Sotajumala (Finnish for ''"Wargod"'') was a Finnish
death metal
Death metal is an 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 growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, fe ...
band from
Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capit ...
, formed in 1998. The band has released four albums, two
maxi single
A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song.
The first maxi singles
Mungo Jerry's first single, " In the Summertime" was t ...
s, one
single and one
split EP
A split album (or split) is a music album that includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There are also singles and EPs of the same variety, which are often called "split singles" and "split EPs" respectively. Split albums differ from "var ...
(with
Torture Killer). They have played a lot of shows in their home country, including
Tuska,
Jalometalli, Nummirock, Lutakko Liekeissä and Pellavarock festivals. In Finland the band has also toured with
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
,
Misery Index and
Grave
A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...
as well as supported
Obituary,
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...
and
Vader at one-off shows. The band split-up in 2016.
History
Sotajumala was started by Tomi Otsala and Kosti Orbinski in 1998. In 2000 Arttu Romo, Pete Lapio, Jyrki Häkkinen and Harri Lastu joined the band, thus completing its first full line-up. In September 2001 the band recorded their first release entitled ''
Sotajumala'' which eventually led to Woodcut Records signing the band. Guitarist Pete Lapio left the band shortly thereafter. Singer Harri Lastu also left the band in the late summer of 2002, due to personal issues and was soon replaced by '105' (Teijo Hakkola).
During fall 2002 the band entered Watercastle Studio to record four new songs which Woodcut released in early 2003 as ''
Panssarikolonna''. Drummer Arttu Romo and guitarist Jyrki Häkkinen left the band shortly after the release and session drummer Timo Häkkinen was hired to play on the debut album, which was to be recorded in the fall. Ex-guitarist Pete Lapio joined the band again during the summer.
''
Death Metal Finland'', the band's debut album was recorded in September 2003 at Sam's Workshop in Jyväskylä. After its release in March 2004 the band played a short Scandinavian tour with
Rotten Sound
Rotten Sound is a Finnish grindcore band from Vaasa, formed in 1993. The band comprises vocalist Keijo Niinimaa, guitarist Mika Aalto, bassist Kristian Toivainen, and drummer Sami Latva. The band has released eight studio albums and "earned a re ...
and
Defleshed
Defleshed is a Swedish death/thrash metal band. The group was formed by guitarist Lars Löfven, formerly of Convulsion and Inanimate. He was joined by ex-Crematorium bassist Gustaf Jorde shortly after recording a demo. In 1995 drummer Matte Mod ...
with another session drummer, Sami Järvinen. In June 2003 the band played Nummirock festival with bands such as
Morbid Angel
Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida, formed in 1983 by guitarist, primary composer and sole remaining original member Trey Azagthoth, vocalist and bassist Dallas Ward, and drummer Mike Browning. Widely considered ...
and Rotten Sound. More line-up changes occurred in August when Timo Häkkinen joined the band full-time and singer Teijo Hakkola was fired. Mynni Luukkainen joined as session singer and the band was able to continue playing shows. In spring 2005 Sotajumala played in
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...
and also did a three show mini-tour in Finland with
Grave
A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...
.
Two new songs were recorded in July 2005 to be released as a split with
Torture Killer that October. After these sessions Mynni Luukkainen joined the band as a full-time member. The split CD entered the Finnish single charts at position 10.
In August the band played at
Jalometalli Metal Music Festival
Jalometalli Metal Music Festival is a Finnish heavy metal festival held annually in Oulu since 2002. The festival mainly features old school thrash metal and death and black metal bands.
Lineups
2002
*Thyrane
*Monsterspank
*Funeris Nocturnum
*M ...
in
Oulu
Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after ...
.
Sotajumala entered studio once more in late summer 2007 to record their sophomore album, ''
Teloitus
''Teloitus'' ( en, Execution) is the second studio album by the Finnish death metal band Sotajumala. It entered the Finnish charts at position 17 on its release week.
Track listing
Personnel
*Mynni Luukkainen – vocals
*Kosti Orbinski – guita ...
'', which was released in October 2007. Teloitus entered the Finnish album charts at position 17.
