Korpiklaani

Biography

Korpiklaani (Finnish for The Backwoods Clan) is a Finnish folk metal band from Lahti that was formerly known as Shamaani Duo and Shaman.

Shamaani Duo

Korpiklaani started with folk music before turning metal. The roots of Korpiklaani can be traced back to a Sámi folk music group under the name of "Shamaani Duo", an "in house restaurant band" created by Jonne Järvelä in 1993. An album of folk music (Hunka Lunka×Hunka lunka1996 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Šamanát3:432Hunka lunka2:073Moai letne duoddaris4:594Gula gula3:385Riehču4:526Geahčan dan máilmmi4:497Meahcis2:588Mánážan2:449Nisson čahppes biktasiinnes2:3910Idja dál lea2:4911Okto ijas4:14) was released under this name before Järvelä relocated and "Shamaani Duo" morphed into "Shaman".

Shaman

Shaman formed in 1997, and was notable for the heavy use of original native Sámic music elements and lyrics in Northern Sámi. The band's music was based on the folk music of Shamaani Duo. The most widely used elements were the shamanic drum, yoik and humppa. Besides yoik, the vocals varied from clean to rather aggressive growling.
The musical style of Shaman was quite distinctive, especially in slow songs, due to its entrancing atmosphere created by the monophonic, "narrow" synth sound making the deep contrast to the spacious sound of the acoustic guitar, the shamanic drum and yoik singing.
The first recording released under the name of Shaman was the demo single Ođđa máilbmi (New World in Northern Sámi). The video clip shot for the song featured a wolf breaking free from its cage and running into the forest. Besides the single CD the song was included on the band's first full-length album Idja (Night in Northern Sámi, 1999) as well.
The band released another album, Shamániac×Shamániac2002 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracks1Mu sieiddi beales mun gottan: Kanöhta lávlla / Álihasta / Mu sieiddi beales mun gottan17:332Ii lea voibmi3:303Shamániac4:104Jalla4:445Sugađit8:286Duoddarhálti4:487Vuola lávlla2:46, in 2002.

Korpiklaani

In 2003, Shaman became Korpiklaani (with only Järvelä and drummer Samu Ruotsalainen remaining from the previous Shaman lineup), changing the music style to a more conventional folk metal with folk/thrash vocals instead of yoiking. Shamániac had already featured a strong resemblance to the future Korpiklaani style, with the song "Vuola lávlla" sharing musical Korpiklaani song, "Beer Beer".

Jonne Järvelä credits his work with Finntroll as the catalyst for the shift in emphasis from folk to metal. Their song lyrics are often related to alcohol and partying. In their first three albums, most of their songs were in English and only a few in Finnish. However, in the following releases this changed, with most of the songs in their latest albums being sung in Finnish.
According to Jonne Järvelä, Korpiklaani's music would be seen as "old people's music with heavy metal guitars" in Finland.
There has been some collaboration between Korpiklaani and Finntroll, as Samu Ruotsalainen of Finntroll provided session drums for their debut album Spirit of the Forest×Spirit of the Forest10 November 2003 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Wooden Pints3:422Before the Morning Sun4:253God of Wind3:154With Trees8:075Pellonpekko3:366You Looked Into My Eyes2:157Hullunhumppa1:308Man Can Go Even Through the Grey Stone2:239Pixies Dance2:2010Juokse sinä humma1:1611Crows Bring the Spring5:2612Hengettömiltä hengiltä0:3513Shaman Drum4:5814Mother Earth4:36 and Järvelä provided the yoiking for the title track of Finntroll's album Jaktens Tid.
Juha Jyrkäs has written some Finnish lyrics to Korpiklaani and from 2011 lyrics are written by poet Tuomas Keskimäki, who writes lyrics in the old Finnish "kalevalametre".
The name Korpiklaani means "Backwoods Clan" in the Finnish language. In spoken language "korpi" means dark old forest. In biology it refers to boreal forest appearing on moist moraine soils, characterized by dense growth of spruce and a deep layer of moss as undergrowth.
In September 2011, Korpiklaani announced that Jaakko "Hittavainen" Lemmetty would be leaving the band due to personal health issues which made the constant touring and recording impossible. His replacement was violist Teemu Eerola, then Tuomas Rounakari until 2022. Rounakari was later replaced by former Turisas violinist Olli Vänskä. In 2013 accordion player Juho Kauppinen left Korpiklaani and was replaced with Sami Perttula.

Studio albums

as Shamaani Duo
Hunka Lunka (1996)
as Shaman
Idja (1999)
Shamániac (2002)
as Korpiklaani

Spirit of the Forest (2003)
Voice of Wilderness (2005)
Tales Along This Road (2006)
Tervaskanto (2007)
Korven Kuningas (2008)
Karkelo (2009)
Ukon Wacka (2011)
Manala (2012)
Noita (2015)
Live at Masters of Rock (2017)
Kulkija (2018)
Jylhä (2021)
Rankarumpu (2024)