Finland's NORTHER Reunites, Announces First Concert In 15 Years

Finnish melodic death/black metallers NORTHER have reunited and will perform at next year's edition of the Wacken Open Air festival, set to take place July 28-31, 2027 in Wacken, Germany.

NORTHER's lineup for the Wacken Open Air concert will reportedly consist of the following musicians:

Petri Lindroos - vocals, guitar
Kristian Ranta - guitar, clean vocals
Tuomas Planman - keyboards, synthesizers, electronics
Jukka Koskinen - bass
Heikki Saari - drums

The history of NORTHER dates back to the year 1996 when Lindroos and some friends started playing together under the moniker REQUIEM. In 2000 Ranta stepped in and the band released its first demo. It subsequently led to a deal with Spinefarm Records and it did not take long for the guys to find Koskinen and Planman to finally create a stable lineup for NORTHER. Within a few years NORTHER became one of the most promising Finnish bands combining the best of death, black and thrash metal with haunting melodies. The albums "Dreams of Endless War" (2002),"Mirror of Madness" (2003, licensed by Century Media Records for U.S. release),"Death Unlimited" (2004) and "Till Death Unites Us" (2006) helped to gather a worldwide fan base.

In 2007, NORTHER left Spinefarm Records to release the "No Way Back" EP, which entered the Finnish charts at #1 and marked the debut for drum talent Saari.

NORTHER's 2008 album "N" record was the band's Century Media debut and featured two bonus tracks from the "No Way Back" EP, "No Way Back" and "C.U.S.", along with a video for the song "We Rock".

In early 2009, NORTHER parted ways with Lindroos and recruited Aleksi Sihvonen (MEDICATED) on vocals and Daniel Freyberg on guitar.

Sihvonen made his recording debut with NORTHER on the band's latest album, "Circle Regenerated", which came out in 2011 entered the official chart in Finland at position No. 22.

NORTHER was founded in 2000 and has released six full-length albums, two EPs, a DVD, four singles and the soundtrack to the Finnish film "V2". The band has done extensive touring with such acts as DIMMU BORGIR, HYPOCRISY, TURISAS and FINNTROLL.

NORTHER announced its split in July 2012, explaining in a statement that the members could no longer "act as an active and working band" due to their "complicated and time-consuming life situations".

NORTHER played its last show at the 2012 edition of the Czech Republic's Brutal Assault festival.