Norther was a Finnish
melodic death metal
Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...
band from
Espoo
Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...
that was formed in 1996 and broke up in 2012. They released six studio albums.
History
Norther formed under the name Requiem (Lindroos, Korpas, Hallio) in 1996 after various early stage band formations. The band's debut effort was the album ''
Dreams of Endless War
''Dreams of Endless War'' is the debut album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther. It was released on 18 July 2002 by Spinefarm Records. The songs; "Victorious One" and "Endless War" are demo songs from ''Warlord'', while the song "Wa ...
'', released through
Spinefarm Records
Spinefarm Records is an international record label. Founded in Finland in 1990, Spinefarm was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2002.
History
Spinefarm Records began as a mailorder distribution company, founded by Riku Pääkkönen. The c ...
in 2002. It entered the Finnish charts at number 17. At the time, Norther was playing shows only in and around the
Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
area. That changed when the album ''
Mirror of Madness
''Mirror of Madness'' is the second full-length studio album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther, released on 12 August 2003 by Spinefarm Records. ''Mirror of Madness'' features a cover song, " Smash" by punk rock band The Offspring ...
'' came out in early 2003 (entering the Finnish charts at number 11). The group toured with
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
Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the practice of feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not. The word "hypocrisy" entered the English language ''c.'' 1200 with the meaning "the sin of pretending to virtue or goodness". Today, "hypocrisy" ofte ...
in late 2003.
In early 2004, Norther released its third full-length album, ''
Death Unlimited
Death Unlimited (with Faux Cyrillic and Capitals: DEДTH UИLІMITED) is the third full-length studio album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther. It was released on 3 March 2004 through Spinefarm Records. The Japanese release of ''Death ...
'', which reached 17 on the Finnish charts. Norther played several shows in 2005 and then recorded an EP, ''Solution 7'' (recorded at Astia Studio). It placed at number 5 on the Finnish charts. Norther added
Kristian Ranta
Kristian Ranta (born 13 May 1981), also known as Kride, is a Finnish former musician. He was a guitarist and vocalist for the melodic death metal band Norther until their breakup in 2012.
Career
Ranta composed most of Norther's best-known ...
's vocals afterward.
In the summer of 2005, Norther entered
Studio Fredman
Studio Fredman is a well-known recording studio in Gothenburg, Sweden, owned and operated by producer Fredrik Nordström.
It is popular among Swedish metal bands, with artists such as At the Gates, Deathstars, Nightrage, Norwegian band Dimmu ...
in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
to record their fourth full-length-album, ''
Till Death Unites Us
''Till Death Unites Us'' is the fourth full-length studio album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther (band), Norther. It was released on 25 January 2006 through Spinefarm Records. This release marks their first studio album to not inc ...
'', with producers
Fredrik Nordström
Björn Tom Fredrik Nordström (born 5 January 1967) is a Swedish record producer and musician, and the guitarist of the heavy metal band Dream Evil. He is one of the leading melodic death metal and power metal producers in Sweden and has worke ...
and Patrick J. Sten. Soon after,
Toni Hallio
Toni Hallio is the former drummer for and one of the founding members of melodic death metal band Norther. He left the band in October 2005 to pursue other interests. However, he still recorded the drums for Norther's ''Till Death Unites Us'' ins ...
left the band to pursue other interests; Heikki Saari replaced him on drums. After its release in January 2006, ''Till Death Unites Us'' placed at number six on the Finnish album charts. Later the same year, the band composed the theme song, "Frozen Angel", for a major Finnish feature film, ''
V2: Dead Angel'', produced by Solarfilms, Inc. The band is also featured in the film. In February 2007, Norther released a new EP, ''No Way Back'', released only in Finland and Japan. The record hit number one in the Finnish charts. Later that year, they released ''Amoral & Drone'' and supported it with a European tour. Their fifth full-length album, ''
N'', was released in February 2008.
Petri Lindroos
Petri Lindroos (born 10 January 1980) is a Finnish heavy metal musician. He has been the lead vocalist/ harsh vocalist and a guitarist for Ensiferum since 2004. In 2023, he joined Warmen in the same role. He was also a founding member of Nor ...
quit as lead vocalist in February 2009 and was replaced by Aleksi Sihvonen (ex-Imperanon) in April of that year. To mark his debut, the band released an alternate version of the song "Frozen Angel" from their previous album with Sihvonen on vocals. Their sixth studio album, ''
Circle Regenerated
''Circle Regenerated'' is the sixth and final full-length studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Norther. The album was released through Century Media Records on 30 March in Japan, on 13 April in Finland, on 15 April in Germany, Austr ...
