Kristian Ranta, also known as Kride, is the guitarist of the Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 melodic metal band Norther

Norther

Norther is a Finnish Melodic Death Metal band from Helsinki, Finland.-History:Norther was originally formed by Kristian Ranta, Jukka Koskinen, Tuomas Planman, Petri Lindroos and Toni Hallio in the year 1996 after various of early stage band formations. The band kicked into gear with its debut...

 - best known for their single Released, which entered the Finnish "Top 5". Kristian has composed most of Norther's best known songs including Frozen Angel as well as come up with the name of the band. Ranta has played the guitar on the band's all full length albums, the most recent being Circle Regenerated (album) (2011) and the N

N

N is the fourteenth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.- History of the forms :One of the most common hieroglyphs, snake, was used in Egyptian writing to stand for a sound like English ⟨J⟩, because the Egyptian word for "snake" was djet...

(2008), and contributed clean vocals to the Solution 7 EP, Till Death Unites Us, the No Way Back EP and N. He has formed an experimental side project named Gashouse Garden with Children of Bodom

Children of Bodom

Children of Bodom is a Finnish heavy metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993, the group currently consists of Alexi Laiho , Roope Latvala , Janne Wirman , Henkka Seppälä , and Jaska Raatikainen...

 drummer

Drummer

A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

 Jaska Raatikainen

Jaska Raatikainen

Jaska Ilmari Raatikainen or Jaska W. Raatikainen is the drummer of the band Children of Bodom.-Biography:Jaska Raatikainen was born in the town of Lappeenranta, in Finland. His first instrument was the piano, and during most of his childhood also played the French horn in a big band - a fact which...

.

Kristian has also been acting in a Finnish film called Vares 2. Norther / Kristian composed a title track for this film called Frozen Angel. He was also interviewed in a TV documentary about Finnish heavy metal bands - Promised Land of Heavy Metal - 2009.

Kristian is also a co-founder and CEO of a Finnish information technology company called Mendor

Mendor

Mendor is a next generation diabetes technology company from Helsinki, Finland.Mendor was founded by Jukka Planman, Tuomas Planman and Kristian Ranta - currently also the CEO of Mendor - ....

.
Mendor, presented by Kristian, was recently voted as the most attractive company for venture capital investment among all the Finnish start-up companies.

Personal information

• Name: Kristian 'Kride' Ranta
• Date of Birth: 13 May 1981
• Place of Birth: Helsinki
  Helsinki
  Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
  
  , Finland
  Finland
  Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
  
  
• Instruments Played: Guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
   (since 1996) and Piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
   (since around 1987)
• Practices: At least an hour a day, sometimes more.
• Idols/Influences:

Guitarists: Paul Gilbert

Paul Gilbert

Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American guitarist. He is well known for his technical guitar work with Racer X and Mr...

, Nuno Bettencourt

Nuno Bettencourt

Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt is a Portuguese guitarist and singer-songwriter best known for his role as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme whose hits include the acoustic ballads "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted"...

, Roope Latvala

Roope Latvala

Roope Latvala is a Finnish guitarist who currently plays with the bands Children of Bodom and Sinergy. He was one of the founding members of Stone, which was one of the first notable bands in the history of Finnish heavy metal.-Biography:...

, Eddie Van Halen

Eddie Van Halen

Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

, Michael Romeo

Michael Romeo

Since 2005, Romeo has taken advantage of a new custom model, Caparison Dellinger II - Michael Romeo Custom, which he used to record the Symphony X album Paradise Lost...

, Zakk Wylde

Zakk Wylde

Zachary Phillip Wylde , best known by the stage name Zakk Wylde, is an American musician, songwriter, and occasional actor who is best known as the former guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and founder of the heavy metal band Black Label Society. He was the lead guitarist and vocalist in Pride & Glory,...

, Marty Friedman

Marty Friedman (guitarist)

Marty Friedman is a guitarist, well known for his tenure as the lead/rhythm guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth, which lasted almost a decade...

.

