Falchion - Biography
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2008-
2003-2007
Biography
Falchion is a Finnish melodic heavy metal band influenced by e.g. Scandinavian death metal, neo-classical metal, progressive metal, thrash metal and folk metal. In the beginning there were two notable Finnish metal albums that created the idea of forming a melodic death metal band. The albums were Elegy by Amorphis (1996) and the same-titled debut album by Ensiferum (2001).
In the spring 2002 in Lahti, Finland there were 15- and 16-year-old guys named Juho Kauppinen (guitars & vocals) and Joonas Simonen (keyboards). Before writing own songs they had played mainly Stratovarius and Amorphis cover songs since the year 2000. At first the duo was looking for a drummer and they found Ville Vehviläinen (currently in Waltari) in the spring 2002. Thus Falchion was formed, consisting only of vocals, guitar, keyboards and drums. It took a while until the desired line-up was complete. Seppo Tiaskorpi joined Falchion as bass player in the end of 2002 and the second guitar player Sami Heinonen joined the band in the spring 2003, and Falchion was ready to record a demo cd with the entire line-up.
The first four songs were written in 2002-2003 and the upcoming demo-cd would consist of the songs. By the time the band had two composers: Kauppinen and Simonen that both were influenced by Finnish melodic metal. Falchion started to record a four-track demo cd in June 2003 in Lahden yhteiskoulu that was the upper secondary school Kauppinen and Simonen were studying in. The person responsible of recording and mixing the demo cd was Juha Kallas. The recordings of the demo cd seemed to last for an eternity due to personal reasons, but the demo was ready in November 2003. During the recordings of the demo the band's line-up changed due to the fact that Simonen, Heinonen and Vehviläinen had decided to leave the band. To replace them, Teemu Peltonen became the new drummer and Jani Laine the second guitar player. Major changes followed: the band decided to continue without a keyboard player and the sound would be based on guitar walls and melody lines. Also, the responsibility of composing the songs was shifted exclusively to Kauppinen and since then Falchion has been more or less his own band.
The demo cd received rather positive response from certain internet media and in December 2003 Falchion scored a record deal offer from Japanese label World Chaos Production and signed a one-album record contract with the label. By the time the record contract was signed the band was excited about the recordings that would take place in summer 2004. World Chaos Production wanted the band to record an album containing at least eight songs and 35 minutes running time. Kauppinen started to write songs rather quickly and in the spring 2004 Falchion had nine songs and 48 minutes material to record. The recordings for the debut album started in June 2004 at Studio Watercastle, Jyväskylä, Finland with Arttu Sarvanne, who was there to add a professional touch during the nine days of recording. He mixed the album in eight days in the beginning of July, and the mastering session took place in October by Timo Lehtimäki in Studio 57, Kronoby, Finland.
Right after the album was ready in October 2004 Kauppinen joined Korpiklaani as accordion player. Falchion was inactive for a while due to Korpiklaani requiring a lot time and effort from Kauppinen. However, Falchion had already decided to remain inactive until the release of the debut album "Legacy of Heathens" before performing live. The album came out on 15th of October 2005, exactly one year after the mastering session. The delay affected the motivation of the musicians, but Kauppinen had never had an idea of quitting Falchion. "Legacy of Heathens" received encouraging reviews in the internet media, but some criticism as well. In the autumn 2005 Kauppinen had moved from Lahti to Tampere where most of the Korpiklaani members resided, and Falchion never rehearsed in Lahti area again.
In the summer of 2006, nearly one year after the release of the album "Legacy of Heathens" Kauppinen decided to change completely the entire line-up due to the fact that Falchion had not rehearsed together for a year due to the members living so far from each other. In August 2006 Kauppinen had a conversation with his friend Sampsa Savijärvi about the future of the band, and the idea was to discover new line-up from Tampere region that would be ready to rehearse often and record a new album soon. So Savijärvi himself became a guitar player and asked his friend Miikka Tulimäki, a talented guitar player with plenty of motivation, to join the band as third guitar player. Matti Johansson from Korpiklaani was also interested in joining the band as drummer: he had previously played melodic death metal music in Crystalic and considered Falchion a proper side project aside Korpiklaani. The new bass player was a friend of Savijärvi's as well, Janne Kielinen. Unfortunately Savijärvi had to leave the band after having noticed his main musicial ambitions being the studies with classical guitar and vocals. Falchion started to rehearse in the autumn 2006 and played the first ever live show in Turku, Finland in February 2007 with Eternal Tears of Sorrow.
Kauppinen had not been writing songs for Falchion due to the band having been unsigned by a record label in 2007. However, he composed eleven songs for three Korpiklaani albums "Tales Along This Road" (2006), "Tervaskanto" (2007) and "Korven kuningas" (2008) and performed over 150 shows with Korpiklaani during 2005-2007. After the very important album recordings of "Korven kuningas" in the autumn 2007 Kauppinen finally started to compose music for a new Falchion album.
In December 2007 Falchion booked Adamantium Studios in Tampere to record the new album in March 2008. The band had been negotiating about a new record deal with a certain record company, but in January 2008 received a better offer from German label Massacre Records and signed a deal with them. The new album was recorded in March 2008 and was mastered at Finnvox Studios. The album "Chronicles of the Dead" included nine tracks and nearly 48 minutes of running time. Material for the album was composed during the years 2004 and 2006-2008. In the spring 2008 Falchion started co-operation with the German booking agency Sound of Liberation.
