Altaria is a Finnish heavy metal band from

Jakobstad Jakobstad (; fi, Pietarsaari) is a town and municipality in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The town has a population of () and covers a land area of . The population density is . Neighboring municipalities are Larsmo, Pedersöre, and Nykarleby. The ci ...

, who have released four albums on the record label

Metal Heaven Metal Heaven is an independent record label based in Altheim, Germany, established in 2004 as a sub-label of AOR Heaven. Its president is Georg Siegl. Artists * Altaria *Audiovision *Bai Bang * Biss *Bloodbound *Blue Tears * Bulletrain * Burn ...

, a fifth on Escape Music and a sixth on Reaper Entertainment.

History

In January 2008, the band decided to part ways with their record label

for undisclosed reasons. In the same month, bass player

Marko Pukkila Altaria is a Finnish heavy metal band from Jakobstad, who have released four albums on the record label Metal Heaven, a fifth on Escape Music and a sixth on Reaper Entertainment. History In January 2008, the band decided to part ways with t ...

parted ways with the band after an argument concerning the split with

, and was replaced as vocalist by Ex-Terrorwheel bass player, Marco Luponero. After that, the only original member still active with Altaria at the time was Tony Smedjebacka. Towards the later part of 2008 the band announced on their website that they were in the process of writing songs for their fifth (fourth full) studio album. In March 2009, they stated that they had finished recording 12 tracks for their upcoming release. The title had yet to be confirmed, but one track had already been completed, entitled "Pride and Desire". Altaria's fifth studio album, ''Unholy'', was released in May 2009. After nearly five years of inactivity, the band, together with former bass player

got together for Altaria's final concert at Nummirock 2016 on 23 June. In December 2019, the band announced through their new website that the 2006 lineup had returned, and were recording material for a sixth album for a late 2020 release. They also remastered their second album,'' Divinity'', which was released on 27 March 2020. In April 2022, the band announced their new album, ''Wisdom'', would be released on July 8.

Members

;Current lineup *Tony Smedjebacka – drums *Marko Pukkila – bass *Taage Laiho – lead vocals *Juha Pekka Alanen – guitar *Petri Aho – guitar ;Former members *Jani Liimatainen – guitars, keyboards *Johan Mattjus – lead vocals *

Emppu Vuorinen 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 Neval ...

– guitars *Jouni Nikula – lead vocals *Marco Luponero – lead vocals , bass

Timeline

Discography

* ''Sleeping Visions'' (2001 demo) * ''Feed the Fire'' (2002 demo) * ''Invitation'' (

, 2003) * ''Divinity'' (Metal Heaven, 2004) * ''The Fallen Empire'' (Metal Heaven, 2006) * ''Divine Invitation'' (2007) * ''Unholy'' (Escape Music, 2009) * ''Wisdom'' (Reaper Entertainment, 2022)

References

External links

Official website
(archived) * Finnish power metal musical groups {{Finland-band-stub