King Company
- MEMBERS:
- Ilkka Keskitalo - vocals (2018-present)
- Antti "Eversti" Wirman - guitars
- Time Schleifer - bass
- Jari Pailamo - keyboards
- Mirka "Leka" Rantanen - drums
BIOGRAPHY
KING COMPANY was formed in the early spring of 2014. Drummer Mirka “Leka” Rantanen (Raskasta Joulua, Warmen, ex-Thunderstone, ex-Kotipelto, etc) had already been thinking about forming a new hard rock / melodic metal band for a long time. In this band he wanted to play with people with whom he had worked before and who he knew as both good musicians and friends. First, he contacted guitarist Antti Wirman (Warmen) who immediately wanted to join the band. The singer Pasi Rantanen was in Mirka’s mind from the beginning, as they had played together in a couple of bands before (Thunderstone, Warmen). After keyboardist Jari Pailamo (Kiuas, Ponies To Kill), and bassist Time Schleifer (Enfarce) joined the band, this super-group was ready to start working. The band’s original name was “No Man’s Land”.
Bursting with enthusiasm the band started to work on their first songs and in the autumn of 2014 they entered the famous Astia Studio to record their first 3 song demo. Shortly after Antti Wirman got a temporary gig as the touring guitarist of Children Of Bodom, which limited their rehearsal time, but still the band managed to write more and more songs. They started co-operation with Heta Hyttinen & Ginger Wine Management which eventually got them a recording contract with Frontiers Records. This was the band’s dream come true, and the debut album recordings could begin.
In the autumn of 2015 the band played two very successful gigs in Helsinki and Jyväskylä. The nearly sold out venue “On The Rocks” witnessed the band’s first live performance as they played a set full of songs from the upcoming album. Immediately after these gigs began the debut album recordings and the album was mastered in January 2016. The album recording and mixing was done by Janne Wirman and Kal Kaercher and mastered by Mika Jussila. At this point Frontiers Records suggested that the name of the band should be changed because there already were two other bands with the same name and there was a risk of confusion. The band changed its name to “KING COMPANY”. The album release date is in early autumn 2016, and after that the band performs at least in Finland and later in the rest of the world. The debut album is called “One for the Road“.
VIDEOS
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DISCOGRAPHY
Trapped / 2021
1. I Will Be Here
2. Trapped in Heart
3. Stephanie
4. Dangerous Tonight
5. Death of Soul
6. Screen Is Your Life
7. Nothing for Free
8. Fair Winds
9. Cold Killing Game
10. Nobody’s Fool
11. Stars Will Lead the Way
“Trapped” is the third album of Finnish hard rock band KING COMPANY, released on June 25, 2021 through AOR Heaven.
It is the band’s first album with singer Ilkka Keskitalo, who replaced Leonard F. Guillan in 2019, and with AOR Heaven as their label, after signing a deal in 2020.
The recordings took over one year in several sessions and it was mixed and mastered by Jesse Vainio (Sarah Brightman, Apocalyptica, Sunrise Avenue, Gregorian, etc). The band describes the new production as well-balanced and more rocking than the previous releases – a world class sound created by elite sound engineer Mr. Vainio makes it a pleasant, stunning and energetic trip to the world of hard rock.
Queen Of Hearts / 2018
1. Queen Of Hearts
2. One Day Of Your Life
3. Stars
4. Living In A Hurricane
5. Under The Spell
6. Never Say Goodbye
7. Learn To Fly
8. Berlin
9. King For Tonight
10. Living The Dream
11. Arrival
“Queen Of Hearts” is the second album of Finnish hard rock band KING COMPANY, released on August 10, 2018 through Frontiers Music srl.
It is their first album with Italian-Argentinian singer Leonard F. Guillan, replacing Pasi Rantanen, who stuck around as a vocal producer.
The album was produced by the band at Beyond Abilities Studios and Soup Studios; recorded by Janne Wirman, Tero Kostermaa, Antti Wirman and Jari Pailamo; mixed by Janne Wirman at Beyond Abilities Studios and mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios.
One For The Road / 2016
KING COMPANY’s debut album “One For The Road” is a trip back in time to the melodic hard rock world of the golden 80’s and 90’s. The band’s biggest influences come from legendary bands such as Deep Purple, Rainbow and Whitesnake, but also from other great acts like Europe, Mr Big, Lynch Mob, and Dokken. All this, but with a contemporary twist! Singer Pasi Rantanen has taken his biggest influences from the great David Coverdale and you can definitely hear it. KING COMPANY salutes all these great bands and fans of this genre with their debut album and they are hoping to reach people who are new to this kind of music too. The album’s title track, “One For The Road” says it all. “Some of us got in this ride back in the 80’s and we are still on that same road,” tells Mirka Rantanen. “It was 1985 we were young and wild and free, We dreamed of playing rock`n roll, and sitting in a black limousine…we still believe!”
Mirka continues: “Our debut album “One For The Road” should have been done years ago, but there wasn’t simply time to form KING COMPANY. We all had our own projects and we were too busy in our personal lives. Many of us have played in power metal and extreme metal bands, but something has always been missing. We wanted to write an album full of songs that we have always wanted to play. And we did. Most of the songs have been written together around Antti Wirman’s guitar riffs, but there are some older songs from Pasi Rantanen that we re-arranged to a more modern form. The greatest ballad on the album is called “Cast Away“ and it’s written by the keyboardist Jari Pailamo. Most of the lyrics are written by Mirka and Pasi.”
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TOURDATES
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