Sakari "Zachary" Hietala (born August 10, 1962 in Tervo

Tervo

Tervo is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality 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...

) is guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

, co-songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 and founding member of Finnish heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 band Tarot

Tarot (band)

Tarot is a heavy metal band from Finland. They are most famous for the song “Wings of Darkness” from the 1986 album Spell of Iron. While having enjoyed a broad underground popularity in Finland, the band has never been very famous elsewhere until gaining new success in the recent years when their...

(formerly Purgatory) in early 80's, together with his younger brother Marco Hietala

Marco Hietala

Marko Tapani "Marco" Hietala is a heavy metal vocalist and bassist. Internationally, he is most known as the current bassist, male vocalist and composer, of the symphonic metal band Nightwish...

, who joined Nightwish

Nightwish

Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee, Finland. Formed in 1996 by songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former vocalist Tarja Turunen, Nightwish's current line-up has five members, although Tarja has been replaced by Anette Olzon and the...

in 2001. Zachary works as a youth instructor in his hometown, Kuopio

Kuopio

Kuopio is a city and a municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland. A population of makes it the ninth biggest city in the country. The city has a total area of , of which is water and half forest...

, as well as teaching music theory to ninth and tenth grade students, and takes part in the management of the official Tarot website, responding to questions and comments made by fans on the forum. Zachary has been said to be very open and friendly in interviews and testimonies.

Tarot has so far released eight studio albums, latest has been released in early 2010. Zachary Hietala plays guitar in Marenne, and is one of the composers in the band's debut album that was released in February 2009.

Zachary married in 2006, to Nina Hietala. They have no children of their own.

Tarot

• The Spell of Iron
  The Spell of Iron
  Spell of Iron is the first album by Finnish metal band Tarot, released in 1986 by Flamingo Music. Spell of Iron has been released on CD in 1994 by Bluelight Records, and a remastered version was released in 2006 by Spinefarm Records...
  
  (1986)
• Follow Me into Madness
  Follow Me into Madness
  Follow Me Into Madness is the second album by Finnish metal band Tarot, released in 1988 by Bluelight Records. A remastered version was released in 2006 by Spinefarm Records. Rose On The Grave was released as a single in 1988...
  
  (1988)
• To Live Forever
  To Live Forever
  To Live Forever is the third album by Finnish metal band Tarot, released in 1993 by Bluelight Records. It is also the first album to feature the band's new keyboardist, Janne Tolsa, who has replaced former guitarist Mako H...
  
  (1993)
• To Live Again
  To Live Again (album)
  To Live Again is the first live album from Tarot. The album was released only in Japan, by Zero Corporation, but the album was remastered and released in Finland in 2006...
  
  Live CD (1994)
• Stigmata
  Stigmata (Tarot album)
  Stigmata is the fourth album by Finnish heavy metal band Tarot, released in 1995 by Bluelight Records. A remastered edition with bonus tracks was released in 2006 by Blastic Heaven.-Track listing: Disk One:# Angels of Pain - 3:55# E.T.I - 7:08...
  
  (1995)
• For the Glory of Nothing
  For the Glory of Nothing
  For The Glory Of Nothing is the fifth album by Finnish metal band Tarot, released in 1998 by Blastic Heaven. The album saw the guest musicialship of Timo Kotipelto of Stratovarius, appearing as a backing vocalist on the song "Warhead".-Track listing:...
  
  (1998)
• Shining Black Best of (2003)
• Suffer Our Pleasures
  Suffer Our Pleasures
  Suffer Our Pleasures is the sixth album by Finnish metal band Tarot, released in 2003 by Spinefarm Records.-Track listing:#I Rule - 3:49#Pyre of Gods - 4:33#Rider of the Last Day - 6:47#Follow the Blind - 4:33#Undead Son - 4:04...
  
  (2003)
• Crows Fly Black
  Crows Fly Black
  Crows Fly Black is the seventh album by Finnish heavy metal band Tarot, released October 27, 2006. This album is accompanied by the single 'You', and the music video 'Ashes to the Stars'...
  
  (2006)
• Undead Indeed
  Undead Indeed
  Undead Indeed is the first live DVD/2CD by Finnish heavy metal band Tarot. It was recorded in Rupla club, Kuopio, Finland on the 17th of August 2007...
  
  Live DVD (2008)
• Gravity of Light
  Gravity of Light
  Gravity of Light is the eighth studio album by the Finnish heavy metal band, Tarot. It was released in Finland on March 10, 2010 and is scheduled to be released in Europe on April 23, 2010 and in the US on June 8, 2010.-Track Listing :...
  
  (2010)
• The Spell of Iron MMXI (2011)