Eternal Tears of Sorrow (commonly abbreviated to EToS) is a Finnish
symphonic
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...
/
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 formed in
Pudasjärvi
Pudasjärvi () is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region, northeast of the city of Oulu and southwest of the town of Kuusamo. The town has a population of () an ...
.
Biography
The band was formed in 1994 by Jarmo Puolakanaho, Altti Veteläinen and Olli-Pekka Törrö, after various projects that featured people who became members of Eternal Tears of Sorrow. Andromeda, a first death/doom/thrash metal project, had been put on hold in late 1992 because the rehearsal place had burned down. They could not find a new rehearsal place in their hometown, so the three members started a new side-project (M.D.C.) and recorded a
demo tape
A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...
, ''Beyond The Fantasy'' in autumn 1993.
In spring 1994, they recorded a new demo, ''The Seven Goddesses of Frost''. Then the band decided to change their name to something they felt more appropriate opting for Eternal Tears of Sorrow.
Between 1994 and 1996 the band had a couple of songs on some
compilation CDs in Europe and Canada, and recorded their debut, ''
Sinner's Serenade
''Sinner's Serenade'' is the first album by the Finnish metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It was recorded and mixed in only five days – the three last songs, from Bard's Burial demo tape, in just one day and the rest of the songs in four day ...
''. It took more than a year for the debut album to get released by X-Treme Records,
a small underground label from
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
in Sweden. After they recorded their second album, ''
Vilda Mánnu
''Vilda Mánnu'' is the second album by Finnish metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It contains the band's first guest vocals (by Heli Luokkala, known from Nicepappi). It is also the last EToS album with their original line-up as one of the co-fo ...
'',
Spinefarm Records
Spinefarm Records is a Finnish independent record label focusing mainly on heavy metal artists. It is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group.
History
Spinefarm Records was originally founded in 1990 by Riku Pääkkönen as a mail-order distrib ...
approached the band and soon they signed a deal with the label.
Their third album, ''
Chaotic Beauty
''Chaotic Beauty'' is the third album by Finnish symphonic death metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It was their first album without the original three founding members of the band (guitarist Olli-Pekka Törrö had left the band in early 1999) ...
'' (on which the band had three new members since Olli-Pekka Törrö had left the band),
led to a European tour with
Nightwish
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neva ...
and
Sinergy
Sinergy was a Finnish/Swedish Heavy metal music, heavy metal band started in 1997 by American musician Kimberly Goss. The idea for a "balls-out female-fronted metal band" was first formed when Kimberly Goss of Dimmu Borgir met Jesper Strömbla ...
. Their fourth album, ''
A Virgin and a Whore
''A Virgin and a Whore'' is the fourth album by Finnish symphonic death metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It was their last album before the band's hiatus between 2001 and 2004. This is the last EToS album to feature keyboardist Pasi Hiltula ...
'', went to the Finnish Album Top 40 charts. After releasing four albums, the band announced they were taking a break just after the release of ''A Virgin and a Whore''; however, they broke up in January 2003.
In February 2005, the band announced they were going to make a comeback. Their fifth album, ''
Before the Bleeding Sun
Eternal Tears of Sorrow (commonly abbreviated to EToS) is a Finnish symphonic/melodic death metal band formed in Pudasjärvi.
Biography
The band was formed in 1994 by Jarmo Puolakanaho, Altti Veteläinen and Olli-Pekka Törrö, after vario ...
'', was released in April 2006 (excluding releases in Russia and Japan that were released later). This album also went to the Finnish Album Top 40 charts, to No. 26. The band added two session members since Petri Sankala and Janne Tolsa were unavailable at that time.
In late 2008, the band announced that Jarmo Kylmänen (who had been part of the band's song-writing team since 2005) had joined the band as an official member. Soon after that, their long-time drummer Petri Sankala left because of back pain. In early April 2009, it was reported that Risto Ruuth had left the band. They found a replacement, Mika Lammassaari, and started rehearsing for the postponed live shows originally planned for May.
The band's sixth album, ''
Children of the Dark Waters
''Children of the Dark Waters'' is the sixth studio album by Finnish symphonic death metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It was released in May 2009 through Suomen Musiikki for Finland, Massacre Records for the rest of Europe and Marquee/Avalon ...
