I'm a fan of all kinds of metal music, there isn't really one subgenre that I prefer over the others. However, I am infatuated with the Finnish metal scene. Many of my favorite bands are from Finland. I've spent 10 weeks in Finland for an internship abroad teaching in a school (I'm from Belgium), and since then my fascination has only grown. I listen to Finnish metal basically every day. Some of my favorite Finnish bands are:

Nightwish (no. 1!), Amorphis, Children Of Bodom, Sonata Arctica, HIM, Stratovarius, Sentenced, Apocalyptica, Tarot, Korpiklaani,...

I feel that even though musically they may differ, almost all of these bands and others from Finland seem to share this somewhat melancholic touch, which apparently is characteristic for Finnish music, not just metal.

Now I wanna hear you opinions and ideas. Are you a fan of Finnish metal? Do you agree with what I said about the melancholic sound? Do you know any other Finnish bands that are definitely worth checking out (I know other bands than the ones mentioned above of course, those are just my favorites)?

Some nice recommendations for a fan of the more melodic and melancholic styles:

Tenhi = beautifully orchestrated acoustic band
Dolorian = brilliantly atmospheric doom/ambient
Jess and the Ancient Ones = Great female fronted psychedelic rock
Kuolemanlaakso = somewhat melodic death/doom band
Oranssi pazuzu = cool "Psychedelic" black metal band
Demilich = Killer technical death metal
Armour = Heavy metal
Insomnium = Great melodic death metal
Wintersun = Melodic power/death metal. a good first album

Others you might want to check: Norther & Swallow the Sun

Obviously the best metal comes from the US at the moment but great stuff comes from Finland. The finns are probably the best in doing psychelic avantgarde stuff at the moment - if you are about to leave the more generic stuff mentioned above. Then these are a good start:
Atomikylä
Dark Buddha Rising
Oranssi Pazuzu
My personal favourite here is Horse Latitudes, as they are as you mentioned a bit more melancholic than the other.

...Almost forgot the funeral doom scene in Finland, which is topnotch. If you have seen any Kaurismäki films and enjoyed them Skepticism is their resemblance in funeral doom - barren and romantic.



Finland have lots of good funeral doom, youll find them when you search the forums.

I would highly recommend Insomnium and Kalmah. Two really great melodic death metal bands!

Finnish metal is a huge scene, so many excellent bands and musicians from that place! some personal favourites of mine are "Impaled Nazarene" & another great black metal band too is "Behexen" their new album is definitely worth checking out.
Also the highly consistent melodic death band "Insomnium" are excellent and deserve way more recognition.
Other bands worth mentioning are "Finntroll", "Norther" , "Sentenced" , "Omnium Gatherum" & "Swallow The Sun".