NIGHTWISH, TERÄSBETONI, CHARON, AMORAL Members To Take Part In RASKASTA JOULUA Tour

September 5, 2009

Finland's annual all-star heavy rock Christmas show RASKASTA JOULUA will hit the road once again with a Finnish tour in November and December to celebrate its fifth anniversary. The project that began with the album "Raskasta Joulua" ("Heavy Christmas") in 2004 and released a follow-up effort, "Raskaampaa Joulua" ("Heavier Christmas"),in 2006 has toured every year since 2005; it started with just three gigs and has since expanded into a 17-show tour in 2008, climaxing with two sold-out shows at Helsinki's legendary Tavastia club in front of more than 1,500 people.

"It's amazing that we're still doing this and it has grown to these proportions," says the project's producer/arranger and guitarist Erkka Korhonen (NORTHERN KINGS, ARI KOIVUNEN). "Every year has been bigger for us and this year doesn't seem to be an exception. This show has become a tradition for so many people. They are really looking forward to seeing us before the holidays. Even people who haven't celebrated Christmas for several years have found its spirit again through what we do. We want to give our friends a special show this year with new song arrangements and some other surprises!"

Inspired by TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA, the project has really worked hard on its song arrangements, which is not always the case when it comes to holiday music. A lot of rock artists and bands release "novelty" Christmas albums which are nothing more than the same songs with distorted guitars. This is not the case here. You can find elements of several metal subgenres in the songs, from fast power metal through NIGHTWISH-style epics to slow doom. Sometimes it may even be difficult to recognize the original song...

Some of the singers featured on this year's tour are:

* Marco Hietala (NIGHTWISH, TAROT, NORTHERN KINGS)
* Jarkko Ahola (TERÄSBETONI, NORTHERN KINGS)
* Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto (CHARON, HARMAJA, NORTHERN KINGS)
* Tommi "Tuple" Salmela (TAROT)
* Ari Koivunen (AMORAL)
* Ilja Jalkanen (KIUAS)
* Antony Parviainen (MACHINE MEN)

The band features:

* Erkka Korhonen (NORTHERN KINGS, ARI KOIVUNEN) - Musical Direction, Lead Guitar
* Vili Ollila (ARI KOIVUNEN) - Keyboards
* Erkki Silvennoinen (ARI KOIVUNEN) - Bass
* Tuomas Wäinölä (KOTIPELTO) - Rhythm Guitar
* Mirka Rantanen (THUNDERSTONE, KOTIPELTO) - Drums

RASKASTA JOULUA tour dates 2009 (more shows to be announced):

Nov. 20 - Lohi, Lohja
Nov. 23 - On The Rocks (VIP Christmas Party),Helsinki
Nov. 24 - Red Onion (VIP Christmas Party),Vantaa
Nov. 27 - Night Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä
Dec. 04 - Raahesali, Raahe
Dec. 05 - Rytmikorjaamo, Seinäjoki
Dec. 10 - Puijonsarvi, Kuopio
Dec. 11 - Vaakuna, Mikkeli
Dec. 12 - Rikala-Sali, Salo
Dec. 16 - Klubi, Turku
Dec. 17 - Yo-talo, Tampere
Dec. 18 - Nosturi, Helsinki
Dec. 18 - Nosturi, Helsinki
Dec. 19 - Osmantupa, Eura
Dec. 25 - Puustelli, Nivala
Dec. 26 - Puustelli, Alavus

Hietala and Ahola took part in the December 20, 2008 performance at Tavastia in Helsinki, Finland by RASKASTA JOULUA (Heavy Christmas) — a special project which celebrates Christmas and its music tradition mixed with metal. Watch fan-filmed video footage of the performance below.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/raskasjoulu.

Marco Hietala and Jarkko Ahola – "Pieni Rumpali" (Live)

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