Children of Bodom
Children of Bodom is a Finnish extreme metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the group consists of Alexi Laiho, Janne Wirman, Henkka T. Blacksmith, Jaska Raatikainen and Daniel Freyberg, they have released ten studio albums, two live albums, two EPs, two compilation albums and one DVD. The band's third studio album, Follow the Reaper, was their first album to receive a Gold certification in Finland, subsequent studio albums have acquired the same status. Three consecutive albums debuted at number one on the Finnish album charts, have seen chart positions on the United States Billboard 200; the band has incorporated many different musical styles, leading critics and fans to label their work as melodic death metal, power metal. And thrash metal, they are one of Finland's best selling artists of all time with more than 250,000 records sold there alone. Children of Bodom was formed in 1993 by guitarist Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho and drummer Jaska Raatikainen under the name of Inearthed.
They had known each other since early childhood and had shared an interest in heavy metal death metal groups, such as Dissection, Cannibal Corpse and Obituary and classic metal groups such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne. Bassist Samuli Miettinen completed the initial line-up of the band. Inearthed recorded Implosion of Heaven, during August of the same year. Samuli was the main composer of the band's lyrics for the two years that he took part in Inearthed, but his family moved to the United States in 1995, making it impossible for him to remain in the band, his last contributions to Inearthed were the lyrics of the songs from their second demo, Ubiquitous Absence of Remission, the first time they worked with producer Anssi Kippo at Astia-studios. In this demo, keyboards were incorporated into the band's songs for the first time. In order to achieve this, both Laiho and Raatikainen played the keyboards separately and subsequently mixed the recorded track with the other instruments.
Laiho, who had only composed the melodies of the songs, assumed the role of the band's lyricist. At the time, Raatikainen played French horn in a local big band, during a rehearsal, he met Alexander Kuoppala, a trumpet player and a proficient guitarist. Shortly after the recording of their second demo, Kuoppala was invited to join Inearthed as a rhythm guitarist; the bassist chosen to replace Samuli was Henkka "Blacksmith" Seppälä, whom Laiho and Raatikainen had known from school. Apart from playing the bass, Seppälä often doubles as the band's backing vocalist; the band recruited a musician to specialize on keyboards, whose name was Jani Pirisjoki. Both joined Inearthed in early 1996. With this new line-up, Inearthed proceeded to record their third demo, entitled Shining; this demo did not impress record labels any more than the previous ones had, none took interest in the band. Despite their efforts, their music managed only to play at local events; as a last resort, the band decided to record an self-funded album.
Considering that none of the musicians had much money to begin with, it was an audacious move. Laiho wanted to make use of the keyboards more but Pirisjoki was not attending rehearsals. Thus, he was fired and replaced by a friend of Raatikainen's, a jazz pianist named Janne "Warman" Wirman. Wirman was the component, missing from Inearthed, his presence allowed the band to assume the style which would characterize Children of Bodom. With Wirman, the band recorded their first album in 1997, their debut, Something Wild, was supposed to be released by a small Belgian label, Shiver Records, but second vocalist Sami Tenetz acquired a copy of their album through the hands of Kuoppala. They both worked for the same company at the time. Shortly after Inearthed signed this contract, Spinefarm Records' boss became interested in signing them for a country-wide release; the latter deal was much more attractive to the band since the Belgian label was offering them close to no help, to the point where they would have to distribute and sell the album themselves.
The band was required to create a new name to sign up to Spinefarm Records. The contract with Shiver records had been signed under the name of Inearthed; the answer to that problem came. When they stumbled upon Lake Bodom, they realized that it was a name with impact and one which had an interesting story behind it. A long list of possible names involving the word Bodom was made, they settled with Children of Bodom; the band's name is derived from the Lake Bodom murders. Something Wild was produced and mixed by Anssi Kippo and Children of Bodom at Astia-studios. In an attempt to promote their band, they opened a show for Dimmu Borgir in 1997, their success was such that a representative from the Nuclear Blast label approached them with a contract for a European release, a deal which started on the subsequent year. Something Wild was released in 1998 worldwide. In early 1998, for promotional purposes, the band recorded a music video of the song "Deadnight Warrior"; the video was directed by Mika Lindberg and had a slim budget of €1000.