'', was released on 19 April 2011.
The band made their final appearance at the
Brutal Assault
Brutal Assault is an Open-air concert, open-air extreme metal rock festival, festival that takes place in the 18th-century army fortress Josefov Fortress, Josefov, located in Jaroměř, Czechia. It is held each August early in the month from Wed ...
festival in the Czech Republic on 10 August 2012.
Band members
;Final lineup
*
Kristian Ranta
Kristian Ranta (born 13 May 1981), also known as Kride, is a Finnish former musician. He was a guitarist and vocalist for the melodic death metal band Norther until their breakup in 2012.
Career
Ranta composed most of Norther's best-known ...
– guitars
(2000–2012), clean vocals
(2004–2012)
*
Tuomas Planman
Tuomas Planman was the keyboardist for the Finnish Melodic death metal band Norther, until their break up in 2012; he also played in the black metal band Gramary.
Personal information
*''Date of Birth:'' 17 March 1980
*''From:'' Espoo, Finlan ...
– keyboards, synthesizers, electronics
(2000–2012)
*
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
(2000–2012)
* Heikki Saari – drums
(2005–2012)
* Aleksi Sihvonen –
harsh vocals
Vocalists are capable of producing a variety of extended technique sounds. These alternative singing techniques have been used extensively in the 20th century, especially in art song and opera. Particularly famous examples of extended vocal techniq ...
(2009–2012)
*
Daniel Freyberg
Daniel Freyberg (born 4 February 1982) is a Swedish-born Finnish heavy metal guitarist, best known as a former guitarist for Finnish melodic death metal bands Children of Bodom and Bodom After Midnight. He is the former vocalist and guitarist of ...
– guitars, backing vocals
(2009–2012)
;Former members
*
Petri Lindroos
Petri Lindroos (born 10 January 1980) is a Finnish heavy metal musician. He has been the lead vocalist/ harsh vocalist and a guitarist for Ensiferum since 2004. In 2023, he joined Warmen in the same role. He was also a founding member of Nor ...
– harsh vocals, guitars
(1996–2009)
*
Toni Hallio
Toni Hallio is the former drummer for and one of the founding members of melodic death metal band Norther. He left the band in October 2005 to pursue other interests. However, he still recorded the drums for Norther's ''Till Death Unites Us'' ins ...
– drums
(1996–2005)
* Roni Korpas – guitars
(1996–1999)
* Tuomas "Stubu" – bass
(1996–1997)
* Joakim Ekroos – keyboards
(2000)
* Sebastian "Knight" Ekroos – bass
(2000)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Dreams of Endless War
''Dreams of Endless War'' is the debut album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther. It was released on 18 July 2002 by Spinefarm Records. The songs; "Victorious One" and "Endless War" are demo songs from ''Warlord'', while the song "Wa ...
'' (2002)
* ''
Mirror of Madness
''Mirror of Madness'' is the second full-length studio album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther, released on 12 August 2003 by Spinefarm Records. ''Mirror of Madness'' features a cover song, " Smash" by punk rock band The Offspring ...
'' (2003)
* ''
Death Unlimited
Death Unlimited (with Faux Cyrillic and Capitals: DEДTH UИLІMITED) is the third full-length studio album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther. It was released on 3 March 2004 through Spinefarm Records. The Japanese release of ''Death ...
'' (2004)
* ''
Till Death Unites Us
''Till Death Unites Us'' is the fourth full-length studio album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther (band), Norther. It was released on 25 January 2006 through Spinefarm Records. This release marks their first studio album to not inc ...
'' (2006)
* ''
N'' (2008)
* ''
Circle Regenerated
''Circle Regenerated'' is the sixth and final full-length studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Norther. The album was released through Century Media Records on 30 March in Japan, on 13 April in Finland, on 15 April in Germany, Austr ...
'' (2011)
Demos and EPs
* ''Warlord'' (demo) (2000)
* ''Solution 7'' (2005)
* ''No Way Back'' (2007)
Singles
* "Released" (2002)
* "Unleash Hell" (2003)
* "Spreading Death" (2004)
* "Spreading Death" (DVD, 2004)
* "Scream" (2006)
* "Frozen Angel" (online single, 2009)
* "Break Myself Away" (online single, 2010)
Videography
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Finnish melodic death metal musical groups
Finnish power metal musical groups
Musical groups established in 1996
Musical groups from Helsinki
Century Media Records artists
Musical groups disestablished in 2012