Katra is a Finnish symphonic metal band founded by vocalist .

Members

Katra Anniina Solopuro (born 10 August 1984 in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

, Finland) has been studying piano since the age of 6. At 14 she switched to voice lessons. Today she studies singing and theatre music in Tampere University of Applied Sciences. She also has a background in dance and gymnastics. She has a daughter, Illusia, whose father is Risto Katajisto, the guitarist of

Lovex Lovex is a rock band from Tampere, Finland. History Lovex started officially in 2001–2002, when several musicians who had previously played in other bands, decided to start their own band to play rock music and have fun. By 2004 they had wr ...

. In her former bands,

and Essentia, she played keyboard and sang background vocals. She was also the vocalist for cover band Coverstone and symphonic metal band Feridea. Other current members of Katra include guitarist Kristian Kangasniemi ( Sonicmind), bassist Johannes Tolonen (, , Plain Fade, Alcoholica), drummer Matti Auerkallio ( Avenie, , Duality,

Animal House ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Peter Riegert, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas Hu ...

, Mistreaters and Four Hoarsemen), and guitarist Teemu Mätäsjärvi (Alcoholica).

History

"Sahara" single (2006) and ''Katra'' (2007)

Solopuro released a single "Sahara" in September 2006. Then she formed the band Katra and published the self-titled album ''Katra'' through

Edel Records Edel SE & Co. KGaA is a German independent media company based in Hamburg. As a label and publishing group, it also operates marketing and sales for artists and smaller music labels. The repertoire of the Edel labels includes dance, rock and po ...

in spring 2007. The "Sahara" single received much radio play and while on tour, the band started writing new material. Katra also released a single that included the songs "Tietäjä" and "Vaaratar".

Napalm Records signing and ''Beast Within'' (2008)

In November 2007 it was announced that

Napalm Records Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg. The label l ...

signed Katra and asked for an international version of their 2007 album ''Katra''. The band re-recorded the 2007 album ''Katra'' in English, along with two new songs and named the English language release ''Beast Within''. The album was produced by Risto Asikainen (

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after fo ...

) at Jean Records Studio. ''Beast Within'' was published in late August/early September 2008. The band played a couple of gigs in Germany, including Summer Breeze Open Air 2009 and received a good response. Katra also released a video for the title track "Beast Within". On June 19, 2010 Katra opened for

Theatre of Tragedy Theatre of Tragedy was a Norwegian band from Stavanger, active between 1993 and 2010. They are best known for their earlier albums, which influenced the gothic metal genre. History Formation (1993) Theatre of Tragedy was founded on 2 October 19 ...

at Circo Volador in Mexico, a career highlight for all of the members.

''Out of the Ashes'' (2010)

''Out of the Ashes'' was released in October 2010 internationally through Napalm Records and in Finland through Bullhead Music. Although it is their third album, Katra considers it their first creation as a band. A video was released for the song "One Wish Away" that features an appearance by UniFlow, fire and lihtperformance group in Finland. The German magazine ''

Orkus ''Orkus'' is a monthly German music and culture magazine published by the Zoomia Media Group. Despite its subtitle ("Gothic - romantic - industrial - electro") and its web tagline ("Das Magazin fur Dark Rock-Electro-Gothic Rock-Dark Metal & More") ...

'' reviewed it as darker, more melancholic and more determined than the previous album.

New album announcement, and work with Feridea (2015)

In December 2014 Katra Solopuro joined Feridea as their vocalist. On January 10, 2015, Katra Solopouro announced via her Facebook account that she entered to studio to record a new album, in order to be released in the next spring '' Into A Dawn'' was released in march 2015 Feridea

Press and honors

Katra have been featured in Germany's ''Orkus'' magazine, where they won "Best International Newcomer" in the 2009 fan poll, and China's X music magazine. Katra have also been nominated in the "Best Atmospheric/Symphonic Metal" category for the album ''Beast Within'' on the Estonian webzine Metal Storm.

Line-up

;Current members: *2006: Katra Solopuro – vocals *2006: Kristian Kangasniemi – guitar *2006: Johannes Tolonen – bass *2009: Teemu Mätäsjärvi – guitar *2009: Matti Auerkallio – drums ;Former musicians: *2006: Jani Wilund – keyboards *2006: Tom "Tomma" Gardiner – guitar *2006-2009: Jaakko Järvensivu – drums ;Tour musicians: *2008: Teemu Mätäsjärvi – guitar

Discography

Studio albums

*2007: '' Katra'' (

Edel Edel is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Abraham Edel (1908–2007), North American philosopher and ethicist * Alfred William Edel (c. 1930–2005), American television news presenter * Apoula Ed ...

) *2008: '' Beast Within'' (

Napalm Napalm is an incendiary mixture of a gelling agent and a volatile petrochemical (usually gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel). The name is a portmanteau of two of the constituents of the original thickening and gelling agents: coprecipitated alu ...

) *2010: '' Out of the Ashes'' (Napalm)

Singles

*2006: ''

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

'' *2007: '' Tietäjä/Vaaratar'' *2010: ''

One Wish Away 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

Music videos

*2007: ''

Tietäjä Tietäjä (pl. ''tietäjät'', 'seer', 'wise man', literally 'knower') is a magically powerful figure in traditional Finno-Karelian culture, whose supernatural powers arise from his great knowledge. Roles The activities of a ''tietäjä'' were p ...

'' *2008: '' Beast Within'' *2010: ''

References

External links

Katra's personal official websiteBand's official websiteBand's official MyspaceBand's blogBand's page at Metal Storm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katra Finnish symphonic metal musical groups