It made use of simple scenery, which consisted of an outdoors location after a snowstorm. The band played for a couple of hours at night, with an average temperature of minus fifteen degrees Celsius. Although Laiho is critical of all of the music he has written, he notes that he dislikes Something Wild the most of all of h
Dreams of Endless War
Dreams of Endless War is the debut album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther. It was released on 18 July 2002 by Spinefarm Records; the songs. "Released" was made into a music video. The album features a video for the song "Released". Petri Lindroos − guitars, vocals Kristian Ranta − guitars Tuomas Planman − keyboards Jukka Koskinen − bass guitar Toni Hallio − drums Mixed in October 2001 at Finnvox Studios by Mikko Karmila. Mastered in October 2001 at Finnvox Studios by Mika "Mikä" Jussila. Photos by Toni Härkönen. Illustration and logo by "tree-dwelling goblin" Janne Pitkänen. Official Norther website
The Final Countdown (song)
"The Final Countdown" is a song by Swedish rock band Europe, released in 1986. Written by Joey Tempest, it was based on a keyboard riff he made in the early'80s, inspired by David Bowie's "Space Oddity". Made to just be a concert opener, it is the first single from the band's third studio album named The Final Countdown; the song reached number one in 25 countries, including the United Kingdom, was certified gold in that country in 1986. In the United States, the song peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 18 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. A music video by Nick Morris was made to promote the single that features footage from the band's two concerts at the Solnahallen in Solna, as well as extra footage of the sound checks at those concerts; the song was based on a keyboard riff which Joey Tempest had written, as early as 1981 or 1982, on a Korg Polysix keyboard which he had borrowed from keyboardist Mic Michaeli. In 1985, bassist John Levén suggested. Tempest played it for the other band members.
At first, the members expressed mixed reactions to it, including guitarist John Norum, put off by the synth intro but said that he was glad they didn't listen to him. Tempest described their uncertainty: "Some of the guys in the band thought it was too different for a rock band, but in the end I fought hard to make sure it got used."The song's lyrics were inspired by David Bowie's song "Space Oddity". The sound of the keyboard riff used in the recording was achieved by using a Yamaha TX-816 rack unit and a Roland JX-8P synthesizer, as described by Michaeli: "I made a brassy sound from the JX-8P and used a factory sound from the Yamaha, just layered them together."When it was time to choose the first single from the album The Final Countdown, Tempest suggested the song "The Final Countdown". The band had not planned to release the song as a single, some members wanted "Rock the Night" to be the first single. "The Final Countdown" was written to be an opening song for concerts, they never thought it would be a hit.
When their record company Epic Records suggested, that it should be the first single, the band decided to release it. As Tempest stated: It's always a nice feeling. Sometimes you hear it on the streets or someone has it on their mobile phone or something… it's a nice feeling! I did an interview about a year ago with a newspaper from America and they talked about how much it's been used in sports in America… which I didn't know so much about, it has been used a lot and it was nice to hear. The ironic thing, though, is that the song was written for the fans, it was never meant to be a hit or anything like that. It was meant to be an opening for the'live' show. We were putting out our third album and we wanted a really'grand' opening for the show. So, I had that'riff' tucked away in a drawer since my college years and I took it out, found a tempo for it, wrote lyrics, it turned out to be a great opening for that album and for the show, as well. Nowadays, we don't rehearse it, but when we play it live, it is still just so amazing!
It does communicate so well with the audience and we love playing it. In 2009, Tempest told the BBC's Liam Allen, "I can trace bands like UFO in it, sort of a galloping theme like Iron Maiden had on The Number of the Beast album on quite a few songs. I wanted to make a combination of keyboards; that was a statement on that and it sort of worked out nicely." "The Final Countdown" became an instant success on the charts worldwide upon its release, reaching number one in 25 countries, is regarded as the band's most popular and recognizable song. The single reached number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, is the most successful song from the album on the Album Rock Tracks chart, peaking at number 18; the song is the band's highest charting single in Australia and Canada, peaking at number 2 and number 5 respectively. The music video, directed by Nick Morris, contains footage from two concerts the band did at Solnahallen in Solna, Sweden on 26 and 27 May 1986, as well as some extra footage filmed at the sound checks for those concerts.
The song has been a regular in Europe concerts since its live debut on the premiere of their Final Countdown Tour in April 1986. One of the most memorable performances of the song took place in Stockholm, Sweden on 31 December 1999, as part of the Millennium celebrations, as it was the first, to date only, Europe performance with both of the band's lead guitarists, the original guitarist John Norum and his replacement, Kee Marcello. Joey Tempest – lead vocals John Norum – guitar, backing vocals John Levén – bass guitar Mic Michaeli – keyboards, backing vocals Ian Haugland – drums, backing vocals In 1999, the dance remix "The Final Countdown 2000" was released, it was produced by Brian Rawling, who had had success with "Believe" by Cher. The band's reaction to the remix was less than enthusiastic. "That remix was a disaster," drummer Ian Haugland said, "I wouldn't pass water on it if it was on fire!" In a 2013 interview with The National, Joey Tempest commented on the remix, saying, "The band were not happy with it.