Bands: Waltari

Waltari

Waltari is a band from Finland, known for its diversity and combination of music styles, frequently combining alternative metal, progressive metal, death metal, hard rock, heavy metal, hip hop, industrial, pop, punk, rap, symphonic metal, techno and thrash metal.Most of the band's music is written...

, Children of Bodom

Children of Bodom

Children of Bodom is a Finnish heavy metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993, the group currently consists of Alexi Laiho , Roope Latvala , Janne Wirman , Henkka Seppälä , and Jaska Raatikainen...

, Arch Enemy

Arch Enemy (band)

Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup, from Halmstad, formed in 1996. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, and Eucharist to name a few. It was founded by Carcass guitarist Michael Amott along with Johan...

, Emperor

Emperor (band)

Emperor was a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1991. They dissolved in 2001, but reunited in 2006 and again in 2007 for a few festival dates and brief US tours. The group was founded by Samoth and Ihsahn .-Biography:...

, Sentenced, King Diamond

King Diamond

Kim Bendix Petersen , better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Grammy Award nominated Danish heavy metal musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his extensive vocal range, in particular his usage of falsetto. He is the lead vocalist for both Mercyful Fate and the eponymous King Diamond...

, Stone

Stone (band)

Stone was a thrash metal band formed in Kerava, Finland in the mid-1980s. They released four albums and one live album during the late 1980s and early 1990s, before disbanding in 1991 to pursue different musical directions. Stone reunited to play a final set of concerts in 2000, but parted ways...

, Eppu Normaali

Eppu Normaali

Eppu Normaali is one of the most popular rock bands in Finland. The band formed in 1976 in Ylöjärvi, a small town near Tampere. The band is the best-selling music artist in Finland, with certified sales surpassing 1.5 million records...

, Van Halen

Van Halen

Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...

, Lost Horizon

Lost Horizon (band)

Lost Horizon are a power metal / progressive metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. They went under the name Highlander from 1990 until 1994 before the band was put on hold. Reformed in the late nineties, briefly under the same name, before changing it to Lost Horizon...

, Slayer

Slayer

Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...

, Pantera

Pantera

Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...

, Skid Row, Stratovarius

Stratovarius

Stratovarius are a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1984. Since their formation they have released 13 studio albums and one live album. Along with Helloween, Blind Guardian, Rhapsody of Fire and Gamma Ray, Stratovarius are considered one of the leading groups of the power metal and symphonic...

, Amorphis

Amorphis

Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band started by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other types of genres, which include heavy metal, progressive metal, and folk metal...

, Opeth

Opeth

Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...

, In Flames

In Flames

In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. Since the band's inception in 1993, they have released ten studio albums and one live DVD...

.

• Speaks: Finnish
  Finnish language
  Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
  
  , English
  English language
  English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
  
  , Swedish
  Swedish language
  Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
  
  , and German
  German language
  German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
  
  .

Equipment

• Kristian along with the rest of Norther is currently sponsored by Jackson Guitars
  Jackson Guitars
  __FORCETOC__Jackson is a renowned brand of electric guitar that bears the name of its founder, Grover Jackson.-Early years:Grover Jackson obtained ownership in Charvel's Guitar Repair of Glendora, California in the 1970s with a promise to bolster Charvel's business...
  
   and Guild Guitar Company
  Guild Guitar Company
  The Guild Guitar Company is a USA-based guitar manufacturer founded in 1952 by Alfred Dronge, a guitarist and music-store owner, and George Mann, a former executive with the Epiphone Guitar Company...
  
  .
• Amfisound
  Amfisound
  Amfisound is a Finnish-based manufacturer of guitars, founded in 2002. Players of Amfisound guitars include Chris Holmes , Vincent Cavanagh , Ricardo Amorim , J. Ahola , Mitja Harvilahti , and Tuomas Saukkonen ....
  
