Mana Mana was a rock band from

Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. Th ...

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 ...

. It was formed in 1986 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Jouni Mömmö and lead guitarist Arto "Otra" Romppanen. Their musical style could be described as a mixture of

goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...

and

death rock Death rock (or deathrock) is a rock music subgenre incorporating horror elements and gothic theatrics. It emerged from punk rock on the West Coast of the United States in the early 1980s and overlaps with the gothic rock and horror punk genre ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

with heavy

stoner rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep. ...

and hints of

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

Career

Before Mana Mana, Mömmö's band was Silmienvaihtajat ("Eye changers"), named after the poem of

Uuno Kailas Uuno Kailas, born Frans Uno Salonen (29 March 1901 – 22 March 1933) was a Finnish poet, writer, and translator. Together with Kaarlo Sarkia, Kailas was the most prominent Finnish poet of the 1930s. Life Kailas was born in Heinola. After h ...

. Most of the band's lyrics had been written at that time. This band's music can be heard on Silmienvaihtajat: 1985-1986 (Svart SVR077CD). Mana Mana's trademark was to use multiple overdubbed, distorted guitar tracks in their studio recordings, as many as 8–12 per track. Their heavy music was accompanied by haunting vocals by Mömmö sung in Finnish. Jouni Mömmö wrote all the lyrics for the group, and the texts often dealt with topics filled with

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

symbolism, personal revelations, the

apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...

, death,

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

, insanity and stories of love gone wrong. The lyrics were often blaming (sometimes attacking

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

) and typically depressing, gloomy and mentally disturbed. The name of the band is apparently a reference to the concept of

mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being a ...

Polynesian mythology The Polynesian narrative or Polynesian mythology encompasses the oral traditions of the people of Polynesia (a grouping of Central and South Pacific Ocean island archipelagos in the Polynesian Triangle) together with those of the scattered cul ...

. Their career was rather short; during their original existence Mana Mana made only a few vinyl singles and one LP album, "Totuus Palaa" (engl. ''The truth is burning''), which was released in 1990. Their inability to continue was because of Mömmö's deteriorating mental condition – he suffered from

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

, had been in and out of a

mental institute Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociati ...

and became almost

catatonic Catatonia is a complex neuropsychiatric behavioral syndrome that is characterized by abnormal movements, immobility, abnormal behaviors, and withdrawal. The onset of catatonia can be acute or subtle and symptoms can wax, wane, or change during ...

at some point, thus making it impossible for the band to create new material and to do live shows. One of their final efforts was to re-record vocal tracks with English translations of some of their songs from "Totuus palaa" in order to achieve a possibility of success abroad. These songs were "Totuus palaa" (retitled "Truth is Burning"), "Ilmestyskirjan peto" ("The Beast"), "Kuolla Elävänä" ("To Die Alive") and "Ketä sä rakastat?" ("Who Do You Love?"). However, Mömmö was already too deranged to perform and his voice was barely audible. The recordings weren't released until after his death on the "Complete ... Kaikki" CD compilation. Jouni Mömmö committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

by taking an

overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

drugs A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...

on 26 October 1991. He was 35 years old. After Mömmö's death, Mana Mana played many live shows as a tribute, with two different vocalists, Kimmo "Kaltsu" Kuosmanen and Sami Tiilama. In 1998, lead guitarist Otra Romppanen started to compile song material out of old 4-track demos, rehearsal tapes and notebooks. A new Mana Mana album, "Murheen Laakso" (engl. ''A Valley of Tears'') was released in 2000 as a tribute to Jouni Mömmö. Sami Tiilama did most of the vocal parts, and Antti Litmanen from Babylon Whores featured as one of the guitarists on the album. He also accompanied on Mana Mana's "burial tour" the same year. A live CD was made of their final show at

Tavastia Club The Tavastia Club ( fi, Tavastia-klubi) is a popular rock music club in Helsinki, Finland. The house is owned by Hämäläis-Osakunta, one of the student nations at the University of Helsinki, but since 1991 the club has been operated by a privat ...

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 ...

in the 2001. It was titled "Kuolla elävänä" (engl. ''To Die Alive'') and was released in 2004. After the official split-up of the actual band, former Mana Mana members have continued performing tribute concerts under moniker ''Murheen laakso''. Many Finnish artists have covered their songs in their live acts, and Finnish groups such as

Kotiteollisuus Kotiteollisuus is a Finnish hard rock and heavy metal band that was formed in 1991 in Lappeenranta. The band released its first demo tape in 1993 under the name "Hullu ukko ja Kotiteollisuus" ('Crazy Old Fogey and Cottage Industry'). The short ...

PMMP PMMP was a Finnish pop rock band fronted by singers Paula Vesala and Mira Luoti and backed by musicians Mikko Virta, Juho Vehmanen and Heikki Kytölä. The name of the band is often said to be an abbreviation of the sentence "Paulan ja Mira ...

and

Viikate Viikate ("Scythe" in English) is a Finnish rock band from Kouvola, formed in 1996. The band is known for its melancholic lyrics, drawing inspiration from Finnish romance movies of the 1950s and Finnish singers of the era, including Reino Helism ...

have recorded their own cover versions of Mana Mana songs.

Personnel

* Jouni Mömmö – vocals and guitars * Arto "Otra" Romppanen – lead guitars * Tuomas Moilanen – bass * Timo Puuko – drums * Janne Suhonen – guitars (from 1990) *

Antti Litmanen Antti is a Finnish masculine given name derived from the Greek name ''Andreas''. In Estonia, the variant Anti is more common. It is uncommon as a surname. People with the name include: Given name * Antti Autti (born 1985), Finnish snowboarde ...

– guitars (2001, on "Murheen Laakso")

Discography

* ''Maria / Vaarallista'' (7" single, 1988) * ''Totuus palaa'' (LP, 1990) * ''Raptori'' / Suikki (7" single, 1990) – "Raptori" is a sarcastic adaptation of

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...

s "The Robots" and "Suikki" is a cover song from Finnish group Neljä Ruusua. * ''Hän on paha'' (5" split-single, 1994) * ''Complete...Kaikki'' (CD compilation, 1996) – Includes all previously released studio material along with four songs from "Totuus palaa" with overdubbed vocal tracks sung in English. Post-Mömmö era * ''Murheen laakso'' (CD, 2000) * ''Kuolla elävänä'' – live 2001 (CD, 2004) * ''2000–2001'' (2-CD compilation, 2005) – A 2-disc set that includes the albums "Murheen laakso" and "Kuolla elävänä"

External links

Unofficial home page
(English)
Mana Mana
playing live at Tavastia 09/1990 (YouTube)
Home page of Tuomas Moilanen
the bass player. With extensive history (in Finnish).

in Finnish. Includes information and lyrics.

- a Finnish Indie record label that has released the albums "Murheen laakso" and "Kuolla elävänä".

References

{{Authority control Finnish musical groups Musical groups established in 1986 1986 establishments in Finland