Immortal Souls
Encyclopedia
Immortal Souls is a melodic death metal
band from Kokkola
, Finland
, formed in 1991. They released a split album and their debut on Little Rose Productions in late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2002 Immortal Souls signed with Dutch label Fear Dark which released their second and third album as well as a compilation. They have performed at Tuska Open Air Metal Festival
. Their musical style is characterized by their use of melodic guitar riffs and singing which shifts between growls
and shouting. Their music has been called winter metal since Immortal Souls utilizes frosty metaphors in their lyrics and usually creates a cold, wintry atmosphere. The album Wintereich
was released in 2007 in Europe on Dark Balance and in the USA through Facedown Records
.
After the release of the demotapes, Immortal Souls signed a record deal with a Finnish record label called Little Rose Productions. At that time the band had already left behind the doom metal influences and their musical style had changed to fast, melodic death metal and the winter theme in the lyrics had settled as a regular. Their first recording with the new style was Divine Wintertime EP, released in 1998. It was published as a split-CD with the dark metal band called Mordecai (Through the Woods, Towards the Dawn EP). This publication got a lot of appreciation among the metal fans and the song “Snow Soul” became one of the most top-rated Immortal Souls song.
Growing amount of concerts required additional members to the line-up. In 2000, Pete Loisa (rhythm guitar) joined the group when the band was preparing to record their first full-length studio album. From the material of the February 2000 studiosessions at the Studio Watercastle was first published the Cleansing EP which gave a taster of the forthcoming album. The debut album Under the Northern Sky
was published in 2001 and it is perhaps still the most top-rated Immortal Souls album. At that time Little Rose Productions was closing their operation, and therefore the band started to search for another publisher.
Immortal Souls had already connections (as a distributor) to the record label called Fear Dark from Netherlands, and therefore the deal was easy to make for both the band and for the record company. After signing the deal, the band made a Central European tour. They also became a regular performer in the record labels` annual Fear Dark Fest events. After the tour Immortal Souls started to write new material and in November 2002 they went to Studio Sonic Pump to record the next album called Ice Upon the Night
. This album made the band more known also in Finland and it opened the opportunity to perform in the Tuska Open Air metal festival in Helsinki. This album is licensed to the US and Canada by the Facedown Records
in the year 2004.
Band made occasional concerts through the year. The drummer Jupe Hakola decided to leave the band and he was replaced by Jukka-Pekka Koivisto. But Jukka-Pekka Koivisto had to leave the band after Germany-Switzerland tour because he was busy with his other band Silent Voices new album recordings. The band found a new drummer from the close friends circle, in early 2005, when Juha Kronqvist joined Immortal Souls.
Because the Immortal Souls publications had been sold out long time ago, the Fear Dark decided to publish them as remastered versions on the Once Upon A Time In The North 2 CD-compilation album at the end of 2005. From the label request, Aki Särkioja wrote the publication history into the compilation CD cover booklet.
. The band went to the studio in December 2006. The album was mastered in the first quarter of 2007. The new label Dark Balance based released Wintereich on June 1, 2007. Like the album Ice Upon The Night in 2004, Wintereich has been distributed by Facedown Records
and was released in the U.S. on August 21 of 2007.
On May 22, it was announced that the band is working on an album titled The Requiem for the Art of Death.
Immortal Souls' music is typically fast, technical melodic death metal of Scandinavian school. The lead guitar solos sets as a part of the accompaniment in both singing and virtuoso riffs and fast playing techniques. Riffs, tones and licks are melodic and stick to classical harmonies. The lead guitarist Esa Särkioja usually performs "darkly melodic riffage with power metal undercurrents." The drumming is based on double bass and blast beats. The songwriting is influenced by 1980s metal and sometimes Danzig-type blues-rock. The vocals are guttural and atonal in the middle pitch. Occasionally A. Särkioja represents some raspy, black metal stylish vocals. According a Vampire Magazine interview, Immortal Souls' music is somewhat more aggressive and less commercial than the typical Gothenburg-style death metal bands, and their compositions omit the usual keyboards for the style.
The lyrics of Immortal Souls contain visual language based on the Nordic winter nature and sometimes on Finnish folklore.
