| Ruoska | |
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Ruoska performing live at Mietaan Nuorisoseurantalo, in Kurikka, Finland |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Juva, Finland |
| Genres | Industrial metal, alternative metal |
| Years active | 2002−present |
| Labels | EMI, Kråklund |
| Website | www.ruoska.net |
| Members | |
| Patrik Mennander Anssi Auvinen Mika Kamppi Timo Laatikainen |
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| Past members | |
| Kai Ahvenranta Sami Karppinen |
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Ruoska (In Finnish "a whip") is a Finnish metal band from the Juva municipality. Singer Patrik Mennander combines low, growling vocals with conventional singing. Ruoska's music and vocals are often compared to those of the German Industrial Metal band Rammstein. The lyrics are exclusively in Finnish.
Before becoming Ruoska, the band was called Natsipaska.
Ruoska is currently on hiatus. The band's last gig until they end their hiatus was on August 11, 2009 at Radalle.com Motopark Festival.
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Ruoska was formed in 2002, with some of the same members from the previous comical rock band Natsipaska. They released their debut album Kuori the same year. Fans and critics alike recognized a new type of music in Ruoska, and the fanbase began to gradually grow. After making two music videos, "Kiroan" and "Epilogi", and releasing one single, "Aurinko ei Nouse", the band returned to the studio and recorded their second album, Riisu in 2003, from which came one single: "Darmstadt". After this release, Ruoska established a much more industrial sound and had more machines involved. Their popularity took a big step forward when Till Lindemann, the lead singer of the German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein, commented in a Finnish magazine interview on the new single "Darmstadt" by saying that it was "most noticeable". After doing a few gigs, the Ruoska's lead singer Patrik Mennander joined the Finnish symphonic metal band Battlelore for a while.
After returning to the band, Mennander and Ruoska started working on a new album, and shortly after that, in 2005, Radium was released. The new album, which had a hybrid electro, pop-rock and metal sound, brought a lot of new fans to the band. One single and music video from the album were released (Tuonen Viemää). At this point the band was well noticed throughout Finland, and begun to gain popularity on an international level. Ruoska also made a decision to change from Kråklund Records to a multinational recording company, EMI Music. When they went back to the studio, Ruoska created a new unique sound that was represented by their new album, Amortem in 2006. The singles "Mies yli Laidan", "Alasin" and "Pure Minua" were big hits, and "Mies yli Laidan" and "Alasin" were turned into music videos, "Mies yli Laidan" immediately being very popular. The album itself debuted at sixth place in Finnish radio charts for almost 10 weeks. After the release of Amortem, one of the band's guitarists, Kai Ahvenranta, left the band to be more with his family, although he still continues to do studio work with the band. The band grew bigger than ever before and, now with a large fanbase, Ruoska had new gigs such as Puustock 2007 and Välipuistorock 2007.
Ruoska's fifth album Rabies was released on April 9, 2008. Two singles from this album, "Pirunkieli" and "Helvettiin Jäätynyt" (released before the album) became hits, but not as big as Mies yli laidan and Alasin. They released a music video for "Ei Koskaan", which had a direct connection with the music video "Mies yli laidan". Ruoska's "Rabies tour" lasted from 29 March 2008 to 17 May 2008. The band's success is continuously spreading all across Europe, and in the U.S. and South America as well. At Jurassic Rock on August 8, 2008, Mennander said that Ruoska would be on hiatus for about a year. In May 2009, Ruoska announced that they will have a gig at Radalle.com Motopark Festival on July 18, 2009. At that gig, the band's new drummer was announced to be Timo Laatikainen. It was also announced that Ruoska was no longer with EMI. Whether or not they are currently unsigned or with another label is unknown.
Note: Kai Ahvenranta still does some studio work with the band.
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