We were trying to get some other people to do the remix and it just didn’t pan out so it ended up becoming a last-minute thing." The song is a favorite at sporting events being played to rally crowds. It has become a staple of high school and college pep bands for the same purpose. On 2 October 1990 just a few hours before the German reunification, the English segment of international radio
Mirror of Madness
Mirror of Madness is the second full-length studio album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther, released on July 12, 2003 by Spinefarm Records. Mirror of Madness features a cover song, "Smash" by punk rock band The Offspring, it includes the "Mirror of Madness" video but only in the U. S.. The bonus tracks, "Frozen Sky" and "Smash" covers, are only for the Japanese version of the album; the song "Unleash Hell" was released as a single. Petri Lindroos − Guitars, Vocals Kristian Ranta − Guitars Tuomas Planman − Keyboards Jukka Koskinen − Bass Toni Hallio − Drums Mixed in January 2003 at Finnvox Studios by Mikko Karmila and mastered by Mika Jussila
Death growl
A death growl is a vocal style employed by death metal singers but used in other heavy metal styles, such as metalcore. Death growls are sometimes criticized for their "ugliness". However, the harshness of death growls is in keeping with death metal's abrasive music style and dark and obscene subject matter; the progressively more forceful enunciation of metal vocals has been noted from heavy metal to thrash metal to death metal. Death metal, in particular, is associated with growled vocals. Death metal, which tends to be lyrically and thematically darker and more morbid than other forms of metal, features vocals that attempt to evoke chaos and misery by being "usually deep and unintelligible". Natalie Purcell notes, "Although the vast majority of death metal bands use low, beast-like indiscernible growls as vocals, many have high and screechy or operatic vocals, or deep and forcefully sung vocals." Sociologist Deena Weinstein has noted of death metal: "Vocalists in this style have a distinctive sound and snarling rather than singing the words.
Making ample use of the voice distortion box." Death growls are known as death metal vocals, guttural vocals, death grunts, growled vocals, unclean vocals, harsh vocals, jocularly as Cookie Monster vocals. Voice teachers teach different techniques, but long-term use will still take its toll if done incorrectly – these techniques are designed to reduce rather than eliminate harm; however it has been shown by many vocalists that long-term use of these techniques can occur without causing harm to the voice. The techniques involve using the diaphragm and air pressure on the throat to form the sound, similar to forms of overtone singing; as a person tries to squeeze their throat, the sound gets less intense. Some vocalists tend to use too much pressure on their throats and thus have vocal cord problems/defects; the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in The Netherlands reported in June 2007 that, because of the increased popularity of growling in the region, it was treating several patients who had performed the techniques incorrectly for edema and polyps on the vocal folds.
Growled vocals may have been a part of Viking music. In the 10th century, Arab-Spanish Sefardi Jewish merchant Abraham ben Jacob visited Denmark and commented on the local music as follows: "Never before I have heard uglier songs than those of the Vikings in Slesvig; the growling sound coming from their throats reminds me of dogs howling, only more untamed."In Hildegard of Bingen's 12th-century allegorical morality play Ordo Virtutum, the role of the Devil uniquely does not employ melodic singing, but is performed in a manner which Hildegard specifies as strepitus diaboli and, taken to mean a low and growling voice. In 1966, The Who released the song "Boris the Spider", which featured death growls sung in basso profondo by bass player John Entwistle; this can be considered one of the first uses of death growl in popular music. The use of growling, "monstrous" vocals for ominous effect in rock music can be traced at least as far back as "I Put a Spell on You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins in 1956.
Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells, Part Two," from 1973, contains a section from 11:55 to 16:30 featuring extensive use of guttural vocals which are close in style to the modern "death growl", however this effect was created by manipulating tape speed. In 1969 and the early 1970s, the song "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson is notable for its distorted vocals sung by Greg Lake; the songs "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath and "One of These Days" by Pink Floyd both contain brief passages of ominously growled, low-pitched vocals against a heavy background of rock riffs. Other examples are Roger Waters' screams in some Pink Floyd songs, such as "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk", "Careful with That Axe, Eugene". Punk rock bands like The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, 999 regularly employed gruff sounding vocals, however nothing like the death growl common in metal music today. On the other hand, the low, aggressive pitch of Lemmy from Motörhead was not unlike the growl and can be thought to presage the current style.
