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 (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

formed in 1996 and broke up in 2012.

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'', released through Spinefarm Records in 2002. The album entered the Finnish charts at position 17. At the time, Norther was playing shows only in and around the

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

area. That changed when the album ''Mirror of Madness'' came out in early 2003 (entering the Finnish charts at position 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, ...

and

Hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...

in late 2003. In early 2004, Norther released its third full-length album, ''Death Unlimited,'' which reached 17 on the Finnish charts. Norther played several shows in 2005 and then recorded an EP, ''Solution7'' (recorded at Astia Studio). It landed in the official Finnish charts at position five. Norther added Kristian Ranta's vocals afterward. In the summer of 2005, Norther used

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 Borg ...

Gothenburg, Sweden 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 a ...

, to record their fourth full-length-album named ''Till Death Unites Us'', with producers

Fredrik Nordström Björn Tom Fredrik Nordström (born 5 January 1967) is a Swedish musician and record producer, best known as the guitarist of heavy metal band Dream Evil. Nordström is one of the leading melodic death metal and power metal producers in Sweden ...

and Patrick J. Sten. Soon after recording the album, Toni Hallio left the band to pursue other interests; Heikki Saari replaced him at drums. After its release in January 2006, ''Till Death Unites Us'' was 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 Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The record hit number one in the Finnish charts. Later that year the released ''Amoral & Drone'', and supported it with a European tour. Petri Lindroos quit as lead vocalist on 1 February 2009 and was replaced by

Aleksi Sihvonen Aleksi Sihvonen is the current vocalist for the Finnish band Medicated. He replaced Norther's vocalist Petri Lindroos in 2009, until the group disbanded in 2012. He was also the former guitarist and vocalist of Imperanon. Personal information * ...

(ex-Imperanon) on 14 April 2009. Their sixth studio album, ''Circle Regenerated'', and was released 19 April 2011. The band made their final appearance at the

Brutal Assault Brutal Assault is an open-air extreme metal festival that takes place in the 18th-century army fortress Josefov, located in Jaroměř, Czechia. It is held each August early in the month from Wednesday until Saturday. The festival started in 199 ...

festival in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

on 10 August 2012.

Band members

;Final lineup *

Kristian Ranta Kristian Ranta, also known as Kride, was the guitarist of the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther, until their break up in 2012. Kristian has composed most of Norther's best known songs including Frozen Angel, and is also credited for ren ...

–

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(2000–2012),

clean vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(2004-2012) *

Jukka Koskinen Jukka Koskinen is a Finnish musician, who is the bassist for the Finnish band Wintersun. He was also the bassist for Norther from 2000 until their disbandment in 2012, for Amberian Dawn from 2010 until 2013, for Cain's Offering from 2009 until ...

– bass (2000–2012) *

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, Finland * ...

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

(2001–2012) *

Heikki Saari Heikki Saari (alias "Mörkö", "kermis" or "kmn") (born on 8 September 1984 and originating from Veteli, Finland) is the current drummer for Whorion and Finntroll. He is also the live drummer for Tuoni and former drummer of Norther and Amberian ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2005–2012) *

–

harsh vocals A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

(2009–2012) * Daniel Freyberg – guitars,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

(2009–2012) ;Former members *

Petri Lindroos Petri Lindroos (born 10 January 1980 in Espoo, Finland) is a melodic death/folk metal guitarist and vocalist. He is currently the lead vocalist in Ensiferum. Previously, he was a founding member and lead vocalist for Norther. Biography At 14 yea ...

– 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 – bass (2000) * Sebastian Knight – keyboards (2000)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1996 till:08/10/2012 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_Albums id:Other value:gray(0.5) legend:Demo_and_EPs Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:2 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1996 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1996 LineData = at:07/18/2002 color:black layer:back at:08/12/2003 color:black layer:back at:03/03/2004 color:black layer:back at:01/25/2006 color:black layer:back at:02/13/2008 color:black layer:back at:03/30/2011 color:black layer:back at:11/10/2000 color:other layer:back at:01/01/2005 color:other layer:back at:01/01/2007 color:other layer:back BarData = bar:Petri text:"Petri Lindroos" bar:Aleksi text:"Aleksi Sihvonen" bar:Roni text:"Roni Korpas" bar:Kristian text:"Kristian Ranta" bar:Daniel text:"Daniel Freyberg" bar:Sebastian text:"Sebastian Knight" bar:Tuomas text:"Tuomas Planman" bar:Tuomas_Stubu text:"Tuomas Stubu" bar:Joakim text:"Joakim Ekroos" bar:Jukka text:"Jukka Koskinen" bar:Toni text:"Toni Hallio" bar:Heikki text:"Heikki Saari" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Petri from:01/01/1996 till:02/01/2009 color:Vocals bar:Aleksi from:04/14/2009 till:end color:Vocals bar:Kristian from:06/01/2000 till:end color:Guitar bar:Roni from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1999 color:Guitar bar:Daniel from:02/01/2009 till:end color:Guitar bar:Tuomas_Stubu from:01/01/1996 till:12/31/1997 color:Bass bar:Joakim from:06/01/2000 till:12/01/2000 color:Bass bar:Jukka from:12/01/2000 till:end color:Bass bar:Sebastian from:06/01/2000 till:12/01/2000 color:Keyboards bar:Tuomas from:01/01/2001 till:end color:Keyboards bar:Toni from:01/01/1996 till:10/15/2005 color:Drums bar:Heikki from:10/16/2005 till:end color:Drums width:3 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Kristian from:07/01/2004 till:end color:Vocals bar:Petri from:01/01/1996 till:02/01/2009 color:Guitar

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 "War ...

'' (2002) * '' Mirror of Madness'' (2003) * '' Death Unlimited'' (2004) * ''

Till Death Unites Us ''Till Death Unites Us'' is the fourth full-length studio album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther. It was released on 25 January 2006 through Spinefarm Records. The album has no cover song, while most other Norther releases inclu ...

'' (2006) * '' N'' (2008) * '' Circle Regenerated'' (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) * "Break Myself Away" (Online Single) (2010)

Videography

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Finnish melodic death metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups from Helsinki Century Media Records artists Musical groups disestablished in 2012