'', came out in May 2009 through
Suomen Musiikki in Finland,
Massacre Records
Massacre Records is an independent record label based in Abstatt, Germany, that specializes in bands of the heavier genres of metal.
The label was founded in 1991 by Torsten Hartmann. Connected to Massacre Records is the marketing and music w ...
in the rest of Europe, and Marquee/Avalon in Asia. A new single, "Tears of Autumn Rain," was released in Finland and Japan as well as on the band's MySpace page. The other track on the single was a re-recorded version of "Vilda Mánnu" from their second album. ''Children of the Dark Waters'' charted at No. 19 at the Finnish Album Top 40 charts.
The seventh album, ''Saivon Lapsi'', was released in February 2013.
Mika Lammassaari left the band in 2018 and Risto Ruuth joined the band again. Currently, the band is writing new material.
Discography
Full-length albums
* ''
Sinner's Serenade
''Sinner's Serenade'' is the first album by the Finnish metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It was recorded and mixed in only five days – the three last songs, from Bard's Burial demo tape, in just one day and the rest of the songs in four day ...
'' (1997)
* ''
Vilda Mánnu
''Vilda Mánnu'' is the second album by Finnish metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It contains the band's first guest vocals (by Heli Luokkala, known from Nicepappi). It is also the last EToS album with their original line-up as one of the co-fo ...
'' (1998)
* ''
Chaotic Beauty
''Chaotic Beauty'' is the third album by Finnish symphonic death metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It was their first album without the original three founding members of the band (guitarist Olli-Pekka Törrö had left the band in early 1999) ...
'' (2000)
* ''
A Virgin and a Whore
''A Virgin and a Whore'' is the fourth album by Finnish symphonic death metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It was their last album before the band's hiatus between 2001 and 2004. This is the last EToS album to feature keyboardist Pasi Hiltula ...
'' (2001)
* ''Before the Bleeding Sun'' (2006)
* ''
Children of the Dark Waters
''Children of the Dark Waters'' is the sixth studio album by Finnish symphonic death metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow. It was released in May 2009 through Suomen Musiikki for Finland, Massacre Records for the rest of Europe and Marquee/Avalon ...
'' (2009)
* ''Saivon Lapsi'' (2013)
Singles
* ''
Sacrament of Wilderness
"Sacrament of Wilderness" is the second single by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released as the first single from their album '' Oceanborn'', and a split-single with Eternal Tears of Sorrow and Darkwoods My Betrothed.''Once Upon a Nig ...
''
(split single with Nightwish
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neva ...
and Darkwoods My Betrothed
Darkwoods My Betrothed are a Finnish black metal band from Kitee.
History
Formed in 1993 as Virgin's Cunt, they set out to be the "most blasphemous black metal band in Europe". After recording a couple demos under this name, the band change ...
) (1998)
* ''The Last One for Life''
(Finland only) (2001)
* ''Tears of Autumn Rain'' (2009)
* ''Dark Alliance'' (2013)
Band members
Timeline
ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:30
PlotArea = left:200 bottom:80 top:15 right:60
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1994 till:29/10/2019
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Colors =
id:voc value:red legend:Vocals
id:gtr value:teal legend:Lead_guitar
id:gtr2 value:green legend:Rhythm_guitar
id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:kbd value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:drums value:orange legend:Drums
id:Lines value:black legend:Albums
id:other value:gray(0.5) legend:Other_releases
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ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1994
LineData =
at:01/10/1997 color:black layer:back
