VALKEAT
Modern Folk Metal
There is a sense of magic and wonder that is an exclusive thread of Finnish metal. It’s the sound of falling snow, running wolves, shining stars and the flickering spirits that are the Northern Lights – and Valkeat are its latest and most fervent ambassadors. Born in 2014 in Espoo, hometown of the almighty Children Of Bodom, the six-piece boasting two kantele players are about to set the world of pagan metal ablaze with their second call of the wild “Fireborn”, a haunting, enchanted piece of Finnish metal history that will go a long way. You can quote us on that.
Densely packed with soaring anthems and musical majesty, Valkeat – consisting of singer Miikka Virtapuro, guitarist Aleksi Kulmala, bassist Juho Aarnio, kantele players Eppu Puhjo and Iida-Maria Kuronen as well as drummer and percussionist Vesa Laamanen – continue the great tradition of epic Finnish metal sagas. With jubilant chants, primordial melodies and pagan spirit, the band echoes the great stories of all those before them – of Nightwish, Amorphis, Korpiklaani, Turisas, or Moonsorrow. Not by copying them, mind you. But by writing hymns to Finland, its forests, legends and otherworldly creatures. “Representing and modernising the traditional Finnish music culture is important to us, which is why we have two kantele players in our band,” says vocalist Miikka Virtapuro about the use of Finland’s cherished national instrument with its unmistakably forlorn and bittersweet sound. “We are trying to modernise it for a big audience with our country’s biggest instrument maker Koistinen Kantele. We hope to create something that will interest people in our culture and traditions, but also something that will give them strength and vitality in the challenges of life that we all face.”
Something big is coming. “Fireborn” is the album that will make Finnish folk metal great again, a new beginning, a real perspective on these magical, otherworldly melodies. We can’t really believe what these guys have done here – a ravishing, uplifting, primal love letter to Finland and its thousand wonders.
