Eternal Tears of Sorrow (commonly abbreviated to EToS) is a Finnish melodic death metal band formed in Pudasjärvi in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland. Romantic lyrics and soft keyboard melodies show gothic metal influence.

Biography

The band was formed in 1994 by Jarmo Puolakanaho, Altti Veteläinen and Olli-Pekka Törrö, after some various projects that featured several people that later were members of Eternal Tears of Sorrow. Andromeda, a first death/doom/thrash metal project, had been put on hold in late 1992 because the rehearsal place had burned down. It seemed their home town wasn't able to give them a new rehearsal place, so the three members started a new sideproject (M.D.C.) and recorded a demo tape, Beyond The Fantasy in autumn 1993.

In spring 1994, they recorded a new demo, The Seven Goddesses of Frost. Now, the band decided to change their name to more serious Eternal Tears of Sorrow. Between 1994 and 1996 the band had a couple of songs on some compilation CDs in Europe and Canada, and recorded their debut, Sinner's Serenade. It took more than a year for the debut album to get released by X-Treme Records , a small underground label from Gothenburg in Sweden. After recording the second album (recorded with their own money), Vilda Mánnu, Spinefarm Records approached the band and soon they signed a deal with the label .

Their third album, Chaotic Beauty (on which the band had three new members since Olli-Pekka Törrö had left the band), led to a European tour with Nightwish and Sinergy. Their fourth album, A Virgin and a Whore, went to the Finnish Album Top 40 charts. After releasing four albums, the band announced having a break just after the release of A Virgin and a Whore; however, they broke up in January 2003.

In February 2005, the band announced they were to make a comeback. Their fifth album, Before the Bleeding Sun, was released in April 2006 (excluding releases in Russia and Japan that were released later). This album also went to the Finnish Album Top 40 charts, to #26. The band broke their 66-month gig silence in late 2006 with two session members since Petri Sankala and Janne Tolsa were unavailable at that time.

In late 2008, the band told Jarmo Kylmänen (who had been part of the band's song-writing team since 2005) had joined the band as an official member . Soon after that, their long-time drummer Petri Sankala had left the band because of his back pain . In early April 2009, it was reported that Risto Ruuth has left the band. The band found a replacement, Mika Lammassaari, and has started rehearsing for the postponed live shows originally planned for May.

The band's sixth "Children Of The Dark Waters" came out in May 2009 through Suomen Musiikki in Finland, Massacre Records in Europe excluding Finland, and Marquee/Avalon in Asia. A new single, "Tears of Autumn Rain," was released in Finland and Japan as well as on the band's MySpace page. The other track on the single was a rerecorded version of "Vilda Mánnu" from their second album. "Children of the Dark Waters" album charted at #19 at the Finnish Album Top 40 charts.

Discography

Full-length albums

• Sinner's Serenade (1997)
• Vilda Mánnu (1998)
• Chaotic Beauty (2000)
• A Virgin and a Whore (2001)
• Before the Bleeding Sun (2006)
• Children of the Dark Waters (2009)

Singles

• Sacrament of Wilderness (Split single with Nightwish and Darkwoods My Betrothed) (1998)
• The Last One For Life (Finland only) (2001)
• Tears of Autumn Rain (2009)

Demos

• The Seven Goddesses of Frost - (May 1994)
• Bard's Burial - (October 1994)

Pre-EToS demos

• The Fourth Dimension - (as Andromeda, May 1992)
• II (unfinished demo) - (as Andromeda, August 1992)
• DWN (instrumental demo) - (as D.W.N., June 1993)
• Beyond the Fantasy - (as M.D.C., October 1993)

Band members

Current members

• Altti Veteläinen – vocals, bass guitar (Since 1994)
• Jarmo Kylmänen – clean vocals (Since 2008)
• Jarmo Puolakanaho – guitar (Since 1994)
• Mika Lammassaari – guitar (Since 2009) [70527]
• Janne Tolsa – keyboards (Since 2005)
• Juho Raappana – drums (Since 2008)

Former members

• Olli-Pekka Törrö – guitar, 1994–1999 (see For My Pain..., also in all the previous pre-EToS projects)
• Pasi Hiltula – keyboards, 1999–2003 (see Kalmah, Scenery Channel, Burning Point)
• Antti-Matti Talala – guitar, 1999–2000 (see To/Die/For, Soulrelic, Kalmah)
• Antti Kokko – guitar 2000–2003, bass as a session tour musician 1997-1998 (see Kalmah)
• Petri Sankala – drums 1999–2008, session tour musician 1997-1998 (see For My Pain..., Kalmah, also in Andromeda 1992-93)
• Risto Ruuth – guitar 2005–2009 [70528]

Guest musicians on albums

• Heli Luokkala – guest vocals on Vilda Mánnu
• Kimberly Goss – guest vocals on Chaotic Beauty (see Sinergy, Therion)
• Juha Kylmänen – guest vocals on A Virgin and a Whore (see For My Pain..., Reflexion)
• Miriam Elisabeth Renvåg – guest vocals on Before the Bleeding Sun and Children of the Dark Waters (see Ram-Zet, For My Pain...)
• Tony Kakko – guest vocals on Before the Bleeding Sun (see Sonata Arctica)
• Marco Hietala – guest vocals on Before the Bleeding Sun (see Tarot, Nightwish, Sinergy)
• Heidi Parviainen – guest vocals on Children of the Dark Waters (see Amberian Dawn)

Session tour musicians

• Pekka Kokko – bass guitar, 1999 (see Kalmah)
• Heidi Määttä – keyboards, 2000 (see Embraze), temporarily replacing Pasi Hiltula.
• Juha Kylmänen – clean vocals, 2001 (see For My Pain..., Reflexion, To/Die/For)
• Veli-Matti Kananen – keyboards, 2006-2007 (see Tacere), temporarily replacing Janne Tolsa
• Tuomo Laikari – drums, 2006 and 2007, temporarily replacing Petri Sankala

External links

• Official website

References