Cemetery Skyline is a Finnish-Swedish

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

supergroup formed by

Mikael Stanne Bengt Mikael Stanne (born 20 May 1974) is a Swedish musician, best known as the vocalist, primary lyricist and a former guitarist for the melodic death metal band Dark Tranquillity. Since the departure of original drummer Anders Jivarp in 2021, ...

, Markus Vanhala, Santeri Kallio, Victor Brandt and

Vesa Ranta Vesa Ranta (born 20 July 1973) is a Finnish drummer. He was one of the original members of the metal bands Sentenced and The Man-Eating Tree. He is also a fine art photographer and was owner of the Nuclear Nightclub live music club and bar in do ...

in 2024.

History

The band was formed in 2024 and played their first show at John Smith festival in Finland. The founding members are Mikael Stanne (

Dark Tranquility Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are considered one of the pioneering acts of the Gothenburg metal scene, which also includes bands such as In Flames and At the Gates - regarded as the Gothenburg fat ...

), Markus Vanhala (

Insomnium Insomnium is a Finnish melodic death metal band formed in Joensuu in 1997. The sound and lyrical themes of their music portray darkness, sorrow, loss, pain, and nature. Their music includes elements of progressive metal, black metal, folk meta ...

Omnium Gatherum Omnium Gatherum is a Finnish melodic death metal band from Karhula, founded in the autumn of 1996. Although the band mainly follows the path of the melodic death metal genre, much of their work shows strong influences from progressive metal, e ...

), Santeri Kallio (

Amorphis Amorphis is a Finnish progressive 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 progressive meta ...

), Victor Brandt (

Dimmu Borgir Dimmu Borgir () is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic lang ...

) and Vesa Ranta (

Sentenced Sentenced was a Finnish gothic metal band that played melodic death metal in their early years. The band formed in 1989 in the town of Muhos and broke up in 2005. Lead guitarist Miika Tenkula was the band's vocalist for the first album, but du ...

). They released their first album, ''Nordic Gothic'', in October 2024 through

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by R ...

. Leading up to the release, the band released videos for their songs "Violent Storm", "The Coldest Heart", "Torn Away" and "In Darkness". ''Nordic Gothic'' debuted at number 3 on the Finnish album chart and at number 1 on the Finnish physical album chart the week after its release.

Musical style

Cemetery Skyline play melodic gothic rock/metal. Keyboardist Santeri Kallio cited bands such as

Type O Negative Type O Negative was an American gothic/doom metal band formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1989 by Peter Steele (bass, lead vocals), Kenny Hickey (guitar, co-lead vocals), Josh Silver (keyboards, backing vocals), and Sal Abruscato (drums ...

, The Mission,

The Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band formed in Leeds in 1980. After achieving early underground fame, the band experienced a commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s, sustaining their success until the early 1990s, when they halted th ...

and

Killing Joke Killing Joke were an English rock music, rock band formed in Notting Hill, London, in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Killing Joke ...

as influences. In reviews of the album ''Nordic Gothic'', comparisons were drawn with bands such as

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( or , ) is the primordial sea, mating with Abzû (Apsu), the groundwater, to produce the gods in the Babylonian epic '' Enûma Elish'', which translates as "when on high". She is referred to as a woman, an ...

Fields of the Nephilim Fields of the Nephilim are an English gothic rock band formed in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in 1984. The band's name refers to a biblical race of angel-human hybrids known as the Nephilim. Career Early years (1984–1991) The band's debut 1 ...

or HIM. In contrast to his other bands, singer

relies entirely on clean vocals for Cemetery Skyline and refrains from

growling Growling is a low, guttural Animal communication, vocalization produced by animals as an aggression, aggressive warning but can also be found in other contexts such as playful behaviors or mating. Different animals will use growling in specific ...

Members

– vocals * Markus Vanhala – guitars * Santeri Kallio – keyboards * Victor Brandt – bass *

– drums

Discography

Albums

* ''Nordic Gothic'' (2024)

Singles

* "Violent Storm" (2024) * "In Darkness" (2024) * "The Coldest Heart" (2024) * "Torn Away" (2024) * "Behind the Lie" (2024) * "I Drove All Night" (2025)

References

{{Finland-band-stub Finnish gothic rock groups Finnish gothic metal musical groups Rock music supergroups Musical groups established in 2024