at:01/12/1998 color:black layer:back
at:01/04/2000 color:black layer:back
at:01/09/2001 color:black layer:back
at:01/03/2006 color:black layer:back
at:01/05/2009 color:black layer:back
at:01/02/2013 color:black layer:back
at:01/05/1994 color:other layer:back
at:01/10/1994 color:other layer:back
BarData =
bar:Altti text:"Altti Veteläinen"
bar:JarmoK text:"Jarmo Kylmänen"
bar:Olli text:"Olli-Pekka Törrö"
bar:AnttiT text:"Antti-Matti Talala"
bar:AnttiK text:"Antti Kokko"
bar:Risto text:"Risto Ruuth"
bar:Mika text:"Mika Lammassaari"
bar:JarmoP text:"Jarmo Puolakanaho"
bar:Pasi text:"Pasi Hiltula"
bar:Janne text:"Janne Tolsa"
bar:Petri text:"Petri Sankala"
bar:Juho text:"Juho Raappana"
PlotData =
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Altti from:01/05/1994 till:01/03/2003 color:voc
bar:Altti from:01/05/1994 till:01/03/2003 color:bass width:3
bar:Altti from:01/02/2005 till:end color:voc
bar:Altti from:01/02/2005 till:end color:bass width:3
bar:JarmoP from:01/05/1994 till:01/03/2003 color:gtr2
bar:JarmoP from:01/05/1994 till:01/03/1999 color:kbd width:3
bar:JarmoP from:01/02/2005 till:end color:gtr2
bar:Olli from:01/05/1994 till:01/03/1999 color:gtr
bar:Olli from:01/05/1994 till:01/03/1999 color:kbd width:3
bar:Petri from:01/03/1999 till:01/03/2003 color:drums
bar:Petri from:01/03/2005 till:01/12/2008 color:drums
bar:Pasi from:01/03/1999 till:01/03/2003 color:kbd
bar:AnttiT from:01/03/1999 till:01/11/2000 color:gtr
bar:AnttiK from:01/11/2000 till:01/03/2003 color:gtr
bar:JarmoK from:01/03/2005 till:end color:voc
bar:Janne from:01/03/2005 till:end color:kbd
bar:Risto from:01/03/2005 till:01/03/2009 color:gtr
bar:Risto from:18/09/2018 till:end color:gtr
bar:Juho from:01/12/2008 till:end color:drums
bar:Mika from:01/05/2009 till:18/09/2018 color:gtr
Current members
* Altti Veteläinen – vocals, bass, 1994–present
* Jarmo Kylmänen – clean vocals, 2008–present
* Jarmo Puolakanaho – guitar, 1994–present
* Risto Ruuth – guitar, 2005–2009, 2018–present
*
Janne Tolsa
Janne Tolsa (born 7 March 1970) is a Finnish heavy metal musician. Known for his keyboard work in Tarot from the late 1980s, Tolsa also takes part in the melodic death metal band Eternal Tears of Sorrow, which he joined in 2005 for their albu ...
– keyboards, 2005–present
* Juho Raappana – drums, 2008–present
Former members
* Olli-Pekka Törrö – guitar, 1994–1999 (
For My Pain..., also in all the previous pre-EToS projects)
* Pasi Hiltula – keyboards, 1999–2003 (
Kalmah
Kalmah is a Finnish melodic death metal band from Oulu that formed in 1998. In less than a year after its formation, Kalmah was signed by Spinefarm Records. The word "kalmah" is Karelian and could be translated as "to the grave" or "to the dea ...
, Scenery Channel,
Burning Point), session tour musician 2009–2010
* Antti-Matti Talala – guitar, 1999–2000 (
To/Die/For
To/Die/For (often abbreviated TDF) are a gothic metal band from the town of Kouvola in southeast of Finland, originally assembled in 1993 as a hard rock band under the name Mary-Ann. In 1999, they decided to change their musical style to gothi ...
,
Soulrelic,
Kalmah
Kalmah is a Finnish melodic death metal band from Oulu that formed in 1998. In less than a year after its formation, Kalmah was signed by Spinefarm Records. The word "kalmah" is Karelian and could be translated as "to the grave" or "to the dea ...
)
* Antti Kokko – guitar 2000–2003, bass as a session tour musician 1997–1998 (
Kalmah
Kalmah is a Finnish melodic death metal band from Oulu that formed in 1998. In less than a year after its formation, Kalmah was signed by Spinefarm Records. The word "kalmah" is Karelian and could be translated as "to the grave" or "to the dea ...
)
* Petri Sankala – drums 1999–2008, session tour musician 1997–1998 (
For My Pain...,
Kalmah
Kalmah is a Finnish melodic death metal band from Oulu that formed in 1998. In less than a year after its formation, Kalmah was signed by Spinefarm Records. The word "kalmah" is Karelian and could be translated as "to the grave" or "to the dea ...
