Teräsbetoni
Encyclopedia
Teräsbetoni is a Finnish
heavy metal
band. Their first album, Metallitotuus was released in 2005 and has so far sold more than 32,000 copies. Teräsbetoni has been strongly influenced by bands such as Manowar. Direct translation of the bands name is steel concrete, Finnish for Reinforced Concrete
.
The music of Teräsbetoni has a martial air to it, with lyrics glorifying a pagan
warrior lifestyle and a "brotherhood of metal". The style has received mixed reception. Band members themselves have said that they are not dead serious about the band's mentality and are having fun with it. The most famous songs of the band include "Taivas lyö tulta", "Vaadimme metallia" and their Eurovision
entry "Missä miehet ratsastaa
".
, and later became an official member. Rantanen was the one to come up with the name Teräsbetoni. Teräsbetoni made its first songs in 2003. They were published on the band's homepage in the summer of 2003 and were called "Teräsbetoni", "Teräksen varjo" (trans. The Shadow of Steel), and "Maljanne nostakaa" (trans. Raise Your Toast).
The band started to get popular in underground circles and soon the knowledge of the band's existence spread wider. Excited fans circulated a petition, demanding a recording contract for Teräsbetoni, and sent it to several record companies. In 2004, Teräsbetoni performed their first concert and a live version of "Taivas lyö tulta" (trans. The sky strikes down fire) was added to the band's homepage. In their first concerts they use to play a cover versions of Ronnie James Dio
's "Rainbow in the Dark" and Manowar
's "Metal Warriors". In late 2004 the band signed a recording contract with Warner Music Finland and the recording for the "Taivas lyö tulta" single started in December 2004. The single was published February 2, 2005, and during its first week on the Finnish single list it rose to the top, followed by plentiful radio time and the band becoming more widely known.
The recordings for the "Metallitotuus" album started in January 2005 and the album was published April 6, 2005. During its first week on the Finnish list, it placed 2nd and stood on the list for 29 weeks. Another single from the album was "Orjatar" (trans. Slave Woman). A music video was also made of this song, and it was shown for the first time on the TOP40 show April 16, 2005. Taivas lyö tulta was later chosen to be the goal song for the Finnish ice hockey national team A in the Karjala Cup tournament.
"Metallitotuus" went platinum (in Finland, that means over 30,000 copies have been sold) in the year it was published, with almost 33,000 copies sold, becoming the third most popular heavy rock album in Finland that year. In June 2006, the second album of the band, "Vaadimme metallia" (trans. We Demand Metal), was published. On the day of its publishing, it nearly broke the gold album line (which in Finland is 15,000 albums sold).
There has been a lot of interest of Teräsbetoni in countries outside Finland, and the band is also very interested in playing outside Finland; so far they have done so only once, at Wacken Open Air
2005.
Teräsbetoni competed in the Finnish national preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
. On March 1, they won the nomination with a total of 38.9% of the final votes cast. They represented Finland with their song Missä miehet ratsastaa
. The band was voted as one of the finalists on May 20. In the finals on May 24 the entry placed 22nd with 35 points. In the semi-final band placed 8th with 79 points.
On March 19, 2008, Teräsbetoni released their third album, Myrskyntuoja
, which entered the Finnish album chart at position 1.
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...
heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band. Their first album, Metallitotuus was released in 2005 and has so far sold more than 32,000 copies. Teräsbetoni has been strongly influenced by bands such as Manowar. Direct translation of the bands name is steel concrete, Finnish for Reinforced Concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
.
The music of Teräsbetoni has a martial air to it, with lyrics glorifying a pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
warrior lifestyle and a "brotherhood of metal". The style has received mixed reception. Band members themselves have said that they are not dead serious about the band's mentality and are having fun with it. The most famous songs of the band include "Taivas lyö tulta", "Vaadimme metallia" and their Eurovision
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
entry "Missä miehet ratsastaa
Missä miehet ratsastaa
"Missä miehet ratsastaa" is a song by Teräsbetoni which was the Finnish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. As with Lordi in 2006, Teräsbetoni was chosen as the Finnish entry for Eurovision 2008 by winning the Finnish national song contest, which is decided by popular vote...
".
History
Jarkko Ahola, Arto Järvinen, and Viljo Rantanen met each other in 2002 and decided to form a band. Jari Kuokkanen joined as a part time drummerDrummer
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...
, and later became an official member. Rantanen was the one to come up with the name Teräsbetoni. Teräsbetoni made its first songs in 2003. They were published on the band's homepage in the summer of 2003 and were called "Teräsbetoni", "Teräksen varjo" (trans. The Shadow of Steel), and "Maljanne nostakaa" (trans. Raise Your Toast).
The band started to get popular in underground circles and soon the knowledge of the band's existence spread wider. Excited fans circulated a petition, demanding a recording contract for Teräsbetoni, and sent it to several record companies. In 2004, Teräsbetoni performed their first concert and a live version of "Taivas lyö tulta" (trans. The sky strikes down fire) was added to the band's homepage. In their first concerts they use to play a cover versions of Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Dio
Ronald James Padavona , better known as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio, which means God in Italian. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser...
