Esa Holopainen (born 1 October 1972) is a Finnish musician, currently the main songwriter, occasional lyricist, founding member and lead guitarist of the Finnish metal band

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 progressive metal, ...

. He is one out the two longest standing members of the band (the other being

Tomi Koivusaari Tomi Koivusaari (born 11 April 1973) is the current rhythm guitarist and former vocalist of the Finnish metal band Amorphis. He started playing at the age of 12, his first band was Violent Solution formed in 1987, with him on guitars and vocals, ...

) and one of the four original members in the band (the others being Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari and Olli-Pekka Laine). He was also formerly the guitarist of the bands Violent Solution (1990) and Chaosbreed (2003–2004). Holopainen did the

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular ...

on "Dambuster" from ''Hellroad Caravan'' by

Mannhai Mannhai is a Finnish stoner rock band from Helsinki. The band was formed in late 1999 by bass player Olli-Pekka "Oppu" Laine and guitarist Ilkka "Ile" Laaksomaa. Soon they were accompanied by a young drummer, Mikko "Junior" Pietinen, and the ...

. His influences include

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guit ...

, David Gilmour, John McLaughlin and Petri Walli of

Kingston Wall Kingston Wall was a psychedelic/progressive rock group from Helsinki, Finland, originally formed in 1987. Influenced by such artists as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, the group combined eastern themes, mysticism and vivid psychedelia ...

. Holopainen uses

ESP guitars is a Japanese guitar manufacturer, primarily focused on the production of electric guitars and basses. They are based in both Tokyo and Los Angeles, with distinct product lines for each market. ESP Company manufactures instruments under severa ...

and Koch amplifiers.

Discography

With Violent Solution

* ''Period of Depression'' (demo, 1990) * ''Paralysis / Individual Nightmare'' (EP, 1990)

Solo

* ''Silver Lake by Esa Holopainen'' (album, 2021)

With Amorphis

* ''Disment of Soul'' (demo, 1991) * ''Amorphis'' (single, 1992) * '' The Karelian Isthmus'' (album, 1992) * ''Privilege of Evil'' (EP, 1993) * '' Tales from the Thousand Lakes'' (album, 1994) * ''Black Winter Day / Fear'' (split with

Gorefest Gorefest was a Dutch death metal band from Goes in Zeeland. It was founded in 1989 by Jan-Chris de Koeijer, Frank Harthoorn, Alex van Schaik and Marc Hoogendoorn. History Within two months of existence Gorefest recorded their first demo. A ...

, 1995) * '' Black Winter Day'' (EP, 1995) * ''

Elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

'' (album, 1996) * ''

My Kantele ''My Kantele'' is an EP / compilation album by Finnish metal band Amorphis, released in 1997. It is not to be confused with the song "My Kantele" from the album ''Elegy'', which is not on this compilation, although the title is still used as ...

'' (EP, 1997) * ''Divinity / Northern Lights'' (single, 1999) * ''

Tuonela Tuonela (; )Oinas, Felix J., and Juha Pentikäinen. "Tuonela." In ''Encyclopedia of Religion'', 2nd ed., edited by Lindsay Jones, 9396-9397. Vol. 14. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. ''Gale eBooks'' (accessed January 3, 2021)/ref> i ...

'' (album, 1999) * ''Alone'' (single, 2001) * ''

Am Universum ''Am Universum'' is the fifth album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis. This album was a departure from the doom/ stoner metal influence on their previous album, '' Tuonela'', featuring more of a vocal-driven hard rock sound. This is the fir ...

'' (album, 2001) * ''Mourning Soil'' (single, 2003) * ''

Far from the Sun ''Far from the Sun'' is the sixth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis. It was the first album to feature drummer Jan Rechberger since 1994's '' Tales from the Thousand Lakes'', replacing Pekka Kasari who had quit the band to spe ...

'' (EP, 2003) * ''Day of Your Beliefs'' (single, 2003) * ''Far from the Sun'' (album, 2003) * ''Evil Inside'' (single, 2003) * ''Relapse Singles Series Vol. 4'' (split with Goreaphobia,

Phobia A phobia is an anxiety disorder defined by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. Those affected go to great lengths to avo ...

, and

Exit-13 Exit-13 was an American grindcore band from Millersville, Pennsylvania, United States. The band were formed in 1989 by Relapse Records founder and co-owner Bill Yurkiewicz (vocals), guitarist Steve O'Donnell and bassist Joel DiPietro. Their earl ...

, 2004) * ''House of Sleep'' (single, 2006) * ''

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

'' (album, 2006) * ''The Smoke'' (single, 2006) * ''Silent Waters'' (single, 2007) * '' Silent Waters'' (album, 2007) * ''Silver Bride'' (single, 2009) * ''

Skyforger Skyforger is a heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Latvia which was formed in 1995 out of the remains of doom metal band Grindmaster Dead. Musical style and lyrical themes Most of their songs are about Baltic mythology and warfare; they a ...

'' (album, 2009) * ''From the Heaven of My Heart'' (single, 2009) * ''Martyr of the Free Word / From the Heaven of My Heart'' (split with

Epica Epica or EPICA may refer to: * Epica (band) Epica is a Dutch symphonic metal band, founded by guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen after his departure from After Forever. Formed as a symphonic metal band with gothic tendencies, later Epica ha ...

, 2009) * ''Forging the Land of Thousand Lakes'' (DVD, 2010) * ''

Magic & Mayhem - Tales from the Early Years Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

'' (compilation, 2010) * ''You I Need'' (single, 2011) * '' The Beginning of Times'' (album, 2011) * ''

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is const ...

'' (album, 2013) * '' Under the Red Cloud'' (album, 2015) * '' Queen of Time'' (album, 2018) * ''

Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * Halo (franchise), ...

'' (album, 2022)

With Chaosbreed

* ''Unleashed Carnage'' (EP, 2003) * ''Brutal'' (album, 2004)

References

1972 births Living people Amorphis members Finnish heavy metal guitarists Finnish heavy metal musicians Lead guitarists Sitar players 21st-century guitarists {{Finland-musician-stub