Shape of Despair
Encyclopedia
Shape of Despair is an Atmospheric/Funeral Doom metal band from Finland
that was formed in 1995
as Raven until 1998
, when the band decided to change their name to the current one.
and Tomi Ullgren. Jarno is the major force behind the musical direction of the band. They changed their name in September 1998
to its current manifestation. Most of their albums were released by Spikefarm Records, with the exception of the "Written in My Scars" 7´´ EP, which was released on October 31st, 2010 by Solarfall Records and the Split Album with "Before the Rain", which was released on June 30th, 2011 by Avantgarde Music.
In 1998
, they recruited Natalie Koskinen as female lead vocals. She is also an active member of Depressed Mode
, serving as their female lead as well. Samu Ruotsalainen joined the next year on drums. Sami Uusitalo
is the only current member not to have been part of first two full lengths CDs, joining up in 2004 to play bass for Illusion's Play
.
Shape of Despair's first recording under their current name was their 2000 LP album Shades of...
. The following year they released their 2nd full length album entitled Angels of Distress
. In 2004, they released Illusion's Play
. In 2005, the band released a compilation titled Shape of Despair
, featuring rare and unreleased material from the group, including tracks from the band's first demo "Alone in the Mist," and a new song called "Sleeping Murder", recorded over a four-day period at Sundicoop Studios in Savonlinna, Finland. After a 5 year lull the band released an EP "Written in My Scars". Rumor has it that the EP was a precursor to a larger full length project in the works, as a gesture of loyalty to placate the incessant clamoring of fans for new material.
and atmospheric funeral doom metal with Gothic metal
elements. The difficulty in classifying the band under one specific metal sub-genre is a result of the inherent complexity with which they operate musically.
Typically, the structure to many of the songs resounds with a wall of interwoven melodies. The guitars are low, distorted, heavy and constant. The synthesizers are usually light and contribute to the general ambiance. On Angels of Distress
, a violin works in conjunction with the synths. The mood of the synthesizers, the droning guitars, two distinct vocal styles, booming bass, and deliberate drums, all act in concert to explicate the various themes of tragedy, wonder, and mystery of existence. The key to any description of the music is to focus on the ubiquity of the sound.
The band makes much use of repetition to better invoke a pervasive atmosphere. The drumming never strays from the deliberate pace of the songs. The male vocals are usually deep guttural growls. In contrast, the female vocals are ethereal, poignant and peaceful. Often whole passages occur with either female or male vocals; sometimes, both are used together. The contrast between the dark inherent in the male, and ghostly heights from the female, compares favorably to the antipodes of light vs. dark. In the sense that the vocals contrast in this manner it is similar to the "beauty and the beast aesthetic," attributed to Gothic Metal
vocals.
The songs are typically long, avg usually 10 min. There is deliberate pace makes the transitions and changes in the songs more stark and noticeable. In summation, there is a distinct otherworldly feel to the music as the band intends to push the boundaries of conventional music.
. One of the first bands credited playing funeral doom metal are fellow country-folk Thergothon
. Like many other bands of the sub-genre, Thergothon have lyrics either directly referencing Lovecraft's fictional works, poetry, or around themes he promulgated.
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...
that was formed in 1995
1995 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
as Raven until 1998
1998 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...
, when the band decided to change their name to the current one.
History
The two major founders of this musical entity are Jarno SalomaaJarno Salomaa
Jarno Salomaa, also credited as J.S,, is a Finnish musician. He formed the funeral doom metal group Shape of Despair in 1995 under the name Raven . Salomaa's first role was guitars and synth in Raven's Alone in the Mist, the first demo they made, although this demo was not released to the public...
and Tomi Ullgren. Jarno is the major force behind the musical direction of the band. They changed their name in September 1998
1998 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...
to its current manifestation. Most of their albums were released by Spikefarm Records, with the exception of the "Written in My Scars" 7´´ EP, which was released on October 31st, 2010 by Solarfall Records and the Split Album with "Before the Rain", which was released on June 30th, 2011 by Avantgarde Music.
In 1998
1998 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...
, they recruited Natalie Koskinen as female lead vocals. She is also an active member of Depressed Mode
Depressed Mode
Depressed Mode is a death/doom/funeral doom metal band from Finland.- History :Depressed Mode was formed in 2005 as a solo project of Ossy Salonen. Tomppa Turpeinen later joined as guitarist and Natalie Koskinen as second vocalist. The band was signed by Firebox Records and recorded their first...
