strains popular within the country and combining them to winning effect, Turisas were one of the most impressive acts within the folk metal explosion that came out of Finland last decade. Their use of violin and accordion, historically-informed Viking storytelling, humour and love of seventies disco has made them a unique and much-loved proposition.
Ensiferum
Another group who became popular during Finland’s folk metal boom, Ensiferum won over fans across the world with their melodic and epic compositions. Somewhat less ‘bouncy’ than many of their contemporaries, their heroic and somewhat earnest approach has put them in good stead with fans of a more traditional heavy metal as the years have passed and they remain an impressive live act.
HIM
Dubbing themselves ‘love metal’, HIM took the more accessible side of Paradise Lost’s gothic metal, added an eighties pop/rock flavour and ran with it, winning many hearts in the process. Frontman Ville Valo quickly became the nation’s most recognisable rock star, even breaking into America, thanks in part to the championing of Bam Margera.
Lordi
An essential inclusion (if only to highlight how intrinsic heavy metal is within popular culture in Finland) Lordi are of course the monster Kiss-inspired, costume-wearing winners of 2006’s Eurovision Song Contest. Their victory made them national heroes, the band appearing in a horror film, Dark Floors, opening a restaurant and even launching their own brand of cola!
