Charon - Biography
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1998-
Biography
1992
- Charon is founded by Antti Karihtala (drums), Teemu Hautamaki (bass), Pasi Sipila & Jasse Hast (guitars).
1995
- When Charon records their third demo, "Pilgrimage", J-P Leppaluoto joins the band as their lead vocalist.
1996
- The band sends "Serenity"-promosong to various recordlabels.
1997
- Emanzipation Productions signs Charon.
1998
- "Sorrowburn", Charon's debutalbum is released.
- The band then moves to Danish Diehard Progress.
1999
- The second album, "Tearstained" is released via Diehard.
2000
- Charon does a springtour in Finland with Sentenced.
- A deal with Spinefarm Records is inked.
- "Tearstained" is licensed and released by Spinefarm.
- The deal with Diehard comes to an end.
- Charon signs a deal with a Finnish booking agent, Dex-Viihde.
2001
- The band spends the summer and spring writing new material and doing shows.
- Summer and fall sees Charon entering the studio to record their third full-length.
- The single "Little angel" is released in November.
2002
- "Downhearted" is released in April.
2003
- Juha-Pekka joined Ville Laihialla's band Poisonblack. Together they released the debut album "Escapexstacy".
- "Dying Daylight" is released in September.
Finland's premier melodic rock/metal combo Charon makes a triumphant return with "Songs for the Sinners" out on Spinefarm Records. Years of fine-tuning their style has now resulted in a heavier edged album than heard from Charon previously, without losing any of their characteristic knack for killer guitar melodies and memorable vocal lines. A sterling production/mixing job by Mikko Karmila (renowned for his work with Nightwish & countless other perennial metal favourites from Finland) completes the picture.
Charon, consisting of Antti Karihtala (drums), Teemu Hautamäki (bass), Pasi Sipilä (guitar), J-P Leppäluoto (vocals), and the newcomer Lauri Tuohimaa (guitar, replacing long-time member Jasse Hast), was formed already in 1992. After two demos, they found the current frontman J-P and recorded the "Sorrowburn" album for Danish Emanzipation Productions label. The tentative foray into death metal territory evident on "Sorrowburn" was not to last and the band soon found their sound naturally transforming into more contemporary rock-metal style.
In support of their second album "Tearstained" Charon toured with Sentenced, and finally caught the attention of Spinefarm Records. The hard work of the band finally started paying off with the release of "Downhearted" album in 2001, which showcased a band bringing a style to near-perfection with little genre favourites such as "Little Angel", the promo video of which (directed by Tuukka Temonen) eventually rose to the number one position position on Nordiska Videolistan (Nordic Video List). The actual album was #3 on the Finnish album charts, with the single "In Trust of No-one" even reaching the coveted #1 position!
"The Dying Daylights" album was released in 2003, and again hit the charts taking the band on the road for some intense touring, including shows in St Petersburg and Moscow. "Songs for the Sinners" can do no worse, for Charon are now, with the fifth album, at the top of their game. Guest appearances include Sande and Tomi from Amorphis (keyboards and sitar) and Marko Manninen from the Finnish cult act Alamaailman vasarat (cello).
Charon quits after 2011's summer's performances. The band will be doing last gigs as a favour to their loyal fans and finally wraps up nearly two decades of music career.
"This shouldn't be a really big surprise for anyone. We are forced to admit that we have no longer anything new to give to the genre in which Charon has operated. Doing things forced or not straight from the heart has never been a band practice for us. And a 100 % satisfactory outcome would no longer be possible", the band explains a long considered solution.
All the band members still have a passion for playing and they all will continue their careers in music.
The guys will announce more about their new plans when the time is right.
- Charon is founded by Antti Karihtala (drums), Teemu Hautamaki (bass), Pasi Sipila & Jasse Hast (guitars).
1995
- When Charon records their third demo, "Pilgrimage", J-P Leppaluoto joins the band as their lead vocalist.
1996
- The band sends "Serenity"-promosong to various recordlabels.
1997
- Emanzipation Productions signs Charon.
1998
- "Sorrowburn", Charon's debutalbum is released.
- The band then moves to Danish Diehard Progress.
1999
- The second album, "Tearstained" is released via Diehard.
2000
- Charon does a springtour in Finland with Sentenced.
- A deal with Spinefarm Records is inked.
- "Tearstained" is licensed and released by Spinefarm.
- The deal with Diehard comes to an end.
- Charon signs a deal with a Finnish booking agent, Dex-Viihde.
2001
- The band spends the summer and spring writing new material and doing shows.
- Summer and fall sees Charon entering the studio to record their third full-length.
- The single "Little angel" is released in November.
2002
- "Downhearted" is released in April.
2003
- Juha-Pekka joined Ville Laihialla's band Poisonblack. Together they released the debut album "Escapexstacy".
- "Dying Daylight" is released in September.
Finland's premier melodic rock/metal combo Charon makes a triumphant return with "Songs for the Sinners" out on Spinefarm Records. Years of fine-tuning their style has now resulted in a heavier edged album than heard from Charon previously, without losing any of their characteristic knack for killer guitar melodies and memorable vocal lines. A sterling production/mixing job by Mikko Karmila (renowned for his work with Nightwish & countless other perennial metal favourites from Finland) completes the picture.
Charon, consisting of Antti Karihtala (drums), Teemu Hautamäki (bass), Pasi Sipilä (guitar), J-P Leppäluoto (vocals), and the newcomer Lauri Tuohimaa (guitar, replacing long-time member Jasse Hast), was formed already in 1992. After two demos, they found the current frontman J-P and recorded the "Sorrowburn" album for Danish Emanzipation Productions label. The tentative foray into death metal territory evident on "Sorrowburn" was not to last and the band soon found their sound naturally transforming into more contemporary rock-metal style.
In support of their second album "Tearstained" Charon toured with Sentenced, and finally caught the attention of Spinefarm Records. The hard work of the band finally started paying off with the release of "Downhearted" album in 2001, which showcased a band bringing a style to near-perfection with little genre favourites such as "Little Angel", the promo video of which (directed by Tuukka Temonen) eventually rose to the number one position position on Nordiska Videolistan (Nordic Video List). The actual album was #3 on the Finnish album charts, with the single "In Trust of No-one" even reaching the coveted #1 position!
"The Dying Daylights" album was released in 2003, and again hit the charts taking the band on the road for some intense touring, including shows in St Petersburg and Moscow. "Songs for the Sinners" can do no worse, for Charon are now, with the fifth album, at the top of their game. Guest appearances include Sande and Tomi from Amorphis (keyboards and sitar) and Marko Manninen from the Finnish cult act Alamaailman vasarat (cello).
Charon quits after 2011's summer's performances. The band will be doing last gigs as a favour to their loyal fans and finally wraps up nearly two decades of music career.
"This shouldn't be a really big surprise for anyone. We are forced to admit that we have no longer anything new to give to the genre in which Charon has operated. Doing things forced or not straight from the heart has never been a band practice for us. And a 100 % satisfactory outcome would no longer be possible", the band explains a long considered solution.
All the band members still have a passion for playing and they all will continue their careers in music.
The guys will announce more about their new plans when the time is right.