I can't really express what Finnish metal means to me and what it has become for me.....I do not really understand why i feel the way i do about Finnish music, but it calls to me and I must visit the country in 2026. Kiitos Suomi! \m/
When talking about Finnish Metal pioneers, nobody mentioned Kimmo Kuusniemi (Sarcofagus). Kimmo predicted that Finnish Heavy Metal will never be big thing in Finland, so certainly he must have been there before anyone had made any significant impact in the Finnish Metal scene. Also Kirka and his sister Muska loved Hard Rock and Metal and both actually sang in Kimmo's band. Both could sing Metal. Kimmo Kuusniemi Band's album "Moottorilinnut" (Motor Birds) (1982) was the first Metal album sang in Finnish. When speaking about Finnish Rock bands, which were noticed abroad, Hurriganes was left unmentioned. The story tells that Hurriganes' guitarist Ile Kallio was considered by Paul McCartney to be the guitarist for his band Wings. Also the 70s Finnish Progressive Rock scene was noticed abroad. As were the late 70s early 80s Punk/Hardcore scene, which probably has something to do with the Finnish Metal bands being popular in Latin America and also partly in Japan. E.g. Max Cavalera of Sepultura has cited the Finnish Punk bands Terveet Kädet and Kaaos as some of his all-time favourite bands.
You are right. Sarcofacus must be said if we speak Finland metal and maybe those finnish hardcore/Punk bands Kaaos/Rattus/Terveet Kädet in South America doing good work that Finland bands knows all over the world. 😊
Agree. The documentary (which I liked very much, congrats!) underrates also them a little. Just to put their relevance into context nowadays. Right now, on Spotify by monthly listeners: Hanoi Rocks (204.934), Lordi (502.977), Sonata Arctica (538.663), Children of Bodom (937.022), HIM (1.022.051), Stratovarius (1.067.158).
I've enjoyed watching this. Finland has been punching above its weight in music for years. Marco's last comment says it all : Finland's musicians play what they want to play, which makes it authentic, not manufactured. When grunge came along in the '90s I gave up on music. I re-discovered music 10 years ago and most of what I've listened to ever since is from Finland. Kiitos Finland!!
I was 20 yo in 1992 and I recall discovering Sentenced, Amorphis, Impaled nazarene and the mighty Waltari, which I hoped they talked about more on this show.
Amazing job! 😍Waited for this to be available on YT for so long! The wait is over! Thanks and greetings from this argentinian who loves finnish metal and finland! 🇫🇮❤️🇦🇷🤘🏻
Dear Romina, we are very happy to read your feedback and know that you enjoyed the documentary. Please, spread it to your friends and ask them to subscribe to our channel. This is the only way our job could pay off a bit. Cheers from Finland!
As a little girls in Finland, early/mid 80's, my sister and I got 2 c-cassets from our grandpa and grandma... Iron Maiden- The number of the Beast and AC/DC- Back in Black. That's how it started 😁🇫🇮
Amazing documentary, I was inroduced to Finnish metal through Nightwish and there are so many amzing bands. Have a soft spot for Marco he seems like such a genuine person, with really strong personal morals which he sticks with.
Moottorilinnut is an album by Kimmo Kuusniemi Band. Originally Kuusniemi's band was called Sarcophagus, and they released two albums at the very beginning of the '80's. Moottorilinnut features various vocalists, among which the most well-known are Kirill "Kirka" Babitzin (who also released two quality hard rock albums R.O.C.K. and The Spell despite having been one of the most popular pop singers in Finland from the '60's) and his sister Muska Babitzin.
I‘m from Germany and the first finish bands I remember listening to were Nightwish and Lordi. And not from Gandprix, The monsterican dream was and is one of my favorite albums. My absolute favorite finish band is Ensiferum. Even went this year to Nummirock to see them. What an amazing festival. And I absolutely love Finland. I have already the ticket for next year.
