Eternal Tears of Sorrow (commonly abbreviated to EToS) was a Finnish
melodic death metal
Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...
band formed in
Pudasjärvi
Pudasjärvi () is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region, northeast of the city of Oulu and southwest of the town of Kuusamo. The town has a population of () ...
.
Biography
The band was formed in 1994 by Jarmo Puolakanaho, Altti Veteläinen and Olli-Pekka Törrö, after various projects that featured people who became members of Eternal Tears of Sorrow. Andromeda, a first death/doom/thrash metal project, had been put on hold in late 1992 because the rehearsal place had burned down. They could not find a new rehearsal place in their hometown, so the three members started a new side-project (M.D.C.) and recorded a
demo tape
A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...
, ''Beyond the Fantasy'', in autumn 1993.
In spring 1994, they recorded a new demo, ''The Seven Goddesses of Frost''. Then the band decided to change their name to something they felt more appropriate opting for Eternal Tears of Sorrow.
Between 1994 and 1996 the band had a couple of songs on some
compilation CDs in Europe and Canada, and recorded their debut, ''
Sinner's Serenade''. It took more than a year for the debut album to get released by X-Treme Records,
a small underground label from
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
in Sweden. After they recorded their second album, ''
Vilda Mánnu
''Vilda Mánnu'' is the second album by Finnish metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It contains the band's first guest vocals (by Heli Luokkala, known from Nicepappi). It is also the last EToS album with their original line-up as one of the co-fo ...
'',
Spinefarm Records
Spinefarm Records is an international record label. Founded in Finland in 1990, Spinefarm was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2002.
History
Spinefarm Records began as a mailorder distribution company, founded by Riku Pääkkönen. The c ...
approached the band and soon they signed a deal with the label.
Their third album, ''
Chaotic Beauty'' (on which the band had three new members since Olli-Pekka Törrö had left the band),
led to a European tour with
Nightwish
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neval ...
and
Sinergy
Sinergy was a Finnish/Swedish power metal band started in 1997 by American musician Kimberly Goss. The idea for a "balls-out female-fronted metal band" was first formed when Kimberly Goss of Dimmu Borgir met Jesper Strömblad of In Flames whil ...
. Their fourth album, ''
A Virgin and a Whore'', went to the Finnish Album Top 40 charts. After releasing four albums, the band announced they were taking a break just after the release of ''A Virgin and a Whore''; however, they broke up in January 2003.
In February 2005, the band announced they were going to make a comeback. Their fifth album, ''
Before the Bleeding Sun
''Before the Bleeding Sun'' is the fifth studio album released by the Finnish melodic death metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. The album counts guest performances from Marco Hietala (Tarot and Nightwish), Jarmo Kylmänen (who joined the band ...
'', was released in April 2006 (excluding releases in Russia and Japan that were released later). This album also went to the Finnish Album Top 40 charts, to No. 26. The band added two session members since Petri Sankala and Janne Tolsa were unavailable at that time.
In late 2008, the band announced that Jarmo Kylmänen (who had been part of the band's song-writing team since 2005) had joined the band as an official member. Soon after that, their long-time drummer Petri Sankala left because of back pain. In early April 2009, it was reported that Risto Ruuth had left the band. They found a replacement, Mika Lammassaari, and started rehearsing for the postponed live shows originally planned for May.
The band's sixth album, ''
Children of the Dark Waters'',
came out in May 2009 through
Suomen Musiikki in Finland,
Massacre Records
Massacre Records is an independent record label based in Abstatt, Germany, specializing in bands from the heavier genres of metal.
The label was founded in 1991 by Torsten Hartmann. Associated with Massacre Records are the marketing and music ...
in the rest of Europe, and Marquee/Avalon in Asia. A new single, "Tears of Autumn Rain," was released in Finland and Japan as well as on the band's MySpace page. The other track on the single was a re-recorded version of "Vilda Mánnu" from their second album. ''Children of the Dark Waters'' charted at No. 19 at the Finnish Album Top 40 charts.
The seventh album, ''Saivon Lapsi'', was released in February 2013.
On 2 February 2025, the band had announced on their social media that they had disbanded.
Band members
Final lineup
* Altti Veteläinen – vocals, bass (1994–2025)
* Jarmo Puolakanaho – guitars (1994–2025)
* Risto Ruuth – guitars (2005–2009, 2018–2025)
*
Janne Tolsa – keyboards (2005–2025)
* Jarmo Kylmänen – clean vocals (2008–2025)
* Juho Raappana – drums (2008–2025)
Former members
* Olli-Pekka Törrö – guitars (1994–1999)
* Antti-Matti Talala – guitars (1999–2000)
* Pasi Hiltula – keyboards (1999–2003; session 2009–2010)
* Antti Kokko – guitars (2000–2003), bass (session 1997–1998)
* Petri Sankala – drums (1999–2008), session (1997–1998)
* Mika Lammassaari – guitars (2009–2018)
Session musicians
* Pekka Kokko – bass guitar (1999)
* Heidi Määttä – keyboards (2000)
*
Juha Kylmänen – clean vocals (2001)
* Veli-Matti Kananen – keyboards (2006–2007; 2010)
* Tuomo Laikari – drums (2006–2007)
Timeline
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bar:AnttiK text:"Antti Kokko"
bar:Risto text:"Risto Ruuth"
bar:Mika text:"Mika Lammassaari"
bar:JarmoP text:"Jarmo Puolakanaho"
bar:Pasi text:"Pasi Hiltula"
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bar:Petri text:"Petri Sankala"
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bar:Olli from:01/05/1994 till:01/03/1999 color:kbd width:3
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bar:Janne from:01/03/2005 till:end color:kbd
bar:Risto from:01/03/2005 till:01/03/2009 color:gtr
bar:Risto from:18/09/2018 till:end color:gtr
bar:Juho from:01/12/2008 till:end color:drums
bar:Mika from:01/05/2009 till:18/09/2018 color:gtr
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Sinner's Serenade'' (1997)
* ''
Vilda Mánnu
''Vilda Mánnu'' is the second album by Finnish metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It contains the band's first guest vocals (by Heli Luokkala, known from Nicepappi). It is also the last EToS album with their original line-up as one of the co-fo ...
'' (1998)
* ''
Chaotic Beauty'' (2000)
* ''
A Virgin and a Whore'' (2001)
* ''
Before the Bleeding Sun
''Before the Bleeding Sun'' is the fifth studio album released by the Finnish melodic death metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. The album counts guest performances from Marco Hietala (Tarot and Nightwish), Jarmo Kylmänen (who joined the band ...
'' (2006)
* ''
Children of the Dark Waters'' (2009)
* ''
Saivon Lapsi'' (2013)
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Finnish melodic death metal musical groups
Musical groups established in 1994
Musical groups disestablished in 2001
Musical groups reestablished in 2005
Musical groups disestablished in 2025
Finnish symphonic metal musical groups
Massacre Records artists
1994 establishments in Finland
Finnish musical sextets