Oratorio was founded in the spring of 1998, when Jarmo Happonen was asked by Joel Hekkala to join the band he had together with Janne Hietakangas and Lauri Joutsiniemi. At first the band played only cover songs but after some time the band started to produce their own songs. At that time the bands music was hard rock/metal. The band naturally had to get a name, so Jarmo picked up a dictionary and randomly selected the word Oratorio. Oratorio is finnish for prayer-room and epic musical peice, so it sounded like a good name for a Christian metalband.
The original lineup:
Joel Hekkala: Guitar, Vocals Jarmo Happonen: Guitar, Vocals Lauri Joutsiniemi: Bass Janne Hietakangas: Drums
At first the band practiced in the prayer-room of the Nurmijärvi Penticostal Church. Soon however the band moved to the Nurmijärvi Lutheran Church's bandroom. The bandmembers didn't have much equipment at their hands at that moment, but they did have motivation and dedication to play, enough to compensate the lack of equipment. New songs were made at a rapid pace. The songs were mainly in finnish, and from the beginning they had a very clear Christian message. The bands practicing got more frequent towards the fall when the band was scheduled for their first big concert as the warm-up band for Bass 'n Helen (one of the most popular Christian bands in Finland). This concert was held at the Middle-Uusimaa Penticostal churches youth-day at Nurmijärvi. Bass 'n Helen however canceled their concert and Oratorio was all the sudden the evening's main performer! The first big concert gave the band encouragement to move on.
1999 During the spring of 1999 Oratorio recorded their first demo entitled Vähän. After the recording sessions the band realized the need for a new lead guitarist, so that Joel could concentrate on the vocals. A guitarist the band had known for some time allready, Thomas Mata-Eriksson was persuaded to take the place as lead guitarist in May 1999. In the end of the same year the second demo, Huuto, was recorded. The time between these demos can be summarized like this: Joel learned to sing, Janne learned to use the double-bass pedal and Thomas took the band to a completely new level together with his playing and songwriting skills. The difference between the two demos is huge. The bands trainingroom changed again to the NurmiJärvi curch's new youth house's bandroom.
From the year 1999 onward Oratorio started to get more and more gigs: They played at bars, rock-festivals, schools, garrissons, and Christian cafés. New songs were again made frequently and now they were mainly in english. The music style progressed towards a faster more melodic kind of metal. The idea to record a new album became actual since the old demos had been sold out. Oratorio went into the studio during the fall 2000 to record the song, Shine the Light, that was released on a finnish Christian metal compilation album (Metal Rose Collection, 2001). In January 2001 Oratorio signed a record deal with Little Rose Productions. The label however disbanded before Oratorio had time to enter the studio, so the plans for the new album were postponded.
In the end of year 2002 Oratorio got their own mixer, Marko Tolvanen. At this time Oratorio's biggest concert was at the Maata Näkyvissä festival in November 2002. In December the band decided that the following year they would enter the studio and record their first full-length album independently.
Lineup 1999-2003:
Joel Hekkala: Vocals, Guitar Jarmo Happonen: Guitar, Backing vocals Thomas Mata Eriksson: Guitar, Backing vocals Lauri Joutsiniemi: Bass Janne Hietakangas: Drums
The bearing force of Oratorio is the belief in Jesus Christ. It's because of Him the band exists and it's for His glory we play this music. In the middle of this broken world there is a need for the releasing message about the Son of God, who died for our sins. Oratorio wants to be part of fulfilling the mission commandment Jesus gave us: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations". Because God has showed us His love, we want to tell everybody about that love!
