Petri Aho plays rhythm guitar in the Finnish

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...

 Power Metal band Altaria

Altaria (band)

Altaria is a power metal band from Jakobstad, Finland, who have released four albums on the record label Metal Heaven and a fifth on Escape Music.In January 2008, the band decided to part ways with their record label Metal Heaven for undisclosed reasons...

. He is heavily influenced by classical music and 1980s rock and this is demonstrated in his own music. He states that Whitesnake

Whitesnake

Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...

 and Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...

 in particular as his primary sources of inspiration and he is an avid follower of fellow guitarist Steve Vai

Steve Vai

Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....

. He also states that he is very interested in a variety of sports.