Arthemesia was a Finnish

melodic black metal Blackened death metal (also known as black death metal) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that fuses elements of black metal and death metal. The genre emerged in early 1990s when black metal bands began incorporating elements of death me ...

band active between 1994 and 2010. The band derives their name from ''

Artemisia absinthium ''Artemisia absinthium'', otherwise known as common wormwood, is a species of '' Artemisia'' native to North Africa and temperate regions of Eurasia, and widely naturalized in Canada and the northern United States. It is grown as an ornamental ...

'', Latin for wormwood, thought to have many spiritual qualities. Their music mainly concerns a projection of the band's philosophy, namely glorification of the

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

and

Satanism Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious figure, Satanism—as well as other religious ...

, but also

nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

and

Shamanism Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

. The band was formed in 1994, originally under the name Celestial Agony by vocalist Valtias Mustatuuli and guitarist Routa, but did not record their first demo until 1998, by which time the band included Jari "Arbaal" Mäenpää (guitar), Jukka-Pekka Miettinen (bass), and Oliver Fokin (drums).Rivadavia, Eduardo " Athemesia Biography, ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'', Macrovision Corporation The band's first album, ''Devs Iratvs'', was compiled from several demos they had recorded prior to its release in 2001. A first proper studio album, ''ShamaNatahs'', was released in 2004. Mäenpää left to form a new band named

Wintersun Wintersun is a Finnish melodic death metal band from Helsinki originally formed as the side project of Jari Mäenpää, then-vocalist and guitarist of folk metal band Ensiferum. In 2003, Mäenpää began pulling together songs that he had bee ...

Former members

*Valtias Mustatuuli – vocals *Jukka-Pekka Miettinen (Mor Voryon) – guitars, keyboards, backing clean vocals (ex-

Ensiferum Ensiferum (Latin: , n adj., meaning "sword bearing") is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "melodic folk metal". History Formation, demos and ''Ensiferum'' (1995−2002) ''Ensiferum'' was foun ...

) *S.M. NekroC – guitars * Magistra Nocte – keyboards, backing vocals *Erzebeth Meggadeath – drums (see

Moonsorrow Moonsorrow is a Finnish pagan metal band formed in Helsinki in 1995. Musically, the band incorporates elements of black metal and folk metal in their sound. The band call their sound "epic heathen metal" and try to distance themselves from th ...

) *Routa – guitars, keyboards (

Finntroll Finntroll is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. They combine elements of black metal and death metal with a type of Finnish folk music called humppa. Finntroll's lyrics are mostly in Swedish, the only exception being the song "Madon Laulu" ...

) *Kimmo Miettinen (Mor Vethor) – drums (ex- Cadacross, ex-

) * Jari Mäenpää (Arbaal) – guitars, keyboards, vocals (see

, ex-

) *

Kai Hahto Kai Hahto (born 31 December 1973) is a Finnish musician, best known as the drummer of Wintersun and Nightwish. Career In 2002, Hahto went to New York to study jazz drumming. Hahto was a member of the grindcore band Rotten Sound. In 2004 Haht ...

(Dr. KH) – drums (see

, Swallow the Sun, ex-

Rotten Sound Rotten Sound is a Finnish grindcore band from Vaasa, formed in 1993. The band comprises vocalist Keijo Niinimaa, guitarist Mika Aalto, bassist Matti Raappana, and drummer Sami Latva. The band has released eight studio albums and "earned a reputa ...

) *Janne Leinonen (G'thaur) – bass (see

Barathrum Barathrum is a Finnish black-doom metal band, formed in 1990. The band's name is Latin for ''pit'' or ''abyss''. The first letters of their eight full-length albums spell "HEIL SOVA" - referring to the band's frontman, Demonos Sova, who is the o ...

) *Oliver Fokin – drums (ex-

) *Aconitum – bass

Discography

Demos

*''Demo '98'' (1998) *''The Archaic Dreamer'' (1999) *''Promon02AB'' (2002) *''ShamaNatahS'' (2006) *''The Hyperion Elements'' (2007)

Albums

*''Devs Iratvs'' (February 2001) *''a.O.a.'' (March 2009)

References

External links

Finnish musical quintets Finnish heavy metal musical groups Finnish black metal musical groups Symphonic black metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 1994 establishments in Finland {{Finland-band-stub