Heidi Parviainen (born 8 March 1979) is a Finnish singer. A classically trained

lyric soprano A lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre that can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and ot ...

, she is the lead vocalist of

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-genre style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitars ...

band Dark Sarah and previously fronted Amberian Dawn.

Career

Agonia and Iconofear (1995–2006)

Parviainen was the keyboardist and a vocalist in the band Agonia which was active from 1995. The break-up of Agonia led in 1999 to the formation of the band Iconofear, in which Parviainen was again keyboardist/vocalist. Iconofear released three EPs between 2003 and 2006.

Amberian Dawn (2006–2012)

Parviainen joined Amberian Dawn in 2006. She started to write lyrics which were often influenced by Finnish and

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

, and many of her songs reference the Finnish national poem

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory ...

. She undertook three European tours with the band and performed at several European festivals. On 19 November 2012 the band announced that Parviainen had parted ways with them. The decision was made in early 2012, making Metal Female Voices Fest their last show together with her.

Dark Sarah (2012–present)

A few days after her departure from Amberian Dawn, Parviainen announced that she had started a new musical project called "Dark Sarah". She said Dark Sarah "is making one of my dreams come true, a dream that had been sleeping for many years but now has finally awoken." Parviainen explained the concept: The musical style combines elements of film music, metal music and music theater. The album called ''Behind the Black Veil'', will feature several guest musicians such as Manuela Kraller, Inga Scharf ( Van Canto) and Kasperi Heikkinen ( U.D.O, Merging Flare). Dark Sarah consists of a band including musicians like: Erkka Korhonen (guitar) (Raskasta Joulua, Northern Kings), Sami-Petri Salonen (guitar),

Jukka Koskinen Jukka Koskinen is a Finnish musician who is the bassist for the metal bands Wintersun, Nightwish and Crownshift. He was also the bassist for Norther from 2000 until their disbandment in 2012, for Amberian Dawn from 2010 until 2013, for Cain' ...

(bass) (

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 ...

) and Lauri Kuussalo (drums). Dark Sarah has released three albums so far after an initial EP. The first album, Behind the Black Veil, was released in 2014. This was followed by The Puzzle (released 2016) and The Golden Moth (released 2018). The Violent Roses EP was released in 2014. In 2020 the band announced their signing to Napalm Records and a new studio album called "Grim". In 2023 the band released their fifth album called "Attack Of Orym".

Other works

Parviainen has performed with a few other bands in studio, with Eternal Tears of Sorrow on the song "Tears of Autumn Rain" from the album Children of the Dark Waters in 2009, and with

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 ...

on their album '' Unsung Heroes'', providing the choir vocals.

Discography

Dark Sarah

;Studio albums * ''Behind the Black Veil'' (2015) * ''The Puzzle'' (2016) * ''The Golden Moth'' (2018) * ''Grim'' (2020) * ''Attack of Orym'' (2023) ;EPs * ''Violent Roses'' (2014) ;Music videos * ''Save Me'' (2013) * ''Memories Fall'' (2014) (feat. Manuela Kraller) * ''Hunting The Dreamer'' (2014) * ''Light in You'' (2015) (feat.

Tony Kakko Toni Kristian "Tony" Kakko (born 16 May 1975) is a Finnish musician, composer and vocalist. He is known as the vocalist, primary songwriter, and creative lead of the band Sonata Arctica since 1996. Biography Kakko was born in Kemi, Finland and ...

) * ''Little Men'' (2016) * ''Aquarium'' (2016) (feat.

Charlotte Wessels Johanna Charlotte Wessels (born 13 May 1987) is a Dutch singer and songwriter. She is best known as the former lead vocalist for the symphonic metal band Delain. Background Wessels has been trained in both jazz singing and classical singing. S ...

– lyric video) * ''Dance with the Dragon'' (2016) (feat. Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto) * ''Trespasser'' (2017) (feat. Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto) * ''Sky Sailing'' (2018) (feat. Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto) * ''Golden Moth'' (2018) (feat. Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto) * ''The Gods Speak'' (2018) * ''All Ears!'' (2020) * ''Melancholia'' (2020) – lyric video * ''Illuminate'' (2020) * ''B.U.R.N'' (2023) * ''Warning Sign'' (2023) * ''Invincible'' (2023) – lyric video

Amberian Dawn

;Demos * '' Amberian Dawn (demo)'' (2006) ;Studio albums * '' River of Tuoni'' (2008) * '' The Clouds of Northland Thunder'' (2009) * '' End of Eden'' (2010) * '' Circus Black'' (2012) ;Singles * "He Sleeps in a Grove" (2009) * " Arctica" (2010) * "Cold Kiss" (2012)

Iconofear

;EPs * ''Dark (EP)'' (2003) * ''The 13th Circle'' (2005) * ''The Unbreathing'' (2006)

Agonia

;Demos * ''Demo I'' (1997)

Guest appearances

*2009: '' Children of the Dark Waters'' ( Eternal Tears of Sorrow) (vocals on "Tears of Autumn Rain") *2012: '' Unsung Heroes'' (

) (choir vocals)

References

External links

Official websiteHeidi Parviainen on FacebookDark Sarah on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parviainen, Heidi 1979 births Living people Musicians from Espoo Finnish heavy metal singers Finnish heavy metal keyboardists Finnish sopranos Amberian Dawn members