Melodic death metal
Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
band from Kokkola
Kokkola
Kokkola is a town and municipality of Finland.The town is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, formed in 1991. They released a split album and their debut on Little Rose Productions in late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2002 Immortal Souls signed with Dutch label Fear Dark which released their second and third album as well as a compilation. They have performed at Tuska Open Air Metal Festival
Tuska Open Air Metal Festival
Tuska Open Air Metal Festival, shortly Tuska , is the largest music festival dedicated only to metal and related styles of music in the Nordic countries. The history of Tuska began in 1998 and it has grown larger every year. The location of the festival has been in Kaisaniemi park in the middle of...
. Their musical style is characterized by their use of melodic guitar riffs and singing which shifts between growls
Death growl
A death growl, also known as death metal vocals, guttural vocals, death grunts, and harsh vocals among other names, is a vocalisation style usually employed by vocalists of the death metal and black metal music genre, but also used in a variety of heavy metal and hardcore punk subgenres.Death...
and shouting. Their music has been called winter metal since Immortal Souls utilizes frosty metaphors in their lyrics and usually creates a cold, wintry atmosphere. The album Wintereich
Wintereich
Wintereich is the third studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Immortal Souls. It is Immortal Souls' first album released by the Dutch Dark Balance record label. It was released on June 1, 2007 in Europe....
was released in 2007 in Europe on Dark Balance and in the USA through Facedown Records
Facedown Records
Facedown Records is a Christian record label based in Fallbrook, California, devoted mostly to hardcore punk and metalcore bands . Founded by No Innocent Victim drummer Jason Dunn, the label started off small with a number of 7" record releases by bands such as Overcome, Dodgin Bullets, and Born...
.
History
Beginning
In December 1991 Aki Särkioja (bass, vocals) and Esa Särkioja (guitar) founded Immortal Souls. During the years 1992-1994 Immortal Souls recorded some demo tapes including a tape called Vision of Hell (1993). These demos have never been officially published. In 1994, the drummer Antti Nykyri joined the band. At the end of January 1995 the band recorded a demo tape called Immortal Souls, which included six songs. 100 copies were made of the demo tape and it contained straightforward heavy metal with growl vocals. After the Immortal Souls demo, all of the band's album covers have had a wintry theme in the artwork. Nykyri left the band after one year due to other personal interests.Doom metal period
During the years 1995-1996 Immortal Souls wrote new songs and shaped their musical style. At the time, the band members were interested in doom metal style, and with that influence they recorded their most depressing and oppressive demo called Reflections of Doom in November 1996. The most stylish output of the doom metal experiments was a song called “Realm Of Hatred.” In the recording sessions Immortal Souls had to use a drum machine, because a new drummer Jupe Hakola was signed in a couple of months after the recording sessions. The song “Hate Sender” was published in the TOB zine's 7- inch vinyl record. The song “I`am Me” was published later on the From Kaamos To Midnight Sun compilation album. Also songs "Hate Sender", "I am Me" and "Realm of Hatred" were later published on the Once Upon A Time In The North compilation album as remastered versions.Record deal with Little Rose
Growing amount of concerts required additional members to the line-up. In 2000, Pete Loisa (rhythm guitar) joined the group when the band was preparing to record their first full-length studio album. From the material of the February 2000 studiosessions at the Studio Watercastle was first published the Cleansing EP which gave a taster of the forthcoming album. The debut album Under the Northern Sky
Under the Northern Sky
-Personnel:* Aki Särkioja – death growl, bass guitar* Esa Särkioja – guitar* Pete Loisa – guitar* Jupe Hakola – drums...
was published in 2001 and it is perhaps still the most top-rated Immortal Souls album. At that time Little Rose Productions was closing their operation, and therefore the band started to search for another publisher.
Record deal with Fear Dark
Ice Upon the Night
Ice Upon the Night is the second studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Immortal Souls. It is Immortal Souls' first album released by the Dutch Fear Dark record label. It was released in March 2003.-Recording:...
. This album made the band more known also in Finland and it opened the opportunity to perform in the Tuska Open Air metal festival in Helsinki. This album is licensed to the US and Canada by the Facedown Records
Facedown Records
Facedown Records is a Christian record label based in Fallbrook, California, devoted mostly to hardcore punk and metalcore bands . Founded by No Innocent Victim drummer Jason Dunn, the label started off small with a number of 7" record releases by bands such as Overcome, Dodgin Bullets, and Born...
in the year 2004.