's "Rainbow in the Dark" and Manowar
Manowar (band)
Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980 the group is known for its lyrics based on fantasy and mythological topics along with their "loud and bombastic" sound...
's "Metal Warriors". In late 2004 the band signed a recording contract with Warner Music Finland and the recording for the "Taivas lyö tulta" single started in December 2004. The single was published February 2, 2005, and during its first week on the Finnish single list it rose to the top, followed by plentiful radio time and the band becoming more widely known.
The recordings for the "Metallitotuus" album started in January 2005 and the album was published April 6, 2005. During its first week on the Finnish list, it placed 2nd and stood on the list for 29 weeks. Another single from the album was "Orjatar" (trans. Slave Woman). A music video was also made of this song, and it was shown for the first time on the TOP40 show April 16, 2005. Taivas lyö tulta was later chosen to be the goal song for the Finnish ice hockey national team A in the Karjala Cup tournament.
"Metallitotuus" went platinum (in Finland, that means over 30,000 copies have been sold) in the year it was published, with almost 33,000 copies sold, becoming the third most popular heavy rock album in Finland that year. In June 2006, the second album of the band, "Vaadimme metallia" (trans. We Demand Metal), was published. On the day of its publishing, it nearly broke the gold album line (which in Finland is 15,000 albums sold).
There has been a lot of interest of Teräsbetoni in countries outside Finland, and the band is also very interested in playing outside Finland; so far they have done so only once, at Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air is a summer open air heavy metal music festival. It takes place annually in the small town of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany...
2005.
Teräsbetoni competed in the Finnish national preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Contest. It was hosted in Belgrade, Serbia after Marija Šerifović won the 2007 Contest in Helsinki, Finland. This year was the first contest to have two semi-finals which were held on 20 and 22 May, and the final held on 24 May 2008...
. On March 1, they won the nomination with a total of 38.9% of the final votes cast. They represented Finland with their song Missä miehet ratsastaa
Missä miehet ratsastaa
"Missä miehet ratsastaa" is a song by Teräsbetoni which was the Finnish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. As with Lordi in 2006, Teräsbetoni was chosen as the Finnish entry for Eurovision 2008 by winning the Finnish national song contest, which is decided by popular vote...
. The band was voted as one of the finalists on May 20. In the finals on May 24 the entry placed 22nd with 35 points. In the semi-final band placed 8th with 79 points.
On March 19, 2008, Teräsbetoni released their third album, Myrskyntuoja
Myrskyntuoja
Myrskyntuoja is the third studio album by the Finnish heavy metal band Teräsbetoni.It entered the Finnish Album Chart at number 1.-Track listing:#Voiman vartijat #Painajainen...
, which entered the Finnish album chart at position 1.
Members
- Jarkko AholaJarkko AholaJ. Ahola is a performing artist, a composer and a singer. He is the vocalist and bass player and one of the three songwriters of the band Teräsbetoni. He is also a member of a Finnish symphonic metal cover supergroup Northern Kings together with Marco Hietala from Nightwish, Tarot and Sapattivuosi,...
- lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Arto Järvinen - guitarGuitarThe 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...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Viljo Rantanen - guitar
- Jari Kuokkanen - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Albums
- MetallitotuusMetallitotuusMetallitotuus is the debut album by Finnish heavy metal band Teräsbetoni.-Track listing:# Teräsbetoni – 5:54...
(2005) #2 (FIN) - Vaadimme metalliaVaadimme metalliaVaadimme metallia is the second album by Finnish heavy metal band Teräsbetoni.- Track listing :#Vaadimme Metallia #Viimeinen Tuoppi #Älä Mene Metsään...
(2006) #2 (FIN) - MyrskyntuojaMyrskyntuojaMyrskyntuoja is the third studio album by the Finnish heavy metal band Teräsbetoni.It entered the Finnish Album Chart at number 1.-Track listing:#Voiman vartijat #Painajainen...
(2008) #1 (FIN) - Maailma tarvitsee sankareitaMaailma tarvitsee sankareita-Personnel:*Jarkko Ahola - lead vocals, bass*Arto Järvinen: guitar, vocals*Viljo Rantanen: guitar*Jari Kuokkanen: drums...
(2010) #14 (FIN)
Singles
- Taivas lyö tulta (2005) #1 (FIN)
- Orjatar (2005) #10 (FIN)
- Vahva kuin metalli (2005) #19 (FIN)
- Älä mene metsään (2006) #3 (FIN)
- Viimeinen tuoppi (2006)
- Missä miehet ratsastaaMissä miehet ratsastaa"Missä miehet ratsastaa" is a song by Teräsbetoni which was the Finnish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. As with Lordi in 2006, Teräsbetoni was chosen as the Finnish entry for Eurovision 2008 by winning the Finnish national song contest, which is decided by popular vote...
(2008) #2 (FIN) - Paha sanoo (2008) (Promo)