''Midnattens Widunder'' ( en, Midnight Beasts) is the debut studio album by Finnish

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exampl ...

band

Finntroll Finntroll is a Finnish metal band from Helsinki that combines elements of black metal and folk metal. Finntroll's lyrics are mostly in Swedish, the only exception being the song "Madon Laulu" on ''Visor om slutet''. Finntroll's original singer, ...

. It was released in Finland in 1999 by

Spinefarm 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 ...

Concept

The lyrical content of the album follows the story of the legendary Rivfader ("Rip-father"), " king-shaman" of the trollish race, and his war against Christian encroachment of the trollish " North Lands". The trolls gather under the Svartberg ("Black Mountain") around the ancient throne of Rivfader, who then leads them on a war against the "Tribe of Christ". The story acts as an analogy of the conflict between

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

and Pagans in

Early Medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

Scandinavia, and many of the concepts appearing in the album are returned to in the band's later work. The character of the Troll-King Rivfader, in particular, is a recurring figure, again taking centre-stage for the band's fourth album,

Ur Jordens Djup ''Ur jordens djup'' ( en, From the Depths of the Earth) is the fourth full-length Finntroll album. It was released on March 28, 2007. The album is the first to feature vocalist Mathias Lillmåns, who replaced Tapio Wilska in 2006. Unlike in ''Natt ...

Track listing

*Tracks 1 and 9 music by Trollhorn. *Track 2 lyrics by Katla, music by Trollhorn. *Tracks 3, 4 and 6-8 lyrics by Katla, music by Somnium. *Track 5 lyrics by Katla, music by Somnium/Trollhorn.

Personnel

* Jan "Katla" Jämsen – vocals * Samuli "Skrymer" Ponsimaa (credited as "Örmy") – guitar * Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta – guitar *Samu "Beast Dominator" Ruotsalainen – drums * Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali – keyboards * Sami "Tundra" Uusitalo – bass ;Additional personnel *

Tapio Wilska Tapio may refer to: *Tapio (given name), a Finnish male given name *Tapio (surname), a Finnish surname *Tapio (spirit), a god or spirit in Eastern Finnish mythology *Tapiola, one of the major urban centres within the city of Espoo, outside of Helsi ...

– clean vocals on "Vätteanda" and "Midnattens widunder" *Mistress Helga – accordion on "Midnattens widunder"

References

External links

''Midnattens widunder''
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

1999 debut albums Concept albums Finntroll albums Season of Mist albums {{1990s-black-metal-album-stub