Band made occasional concerts through the year. The drummer Jupe Hakola decided to leave the band and he was replaced by Jukka-Pekka Koivisto. But Jukka-Pekka Koivisto had to leave the band after Germany-Switzerland tour because he was busy with his other band Silent Voices new album recordings. The band found a new drummer from the close friends circle, in early 2005, when Juha Kronqvist joined Immortal Souls.
Because the Immortal Souls publications had been sold out long time ago, the Fear Dark decided to publish them as remastered versions on the Once Upon A Time In The North 2 CD-compilation album at the end of 2005. From the label request, Aki Särkioja wrote the publication history into the compilation CD cover booklet.
Wintereich and The Requiem for the Art of Death
The band started to write new material and played occasional concerts at the same time. In 2006, Immortal Souls announced at their website that they were working on a storybased concept album, which was to be called WintereichWintereich
Wintereich is the third studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Immortal Souls. It is Immortal Souls' first album released by the Dutch Dark Balance record label. It was released on June 1, 2007 in Europe....
. The band went to the studio in December 2006. The album was mastered in the first quarter of 2007. The new label Dark Balance based released Wintereich on June 1, 2007. Like the album Ice Upon The Night in 2004, Wintereich has been distributed by Facedown Records
Facedown Records
Facedown Records is a Christian record label based in Fallbrook, California, devoted mostly to hardcore punk and metalcore bands . Founded by No Innocent Victim drummer Jason Dunn, the label started off small with a number of 7" record releases by bands such as Overcome, Dodgin Bullets, and Born...
and was released in the U.S. on August 21 of 2007.
On May 22, it was announced that the band is working on an album titled The Requiem for the Art of Death.
Music
Immortal Souls' music is typically fast, technical melodic death metal of Scandinavian school. The lead guitar solos sets as a part of the accompaniment in both singing and virtuoso riffs and fast playing techniques. Riffs, tones and licks are melodic and stick to classical harmonies. The lead guitarist Esa Särkioja usually performs "darkly melodic riffage with power metal undercurrents." The drumming is based on double bass and blast beats. The songwriting is influenced by 1980s metal and sometimes Danzig-type blues-rock. The vocals are guttural and atonal in the middle pitch. Occasionally A. Särkioja represents some raspy, black metal stylish vocals. According a Vampire Magazine interview, Immortal Souls' music is somewhat more aggressive and less commercial than the typical Gothenburg-style death metal bands, and their compositions omit the usual keyboards for the style.
The lyrics of Immortal Souls contain visual language based on the Nordic winter nature and sometimes on Finnish folklore.
Discography
- 1995 – Immortal Souls
- 1997 – Reflections of Doom
- 1998 – Divine Wintertime
- 2000 – The Cleansing EP
- 2001 – Under the Northern SkyUnder the Northern Sky-Personnel:* Aki Särkioja – death growl, bass guitar* Esa Särkioja – guitar* Pete Loisa – guitar* Jupe Hakola – drums...
- 2003 – Ice Upon the NightIce Upon the NightIce Upon the Night is the second studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Immortal Souls. It is Immortal Souls' first album released by the Dutch Fear Dark record label. It was released in March 2003.-Recording:...
- 2004 – Ice Upon the NightIce Upon the NightIce Upon the Night is the second studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Immortal Souls. It is Immortal Souls' first album released by the Dutch Fear Dark record label. It was released in March 2003.-Recording:...
- US Version - 2005 – Once Upon a Time in the North
- 2007 – WintereichWintereichWintereich is the third studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Immortal Souls. It is Immortal Souls' first album released by the Dutch Dark Balance record label. It was released on June 1, 2007 in Europe....
- 2011 – IV: The Requiem for the Art of Death
Current members
- Aki Särkioja – Vocals, BassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Esa Särkioja – Lead GuitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
- Marko Pekkarinen – Rhythm GuitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
- Juha Kronqvist – DrumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Former members
- Antti Nykyri – Drums (1994–1995)
- Jupe Hakola – Drums (1996–2004)
- Jukka-Pekka Koivisto – Drums (2005)
- Pete Loisa – Rhythm Guitar (2000 - 2010)