Kate Bush employed raspy guttural vocals on the track Get Out of My House from her 1982 album The Dreaming The advent of the growl as it is used today coincided with the gradual emergence of death metal, it is thus difficult to pinpoint a specific individual as the inventor of the technique. Different vocalists developed the style over time; the band Death with its two vocalists—initially Kam Lee and subsequently Chuck Schuldiner—have been cited as among the first. Possessed are considered by some to be one of the earliest bands to employ growls, as are Necrophagia and Master. Around the same time, bands such as Hellhammer, with Tom G. Warrior on vocals, seminal act Massacre employed a variation of the growl. Massacre vocalist Kam Lee's growls were guttural, low pitched and unintelligible compared to other death metal vocalists of the mid 1980s; this influenced the British Grindcore band Napalm Death. The vocalists from Napalm Death—consecutively Nic Bullen, Lee Dorrian and Mark "Barney" Greenway—further developed the style in the late 1980s, adding more aggression and deeper guttural elements to it, while speeding up delivery of the lyrics.
Another vocalist who deepened his voice into the growling used today on death metal and grindcore was Chris Barnes, ori
Drum kit
A drum kit — called a drum set, trap set, or drums — is a collection of drums and other percussion instruments cymbals, which are set up on stands to be played by a single player, with drumsticks held in both hands, the feet operating pedals that control the hi-hat cymbal and the beater for the bass drum. A drum kit consists of a mix of drums and idiophones – most cymbals, but can include the woodblock and cowbell. In the 2000s, some kits include electronic instruments. Both hybrid and electronic kits are used. A standard modern kit, as used in popular music and taught in music schools, contains: A snare drum, mounted on a stand, placed between the player's knees and played with drum sticks A bass drum, played by a pedal operated by the right foot, which moves a felt-covered beater One or more toms, played with sticks or brushes A hi-hat, played with the sticks and closed with left foot pedal One or more cymbals, mounted on stands, played with the sticksAll of these are classified as non-pitched percussion, allowing the music to be scored using percussion notation, for which a loose semi-standardized form exists for both the drum kit and electronic drums.
The drum kit is played while seated on a stool known as a throne. While many instruments like the guitar or piano are capable of performing melodies and chords, most drum kits are unable to achieve this as they produce sounds of indeterminate pitch; the drum kit is a part of the standard rhythm section, used in many types of popular and traditional music styles, ranging from rock and pop to blues and jazz. Other standard instruments used in the rhythm section include the piano, electric guitar, electric bass, keyboards. Many drummers extend their kits from this basic configuration, adding more drums, more cymbals, many other instruments including pitched percussion. In some styles of music, particular extensions are normal. For example, some rock and heavy metal drummers make use of double bass drums, which can be achieved with either a second bass drum or a remote double foot pedal; some progressive drummers may include orchestral percussion such as gongs and tubular bells in their rig. Some performers, such as some rockabilly drummers, play small kits that omit elements from the basic setup.
Before the development of the drum set and cymbals used in military and orchestral music settings were played separately by different percussionists. In the 1840s, percussionists began to experiment with foot pedals as a way to enable them to play more than one instrument, but these devices would not be mass-produced for another 75 years. By the 1860s, percussionists started combining multiple drums into a set; the bass drum, snare drum and other percussion instruments were all struck with hand-held drum sticks. Drummers in musical theater shows and stage shows, where the budget for pit orchestras was limited, contributed to the creation of the drum set by developing techniques and devices that would enable them to cover the roles of multiple percussionists. Double-drumming was developed to enable one person to play the bass and snare with sticks, while the cymbals could be played by tapping the foot on a "low-boy". With this approach, the bass drum was played on beats one and three. While the music was first designed to accompany marching soldiers, this simple and straightforward drumming approach led to the birth of ragtime music when the simplistic marching beats became more syncopated.
This resulted in dance feel. The drum set was referred to as a "trap set", from the late 1800s to the 1930s, drummers were referred to as "trap drummers". By the 1870s, drummers were using an "overhang pedal". Most drummers in the 1870s preferred to do double drumming without any pedal to play multiple drums, rather than use an overhang pedal. Companies patented their pedal systems such as Dee Dee Chandler of New Orleans 1904–05. Liberating the hands for the first time, this evolution saw the bass drum played with the foot of a standing percussionist; the bass drum became the central piece around which every other percussion instrument would revolve. William F. Ludwig, Sr. and his brother, Theobald Ludwig, founded the Ludwig & Ludwig Co. in 1909 and patented the first commercially successful bass drum pedal system, paving the way for the modern drum kit. Wire brushes for use with drums and cymbals were introduced in 1912; the need for brushes arose due to the problem of the drum sound overshadowing the other instruments on stage.
