Raskasta Joulua is a band from Finland who have recorded traditional Christ… Read Full Bio ↴Raskasta Joulua is a band from Finland who have recorded traditional Christmas carols and Christmas hits in a Heavy metal style. Raskasta Joulua is a term in Finnish which means "Heavy Christmas" in English. The concept was founded by guitarist Erkka Korhonen in 2004. "Raskasta Joulua" - albums and tours have featured appearances of many notable Finnish metal vocalists as Marco Hietala, Jarkko Ahola, Ari Koivunen, Juha-Pekka Leppaluoto and Tony Kakko.

The band's first album, "Raskasta Joulua," contained performances by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and was produced by T2 productions. The album was released in December 2004. The second album was released on the Warner label in 2006 after a promotional 3-concert tour in December 2005 increased the popularity of the project. This led to increased sales of the subsequent releases. Raskasta Joulua have toured every year since 2005 and the 3 concert tour has become an annual tradition. In 2013 the band changed their record label for the second time and signed to Spinefarm Records. They also released their second self titled album, which achieved platinum status in Finland. In 2014, it was followed by two new albums, Raskasta Joulua 2 and Ragnarok Juletide, the latter of which is their first album recorded in the English Language. The other albums are in Finnish.

Discography

Raskasta Joulua (Heavy Christmas) (T2 Productions, 2004)
Raskaampaa Joulua (Heavier Christmas) (Warner, 2006)
Raskasta Joulua (Heavy Christmas) (Spinefarm, 2013)
Raskasta Joulua Kaksi (Heavy Christmas 2) (Spinefarm, 2014)
Ragnarok Juletide (Spinefarm, 2014)

Members - (2016 line-up)

Erkka Korhonen – guitar
Vili Ollila – keyboards
Mirka Rantanen – drums
Erkki Silvennoinen – bass
Tuomas Wäinölä – guitar
Marco Hietala - vocals
Floor Jansen - vocals
JP Leppäluoto - vocals
Ari Koivunen - vocals
Antti Railio - vocals
Elize Ryd - vocals
Ville Tuomi - vocals
Antony Parviainen - vocals
Tommi Salmela - vocals
Pasi Rantanen - vocals
Kimmo Blom - vocals