Members |
 |
|
Mikko Kotamäki - Vocals
|
Since 1998 when he joined Funeris Nocturnum he has had a hand as a vocalist in several bands including, Enter My Silence from 2000 where he agreed to do session vocals for Remotecontrolled Scythe, the Enter My Silence debut full length and then stayed in the band until 2004 . He was in Verivala also playing the drums from 2003, Empyrean Bane since 2001 with Aleksi on session keyboards, and Alghazanth in 2006 with whom he still sings and records. Mikko recently joined Barren Earth as a singer. In many of the above bands he has gone by the stage name of Goat Tormentor, Torment, or Trmnt.xes.
He joined Swallow the Sun originally as a bassist/singer.
His favourite bands are: Katatonia, Morbid Angel, Kent, Turbonegro, HIM, Black Sabbath, Darkthrone, Martti Servo & Napander, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Anathema.
In 2007 he was a guest backing vocalist on Pain Confessor’s Purgatory of the Second Sun, and the single Ne Plus Ultra.
In a review of Hope by Heaven Harvest Mikko’s vocals were described as being, “… as brilliant as ever, with every epic note being played to perfection throughout this lovely masterpiece”
|
|
|
|
|
|
Markus Jämsen - Guitars
|
He played guitar in Clayforge, where he was known as Fastfinger, in 1997 with Juha and Pasi and continued on when the band changed its name to Murder in Art.
He currently plays in both Swallow the Sun, the third member to join Pasi and Juha, and Rautakello, (translated Iron Bell) a heavy metal band formed in 2000.
His favourite bands and influences are Devin Townsend/SYL, Iron Maiden, Peter Gabriel, CMX, Rush and Agents.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Matti Honkonen - Bass
|
Matti has played bass for about 15 years at the time of this writing and draws influence from his favourite bands Death, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Metallica, Pantera, Strapping Young Lad, Tool, Meshuggah, Nile, Sepultura and Emperor.
Known as Horgath he played bass in Funeris Nocturnum from 1998-2004 with Mikko, and Aleksi. At this time he also released a demo with the band Gold Dust. When Funeris Nocturnum broke up he was one of the founding members of the band Atakhama that rose from its ashes. From 2001 to 2003 he played in Obscurant.
Matti enjoys playing pool/billards and is a member of Jyväskylän biljardiseura.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aleksi Munter - Keyboards
|
He has played keyboards in bands such as Funeris Nocturnum from 1998-2004 where he was known as Ruho; Random, Ghost Brigade, and Trollheim’s Grott when their keyboardist H.G.G. Void committed suicide in 2001.
He has played session keyboards for many other Finnish bands including, but not limited to, Machine Men and Insomnium for whom he played keyboards on their North American tour with Swallow the Sun.
Aleksi wrote lyrics on the Empty Skies, and Fragile. The keyboard arrangements for Ghosts of Loss for one song took Aleksi some 6 months to come up with and few more to decide how to play them.
On the Adventure game The Breakdown - A Snack-Sized Adventure Game (v0.99) musical score was composed and performed by Aleksi.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Juha Raivio - Guitars
|
Swallow the Sun was his original idea as a project band where he could write material that didn’t fit his other band Plutonium Orange. He writes 90% of the bands lyrics and musical arrangements.
He took a couple of years to be sure the right people fit the band and his vision of it. Juha knew Markus and Pasi from a band called Clayforge, who later changed their name to Murder in Art after signing a record deal, at which point Juha left the band. He was known at this time as “Speedpick”.
Juha also featured in the band Waterfront Weirdos; he has often stated that he receives influences from Rush and Marillion which was evident in this music. Juha is a founding member of the female fronted band, Trees of Eternity.
The albums are written generally about ghost stories, the end of the world and women. The idea of Hope was to have the same atmosphere as the movie The Shining, along with the Hotel theme, where each room represents a different song, prominent throughout the album and reflected in the video for the single.
Genres are often thrown onto bands, doom being one given to Swallow the Sun. Juha commented to Sea of Tranquility, “I like that people call us doom because it pisses puritanic people off, but I don't like it because we are not doom in the traditional sense. I like the term death/doom, because it tells people a lot about our music and places us in the same category with similar bands.’ So now you know from the horse’s mouth that Swallow the Sun is a death/doom band!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kai Hahto
|
Kai Hahto joined Swallow the Sun on May 18th, 2009 to replace Pasi Pasanen. However, Kai was familiar with Swallow the Sun's drumming as he was the choice to cover for Pasi, who had work commitments, on their first North American Tour in 2007.
For ten years Kai played in Rotten Sound, a grind core band from Vaasa, Finland. Max on the Rox, a blues/rock band, is a side project for Kai. In 2004, Kai joined Wintersun and an album, Nuclear Blast was released the same year.
Kai supported Paul Di'Anno from Iron Maiden fame, in February 2009 while he toured Finland. Kai has been a drum tech with several bands, including but not limited to, Children of Bodom and Indica, and played on three tracks for the Guitar Hero Soundtrack. Kai also tours Finland as part of a Metallica tribute band.
|
|
|
|
|
|