, serving as their female lead as well. Samu Ruotsalainen joined the next year on drums. Sami Uusitalo
Sami Uusitalo
Sami "Tundra" Uusitalo is a bass guitarist best known from the folk metal band Finntroll and the funeral doom band Shape of Despair. He also plays in the folk/doom metal group The Mist and the Morning Dew. Despite sharing the same name with a member of Funebre, he is not the same person.-...
is the only current member not to have been part of first two full lengths CDs, joining up in 2004 to play bass for Illusion's Play
Illusion's Play
Illusion's Play is funeral doom metal band Shape of Despair's third studio album. This album is known to contain more ambience and synthesizers than earlier Shape of Despair albums.-Track listing:# "Sleep Mirrored" – 6:09# "Still-Motion" – 16:29...
.
Shape of Despair's first recording under their current name was their 2000 LP album Shades of...
Shades of...
Shades Of... is the first album by funeral doom band Shape of Despair. Unlike their other albums, it has a mainly solid guitar sound all the way through that is constantly played...
. The following year they released their 2nd full length album entitled Angels of Distress
Angels of Distress
Angels of Distress is funeral doom metal band Shape of Despair's second studio album. It was mastered in Finnvox by Mika Jussila. The album is packaged in a digipak and includes no booklet, though the lyrics can be viewed on the band's official website....
. In 2004, they released Illusion's Play
Illusion's Play
Illusion's Play is funeral doom metal band Shape of Despair's third studio album. This album is known to contain more ambience and synthesizers than earlier Shape of Despair albums.-Track listing:# "Sleep Mirrored" – 6:09# "Still-Motion" – 16:29...
. In 2005, the band released a compilation titled Shape of Despair
Shape of Despair (album)
Shape of Despair is funeral doom metal band Shape of Despair's self-titled album. It was released on the 10th anniversary of the band's formation , but not in honor of the occasion...
, featuring rare and unreleased material from the group, including tracks from the band's first demo "Alone in the Mist," and a new song called "Sleeping Murder", recorded over a four-day period at Sundicoop Studios in Savonlinna, Finland. After a 5 year lull the band released an EP "Written in My Scars". Rumor has it that the EP was a precursor to a larger full length project in the works, as a gesture of loyalty to placate the incessant clamoring of fans for new material.
Musical style
Shape of Despair is a pioneer of an inimitable, haunting, and intricately woven style of music. While the exact genre classification has remained open to debate by many in the metal community, there is a consensus about their importance, place and influence in the metal and musical world. Some of the styles they have been tagged with include melodic Death/doomDeath/doom
Death/doom, sometimes writes as death-doom or deathdoom, is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double kick drumming of death metal...
and atmospheric funeral doom metal with Gothic metal
Gothic metal
Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...
elements. The difficulty in classifying the band under one specific metal sub-genre is a result of the inherent complexity with which they operate musically.
Typically, the structure to many of the songs resounds with a wall of interwoven melodies. The guitars are low, distorted, heavy and constant. The synthesizers are usually light and contribute to the general ambiance. On Angels of Distress
Angels of Distress
Angels of Distress is funeral doom metal band Shape of Despair's second studio album. It was mastered in Finnvox by Mika Jussila. The album is packaged in a digipak and includes no booklet, though the lyrics can be viewed on the band's official website....
, a violin works in conjunction with the synths. The mood of the synthesizers, the droning guitars, two distinct vocal styles, booming bass, and deliberate drums, all act in concert to explicate the various themes of tragedy, wonder, and mystery of existence. The key to any description of the music is to focus on the ubiquity of the sound.
The band makes much use of repetition to better invoke a pervasive atmosphere. The drumming never strays from the deliberate pace of the songs. The male vocals are usually deep guttural growls. In contrast, the female vocals are ethereal, poignant and peaceful. Often whole passages occur with either female or male vocals; sometimes, both are used together. The contrast between the dark inherent in the male, and ghostly heights from the female, compares favorably to the antipodes of light vs. dark. In the sense that the vocals contrast in this manner it is similar to the "beauty and the beast aesthetic," attributed to Gothic Metal
Gothic metal
Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...
vocals.
