Northern Europe
The sound of Finland
More metal bands per capita than anywhere on earth, and unusually, most of them are melodic rather than punishing. Power metal and humppa sit closer together here than the genre names suggest.
746 artists in the catalog.
What Finland does that nowhere else does
Genres far more common here than across the rest of the catalog. The multiplier is how much more common, weighted by how many artists carry it.
Five records to start with
Not a canon — a way in. Each one links to what it is, who it's for and where to go next.
Finnish artists worth walking into
Ordered by how much we can tell you, not just by how well-known they are.
Nightwish
power metal · symphonic metal
Where to start →Lordi
hard rock · heavy metal
Where to start →HIM
alternative rock · gothic metal
Where to start →Stratovarius
power metal
Where to start →Esa-Pekka Salonen
classical music · contemporary classical music
Where to start →The Rasmus
alternative rock · pop rock
Where to start →Amorphis
death-doom · folk metal
Where to start →Viikate
heavy metal · rautalanka
Where to start →Sonata Arctica
power metal
Where to start →Haloo Helsinki!
Europop · alternative rock
Where to start →Apulanta
punk rock
Where to start →Tarja Turunen
classical music · glam metal
Where to start →