NIGHTWISH, TERÄSBETONI, AMORAL Members Take Part In RASKASTA JOULUA Tour; Video Available

December 26, 2009

NIGHTWISH, TERÄSBETONI and AMORAL members were among the musicians who took part in RASKASTA JOULUA, Finland's annual all-star heavy rock Christmas show, which hit the road once again in November and December with a Finnish tour to celebrate its fifth anniversary.

The project that began with the album "Raskasta Joulua" ("Heavy Christmas") in 2004 and released a follow-up effort, "Raskaampaa Joulua" ("Heavier Christmas"),in 2006 has toured every year since 2005; it started with just three gigs and has since expanded into a 16-show tour in 2009, climaxing with sold-out shows in Tampere and Helsinki.

Fan-filmed video footage of the December 18, 2009 concert at Nosturi in Helsinki can be viewed below.

"It's amazing that we're still doing this and it has grown to these proportions," said the project's producer/arranger and guitarist Erkka Korhonen (NORTHERN KINGS, ARI KOIVUNEN). "Every year has been bigger for us and this year doesn't seem to be an exception. This show has become a tradition for so many people. They are really looking forward to seeing us before the holidays. Even people who haven't celebrated Christmas for several years have found its spirit again through what we do."

Inspired by TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, the project has really worked hard on its song arrangements, which is not always the case when it comes to holiday music. A lot of rock artists and bands release "novelty" Christmas albums which are nothing more than the same songs with distorted guitars. This is not the case here. You can find elements of several metal subgenres in the songs, from fast power metal through NIGHTWISH-style epics to slow doom. Sometimes it may even be difficult to recognize the original song...

Some of the singers featured on this year's tour were:

* Marco Hietala (NIGHTWISH, TAROT, NORTHERN KINGS)
* Jarkko Ahola (TERÄSBETONI, NORTHERN KINGS)
* Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto (CHARON, HARMAJA, NORTHERN KINGS)
* Tommi "Tuple" Salmela (TAROT)
* Ari Koivunen (AMORAL)
* Ilja Jalkanen (KIUAS)
* Antony Parviainen (MACHINE MEN)

The band features:

* Erkka Korhonen (NORTHERN KINGS, ARI KOIVUNEN) - Musical Direction, Lead Guitar
* Vili Ollila (ARI KOIVUNEN) - Keyboards
* Erkki Silvennoinen (ARI KOIVUNEN) - Bass
* Tuomas Wäinölä (KOTIPELTO) - Rhythm Guitar
* Mirka Rantanen (THUNDERSTONE, KOTIPELTO) - Drums

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/raskasjoulu.

Ari Koivunen (AMORAL) - "Heinillä härkien kaukalon":

Jarkko Ahola (TERÄSBETONI, NORTHERN KINGS) - "Me käymme joulun viettohon":

Ari Koivunen - "Sylvian Joululaulu":

Ilja Jalkanen (KIUAS) - "Petteri Punakuono":

Marco Hietala (NIGHTWISH, TAROT, NORTHERN KINGS, SAPATTIVUOSI) and Tommi "Tuple" Salmela (TAROT) - "Pieni rumpalipoika" (The Little Drummer Boy):

Jarkko Ahola (TERÄSBETONI, NORTHERN KINGS) - "Ave Maria":

(Thanks: Melica / Night Elves)

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