* En anglais uniquement
Thanks to the pioneering efforts of
Amorphis,
Impaled Nazarene, and
Sentenced, to name but a few, Finland became a surprising hotbed of heavy metal talent during the late '90s, and symphonic black metal act
Catamenia certainly ranks among the most consistent -- if not commercially successful -- of these. Formed in 1995 by vocalist Mika Tönning, guitarists
Riku Hopeakoski and Sampo Ukkola, bassist
Timo Lehtinen, keyboardist Heidi Riihinen, and drummer Toni Tervoand, and hailing from
Sentenced's hometown of Oulu,
Catamenia needed only a few well-recorded demos to score a deal with Massacre Records, for which they delivered 1998's Halls of Frozen North and 1999's Morning Crimson in quick succession.
Although both of these albums displayed a large inspirational debt to Norwegians
Emperor, they were also creative and inspired enough in their own right, and despite recurring obsessions with frigid album titles and blue cover artwork,
Catamenia's sound would grow ever more varied and distinctive with each ensuing release. These included 2000's excellent
Eternal Winter's Prophecy (which saw Ukkola replaced by new rhythm guitarist
Ari Nissilä and
the Black League's Sir Luttinen helping out behind the drum kit) and 2001's epic masterpiece
Eskhata (which borrowed
Kalmah drummer
Janne Kusmin, and did without departed keyboardist Riihinen). The behind-the-scenes shuffling would continue with the arrival of keyboardist Tero Nevala and drummer Viekko Jumisko prior to the band's fifth album, 2003's acclaimed
Chaos Born. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia