Eternal Tears Of Sorrow

Eternal Tears of Sorrow (commonly abbreviated to EToS) is a Finnish melodic death metal band. They were formed in Pudasjärvi in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland. They have also sometimes been considered as gothic metal band due to some gothic metal influences on their albums including romantic lyrics and soft keyboard melodies uncommon in melodic death metal. The pre-EToS projects started from melodic death/doom metal but soon the style changed

Biography
The band was officially formed in 1994 by Jarmo Puolakanaho, Altti Veteläinen and Olli-Pekka Törrö, after some previous various metal projects. Initially all started when Altti and Jarmo started to playing the speed/thrash/industrial metal, but after they went on became a death/doom/thrash metal group under several names. These pre-EToS projects featured several people who play or have played in Eternal Tears of Sorrow.

Andromeda, a first death/doom/thrash metal project, had been put on hold in late 1992 because the rehearsal place had burned down. It seemed their home town wasn't able to give them a new rehearsal place, so the three members decided to start up a new, drummerless sideproject (M.D.C.) and recorded a demo tape Beyond The Fantasy in autumn 1993. However, the songs on the demo were better than they had expected, so they decided to go on with the project.

In spring 1994, they recorded a new demo, The Seven Goddesses of Frost. because their home town was still unable to provide Andromeda a new rehearsal place, and the project had become a serious band, the band decided to change their name to more serious Eternal Tears of Sorrow. Between 1994 and 1996 the band was busy (in spite of all of the members doing their compulsory military services): they recorded their first studio demo tape (Bard's Burial), had a couple of songs on some compilation CDs in Europe and Canada and recorded their debut, Sinner's Serenade. It took more than a year for the debut album to get released by X-Treme Records, a small underground label from Gothenburg in Sweden.

After recording the second album (that the band recorded on their own money and which was their first melodic death metal record), Vilda Mánnu, Spinefarm Records approached the band and soon they signed a deal with the label.

Their third album Chaotic Beauty (on which the band had three new members as Olli-Pekka Törrö had left the band) might have been the most successful album so far as they went to a European tour with Nightwish and Sinergy promoting the album. However, it was their fourth album, A Virgin and a horror, that went to the Finnish Album TOP 40 charts.

After releasing four albums, the band announced having a break just after the release of A Virgin and a horror. In 2002 the band announced they were going to have a long break. However, they broke up in January 2003, the reasons being the members' interest in trying something completely different, or just taking a complete break from the music business.

In February 2005, the band announced they were to make a comeback. The album was being written and recorded during the year, and the fifth album Before the Bleeding Sun was released in April 2006 (excluding releases in Russia and Japan that were released later). This album also went to the Finnish Album Top 40 charts, this time with the position of #26.

The band broke their 66-month gig silence in late 2006 with two session members as Petri Sankala and Janne Tolsa were unavailable at that time.

Currently, the band are writing material for their sixth, unnamed album that will come out in March 2009 through Suomen Musiikki in Finland, Massacre Records in Europe excluding Finland and Marquee/Avalon in Asia.


Discography

Full-length albums
Sinner's Serenade (1997)
Vilda Mánnu (1998)
Chaotic Beauty (2000)
A Virgin and a horror (2001)
Before the Bleeding Sun (2006)
TBA (spring 2009)

Singles
Last One For Life (Finland only) (2001)

Cover songs
As I Die, by Paradise Lost
Black Tears, by Edge of Sanity
Flight of Icarus, by Iron Maiden
Sick, Dirty and Mean, by Accept

Demos
The Seven Goddesses of Frost - (May 1994)
Bard's Burial - (October 1994)

Pre-EToS demos
The Fourth Dimension - (as Andromeda, May 1992)
II (unfinished demo) - (as Andromeda, August 1992)
DWN (instrumental demo) - (as D.W.N., June 1993)
Beyond the Fantasy - (as M.D.C., October 1993)

Band members
Altti Veteläinen, vocal, bass 1994- (see For My Pain..., Kalmah, Scyron, also in all the previous pre-EToS projects)
Jarmo Puolakanaho, guitar 1994- (also in all the previous pre-EToS projects)
Risto Ruuth, guitar 2005- (see Scyron)
Janne Tolsa, keyboards 2005- (see Tarot, Virtuocity, Turmion Kätilöt)
Petri Sankala, drums 1999- (see For My Pain..., Kalmah, Scyron, also in Andromeda 1992)

Former members
Olli-Pekka Törrö, guitar 1994-1999 (see For My Pain..., also in Andromeda 1992 and M.D.C. 1993)
Pasi Hiltula, keyboards 1999-2003 (see Kalmah, Scenery Channel)
Antti-Matti Talala, guitar, drums 1997-2000 (see To/Die/For, Soulrelic, Kalmah)
Antti Kokko, guitar 2000-2003 (see Kalmah)