Vainajala is an album by 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...

 rock group CMX

CMX (band)

CMX, originally Cloaca Maxima, are a Finnish rock band. They originally played hardcore punk, but soon expanded to play a wide variety of rock formats, including progressive rock, heavy metal, and mainstream rock n roll. Throughout their career, they have been influenced by progressive rock bands...

. Vainaja is Finnish

Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...

 for a dead person, Vainajala meaning a name of a place inhabited by the dead.

The style that Vainajala was produced was highly exceptional: the band went to a small cottage in the middle of Lapland with mobile recording equipment and producer Billy Gould

Billy Gould

Billy Gould is an American musician and producer. He is noted for playing bass in the band Faith No More.- Faith No More :...

, who had previously shown interest in the band largely unknown outside Finland. Recording Vainajala only took two weeks, much less than the recording time for any of their other recent albums. The album was later finished at the Herodes studio in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, but the musical style of the album still is very minimalistic. Only a few visiting artists performed on the album.

Track listing

All songs written by CMX with lyrics by A. W. Yrjänä

A. W. Yrjänä

Aki Ville Yrjänä , better known by the stage name, A. W. Yrjänä , is a poet and the singer, bassist, and primary songwriter of the Finnish rock band CMX. In addition to his musical work he has published four collections of poems.- Music :Yrjänä has studied theology and comparative religion,...

1. "Iskusävelmä" – 3:38
2. "Surunmurhaaja" – 3:47
3. "Vainajala" – 6:07
4. "Vierasta viljaa" – 4:14
5. "Ei yksikään" – 3:26
6. "Taivaan lapset" – 3:50
7. "Sillanrakentaja" – 4:14
8. "Laulu palavasta linnusta" – 4:00
9. "Eufrat" – 1:29
10. "Kirjeitä paratiisista" – 3:56
11. "Arkangeli" – 3:17
12. "Vanha talvitie" – 5:59

The band

• A. W. Yrjänä
  A. W. Yrjänä
  Aki Ville Yrjänä , better known by the stage name, A. W. Yrjänä , is a poet and the singer, bassist, and primary songwriter of the Finnish rock band CMX. In addition to his musical work he has published four collections of poems.- Music :Yrjänä has studied theology and comparative religion,...
  
   - Vocals, Bass Guitar
• Janne Halmkrona
  Janne Halmkrona
  Janne Halmkrona is a Finnish musician. He is best known for playing in CMX, a band he joined in 1990, replacing Kimmo Suomalainen. He has also released two albums with Sapattivuosi, a Black Sabbath tribute band. Halmkrona also works as a production manager for Sony BMG Finland.Halmkrona holds a...
  
   - Guitars
• Timo Rasio - Guitars
• Tuomas Peippo - Drums

Guests

• Billy Gould
  Billy Gould
  Billy Gould is an American musician and producer. He is noted for playing bass in the band Faith No More.- Faith No More :...
  
  - Producer
• Martti Salminen - Keyboard, Vocals
• Susanna Eronen - Vocals
• Teropekka Virtanen - Recording, Mixing
• Mika Jussila - Mastering
• Janne Uotila - Sleeve Design

Singles

• "Ei yksikään" (October 1998)
  • Exclusive B-side: "Linnunhammas" (live)
• "Sillanrakentaja" (November 1998)
  • Exclusive B-side: "Punainen nro 6"
• "Surunmurhaaja" (March 1999)
  • Exclusive B-sides: "π" and "Aivosähköä" (live)