Korpiklaani is a Finnish folk metal band from Lahti that was previously known as Shamaani Duo and Shaman. The project originally began with folk music influences before transitioning into metal. The earliest form of the group was Shamaani Duo, a Sámi folk music project formed by Jonne Järvelä in 1993 and initially described as an in-house restaurant band. Under this name, an album of folk music titled “Hunka Lunka” was released. After Järvelä relocated, Shamaani Duo evolved into Shaman.
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Korpiklaani is a Finnish folk metal band from Lahti that was previously known as Shamaani Duo and Shaman. The project originally began with folk music influences before transitioning into metal. The earliest form of the group was Shamaani Duo, a Sámi folk music project formed by Jonne Järvelä in 1993 and initially described as an in-house restaurant band. Under this name, an album of folk music titled “Hunka Lunka” was released. After Järvelä relocated, Shamaani Duo evolved into Shaman. Shaman was formed in 1997 and was characterized by its use of traditional Sámi musical elements and lyrics in Northern Sámi. Its sound drew from the earlier Shamaani Duo material and incorporated elements such as the shamanic drum, yoik singing, and humppa influences. Vocals ranged from clean singing to harsher growling. The band’s style was distinctive, particularly in slower compositions, where a monophonic synthesizer sound contrasted with acoustic guitar, percussion, and yoik vocals to create an atmospheric effect. The first release under the name Shaman was the demo single “Ođđa máilbmi”, which was also included on the debut full-length album “Idja” released in 1999. A second album, “Shamániac”, followed in 2002. In 2003, Shaman changed its name to Korpiklaani, with only Jonne Järvelä and drummer Samu Ruotsalainen continuing from the previous lineup. At this stage, the musical style shifted toward a more conventional form of folk metal, replacing yoik-based vocals with folk and thrash-influenced singing. The album “Shamániac” had already shown elements that pointed toward this direction, including the song “Vuola lávlla”, which shares musical similarities with the later Korpiklaani song “Beer Beer”. Järvelä has cited his work with Finntroll as an influence on the band’s increasing emphasis on metal elements. The group’s lyrics frequently address themes related to alcohol and partying. In the early releases, most songs were performed in English with a smaller number in Finnish, while later albums increasingly featured lyrics in Finnish. Järvelä has described the band’s music as “old people's music with heavy metal guitars” in Finland. There has also been collaboration between Korpiklaani and Finntroll, with Samu Ruotsalainen contributing session drums to Finntroll’s album “Spirit of the Forest”, and Järvelä providing yoik vocals for the title track of Finntroll’s album “Jaktens Tid”. Lyrics in Finnish have been contributed by Juha Jyrkäs, and from 2011 onward they have primarily been written by poet Tuomas Keskimäki, who uses traditional Finnish “kalevalametre” poetic structure. The name Korpiklaani means “Backwoods Clan” in Finnish, where “korpi” refers to a dark, old forest and is also used in biology to describe boreal forest ecosystems on moist moraine soils with dense spruce growth and a thick moss undergrowth. In September 2011, the band announced that violinist Jaakko “Hittavainen” Lemmetty would leave due to health issues that made touring and recording difficult. He was replaced first by violist Teemu Eerola and later by violinist Tuomas Rounakari, who remained until 2022 and was then replaced by former Turisas violinist Olli Vänskä. In 2013, accordion player Juho Kauppinen left the band and was replaced by Sami Perttula. Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korpiklaani Studio albums Spirit of the Forest (2003) Voice of Wilderness (2005) Tales Along This Road (2006) Tervaskanto ("Old Pine Stump", 2007) Korven Kuningas ("King of the Forest", 2008) Karkelo ("Party", 2009) Ukon Wacka ("Ukko’s Feast", 2011) Manala ("The Underworld", 2012) Noita ("The Witch", 2015) Kulkija ("The Wanderer", 2018) Jylhä ("Majestic", 2021) Rankarumpu ("The Punishing Drum", 2024)