Drummers began using metal fly swatters to reduce the volume on stage next to the other acoustic instruments. Drummers could still play the rudimentary snare figures and grooves with brushes that they would play with drumsticks. By World War I, drum kits were marching band-style military bass drums with many percussion items suspended on and around them. Drum kits became a central part of jazz Dixieland; the modern drum kit was developed in the vaudeville era during the 1920s in New Orleans. In 1917, a New Orleans band called "The Original Dixieland Jazz Band " recorded jazz tunes that became hits all o
Electronics
Electronics comprises the physics, engineering and applications that deal with the emission and control of electrons in vacuum and matter. The identification of the electron in 1897, along with the invention of the vacuum tube, which could amplify and rectify small electrical signals, inaugurated the field of electronics and the electron age. Electronics deals with electrical circuits that involve active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, diodes, integrated circuits and sensors, associated passive electrical components, interconnection technologies. Electronic devices contain circuitry consisting or of active semiconductors supplemented with passive elements; the nonlinear behaviour of active components and their ability to control electron flows makes amplification of weak signals possible. Electronics is used in information processing, telecommunication, signal processing; the ability of electronic devices to act as switches makes digital information-processing possible. Interconnection technologies such as circuit boards, electronics packaging technology, other varied forms of communication infrastructure complete circuit functionality and transform the mixed electronic components into a regular working system, called an electronic system.
An electronic system may be a component of a standalone device. Electrical and electromechanical science and technology deals with the generation, switching and conversion of electrical energy to and from other energy forms; this distinction started around 1906 with the invention by Lee De Forest of the triode, which made electrical amplification of weak radio signals and audio signals possible with a non-mechanical device. Until 1950 this field was called "radio technology" because its principal application was the design and theory of radio transmitters and vacuum tubes; as of 2018 most electronic devices use semiconductor components to perform electron control. The study of semiconductor devices and related technology is considered a branch of solid-state physics, whereas the design and construction of electronic circuits to solve practical problems come under electronics engineering; this article focuses on engineering aspects of electronics. Digital electronics Analogue electronics Microelectronics Circuit design Integrated circuits Power electronics Optoelectronics Semiconductor devices Embedded systems An electronic component is any physical entity in an electronic system used to affect the electrons or their associated fields in a manner consistent with the intended function of the electronic system.
Components are intended to be connected together by being soldered to a printed circuit board, to create an electronic circuit with a particular function. Components may be packaged singly, or in more complex groups as integrated circuits; some common electronic components are capacitors, resistors, transistors, etc. Components are categorized as active or passive. Vacuum tubes were among the earliest electronic components, they were solely responsible for the electronics revolution of the first half of the twentieth century. They allowed for vastly more complicated systems and gave us radio, phonographs, long-distance telephony and much more, they played a leading role in the field of microwave and high power transmission as well as television receivers until the middle of the 1980s. Since that time, solid-state devices have all but taken over. Vacuum tubes are still used in some specialist applications such as high power RF amplifiers, cathode ray tubes, specialist audio equipment, guitar amplifiers and some microwave devices.
In April 1955, the IBM 608 was the first IBM product to use transistor circuits without any vacuum tubes and is believed to be the first all-transistorized calculator to be manufactured for the commercial market. The 608 contained more than 3,000 germanium transistors. Thomas J. Watson Jr. ordered all future IBM products to use transistors in their design. From that time on transistors were exclusively used for computer logic and peripherals. Circuits and components can be divided into two groups: digital. A particular device may consist of circuitry that has a mix of the two types. Most analog electronic appliances, such as radio receivers, are constructed from combinations of a few types of basic circuits. Analog circuits use a continuous range of voltage or current as opposed to discrete levels as in digital circuits; the number of different analog circuits so far devised is huge because a'circuit' can be defined as anything from a single component, to systems containing thousands of components.
Analog circuits are sometimes called linear circuits although many non-linear effects are used in analog circuits such as mixers, etc. Good examples of analog circuits include vacuum tube and transistor amplifiers, operational amplifiers and oscillators. One finds modern circuits that are analog; these days analog circuitry may use digital or microprocessor techniques to improve performance. This type of circuit is called "mixed signal" rather than analog or digital. Sometimes it may be difficult to differentiate between analog and digital circuits as they have elements of both linear and non-linear
