Charon was a Finnish

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy met ...

band from

Raahe Raahe (; sv, Brahestad; ) is a town and municipality of Finland. Founded by Swedish statesman and Governor General of Finland Count Per Brahe the Younger in 1649, it is one of 10 historic wooden towns (or town centers) remaining in Finland. Examp ...

Biography

Charon was founded in 1992 by Antti Karihtala, Teemu Hautamäki, Pasi Sipilä, and Jasse Hast and was originally a brutal

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

act. After releasing three promo albums and two demos, all self-released, the band signed a record deal with Emanzipation Productions. Through Emanzipation, Charon released their first two full-length albums Sorrowburn and Tearstained in 1998 and 2000 respectively. After touring with fellow Finlanders Sentenced, the band parted ways with Emanzipation and signed to

Spinefarm Records 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 ...

. During the summer of 2001 Charon recorded their third studio album

Downhearted "Downhearted" is the third single released by Australian surf rock band Australian Crawl from their debut album ''The Boys Light Up''. The song was written by Sean Higgins, Guy McDonough and Bill McDonough. All three songwriters had been band ...

. Prior to the release of the full album, the single '' Little Angel'', which rose to number 5 on the Finnish singles chart, was released. In early 2002,

was released, and it proved to be just as popular as the single. The album rose to the number 3 slot on the Finnish Album Charts while the video for the song "Little Angel" hit No. 1 on the Nordic Video List. The summer following the release of

the band went on tour in their native Finland, and directly thereafter the band toured through Europe with

Nightwish 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 Neva ...

and

After Forever After Forever was a Dutch symphonic metal band with strong progressive metal influences. The band relied on the use of both soprano vocals and death growls. In February 2009, it was announced that After Forever had disbanded. Singer Floor Jans ...

. Then in April 2003, the band released another single, ''

In Trust of No One "In Trust of No One" is a single by the Finnish gothic metal band Charon from the album '' The Dying Daylights''. The single entered the Finnish charts at number one.- Track listing # "In Trust of No One" # "Death Can Dance" Credits * Reco ...

'', which made its debut at No. 1 on the Finnish Singles Chart. Five months later the '' Religious/Delicious'' single was released, followed quickly by the band's fourth studio album The Dying Daylights. Immediately after the releases the band went on tour in

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 ...

to support the album. In November 2003, guitarist Jasse von Hast left the band, citing a lack of interest in playing for the group and boredom with band-related activities as reason for doing so. Lauri Tuohimaa stepped in and officially became the band's new guitarist in January 2004. Charon then went on yet another tour through Finland to support The Dying Daylights. After several more tours and the release of the single ''Colder'', the band released its fifth album Songs for the Sinners on 31 August 2005. Since then the band has toured extensively in Europe and Russia. Concerning further releases, the band stated, during the summer, that they had six new tracks ready to record. Then, that autumn, another update was posted on the bands site stating that they have spent the last few weeks recording five new tracks for a demo and that they are currently negotiating a new record deal. On 3 June 2011, the band has posted a news release on their website stating that they have decided to disband after summer concerts in their native Finland.www.charon.fi
In an interview with Leppaluoto, the band felt they had nothing more to contribute in the genre. And some members where not interested anymore, with conflict going back to 2005. In 2015 (2015-10-31), Lead Singer JP-Leppaluoto and other member's of Charon participated in a music gig in Tavistia on Halloween, effectively reviving Charon for a final time for a show. Since then, Charon has again disbanded, despite some source's labeling the band on an 'indefinite hiatus'. Charon's Twitter is still somewhat active, only used as promoting other artist's.

Members

Final members

Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto Juha-Pekka is a Finnish given name. Notable people with the given name include: *Juha Pekka Alanen, Finnish guitarist of Altaria * Juha-Pekka Haataja (born 1982), Finnish ice hockey player * Juha-Pekka Hytönen (born 1981), Finnish ice hockey playe ...

– vocals (1995–2011, 2015) *

Lauri Tuohimaa Lauri Tuohimaa (born 25 January 1979) is a musician from Oulu, Finland. He played guitar in Charon (2003-2011), For My Pain... (1999-2004) and Embraze (1994–2009), in which he was also the lead vocalist. Lauri first played in a band called Map ...

– guitar (2003–2011, 2015) *Antti Karihtala – drums (1992–2011, 2015) *Teemu Hautamäki – bass (1992–2011, 2015), vocals (1992–1995)

Former members

*Jasse von Hast – guitar (1992–2003) *Pasi Sipilä – guitar (1992–2010)

Timeline

Discography

Albums

*'' Sorrowburn'' (1998) *'' Tearstained'' (2000) *''

'' (2001) *'' The Dying Daylights'' (2003) *'' Songs for the Sinners'' (2005)

Singles

*" Little Angel" (2001) *"

" (2003) *" Religious/Delicious" (2003) *" Ride on Tears" (2005) *"Colder" (2005)

Compilation albums

*'' A-Sides, B-Sides & Suicides'' (2010)

Music videos

*"November's Eve" *" Little Angel" *"Colder" *" Ride on Tears"

References

External links

Official MyspaceUnofficial French Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charon Finnish gothic metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 2011 Musical quartets 1992 establishments in Finland 2011 disestablishments in Finland