The songs are typically long, avg usually 10 min. There is deliberate pace makes the transitions and changes in the songs more stark and noticeable. In summation, there is a distinct otherworldly feel to the music as the band intends to push the boundaries of conventional music.
Lyrical influences
Lyrically, as the name of the band would suggest, they deal with themes relating to solitude, loneliness, alienation, self-exploration, and pain. Some of the song lyrics deal with deeper Philosophical issues. Like many metal bands, Shape of Despair's lyrics and themes have been attributed by some to the influence of American horror writer H. P. LovecraftH. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
. One of the first bands credited playing funeral doom metal are fellow country-folk Thergothon
Thergothon
Thergothon was an influential Finnish doom metal band. They were one of the pioneers of the funeral doom subgenre, starting with their demo Fhtagn nagh Yog-Sothoth and continuing their raw, depressing style with their only album, Stream from the Heavens...
. Like many other bands of the sub-genre, Thergothon have lyrics either directly referencing Lovecraft's fictional works, poetry, or around themes he promulgated.
Members
- Natalie Safrosskin (formerly known as Natalie Koskinen) - female vocals (1998-)
- Henri Koivula - vocals (2011-)
- Jarno SalomaaJarno SalomaaJarno Salomaa, also credited as J.S,, is a Finnish musician. He formed the funeral doom metal group Shape of Despair in 1995 under the name Raven . Salomaa's first role was guitars and synth in Raven's Alone in the Mist, the first demo they made, although this demo was not released to the public...
- lead guitars & keyboards (1998-) - Tomi Ullgren - rhythm guitars (1998-), studio bass (1998–2004)
- Samu Ruotsalainen - drums (1999-)
- Sami UusitaloSami UusitaloSami "Tundra" Uusitalo is a bass guitarist best known from the folk metal band Finntroll and the funeral doom band Shape of Despair. He also plays in the folk/doom metal group The Mist and the Morning Dew. Despite sharing the same name with a member of Funebre, he is not the same person.-...
- bass (2004-)
Former members
- Pasi KoskinenPasi KoskinenPasi Koskinen is a Finnish metal vocalist best known for his work with the band Amorphis from 1996 to 2004. Koskinen also played in St.Mucus , which he founded. He is currently the vocalist for three active bands: Mannhai, Ajattara Pasi Koskinen (born 1972) is a Finnish metal vocalist best known...
- vocals (2001–2010) - Toni Mäensivu - vocals (1999–2001), drums (1998)
Session musicians
- Miika "Azhemin" Niemelä - touring bass (1998–2004), vocals (1998)
- Toni Raehalme - violin (2001-2004) (recorded on Angels of Distress and Illusion's Play)
- Aslak Tolonen - kantele (recorded on Illusion's Play)
- Johanna Vakkuri - flute (recorded on Shades of...)
Discography
- Shades of...Shades of...Shades Of... is the first album by funeral doom band Shape of Despair. Unlike their other albums, it has a mainly solid guitar sound all the way through that is constantly played...
(Full-length - 2000 - Spikefarm Records) - Angels of DistressAngels of DistressAngels of Distress is funeral doom metal band Shape of Despair's second studio album. It was mastered in Finnvox by Mika Jussila. The album is packaged in a digipak and includes no booklet, though the lyrics can be viewed on the band's official website....
(Full-length - September 25th, 2001 - Spikefarm Records) - Illusion's PlayIllusion's PlayIllusion's Play is funeral doom metal band Shape of Despair's third studio album. This album is known to contain more ambience and synthesizers than earlier Shape of Despair albums.-Track listing:# "Sleep Mirrored" – 6:09# "Still-Motion" – 16:29...
(Full-length - September 27th, 2004 - Spikefarm Records) - Shape of DespairShape of Despair (album)Shape of Despair is funeral doom metal band Shape of Despair's self-titled album. It was released on the 10th anniversary of the band's formation , but not in honor of the occasion...
(Compilation Album - August 3rd, 2005 - Spikefarm Records, Reissued in 2006 by Season Of Mist) - Written in My Scars (7´´ EP, vinyl only - October 31st, 2010 - Solarfall Records)
- Shape of Despair / Before the Rain (Split Album - June 30th, 2011 - Avantgarde Music)