Skyforger

Skyforger is a heavy metal band from Latvia which was formed in 1995 out of the remains of doom metal band Grindmaster Dead.

Most of their songs are about pagan gods and warfare; they also play traditional Latvian folk songs and metal covers. Although Skyforger is known for their folk metal, their style on their demo Semigalls' Warchant is essentially black metal. The band also has performed and recorded a number of folk songs, including the entirety of their fourth album Zobena Dziesma (Sword Song), released in 2003. Folk elements can be found on all of their albums. In December 2005, during the presentation of their latest album, Semigalls' Warchant (2005), the band announced their next album would be an experimentation with thrash metal. They later pointed out that Latvian history still has enough untold stories, meaning their lyrics will probably retain their folk/pagan fashion.

In 2010 Skyforger signed with American label Metal Blade Records and released a new studio album Kurbads.

Skyforger (album)

Skyforger is the ninth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis. Like the previous album, the lyrics to Skyforger are English translations of Finnish poems based on the Kalevala and written by Pekka Kainulainen. Unlike the two previous albums, it is based on different parts of several episodes, but all told from a single character's point of view. In this sense it is a return to Tales from the Thousand Lakes which told stories from different parts of the Kalevala. The last two albums focused on Kullervo and Lemminkäinen, respectively, and this one focuses on Ilmarinen.

Like Amorphis's previous two albums, Eclipse and Silent Waters, Skyforger is a concept album and was recorded at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki.

In addition to a regular edition, the album was also released in a limited digipak edition which included the bonus track "Godlike Machine". Initially, this digipak edition caused controversy because of sound level fluctuations during the tracks "My Sun" and "Skyforger", but Nuclear Blast has since remedied the problem by promising replacement CDs.

Amorphis

Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including heavy metal, progressive metal, and folk metal. They frequently use the Kalevala, the Epic Poem of Finland, as a source for their lyrics.

History

Formation and early years

In 1989, Jan Rechberger and Esa Holopainen played in a thrash metal band called Violent Solution, which Tomi Koivusaari had left the previous year to form the death metal band Abhorrence. Violent Solution slowly dissolved and Jan Rechberger and Esa Holopainen put together another death metal band. In early 1990, Tomi Koivusaari became the vocalist and Oppu Laine became their bassist.

During that time, Koivusaari also performed rhythm guitar, leading to the band dumping all original compositions and starting over again. Koivusaari's other band, Abhorrence, split up and he found himself with more time to put into Amorphis. A demo tape, Disment of Soul, was recorded in 1991 by Timo Tolkki at TTT studios.