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Moonsorrow is a heavy metal band formed in Helsinki, Finland, in 1995. The band call their sound "epic heathen metal" and try to distance themselves from the term "viking metal" as much as possible, as the vast majority of their lyrics do not concern Vikings, and they are Finnish, not Norse.
HistoryThe group's earliest formation consisted of cousins Ville Sorvali (vocals and bass) and Henri Sorvali (guitar and keyboards; also keyboards for Finntroll, Barathrum, and session member of Ensiferum) who released various demos that were much more characteristic of melodic black metal than future releases.
Their debut album, Suden Uni, recorded in early 2000, was released in 2001, along with Tämä Ikuinen Talvi ("This Everlasting Winter"), a re-release of a 1999 demo. Suden Uni ("A Wolf's Dream") combined Finnish paganism and folk elements.
In January 2006 the band played their first US show at the Heathen Crusade metalfest in Columbia Heights, MN. On March 7, 2006, Moonsorrow announced a 2-album contract with Spinefarm Records, and that their next album was slated for release in late 2006. On June 19 it was revealed that the upcoming album would feature guest vocals by Thomas Väänänen, the former vocalist of Thyrfing; Viides Luku - Hävitetty ("Chapter five - Ravaged") was released in January 2007. The album contained only two tracks and displayed more overts influence from progressive rock.
An EP called Tulimyrsky was released in 2008. The EP is over one hour long and contains one new song (the title track), two remakes of old songs, and two cover songs
. It was released worldwide by Spinefarm Records, and in May the German label Drakkar Entertainment released it in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
LyricsMoonsorrow's lyrics draw inspiration from Finnish mythology, legends and poetry; since Tämä Ikuinen Talvi they have been written exclusively in Finnish. For instance, the song "Sankaritarina" from Voimasta Ja Kunniasta features lyrics directly translated from Hávamál.
PoliticsIn April 2008, Moonsorrow and other performers on the folk metal festival Paganfest were accused of being Nazis, racists, and fascists from the German organizations Antifa and BIFF (Berliner Institut für Faschismusforschung). Ville Sorvali of Moonsorrow and Heri Joensen of Týr issued a joint video statement to refuse these accusations, noting that the bands are in no way connected to far-right groups and actually are against fascism. Guitarist Mitja Harvilahti told the German Feindesland webzine that the band has nothing to do with fascism, and Mitja personally "strongly despises racists and Nazis."
Members- Henri Sorvali – guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Ville Sorvali – bass guitar, vocals
- Mitja Harvilahti – guitar, backing vocals
- Markus Eurén – keyboards
- Marko Tarvonen – drums, backing vocals
Guests- Thomas Väänänen (Thyrfing) – guest vocals on Viides Luku - Hävitetty
- Hittavainen (Korpiklaani) – fiddle, jouhikko, recorder
- Janne Perttilä (Rytmihäiriö) – guitar (live), backing vocals
DiscographyStudio albums- Suden Uni (2001)
- Voimasta Ja Kunniasta (2001)
- Kivenkantaja (2003)
- Verisäkeet (2005)
- Viides Luku - Hävitetty (2007)
EPsDemos- Thorns of Ice (1996, unreleased)
- Promo (1997, unreleased)
- Metsä (1997)
- Tämä Ikuinen Talvi (1999)
Sideproject: LakupaaviLakupaavi (Liquorice Pope in Finnish) is a Grindcore sideproject of the band. The project started as a joke: when Moonsorrow were recording their 2005 album Verisäkeet, they said in an interview that the album would be named Raah Raah Blääh and it would be very different stylistically than their previous releases. Although this was just a joke, many people took it to heart. Later they stated that it had been a joke, but they then decided to actually record one of the songs, called "Kuolema Taidehomoille... Ja Muille" (engl. "Death To Art Faggots... And Others"). It didn't end there, however: the band ended up actually recording the whole Raah Raah Blääh album and released it on the internet under the new moniker Lakupaavi.
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