@@heavymetalcivilization9377 thank you very much. I‘m sure i will. Metal festival is always like meeting family even if it‘s meeting for the first time.
Even though Bomfunk mc's is not metal at all but they were hugely admired by many metal musicians. HIM, Nightwish, Apocalyptica as metal bands. Darude. They were one of those first finnish bands which became big abroad. It gave inspiration for finnish bands that you actually can get big and famous even if you come from a very small population european country. Music industry here got interested that you actually can get money out of this business. So we started to export music. I remember well that time era.
Awesome job, Mailinha & Cristina! I´ve learned a lot about the finnish Metal begginnings and its main characters! Didn´t know Marco Hietala was that important for Finnish Metal. And haven´t heard about "Stone" til now. Gas said it all at the end. I´m writing in english for "all people" to read. Parabéns pelo ótimo trabalho. \,,/ Cheers from Rio! Delacroix.
First metal band in Finland we cannot speak without Sarcofacus 😮 Envoy of death 😮 Sarcofacus vocals was Hannu Leiden she play guitar/and vocal after Havana Black 😮
Hello Masa! Nobody from Sentenced wished to participate on the doc. We certainly tried. And I wouldn't say they are pioneers. When they came out there was already a scene. They were part of this scene for sure, it is an awesome band and they have an important history. But the documentary was built mainly by the artists' opinions and nobody seemed to think of Sentenced as a pioneer. Please, don't get us wrong, we LOVE sentenced and we are aware of their importance, but without anybody from the band to say something, there was no space to simply mention them or tell their story. We hope you enjoyed the documentary!
@@heavymetalcivilization9377 Hello from Hellas! From our perspective it was Amorphis, Sentenced and Impaled Nazarene who made us turn our ears towards Finland. Stratovarius reached us after the mid 90s with the release of "Fourth Dimension" mainly, before that they were pretty much obscure. As for Tarot, most people found out about them, after Nightwish's explosion in the late 90s and then came Children Of Bodom and took the world by storm! Very sad that nobody from Sentenced wished to participate.
Kjell did briefly mention Sentenced along with Amorphis. IMO with Sentenced releasing their first album at the start of the 90's they were among the first ones especially with their sound being a step towards the Finnish metal sound, albeit their bigger albums only came out from 95 onwards. Overall Sentenced is a band that never got the appreciation it deserved, especially outside the scene. Guess the lyrics were slightly darker than expected for mainstream so they barely got any spotlight in their direction.
@@heavymetalcivilization9377 Bullshit. When Sentenced releast them first album 1991 just like Amorphis. Those were two pioneers of death metal in Finland that was very underground music at that time. At that time Swedish death metal was still forming in Göteborg as At The Gates recorted them first ep at 1991 releasing first album in 1992. Of course the first album from both sucked and sounds were poor but both bands released killer album as second album. North From Here and Tales From a Thousand Lakes were musicly great and production and sound was way more better. There weren´t much of a scene for death (or black) metal in anywhere at that time. There started to come somekind of scene in the middle 90´s and by that time both bands had got softer. Sentenced changed singer to Ville Laihiala and recorded Down in 1996 as them fourth album and Amorphis recruited Pasi Koskinen for a new singer in to Elegy that was third release at the same year 1996. After that both bands got famous in Finland propably for the reason that those both bands got some tv-time in popular youngster show Jyrki. Noose was big hit of Sentenced with music video and Against Widows did the same for Amorphis. After that both bands sould themself out and got more softer i draw the line about there ditched both bands for years...
Great video! In Canada, for me and people I know, our awareness of the Finnish metal bands really came about with Fintroll, Ensiferum and Korpiklaani and the whole folk metal thing.
WOW Thank you for this!!! I just came upon it, and Finland is my favorite country, with most of my favorite bands. In fact, their music is what interested me in the country in the first place, a long time ago.