, also in Andromeda 1992–93)
* Mika Lammassaari – guitar, 2009–2018, (
Wolfheart, Mors Subita)
Guest musicians on albums
* Heli Luokkala – guest vocals on ''Vilda Mánnu''
*
Kimberly Goss
Kimberly Goss is an American singer and keyboardist, best known as frontwoman and co-founder of the Finnish metal band Sinergy.
Early life
Goss was born in Los Angeles, California, to a Korean father and a German mother who worked as a jazz si ...
– guest vocals on ''Chaotic Beauty'' (
Sinergy
Sinergy was a Finnish/Swedish Heavy metal music, heavy metal band started in 1997 by American musician Kimberly Goss. The idea for a "balls-out female-fronted metal band" was first formed when Kimberly Goss of Dimmu Borgir met Jesper Strömbla ...
,
Therion)
*
Juha Kylmänen
Juha Kylmänen (born 20 January 1981) is a Finnish singer who is the lead vocalist of gothic metal bands For My Pain... and Reflexion.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''A Virgin and a Whore'' (2001, with Eternal Tears of Sorrow)
* ''Fallen'' ...
– guest vocals on ''A Virgin and a Whore'' (
For My Pain..., Reflexion)
* Miriam Elisabeth Renvåg – guest vocals on ''Before the Bleeding Sun'', ''Children of the Dark Waters'' and ''Saivon Lapsi'' (
Ram-Zet
Ram-Zet is an avant-garde metal band formed in Hamar, Norway in 1998. Genre classification
Ram-Zet's music is very diverse ranging from black metal to thrash metal. It has industrial sounds, progressive structures, and traditional instrumen ...
,
For My Pain...)
*
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 ...
– guest vocals on ''Before the Bleeding Sun'' (
Sonata Arctica
Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup ...
)
*
Marko Hietala
Marko Tapani "Marco" Hietala (born 14 January 1966) is a Finnish heavy metal vocalist, bassist and songwriter. Internationally, he is best known as the former bassist, male vocalist and secondary composer to Tuomas Holopainen, of the symphonic ...
– guest vocals on ''Before the Bleeding Sun'' (
Tarot
The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots, ...
,
Nightwish
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neva ...
,
Sinergy
Sinergy was a Finnish/Swedish Heavy metal music, heavy metal band started in 1997 by American musician Kimberly Goss. The idea for a "balls-out female-fronted metal band" was first formed when Kimberly Goss of Dimmu Borgir met Jesper Strömbla ...
)
* Heidi Parviainen – guest vocals on ''Children of the Dark Waters'' (
Amberian Dawn
Amberian Dawn is a Finnish symphonic power metal band, formed in 2006 by Tuomas Seppälä and Tommi Kuri. Their fifth album '' Re-Evolution'' (a re-recorded compilation with a new singer) was released on KHY Suomen Musiikki & Encore Music in sum ...
)
Session tour musicians
* Pekka Kokko – bass guitar, 1999 (
Kalmah
Kalmah is a Finnish melodic death metal band from Oulu that formed in 1998. In less than a year after its formation, Kalmah was signed by Spinefarm Records. The word "kalmah" is Karelian and could be translated as "to the grave" or "to the dea ...
)
* Heidi Määttä – keyboards, 2000 (Embraze,
The Man-Eating Tree), temporarily replacing Pasi Hiltula.
*
Juha Kylmänen
Juha Kylmänen (born 20 January 1981) is a Finnish singer who is the lead vocalist of gothic metal bands For My Pain... and Reflexion.
Discography
Studio albums
* ''A Virgin and a Whore'' (2001, with Eternal Tears of Sorrow)
* ''Fallen'' ...
– clean vocals, 2001 (
For My Pain..., Reflexion,
To/Die/For
To/Die/For (often abbreviated TDF) are a gothic metal band from the town of Kouvola in southeast of Finland, originally assembled in 1993 as a hard rock band under the name Mary-Ann. In 1999, they decided to change their musical style to gothi ...
)
* Veli-Matti Kananen – keyboards, 2006–2007, 2010 (Tacere), temporarily replacing Janne Tolsa
* Tuomo Laikari – drums, 2006–2007, temporarily replacing Petri Sankala
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Finnish melodic death metal musical groups
Musical groups established in 1994
Musical groups disestablished in 2001
Musical groups reestablished in 2005
Finnish symphonic metal musical groups
Massacre Records artists
1994 establishments in Finland