Biography
This is a project by J.Ahola, Marco Hietala, Tony Kakko, J-P Leppäluoto, Antony Parviainen, Ville Tuomi (vocals) and Erkka Korhonen, Lauri Porra, Tero Kostermaa, Vili Ollila, Anssi Nykänen, Aleksi Parviainen, Anssi Växby, Peter Lerche, Esa Kotilainen and Alexi Laiho (instrumental music).
It's about celebrating christmas and its music tradtion mixed with metal.
Raskas Joulu has combined these elements for 3 years now and it looks like the end is not in sight.
Erkka Korhonen (ex- Urban Tale) got the idea of the project in 2004. T2 productions quickly signed the projed for a full length album with Erkka as producer, musical director and main arranger with Tero Kostermaa supplying arrangement help, keyboard parts and programming. The project's debut album, "Raskata Joulua" (heavy christmas) was released for the 2004 christmas market, featuring both international and Finnish classics from "Valkea Joulu" (white christmas) and "Oy Jouluyö (O hole night) to "Varpunen Jouluaamuna" and "Sylvian Joululaulu". The sales of the album woke the interest to do a mini Tour in 2005.
The 2005 Band played succesful shows in Tampere, Kuopio and Helsinki. This gave the project a great possibility to start planning a follow- up album. After a series of negotiations with different labels a deal with Warner Music Finland was signed. The recordings for the album startet in July 2006 at Sonic Pump studios in Helsinki. The arrangements became heavier and more complex, combining different songs and themes. Vili Ollila, Aleksi Parviainen and Peter Lerche also contributet on the arrangements.
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