Tarot and Zero Nine were definitely one of the first Finnish Heavy Metal acts, but there were also others before or at the same time; Moottorilinnut (by Kimmo Kuusniemi) (many times considered to be the very first heavy metal band in Finland), OZ, Riff Raff, Iron Cross, Stud, just to name a few. Also domestic thrash metal was alive and well in Finland at the end of the '80's/very early 90's: Stone, Airdash, Prestige, National Napalm Syndicate, A.R.G., Faff-Bey, etc.
As an American, I of course heard of Children of Bodom before I heard of Amorphis, who has become my favorite Finnish Metal band. Found them while reading the Kalevala. Fate? maybe. Coincidence? maybe.
A lot of good voices here, with years of knowledge and history behind them. Seeing Gas close it out feels good, too. I love H.I.M. just as much as Beherit, Imp Naz, Bodom, Amorphis, Cosmic Church, Moonsorrow, Rapture, Yearning, Havukruunu, etc.. Oh, and Reverend Bizzarre, Hooded Menace, Unholy, Skepticism, Shape of Despair, Thergothon...
We've very happy to know that you liked our documentary and that we could bring so many of your favorite names up. And you're right about Gas. After the interview we were sure that closing would be perfect.
Brilliant documentary!!! This summer I'm going to Finland, Helsinki to explore the city and hope to find some great albums there, especially a Nightwish book I've been looking for.
This is a very good documentary. You made a great job. For me there is one first very important international successful band: STRATOVARIUS, maybe the first finnish metal band touring around the world. And afer them there are a lot of finnish metal bands touring around the world but there is one band even more successful than STRATOVARIUS: NIGHTWISH. In terms of international impact just NIGHTWISH could overcome the international impact of STRATOVARIUS. I must be honest: Before metal music, I almost didn´t know there's a country called Finland. Music is culture and you can learn a lot from it. Hugs from Chile.
Yes, Stradivarius was the first Finnish band to tour outside Europe. They were the first ones to tour in Latin America and Asia. For sure they are trailblazers for the other bands. Thank you so much for enjoying our documentary!
I can see why you think that (and for the most part, I do agree with you). However, I knew Timo Tolkki personally at one time so I know the real reasons why they didn't talk about his importance: because Tolkki is a mentally unstable narcissistic liar! He's an abusive thieving perverted piece of human shit! I do agree we can't ignore the impact he did have but I also know they don't want to talk/deal with that guy anymore! I still work with one of his old assistants. The vibe I got from him is (and Zachary Hietala regarding Tarot's old guitarist Mako), when they're done with you, they're DONE! They want to move on! It might be the Finnish way (I'm American so I don't truly know if it is and never discussed it with my Finn friends). To many Finnish musicians, this is likely how he's seen in their eyes.
Great band and big repertoire to start with, also if ya interested different type of metal than Thrash, you could check out Whispered for example too. Happy exploring :)
I was a 90's Green Day and Offspring kid, but 1996 Sentenced - Noose changed it all for me. My family grew more worried as I grew more into this culture, I witnessed the early Nightwish, Children of Bodom, Amorphis, HIM, Insomnium etc. gigs and have the early demos from Finnish metal bands like Moonsorrow and Fintroll. 1999 was a golden year. My mother wished it was a phase, but it wasn't. Metal is my lifestyle still in 2024 when I'm a middle-aged woman working my corporate career.
Que foda! Vocês fizeram um trabalho incrível! Da pra perceber o quanto se dedicaram pra fazer esse doc, e quanto carinho foi colocado nele! Eu amei conhecer os detalhes da cena desde o início, deu mais vontade de se aprofundar no metal finlandês 🔥🔥🔥🤘🏻
Another thing about Finland (and Sweden, too) that isn't exactly well-known is that the early D-Beat / HC punk developed even more aggressive in the north. For example, Terveet Kädet made a huge impact around the world in the underground circles, which eventually spawned big bands like Sepultura, Metallica, Pantera etc. I read some old interviews where these guys actually mention the band as an influence. Terveet Kädet had such an aggressive and chaotic sound, which pretty much already had the rawness of early black metal and the speed and attitude of the slowly growing thrash scene around the world. Something people either don't know or have already forgot about.
