Verikalpa
- MEMBERS:
- Jani Ikonen - vocals
- Jussi Heikkilä - guitars
- Sami Ikonen - guitars (2019-present)
- Sami Knuutinen - bass
- Jussi Sauvola - keyboards
- Jari Huttunen - drums (2019-present)
BIOGRAPHY
The story of VERIKALPA began in the year 2006 when Jani Ikonen and Sami Knuutinen began dreaming of a band project that would be centered on folk/troll influenced metal music and the songs would be sang in Finnish and with the accent of Oulu.
The guys loved the material so much that they decided not to leave it to a project stage and started hunting for players around the band and Jussi Heikkilä would be the first addition as a guitar player. At this stage Jani also wanted to concentrate on vocals and skip the guitar playing so Janne Niva was added as a second guitarist.
The second step for the band was to start releasing material yet the music needed keyboards to give the songs more folk/troll spice. Jussi Sauvola from Catamenia was asked to play a few songs to the songs but he liked the material so much that he wanted to become a permanent member of the band. VERIKALPA didn’t yet have a drummer and had to resort to programmed drums, but session drummer Aleksi Heiskanen also chose to become a permanent member.
In the autumn of 2015, VERIKALPA played a first live show in Hevimesta (Oulu). In December 2016, the band started recording the debut album.
The debut album “Taistelutahto” finally saw the daylight in February 2018 and was released by Finnish label Inverse Records. The album had great reviews over the globe and after the release band had a bunch of gigs including couple huge summer festival shows Nummirock and Qstock.
While doing shows, VERIKALPA was writing and rehearsing new songs for the second album already. In January 2019 VERIKALPA hit the studio again to record the second album.
In 2019 band had some lineup changes when the drummer Aleksi Heiskanen and lead guitarist Janne Niva decided to leave the band for personal reasons. No drama was involved. Aleksi did record the drums for the second album and is involved in the production.
New members were found pretty quickly. Easy choices were made when the drummer Jari Huttunen who already had played one gig with VERIKALPA wanted to join the band. The other one was an easy choice too when the lead guitarist Sami Ikonen had already practiced all the songs on his own just cause he liked the songs, and then he also wanted to join the band after the news of Janne’s departure.
First gig with the new lineup was in May 2019.
VIDEOS
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DISCOGRAPHY
Tuoppitanssi / 2020
1. Naulattujen Vaellus
2. Talonväen Teuraat
3. Tuoppitanssi
4. Sankari, Saatana, Kostaja
5. Varjosahti
6. Peikon Kieli
7. Verimaat
8. Karhunkaataja
9. Mettäväinö
10. Haaksi
11. Tuonen Miekka
“Tuoppitanssi” is the second album of Finnish folk metal band VERIKALPA. It was released on February 21, 2020, through Scarlet Records.
Taistelutahto / 2018
1. Viimiseen asti
2. Tyrmä
3. Neidonryöstäjä
4. Kuoppajaiset
5. Pahan Laulu
6. Verijuhula
7. Taistelutahto
8. Viinapiru
9. Kuoleman Suo
10. Rautatammi
VERIKALPA‘s debut album “Taistelutahto” was released February 16th 2018 via Inverse Records. The band earlier released two singles “Pahan Laulu” & “Tyrmä” which both got stunning feedback from both fans and media.
“Taistelutahto” was recorded in the SURF-SOUND studio in Oulu with the mastermind Janne Huotari who whipped out all that the guys had to give. After pouring everything they had to the album it was finally mastered by Svante Forsbäck of CHARTMAKERS and so “Taistelutahto” (Battlewill) was born.
The lyrics are in Finnish and more specifically in the accent of Oulu. The songs are tales about drinking, hangovers, trolls and of course bloodspattered eternal battles.
REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS
Verikalpa – Taistelutahto
Never have I wanted to raise a beer to the sky more than I did while listening to Verikalpa’s Taistelutahto. These guys sure know how to set the mood for a
March 2, 2018 by RiffvaderTOURDATES
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