The way FINNTROLL came together and where they are now, is definitely proof that the universe equals chaos. One night in March 1997, two men were passed out from last night�s drinking binge in a rehearsal dungeon in Helsinki. The other woke up and started playing a folkish melody with keyboards. Soon enough, the other one woke up and liking the melody he heard, he asked the other guy to play the riff in a traditional finnish �humppa� style (humppa is a variety of polka, just so you know). This sounded too mean to be true and even meaner when they added guitars and brutal vocals. With these mad, shrieking sounds the folk-child FINNTROLL was born.

These two very drunk founding fathers were Somnium (ex-Impaled Nazarene, ex-Barathrum, ex-Thy Serpent) and Katla. A year later Finntroll recorded their debut demo �Rivfader� They were still using a drummachine, but were already discussing about adding other members, at least for session musicianship. Soon several musicians stepped into the picture. B. Dominator (Rapture, Shape of Despair), took over drums, Skrymer guitars, Trollhorn (Moonsorrow) keyboards and Tundra (Shape of Despair) the bass. Spikefarm had shown interest in the band, and now that Finntroll really was a band, the deal was sealed. The debut album, �Midnattens widunder� was released in 1999, containing nine tracks of superb trollish metal which affected the black and folk metal scene for good. Their next album, �Jaktens tid� presented an even stronger and varied Finntroll. The band took a huge step forward both musically and in overall atmosphere. The album managed to climb to 20th place in the Finnish album charts, surprising both the band and the label. Century Media Records was attracted by this success and licensed the album for the rest of the world. Soon our boys were playing all across Finland and Europe to packed crowds. They appeared at festivals like Wacken, Summer Breeze, Party San and of course Tuska here in Helsinki.

But then, all of a sudden, amidst the success things started to go wrong. Katla lost his voice due to a tumor in his vocal cords and was forced to leave the band. The Trolls toured and played festival shows (Dynamo, With Full Force) with replacements but the future was still uncertain. A more permanent singer was found in vocalist Wilska, and with him Finntroll recorded the MCD �Visor om slutet.�, a 32 minute foray into experimental/ acoustic soundscapes. This was not the end of the band�s misfortune though: in March 2003 Finntroll�s founding member Somnium died.

Devastated by their loss, the band came to the verge of breaking up, until finally they decided not to let their friend�s death bring them down. Now they return from the depths of the Finnish forests not with one but with two new releases: the �Trollhammaren� EP and the �Nattf�dd� CD.The misfortune has not brought this band down, it has only made them stronger!