(source: http://www.myspace.com/falchionofficial)
In the spring 2002 in Lahti, Finland there were 15- and 16-year-old guys named Juho Kauppinen (guitars & vocals) and Joonas Simonen (keyboards). Before writing own songs they had played mainly Stratovarius and Amorphis cover songs since the year 2000. At first the duo was looking for a drummer and they found Ville Vehviläinen (currently in Waltari) in the spring 2002. Thus Falchion was formed, consisting only of vocals, guitar, keyboards and drums. It took a while until the desired line-up was complete. Seppo Tiaskorpi joined Falchion as bass player in the end of 2002 and the second guitar player Sami Heinonen joined the band in the spring 2003, and Falchion was ready to record a demo cd with the entire line-up.
The first four songs were written in 2002-2003 and the upcoming demo-cd would consist of the songs. By the time the band had two composers: Kauppinen and Simonen that both were influenced by Finnish melodic metal. Falchion started to record a four-track demo cd in June 2003 in Lahden yhteiskoulu that was the upper secondary school Kauppinen and Simonen were studying in. The person responsible of recording and mixing the demo cd was Juha Kallas. The recordings of the demo cd seemed to last for an eternity due to personal reasons, but the demo was ready in November 2003. During the recordings of the demo the band's line-up changed due to the fact that Simonen, Heinonen and Vehviläinen had decided to leave the band. To replace them, Teemu Peltonen became the new drummer and Jani Laine the second guitar player. Major changes followed: the band decided to continue without a keyboard player and the sound would be based on guitar walls and melody lines. Also, the responsibility of composing the songs was shifted exclusively to Kauppinen and since then Falchion has been more or less his own band.
The demo cd received rather positive response from certain internet media and in December 2003 Falchion scored a record deal offer from Japanese label World Chaos Production and signed a one-album record contract with the label. By the time the record contract was signed the band was excited about the recordings that would take place in summer 2004. World Chaos Production wanted the band to record an album containing at least eight songs and 35 minutes running time. Kauppinen started to write songs rather quickly and in the spring 2004 Falchion had nine songs and 48 minutes material to record. The recordings for the debut album started in June 2004 at Studio Watercastle, Jyväskylä, Finland with Arttu Sarvanne, who was there to add a professional touch during the nine days of recording. He mixed the album in eight days in the beginning of July, and the mastering session took place in October by Timo Lehtimäki in Studio 57, Kronoby, Finland.
Right after the album was ready in October 2004 Kauppinen joined Korpiklaani as accordion player. Falchion was inactive for a while due to Korpiklaani requiring a lot time and effort from Kauppinen. However, Falchion had already decided to remain inactive until the release of the debut album "Legacy of Heathens" before performing live. The album came out on 15th of October 2005, exactly one year after the mastering session. The delay affected the motivation of the musicians, but Kauppinen had never had an idea of quitting Falchion. "Legacy of Heathens" received encouraging reviews in the internet media, but some criticism as well. In the autumn 2005 Kauppinen had moved from Lahti to Tampere where most of the Korpiklaani members resided, and Falchion never rehearsed in Lahti area again.
In the summer of 2006, nearly one year after the release of the album "Legacy of Heathens" Kauppinen decided to change completely the entire line-up due to the fact that Falchion had not rehearsed together for a year due to the members living so far from each other. In August 2006 Kauppinen had a conversation with his friend Sampsa Savijärvi about the future of the band, and the idea was to discover new line-up from Tampere region that would be ready to rehearse often and record a new album soon. So Savijärvi himself became a guitar player and asked his friend Miikka Tulimäki, a talented guitar player with plenty of motivation, to join the band as third guitar player. Matti Johansson from Korpiklaani was also interested in joining the band as drummer: he had previously played melodic death metal music in Crystalic and considered Falchion a proper side project aside Korpiklaani. The new bass player was a friend of Savijärvi's as well, Janne Kielinen. Unfortunately Savijärvi had to leave the band after having noticed his main musicial ambitions being the studies with classical guitar and vocals. Falchion started to rehearse in the autumn 2006 and played the first ever live show in Turku, Finland in February 2007 with Eternal Tears of Sorrow.
Kauppinen had not been writing songs for Falchion due to the band having been unsigned by a record label in 2007. However, he composed eleven songs for three Korpiklaani albums "Tales Along This Road" (2006), "Tervaskanto" (2007) and "Korven kuningas" (2008) and performed over 150 shows with Korpiklaani during 2005-2007. After the very important album recordings of "Korven kuningas" in the autumn 2007 Kauppinen finally started to compose music for a new Falchion album.
In December 2007 Falchion booked Adamantium Studios in Tampere to record the new album in March 2008. The band had been negotiating about a new record deal with a certain record company, but in January 2008 received a better offer from German label Massacre Records and signed a deal with them. The new album was recorded in March 2008 and was mastered at Finnvox Studios. The album "Chronicles of the Dead" included nine tracks and nearly 48 minutes of running time. Material for the album was composed during the years 2004 and 2006-2008. In the spring 2008 Falchion started co-operation with the German booking agency Sound of Liberation.
(source: http://www.myspace.com/falchionofficial)