KIUAS was formed in the year 2000, these Finnish hybrid metallers mix clean vocals with death metal, sprinkled with an amount of heroic power on top. Kiuas’s self-financed pre-Spinefarm releases “The Discipline of Steel” 2002 and “Born Under the Northern Lights” 2003 got rave reviews upon their release, and with those releases’ success the band was briefly signed onto the now defunct Rage of Achilles (UK). After only a short stint of working together, the label had to eventually let their bands go due to financial problems, and Kiuas was cast out among others. RoA released 2004 EP “Winter in June”. The salvation came in the form of Spinefarm Records.
So the Kiuas saga continued with their debut album “The Spirit of Ukko”, an album paying homage to the Finnish Zeus: Ukko, the mightiest one! Springtime of 2005 saw the release of this melodic, aggressive and graceful debut that, not naming any influences, bore a streak of tantalizing resemblances to some good old metal bands.
After being released in Japan by Universal Music, “The Spirit of Ukko” was carried all the way to the land of the rising sun where Kiuas played their debut gig. After Japan Kiuas toured Finland extensively, and then headed to the studio to record a follower to their debut.
The recordings of “Reformation” were begun at the Sonic Pump Studios in Winter 2006, in Helsinki. Mixed and produced by Sonic Pump’s Nino Laurenne, the album was then mastered at Finnvox by Mika Jussila. Reformation hit the 21st place on the official finnish Top40 chart.
Kiuas´ third full-length album “The New Dark Age” was released on the 12th of March 2008 in Finland and Central Europe. The album hit the 10th place on the official finnish album chart. The album was the highest newcomer of the week. “The New Dark Age” was released on the 12th of May in the UK and the US (Spinefarm US) + Japanese (Universal) release on July 2008. Kiuas toured in Britain in September 2008 and in Europe in November 2008 with Firewind.
The song “Of Sacrifice, Loss and Reward” was also released as a SINGLE in Finland (February 20th). The single hit the 1st place on the official finnish single chart.
“The New Dark Age” was recorded and produced by Nino Laurenne at Sonic Pump Studios (Helsinki, Finland) during October 2007. Kiuas used producer Janne Joutsenniemi in the pre-production phase. The album was mixed at Finnvox by Mikko Karmila in December 2007 and mastered at Chartmakers by Svante Forsbäck in January 2008.
FOLLOWING ON from ‘The New Dark Age’, their Finnish Top 10 album released in 2008, epic metallers KIUAS have confirmed that latest outing ‘Lustdriven’ will be made available through Spinefarm Records March 31st in Finland and Central Europe and in the UK April 26th 2010.
A 10-track affair produced by Janne Joutsenniemi (Ensiferum, Suburban Tribe and Stone) and mixed by Mikko Karmila (Children Of Bodom, Nightwish), ‘Lustdriven’ sees the Finnish five-piece – from the town of Espoo, near Helsinki – further creating a signature style that draws from a broad range of influences; these include both power metal & prog, with death, symphonic & folk metal also playing a part, the whole thing topped off with a healthy sprinkling of myth & legend, plus the soul-stirring vocals of high-energy frontman Ilja Jalkanen.
As well as lead track ‘The Quickening’, the album features songs such as ‘Cry Little Angel’, ‘Of Love, Lust And Human Nature’ & ‘Lights Are Many’ – ambitious compositions displaying the development that has taken place in the band’s 10-year history.
“On this new album, we’ve kept the most aggressive elements of KIUAS,” says guitarist Mikko Salovaara, “everything is very raw and in your face. At the same time, however, we’ve pushed the epic, orchestral side to new heights, and although you’ll find some of our fastest and heaviest songs here, we’ve tried to maintain a real sense of melody throughout.”
Kiuas will tour Finland intensively on April and May. At the moment, UK shows and Eurotour are being lined up for later in the year, and of course KIUAS are no strangers to these shores, having played here with both Children Of Bodom & Firewind; they also appeared at the Hard Rock Hell festival in Prestatyn, Wales, back in 2009.
So, enjoy this breath of fresh air – or take it hot and sweaty if you like – and turn up the heat. I mean volume!
Current Lineup
Ilja Jalkanen – Vocals Mikko Salovaara – Guitars Teemu Tuominen – Bass Atte Tanskanen – Keyboard Markku Näreneva – Drums
Official Website: http://www.kiuas.net
Official MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/kiuasweb