Yes! Finnish punk deserves a documentary for sure. Finnish punk bands traveled the world and had a large number of fans in countries no Finnish artist had ever been to. We hope someday someone makes this film.
Where is Kalmah, HIM, Norther, Ensiferum, Wintersun, Children of Bodom, Thy Serpent, Impaled Nazarene, Finntroll, Korpiklaani, Rotten Sound, Mors Principium EST? there's so much AMAZING music not listed. Finland is my favorite after discovering all this music upon Alexi Laiho passing. Please consider updating the title
This was so bad ... Jarkko Ahola...What the ..fff ? Apocalyptica? Really? Tarot?! Lordi ...? (facepalm) "Heavy metal/rock" didn't make Finland a metal country. Other genres did. What makes Jarkko Ahola a "finnish metal expert"? Teräsbetoni was a joke, and now he sings pretty covers and christmas songs in tv¨-shows. ... Ahola: "Heavy metal is pretty boring" "There has to be something new"...(another facepalm) Well, Jarkko (and the makers of this film) (and why not every metal fan) should listen to Vorna, Moonsorrow, Shade Empire, Insomnium, Mors Subita, Paara, Wintersun, Kaunis Kuolematon, Amorphis, Eartheria, Mokoma, Stam1na, Sotajumala (and those you mentioned) and many more, to get the REAL picture of what makes finnish metal so great. And of course Nightwish. Because it is Nightwish.
I haven't watched this yet, but did they really not mention Children of Bodom? Other than Nightwish, Children of Bodom is the band most responsible for putting Finland on the map outside of Europe. Not to mention CoB basically invented Melodic Death Metal.
I think you should consider watching the documentary with more attention to see many of the names you've mentioned also mentioned. Also, to see that this is not a doc about the bands. This is a doc about the Finnish scene being build and metal becoming mainstream in the country. All the bands you've mentioned are important but not all of them can be considered trailblazers for metal becoming mainstream. The story here is told by some of the most representative Finnish rockstars that are mainstream and responsible for the scene to grow and Finland be known as a metal country in the world.HIM and COB are mentioned as some of the most important bands to make Finnish metal known in the world. And being honest, HIM isn't even a metal band... Impaled Nazarene: haven't you seen Mika's interview? Fintroll: there's a member of Finntrol interviewed. Some of the bands you've mentioned might be representative for you, but they are not representative for the rise up go Finland as a metal country that happened from 1996 to be first part of 2000's.
future? very bright - Stratovarius just hit it big again with Survive, a heavy contender for album of the year, then you have Excalion doing new CD next year... Beast In Black and Battle Beast doing awesome job at popularizing heavy metal everywhere... and of course, Nightwish might release another thing next year (I LOVED Human :II: Nature)... so yea :)
For sure 2022 has seen great releases! It seems that the wave down is finally coming up again. But in 2018 when this documentary was released we were in different moment.
It's an interesting documentary ... I remember Sarcofagus "Cycle of life" and "Envoy of death" dating back in the 80s before Stone. Maybe not heavy metal as we do now know it but that should be the beginning in Suomi. Btw nothing to do with heavy metal but I do like Värttinä as well! 🤘
What comes to the Finnish REAL Metal festivals, there's no mention of Jalometalli Metal Music festival that was held annually in Oulu, Finland... (read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalometalli_Metal_Music_Festival). It's just too bad the festival is no more...
I don't really buy this climate and temperament theory. We have 4 seasons and beautiful nature all around. The fact is, metal from Finland is believable and the kids realized that. Compare that to finnish Country or Pop music from the 80's and 90's. You couldn't sell that to anyone outside Finland. Metal was a real global youth movement that you could be part of. And luckily, cookie-monster growling made the bad English irrelevant.