   Custom. This guitar was created during the short time Norther was endorsed by Amfisound.
• Jackson RR Custom (24 frets, Skull and Crossbones inlays, EMG-81 bridge and EMG-85 neck pickups) used prior to getting Amfisound custom.
• Jackson KV2, Snow white with black bevels.
• Guild GAD-30PCE

• Black Jim Dunlop Jazz III Picks
• Marshall EL34 50/50 Power Amp and Digitech GSP 1101 pre-amp / multieffect
• DR 11-52 set strings in D tuning
• Kristian uses Steinberg Cubase for recording

Norther

• Circle Regenerated
  Circle Regenerated
  - Band members :* Aleksi Sihvonen − lead vocals* Kristian Ranta − guitar, clean vocals* Daniel Freyberg − guitar, backing vocals* Heikki Saari − drums* Jukka Koskinen − bass, backing vocals* Tuomas Planman − keyboards, programming- Release history :...
  
   (2011)
• N (2008) - CD
• No Way Back
  No Way Back (Norther EP)
  -Videography:From the EP, the track "Frozen Angel" was used in the soundtrack to the Finnish film Vares 2. Clips of the film were used in the accompanying music video for .-Credits:* Petri Lindroos − vocals, guitar...
  
   EP (2007) - EP
• Till Death Unites Us
  Till Death Unites Us
  -Charts:-Band members:* Petri Lindroos − vocals, guitar* Kristian Ranta − guitar, vocals * Toni Hallio − drums* Jukka Koskinen − bass* Tuomas Planman − keyboards, synthesizers...
  
   (2006) - CD
• Scream
  Scream (Norther song)
  "Scream" is the fourth single by the Finnish Melodic death metal band, Norther, released on January 11, 2006 by Spinefarm Records. The song, "Wasted Years" shows Kride using clean vocals for the entire song. The single debuted at number 3 in Finland...
  
   (2006) - CD Single
• Solution 7
  Solution 7
  -Credits:* The song; "Chasm" is a remix of the song that also appears on Death Unlimited. The vocals are sung cleanly by Kride .* "Chasm " was made with Mikko Karmila, not Anssi Kippo....
  
   EP (2005) - EP
• Spreading Death
  Spreading Death
  Spreading Death was released on both DVD single and CD single.Spreading Death is a DVD single by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther, released on September 1, 2004 by Spinefarm Records...
  
   (2004) - DVD Single
• Death Unlimited
  Death Unlimited
  -Videography:The album features a video for the song "Death Unlimited", which can be viewed .-Band:* Petri Lindroos − Harsh Vocals and Guitar* Kristian Ranta − Guitar and Clean Vocals* Toni Hallio − Drums* Jukka Koskinen − Bass...
  
   (2004) - CD
• Spreading Death
  Spreading Death
  Spreading Death was released on both DVD single and CD single.Spreading Death is a DVD single by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther, released on September 1, 2004 by Spinefarm Records...
  
   (2004) - CD Single
• Mirror of Madness
  Mirror of Madness
  -Band members:* Petri Lindroos − Guitars, Vocals* Kristian Ranta − Guitars* Tuomas Planman − Keyboards* Jukka Koskinen − Bass* Toni Hallio − Drums-Production and other:* Mixed in January 2003 at Finnvox Studios by Mikko Karmila, mastered by Mika Jussila...
  
   (2003) - CD
• Unleash Hell (2003) - CD Single
• Dreams of Endless War
  Dreams of Endless War
  Dreams of Endless War is the debut album by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther. It was released on July 18, 2002 by Spinefarm Records. The songs; "Victorious One" and "Endless War" are demo songs from Warlord, while the song "Warlord" from the demo was renamed as "Endless War" and are...
  
   (2002) - CD
• Released (2002) - CD Single
• Warlord
  Warlord (demo)
  Warlord is the only demo by the Finnish melodic death metal band Norther, which was self-released in November 2000. The demo featured Sebastian Knight and Joakim Ekroos, who would not be retained as permanent members after production. Warlord was mixed in only a few hours and features a cover song...
  
  (2000) - Demo

External links

• Kristian Ranta on MySpace - Official MySpace profile of Kristian Ranta
• Kristian Ranta on Twitter - Official Twitter profile of Kristian Ranta
• Norther - Official page
• Mendor - Official page
• The Internet Movie Database - Kristian's appearances in movies
• Mendor management - Mendor management team - Kristian as CEO