Finntroll

Finntroll is a folk metal band from Finland. They mix elements of extreme metal with Finnish polka, called humppa. Finntroll's lyrics are in Swedish, one of Finland's two national languages, because they say "Swedish just sounds damn trollish". Finntroll means "Troll from Finland" or "a spotty troll".

Finntroll
Skrymer and Vreth with Finntroll at Metaltown 2008
Background information
Origin	Helsinki, Finland
Genres	Viking metal, folk metal, black metal
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Spinefarm, Century Media
Members	Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns Samuli "Skrymer" Ponsimaa Mikael "Routa" Karlbom Sami "Tundra" Uusitalo Samu "Beast Dominator" Ruotsalainen Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali Aleksi "Virta" Virta
Website	www.finntroll.net

History

Finntroll was founded in 1997, by Teemus Raimoranta. One year later they recorded their first demo, Rivfader. After the demo Samu Ruotsalainen (drums),Samuli Ponsimaa (guitar), Henri Sorvali (keyboard) and Sami Uusitalo joined the band. The record company Spinefarm got interested in the band and then their first album Midnattens Widunder was recorded.

Finntroll during concert on Masters of Rock 2007 festival.

In 2001 the album Jaktens Tid (English: The time of the Hunt) was released. As they became more and more popular, Century Media started to promote Finntroll. That summer Finntroll played their first open air festivals in Finland. The year after the release of the album Jaktens Tid the band could not go on tour, because their singer had a tumor in his vocal cords. That is why he stopped singing in the band after the album Visor om Slutet (English: Songs about the End). This album was recorded in January 2003, in a forest cabin near Helsinki. Shortly before the release of Visor om Slutet Raimoranta died, because he fell off a bridge in Helsinki. He had drunk too much alcohol. Finntroll went on tour to Europe anyway, together with the band Katatonia. The guitarist Mikael Karlbom replaced Raimoranta. In 2004, the band released an EP, Trollhammaren (English: The Troll Hammer), and an album called Nattfödd (English: Nightborn).

On January 29th, 2006, Tapio Wilska, vocalist of the band since 2003, left the band.

A new album, called Ur Jordens Djup (English: From the Depths of the Earth), was released March, 2007. This album had more epic keyboard riffs to make it sound more like polka.

Members

• Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns–Vocals (2006-)
• Samuli "Skrymer" Ponsimaa–Guitar (1998-)
• Mikael "Routa" Karlbom–Guitar (2003-)
• Sami "Tundra" Uusitalo–Bass guitar (1998-)
• Samu "Beast Dominator" Ruotsalainen–drums (1998-)
• Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali–Keyboards (1998-)

Old members

• Tapio Wilska–Vocals (2002–2006)
• Jan "Katla" Jämsen–Vocals (1997–2001, stopped to sing because of a throat tumor)
• Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta–Guitar (1997–2003, died 2003 because he fell off a bridge)
• Tomi Ullgren–Guitar (1997–1998)

Discography

Albums

• Midnattens Widunder (1999) (The Monster of Midnight)
• Jaktens Tid (2001) (Time of the Hunt)
• Visor om Slutet (2003) (Songs about the End)
• Nattfödd (2004) (Nightborn)
• Ur Jordens Djup (2007) (From the Depths of the Earth)
• Nifelvind (2010)
• Blodsvept (2013)
• Vredesvävd (2020)

EPs

• Visor om Slutet (2003)
• Trollhammaren (2004) (The Troll Hammer)

Demos

• Rivfader (1998) (Rivfader)

Videos

• "Bastuvisan" (1998)
• "Jaktens Tid" (live, 2001)
• "Skogens Hämnd" (2001)
• "Födosagan" (live, 2002)
• "Trollhammaren" (2004)
• "Nedgång" (2007)
• "Solsagan" (2010)
• "Under Bergets Rot" (2010)

Other websites

• Finntroll Official Website Archived 2017-02-21 at the Wayback Machine