Hi,Maila here! I agree with you in several points. I don't think the climate is the reason for metal to outstand in Finland. I think it's more about being believable and truth to yourself. But I do think that the long dark months give a little help to melancholy and make us more fond of strong music. But I wouldn't say this is the main reason either. However, the documentary shows the artists opinions ;). Thank you for passing by.
Meille harmi on kun ihmiset pitävät niin paljon valittamisesta ja kritisoinnista sen sijaan, että näkisivät asiat positiivisesti tai sen sijaan, että kääriisivät hihan ja tekisivät jotain parempaa. Tarkoituksenamme ei ole koskaan ollut olla ainoa lähde, vaan avata ovia lisää. Ole hyvä!
It's funny that the name of the documentary is A Heavy Metal Civilization: The History of Finnish Heavy Metal and only one Finnish heavy metal band, Tarot, is mentioned in it. What Hietala says about Tarot and the scene of the 80s is still quite true even today. In Finland, hardly anyone plays or talks about heavy metal. Heavy metal is not the same thing as metal. Heavy metal is still really underground, and you hardly see any bands playing heavy metal at any Finnish gigs or festivals. All heavy metal is metal, but not all metal is heavy metal.
Heavy metal is nowadays a term that can mean the whole metal family or just the one genre, often called classic heavy nowadays. Heavy metal is the grandfather of all metal music, thus giving it's name to the metal family (family name, ehh?).
There is some media drama about Bodom right now, after other band members washed dirty laundry publically about Laiho. I don't think members of band wanted to draw more attention.
@@texdillinger6173: I've been a fan of Bodom for over 20 years. These clowns are milking what's left of Alexi for money. Still, it's hard to believe the documentary was basically "Nightwish this" and that when Bodom was a huge force in the global arena on the opposite end of the metal spectrum. Yeah, at the time the producers probably couldn't get Alexi or some other member of the band since this documentary was made in 2019, but they couldn't even mention the group? It's really hard to believe how people have forgotten about Alexi's impact.
Hello, Maila here. Children of Bodom is actually my favorite band and Christina also loves them. Of course we wanted someone from the band to be in the doc but, unfortunately, none of them wanted to. But if you watched it, they are mentioned several times during the film, their importance is there, and Alexi is even mentioned as the face of Finnish heavy metal by some of the artists.
No member of COB wanted to participate. We tried for two years. And documentary isn't basically Nightwish this... Nightwish is mentioned by the artists the same way as COB. Marco Hietala has a great spot in the doc but it isn't because of Nightwish. It's because he is is one of the founders of the Finnish metal scene, way before Nightwish even existed. The Finnish artists themselves drove the documentary. It is all based on their opinions, their experiences and their own stories.
@@necrosadotor en montaa biisiä jaksanut edes kuunnella kun loppui mielenkiinto saati, että koko tuotantoo olisin ruvennut kahlaamaan läpi. Kun ei iskenyt niin ei iskenyt.
What is Kiko doing here? Wheres VV? Oh sure, HIM is not metal enough. This is what annoys me about these guys, they are só close minded. The hell with what kind of média you sell, the content is what matters. I agree with that guy though, heavy metal is getting boring. Its kinda ironic to think that a style of music that has ar least 50 subgenres just feels outdated no matter what. Thats what got me into HIM. All the clássical metal riffs with rock and pop love songs? Felt fresh at the time. Children of boddom very good as well. But they certainly need something new. Unfortunatly, Im guessing the USA Will have to come up with new vibes for the rest of the world to follow, as always. Anyway, good doc, thank you
Kiko is in the documentary in a part called GLOBAL IMPACT where people from abroad who are connected to Finland talk about their impression on Finland being a metal country.
@@McSlobo Peer Günt 1st heavy rock band and 1 of 2 finnish (western) bands to visit North Korea in 1989, other one was sielun veljet. as part of cultural exchange program.