This was the band's last album for Woodcut Records.
To support Teloitus Sotajumala played many shows in Finland, including a four show mini-tour with
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
and
Deathchain
Deathchain (originally named Winterwolf) is a Finnish extreme metal band from Kuopio. The band is signed to Dynamic Arts Records and toured Europe with Candlemass and Destruction in late 2005.
Band members Current
* K.J. Khaos (Kai Jaakkola ...
(December 2007),
Finnish Metal Expo
Finnish Metal Expo was a heavy metal fair and festival held annually at Kaapelitehdas in Ruoholahti, Helsinki, Finland from 2005 to 2012. It was a part of the Helsinki Metal Meeting. It's original location was the Cablefactory in Helsinki, Finl ...
(February 2008),
Tuska Open Air Metal Festival
Tuska Open Air Metal Festival, commonly shortened to Tuska ( fi, pain, agony), is a Finnish heavy metal festival taking place annually in Helsinki. The first Tuska took place in 1998 and the festival has since grown larger every year. The locati ...
(June 2008), Pellavarock and
Jalometalli Metal Music Festival
Jalometalli Metal Music Festival is a Finnish heavy metal festival held annually in Oulu since 2002. The festival mainly features old school thrash metal and death and black metal bands.
Lineups
2002
*Thyrane
*Monsterspank
*Funeris Nocturnum
*M ...
(August 2008) as well as numerous shows with local bands. They also supported
Obituary in August at
Nosturi
Nosturi ( Finnish for " crane") was a culture and music hall and a nightclub in the Punavuori district of Helsinki, Finland. It was owned by the Association of Live Music (''Elävän musiikin yhdistys'', ELMU).
The hall was located at the seas ...
.
As of December 2008 the band was writing material for a new album and announced that they will try not to play any shows before the album is completed.
In Sotajumala's case this usually doesn't work as evident by their performance at
Jalometalli Winterfest Jalometalli is the Finnish word for noble metal. It may also refer to:
* Jalometalli Metal Music Festival, a metal festival held annually in August in Oulu, Finland.
{{Disambig ...
in February supporting
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...
already in February 2009. Their third album ''
Kuolemanpalvelus'' was released on 26 May 2010.
Musical style
Musically, the band tends to lean toward the
Cannibal Corpse
Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little rad ...
/Florida style of death metal. Lyrical themes revolve around the military history of Finland and war stories in general. The band stresses, ''"Though the lyrics have their roots in war, they are not meant to provoke or create an image of
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...
beliefs. So, Sotajumala does not take any stand with our lyrics to political or other ideologies."''
Members
Final Members
*Tomi Otsala - bass, backing vocals (1998-2016)
*Kosti Orbinski - guitar (1998-2016)
*Pete Lapio - guitar (2000-2002, 2003-2016)
*Timo Häkkinen - drums (2004-2016)
*Mynni Luukkainen - vocals (2005-2016)
Former Members
*Harri Lastu - vocals (2000-2002)
*Arttu Romo - drums (2000-2003)
*Jyrki Häkkinen - guitar (2001-2003)
*Teijo "105" Hakkola - vocals (2002-2004)
Timeline
Discography
*''
Sotajumala'' - 2002 ''mcd''
*''
Panssarikolonna'' - 2003 ''mcd''
*''
Death Metal Finland'' - 2004 ''CD''
*''Sotajumala / Torture Killer split'' - 2005 ''CD single'' and ''7" vinyl''
*''Kuolinjulistus'' - 2007 ''CD single''
*''
Teloitus
''Teloitus'' ( en, Execution) is the second studio album by the Finnish death metal band Sotajumala. It entered the Finnish charts at position 17 on its release week.
Track listing
Personnel
*Mynni Luukkainen – vocals
*Kosti Orbinski – guita ...
'' - 2007 ''CD''
*''
Death Metal Finland Special Edition'' - 2008 ''double CD''
*''
Kuolemanpalvelus'' - 2010
*''
Raunioissa'' - 2015
References
External links
{{Authority control
Finnish musical groups
Finnish death metal musical groups
Musical groups established in 1998