Mokoma is a Finnish

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

band formed in

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Karelia. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lappeenranta is approximately , while the Lappeenranta sub-r ...

, Finland, in 1996. Their music also has

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme metal, extreme fusion genre of heavy metal music, heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, e ...

and

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

influences with traditional Finnish melancholy. Mokoma started out as a creation of Marko Annala, who is the band's lead singer, and has been the band's only original remaining band member. The name comes from Annala's former girlfriends' Karelian grandmother, who said "Voi siuta mokomaa". That means "Oh gosh, you and your tricks", basically in simple words when put into English. Mokoma is similar but slightly more gracious word to "damned" or "accursed". Through the years several members have come and gone, but only Annala has remained constant. The band started out as a more traditional

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

with their first two albums "Valu" and "Mokoman 120 päivää". However, both albums sold badly and they were eventually dropped when they suggested to their record company (EMI), that they wanted to play something closer to their hearts, thrash metal. The group moved on and created their own record company, called Sakara Records, and released their third album "Kurimus", which is sometimes regarded as the first thrash metal album sung in Finnish. That was the first release of the members' independent record company Sakara Records. Since then they have released seven more albums and an EP called "Viides vuodenaika", which reached number one in the Finnish albums chart. Their latest album release is ''Myrsky''.

Members

Current line-up

* Marko Annala -

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(1996–present) * Tuomo Saikkonen -

(1997–present) * Kuisma Aalto -

(1997–present) * Janne Hyrkäs -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(2000–present) * Santtu Hämäläinen -

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

(2004–present)

Ex-members

* Heikki Kärkkäinen -

(1997–2004) * Janne Hynynen -

(1997–1999) * Roope Laasonen - keyboards (1997) * Juhana Rantala - session

(1999) * Raikko Törönen -

(1999) * Mikko Ruokonen - session

(1999)

Session and guest musicians

* Netta Skog - Laulurovio album's session musician and acoustic tour guest

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

(2016–present)

Discography

Albums

* ''Valu'' (''Casting'') (1999) * ''Mokoman 120 päivää'' (''120 Days of Mokoma'') (2001) * '' Kurimus'' (''Whirlpool'') (2003) * '' Tämän maailman ruhtinaan hovi'' (''The Court of The Ruler of This World'') (2004) * '' Kuoleman laulukunnaat'' (''Singing Grounds of Death'') (2006) * ''

Luihin ja ytimiin ''Luihin ja ytimiin'' is Mokoma's sixth album. It was released 2007. The album was released in three different versions. Besides normal digipak-edition there was limited edition, which had photographycollage made by Joonas Brandt. It also had int ...

'' (''To the Bone'') (2007) * '' Sydänjuuret'' (''Heartstrings'') (2010) * '' Varjopuoli'' (''Drawback'') (2011) * '' 180 astetta'' (''180 Degrees'') (2012) * '' Elävien kirjoihin'' (''Into the Books of the Living'') (2015) * '' Laulurovio'' (''Song Pyre'') (2016) * '' Hengen pitimet'' (''Spirit Holders'') (2018) * '' Ihmissokkelo'' (''Human Maze'') (2020) * '' Myrsky'' (''Storm'') (2024)

EPs and singles

* "Kasvan" (single, 1999) * "Perspektiivi" (single, 1999) * "Seitsemän sinetin takana" (single, 2001) * "Rajapyykki" (single, 2001) * "Takatalvi" (free, downloadable single, 2003) * ''Punainen kukko'' (EP, 2003) * "Hiljaisuuden julistaja" (free, downloadable single, 2004) * ''Viides vuodenaika'' (EP, 2006) * "Nujerra ihminen" (Downloadable single, 2007) * "Sydänjuuret" (Downloadable single, 2010) * ''Juurta jaksain'' (EP, 2010) * "Sarvet esiin" (Downloadable single with Finnish rap artist

Petri Nygård (born February 1974), better known by his stage name Petri Nygård, is a Finnish rapper and singer. He is also known under alias Dream (in rap duo Nuera) and as Travis Bicle. He has gained notoriety for his sexually explicit and misogynistic ...

, 2010) * "Sydän paikallaan" (Downloadable single, 2011) * "Valkoista kohinaa" (Downloadable single, 2012) * "Punamultaa" (Downloadable single, 2012) * ''Yksi'' (EP, 2013) * "Sinne missä aamu sarastaa" (Downloadable single, 2015) * "Talvi 7" " (Downloadable single, 2021) * "Malja sille!" (Downloadable single featuring Anni Lötjönen, 2023) * "Taivaan tuuliin" (Downloadable single, 2023) * "Pyhä vitutus" (Downloadable single, 2023) * "Haluamanilainen" (Downloadable single, 2024)

DVDs

* ''Mokoma DVD - Mäntit tien päällä'' (2004) * ''Sakara Tour 2006'' (2007)

References

External links

Official site

Sakara Records, the band's own label

Mokoma @ Myspace
{{Authority control Finnish death metal musical groups Finnish thrash metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1996