Alexi Laiho - Guitar Peter Lerche - Guitar Esa Kotilainen - Keyboards Anssi Växby - Upright bass
2005 Tour line-up:
Vocalists:
Marco Hietala Jarkko Ahola Ville Tuomi
Musicians:
Erkka Korhonen - Guitars & backing vocals Vili Ollila - Keyboards & programming Jari Kainulainen - Bass Ville Wallenius - Guitars Atte Sarkima - Drums
Previous vocalists & musicians (debut album):
Taage Laiho - Vocals Pasi Rantanen - Vocals Kimmo Blom - Vocals Sammy Salminen - Vocals Tanya Kemppainen - Vocals Tipe Johnson - Vocals Janne Parviainen - Drums Kari Tornack - Keyboards Mika Mettälä - Backing Vocals Tracy Lipp - Guitar assistance
What kind of special project can bring together musicians and singers from all of the following bands: Nightwish, Tarot, Teräsbetoni, Sonata Arctica, Northern Kings, Ari Koivunen, Sub-Urban Tribe, Charon, Machine Men, Stratovarius, Children Of Bodom, Sinergy, Kotipelto, Ensiferum, Kilpi, Leningrad Cowboys, Thunderstone, Urban Tale, Kiuas, Dyecrest, Ancara, Verenpisara, Mauron Maiden, Twilightning, Maija Vilkkumaa, Havana Black, Wigwam, Amoral, Soulcage and others?
It's all about celebrating christmas and it's music tradition mixed with metal. RASKAS JOULU has combined these elements for 4 years now and it looks like the end is not in sight.
Erkka Korhonen (ex-Urban Tale) got the idea of the project in 2004. T2 productions quickly signed the project for a full length album with Erkka as a producer, musical director and main arranger with Tero Kostermaa supplying arrangement help, keyboard parts and programming. The project's debut album, "Raskasta Joulua" ("Heavy Christmas") was released for the 2004 christmas market, featuring both international and Finnish classics from "Valkea Joulu (White Christmas)" and "Oi Jouluyö (O..Holy Night)" to "Varpunen Jouluaamuna" and Sylvian Joululaulu". The sales of the album woke the interest to do a mini-tour in 2005.
The 2005 band played succesful shows in Tampere, Kuopio and Helsinki. This gave the project a great possibility to start planning a follow-up album. After a series of negotiations with different labels a deal with Warner Music Finland was signed. The recordings for the album started in July 2006 at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki. The arrangements became heavier and more complex, combining different songs and themes. Vili Ollila, Aleksi Parviainen and Peter Lerche also contributed on the arrangements.
The vocalist and musician list of the album was extensive, from Marco Hietala and Tony Kakko to Alexi Laiho and Peter Lerche.
December 2006 also witnessed the project's first real tour. The guys played 10 shows in 9 cities around Finland, bringing the sound of the new album along with the first album's classics fo the audiences. The tour was a success and the band became a very strong unit. Everybody wanted to repeat the tour in 2007, and so we did! The 2007 tour contained 16 shows in 14 cities including 7 totally new cities. Also, Ari Koivunen's participation on the tour really enhanced the attendances during a period when Marco Hietala and Tony Kakko were too busy to sing in the shows... Also, 2008 is now looking to be the biggest year ever for this project with a lot of shows already booked and more to come. Waiting for November 24th...
Lineup: Elias Viljanen - guitars Jari Kainulainen - bass Marco Hietala - vocals Tony Kakko - vocals Henrik Klingenberg - keyboards Mikko Sirén - drums Tomi Ylönen - drums Jaan Wessmann - fretless bass
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