Eternal Tears of Sorrow

Eternal Tears of Sorrow
2010
Background information
Origin	Pudasjärvi, Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland
Genres	Symphonic death metal, gothic metal, melodic death metal (early)
Years active	1994–2001, 2005–present
Labels	Suomen Musiikki, Spinefarm, X-Treme, Drakkar, NEMS, Fono, Massacre, King, Marquee/Avalon
Associated acts	For My Pain..., Kalmah, Tarot, Turmion Kätilöt, To/Die/For, Soulrelic, Catamenia
Website	eternaltears.fi
Members	Altti Veteläinen Jarmo Kylmänen Jarmo Puolakanaho Mika Lammassaari Janne Tolsa Juho Raappana
Past members	Olli-Pekka Törrö Pasi Hiltula Antti-Matti Talala Antti Kokko Petri Sankala Risto Ruuth

Eternal Tears of Sorrow (commonly abbreviated to EToS) is a Finnish symphonic death metal band formed in Pudasjärvi in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland. Romantic lyrics and soft keyboard melodies show gothic metal influence.

Biography

The band was formed in 1994 by Jarmo Puolakanaho, Altti Veteläinen and Olli-Pekka Törrö, after some various projects that featured several people that later were members of Eternal Tears of Sorrow. Andromeda, a first death/doom/thrash metal project, had been put on hold in late 1992 because the rehearsal place had burned down. They could not find a new rehearsal place in their home town, so the three members started a new sideproject (M.D.C.) and recorded a demo tape, Beyond The Fantasy in autumn 1993.

In spring 1994, they recorded a new demo, The Seven Goddesses of Frost. Then the band decided to change their name to something they felt more serious, Eternal Tears of Sorrow.^[1] Between 1994 and 1996 the band had a couple of songs on some compilation CDs in Europe and Canada, and recorded their debut, Sinner's Serenade. It took more than a year for the debut album to get released by X-Treme Records,^[1] a small underground label from Gothenburg in Sweden. After they recorded their second album (with their own money), Vilda Mánnu, Spinefarm Records approached the band and soon they signed a deal with the label.^[1]

Their third album, Chaotic Beauty (on which the band had three new members since Olli-Pekka Törrö had left the band),^[1] led to a European tour with Nightwish and Sinergy. Their fourth album, A Virgin and a Whore, went to the Finnish Album Top 40 charts.^[2] After releasing four albums, the band announced they were taking a break just after the release of A Virgin and a Whore; however, they broke up in January 2003.

In February 2005, the band announced they were going to make a comeback. Their fifth album, Before the Bleeding Sun, was released in April 2006 (excluding releases in Russia and Japan that were released later). This album also went to the Finnish Album Top 40 charts, to No. 26.^[3] The band broke their 66-month gig silence in late 2006 with two session members since Petri Sankala and Janne Tolsa were unavailable at that time.^[4]

In late 2008, the band announced that Jarmo Kylmänen (who had been part of the band's song-writing team since 2005) had joined the band as an official member.^[5] Soon after that, their long-time drummer Petri Sankala left because of back pain.^[6] In early April 2009, it was reported that Risto Ruuth had left the band. They found a replacement, Mika Lammassaari, and started rehearsing for the postponed live shows originally planned for May.^[7]

The band's sixth album, Children of the Dark Waters,^[8] came out in May 2009 through Suomen Musiikki in Finland, Massacre Records in the rest of Europe, and Marquee/Avalon in Asia.^[9] A new single, "Tears of Autumn Rain," was released in Finland and Japan as well as on the band's MySpace page. The other track on the single was a re-recorded version of "Vilda Mánnu" from their second album. "Children of the Dark Waters" album charted at No. 19 at the Finnish Album Top 40 charts.^[10]

The seventh album, "Saivon Lapsi", was released in February 2013.^[11]

Discography

Full-length albums

• Sinner's Serenade (1997)
• Vilda Mánnu (1998)
• Chaotic Beauty (2000)
• A Virgin and a Whore (2001)
• Before the Bleeding Sun (2006)
• Children of the Dark Waters (2009)^[12]
• Saivon Lapsi (2013)

Singles

• Sacrament of Wilderness (Split single with Nightwish and Darkwoods My Betrothed) (1998)
• The Last One for Life (Finland only) (2001)
• Tears of Autumn Rain (2009)

Demos

• The Seven Goddesses of Frost - (May 1994)
• Bard's Burial - (October 1994)

Pre-EToS demos

• The Fourth Dimension - (as Andromeda, May 1992)
• II (unfinished demo) - (as Andromeda, August 1992)
• DWN (instrumental demo) - (as D.W.N., June 1993)
• Beyond the Fantasy - (as M.D.C., October 1993)

Band members

Timeline

Current members

• Altti Veteläinen – vocals, bass guitar (Since 1994)
• Jarmo Kylmänen – clean vocals (Since 2008)
• Jarmo Puolakanaho – guitar (Since 1994) ^[13]
• Mika Lammassaari – guitar (Since 2009) ^[14]
• Janne Tolsa – keyboards (Since 2005)
• Juho Raappana – drums (Since 2008)

Former members

• Olli-Pekka Törrö – guitar, 1994–1999 (For My Pain..., also in all the previous pre-EToS projects)
• Pasi Hiltula – keyboards, 1999–2003 (Kalmah, Scenery Channel, Burning Point), session tour musician 2009-2010
• Antti-Matti Talala – guitar, 1999–2000 (To/Die/For, Soulrelic, Kalmah)
• Antti Kokko – guitar 2000–2003, bass as a session tour musician 1997-1998 (Kalmah)
• Petri Sankala – drums 1999–2008, session tour musician 1997-1998 (For My Pain..., Kalmah, also in Andromeda 1992-93)
• Risto Ruuth – guitar 2005–2009

Guest musicians on albums

• Heli Luokkala – guest vocals on Vilda Mánnu
• Kimberly Goss – guest vocals on Chaotic Beauty (Sinergy, Therion)
• Juha Kylmänen – guest vocals on A Virgin and a Whore (For My Pain..., Reflexion)
• Miriam Elisabeth Renvåg – guest vocals on Before the Bleeding Sun, Children of the Dark Waters and Saivon Lapsi (Ram-Zet, For My Pain...)
• Tony Kakko – guest vocals on Before the Bleeding Sun (Sonata Arctica)
• Marco Hietala – guest vocals on Before the Bleeding Sun (Tarot, Nightwish, Sinergy)
• Heidi Parviainen – guest vocals on Children of the Dark Waters (Amberian Dawn)

Session tour musicians

• Pekka Kokko – bass guitar, 1999 (Kalmah)
• Heidi Määttä – keyboards, 2000 (Embraze, The Man-Eating Tree), temporarily replacing Pasi Hiltula.
• Juha Kylmänen – clean vocals, 2001 (For My Pain..., Reflexion, To/Die/For)
• Veli-Matti Kananen – keyboards, 2006–2007, 2010 (Tacere), temporarily replacing Janne Tolsa
• Tuomo Laikari – drums, 2006–2007, temporarily replacing Petri Sankala

References