Mikko Härkin (born 25 May 1979 in

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

, who has performed with

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 ...

and Kenziner.

History

Härkin begun to study

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

at the age of 5. He joined ''Kenziner'' in 1998 and with them recorded his first album, ''The Prophecies''. In 2000, he joined ''

'' and toured

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

with ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Rhapsody Rhapsody may refer to: * A work of epic poetry, or part of one, that is suitable for recitation at one time ** Rhapsode, a classical Greek professional performer of epic poetry Computer software * Rhapsody (online music service), an online m ...

''. Härkin recorded keyboards for ''Sonata Arctica's'' second album, ''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the ce ...

'', which was released in 2001. ''Sonata Arctica's'' first live CD, named ''

Songs of Silence ''Songs of Silence - Live in Tokyo'' is a live album by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica. Both Japanese and Korean versions have an exclusive cover art and one bonus track, and their first edition had a bonus CD containing three tracks. T ...

'', featured Härkin on keyboards. At the end of 2002, Härkin left ''Sonata Arctica''. In 2003, Härkin started a band named Wingdom with vocalist Sami Asp,

Alessandro Lotta Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as Rhapsody) is an Italian symphonic power metal band formed by Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli, widely seen as a pioneer of the symphonic power metal subgenre. Since forming in 1993 as Thundercross, the band ...

(ex-

), Markus Niemispelto, and guitarist Jukka Ruotsalainen. In 2005, Wingdom' released their first album, ''Reality''. Afterwards, the band ''

Divinefire Divinefire is a Christian metal group founded in the spring of 2004 by Finnish guitarist Jani Stefanovic, and Swedish singer Christian Liljegren. Liljegren is the current frontman of the band Narnia. The group signed a contract with King R ...

'' invited Härkin to play keyboards on the album ''Hero''. Härkin joined Jani Stefanovic's band ''Essence of Sorrow'' with Mats Leven (Vocals), Christian Palin (singer for Random Eyes on vocals). In January 2007, they released their first album, ''Reflections From The Obscure''. Since 2006 Härkin has been working on a project titled '' Mehida''. He worked on Solution .45's debut album ''For Aeons Past'', alongside

Jani Stefanovic Jani Stefanovic (born 23 May 1979) is a Swedish multi-instrumentalist that primarily plays Swedish death metal. Jani started playing around the age of 13–14 years old. Personal life Jani was born in Gothenburg, Sweden to a Finnish mother and a ...

and ex-

Scar Symmetry Scar Symmetry is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Avesta, formed in 2004. The band has released six albums, with seven released singles. They are signed to Nuclear Blast Records. History Formation and ''Symmetric in Design'' (2004−200 ...

vocalist

Christian Älvestam Christian Älvestam (Born 14 April 1976 in Sweden) is a vocalist, lyricist, guitarist, bassist and drummer for several bands from Sweden. He is, however, best known as the former vocalist for the Swedish metal band Scar Symmetry. He currently per ...

. In 2010 Härkin joined

Symfonia Symfonia was a short-lived symphonic power metal supergroup formed in 2010 by Andre Matos (vocals), Timo Tolkki (guitars), Jari Kainulainen (bass), Mikko Härkin (keyboards) and Uli Kusch (drums). On February 18 of 2011, the band made its debut pe ...

, a power metal supergroup with

André Matos Andre Coelho Matos (14 September 1971 – 8 June 2019) was a Brazilian singer and musician. He was involved in the heavy metal bands Viper, Angra, Shaman and Symfonia. Since 2006, Matos had been dedicating his time to his solo career. In 201 ...

Timo Tolkki Timo Tapio Tolkki (born 3 March 1966) is a Finnish musician best known as the former guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer of the power metal band Stratovarius. With his tenure lasting for more than twenty years, he was the longest standing ...

Jari Kainulainen Jari "Jartsi" Kainulainen (born 29 April 1970) is a Finnish bass guitarist. He is best known for having been the bass player of the power metal band Stratovarius from 1993 until 2005. Kainulainen is currently the bassist of Masterplan, having ...

and

Uli Kusch Ulrich Kusch (born 11 March 1967) is a heavy metal drummer. He is best known for playing with Helloween, Gamma Ray, Masterplan and Holy Moses, among others. He is known for his technical style of playing, fast-paced speed metal-like rhythm, an ...

. The band made their debut performance at

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 ...

2011, but broke up later that year. In 2012, Härkin joined

Luca Turilli's Rhapsody Luca Turilli's Rhapsody (often simply referred by itself as Rhapsody, LT's Rhapsody or Turilli's Rhapsody) was an Italian symphonic power metal band created and led by Luca Turilli after his split from Rhapsody of Fire, also including German, ...

as a live member. In 2021, he joined in a Timo Tolkki's solo project.

Discography

*Kenziner - ''Prophecies'' (1999) *

- ''

'' (2001) *

- ''

Orientation Orientation may refer to: Positioning in physical space * Map orientation, the relationship between directions on a map and compass directions * Orientation (housing), the position of a building with respect to the sun, a concept in building de ...

(EP)'' (2001) *

- ''

'' (2002) *

- '' Takatalvi (EP)'' (2003) *

- ''Hero'' (2005) *Wingdom - ''Reality'' (2006) *Essence of Sorrow - ''Reflections from the Obscure'' (2007) * Mehida - '' Blood & Water'' (2007) *

Cain's Offering Cain's Offering is a Finnish power metal supergroup that formed in 2008. History Cain's Offering was formed by former Sonata Arctica members Jani Liimatainen and Mikko Härkin, Stratovarius singer Timo Kotipelto, Norther and Wintersun bass play ...

- '' Gather the Faithful'' (2009) * Solution .45 - '' For Aeons Past'' (2010) *

- ''

In Paradisum "In paradisum" (English: "Into paradise") is an antiphon from the traditional Latin liturgy of the Western Church Requiem Mass. It is sung by the choir as the body is being taken out of the church. The text of the ''In paradisum'' — with or wit ...

'' (2011) *

Avalon (Finnish band) Timo Tolkki's Avalon (also known simply as Avalon) is a Finnish metal opera project created by Timo Tolkki (formerly of Stratovarius, Revolution Renaissance and Symfonia) in 2013. According to Tolkki "I find the Metal Opera concept fascinating an ...

- ''

The Land of New Hope ''The Land of New Hope'' is the first full-length album by Timo Tolkki's Finnish metal opera project Avalon. The album was released on May 17, 2013 in Europe and May 21, 2013 in the US. According to Tolkki "I sort of rediscovered myself musically ...

'' (2013)

References

External links

Mikko Härkin Fan Site
1979 births Living people Sonata Arctica members Finnish heavy metal keyboardists Cain's Offering members Solution .45 members Mehida members Symfonia members {{Finland-musician-stub