Amberian Dawn is musically lead by keyboardist/guitarist Tuomas Seppälä, who exclusively composes all music for AD.
All members of the band have some form of extended history with music and have played in many different bands. Tuomas Seppälä, Heikki Saari(drums), Peter James Goodman (vocals), and Tommi Kuri played in a band called Virtuocity. As Virtuocity disbanded, they started working on songs composed by Tuomas. He started playing guitar, which he mastered as well as playing keyboards. Sampo Seppälä (guitars) and Tom Sagar (keyboards) joined to establish Atheme One.
It was in the summer of 2006 that Tuomas and Tommi decided to start looking for a female classical singer. Tuomas had composed dozens of songs that were not suitable for the voice of Atheme One's vocalist, Peter James Goodman. They didn't want to waste the songs, so they began searching for suitable singer.
After a few weeks search, almost at the same time, they found the same advertisement - a classical soprano singer Heidi Parviainen (from the band Iconofear). They listened to her sample and decided to organize a demo session. They were pleased with the demo and thought that Heidi would be a perfect match and they liked the fact that Heidi can write lyrics too.
Their first studio session was in fall 2006 in which they recorded two songs (River of Tuoni and Evil Inside Me) at the Rockstar Productions studio in Hyvinkää, Finland. Soon after, Heikki Saari moved to a band called Norther, being replaced by Joonas Pykälä-Aho (from the band Thaurorod and Lathspell).
After a while Sampo Seppälä decided to leave the band due to personal reasons. On August 1, 2007 the band introduced Kasperi Heikkinen (previously in Guardians of Mankind, Merging Flare, and Iconofear) as the new guitarist.
Amberian Dawn signed a record deal with Finnish label KHY Suomen Musiikki. Their debut album, River of Tuoni, was released in Finland on January 30, 2008 and hit the charts right after release in Finland.
In the summer and Autumn of 2008, they were the main support for Epica's European tour. In late 2008, they recorded their second album The Clouds of Northland Thunder which was released in June of 2009.
Third album End of Eden was released in October 2010 on Spinefarm Records
Their fourth album Circus Black was released in February 2012.
In late 2012, the band lost three members, vocalist Heidi Parviainen, drummer Heikki Saari and guitarist Kasperi Heikkinen. Parviainen made an announcement on Facebook, saying that "Early this year we noticed that we had reached the point where we didn't have much to offer to each other any more, and my own ambitions and Amberian Dawn's goals weren't coinciding any longer." Former members Joonas Pykälä-aho (drums) and Emil "Emppu" Pohjalainen (guitar) were announced to be rejoining to replace the two departing instrumentalists.
On December 21, 2012, the new singer was revealed to be Päivi "Capri" Virkkunen, and that she would participate in the creation of a compilation album. In the announcement, Tuomas Seppälä said: "Finding Capri and getting her to join AD is like a big dream coming true to me. Capri shares the same taste in music as I and that's why is obvious that our new partnership is like “match made in heaven”. She really makes my compositions to shine like never before and I'm so impressed about her every way. I'm as excited as back then, when I found our original singer Heidi. Now my main focus is to make the whole world to hear about Capri and start composing new songs for her. But first, we're all concentrating on recording this compilation album with Capri and then I'll start working with new material for the new studio album".
Their compliation album "Re-Evolution" was released on June 14, 2013 (Finland) and June 17, 2013 (Europe, USA, Japan, Asia & Australia). It features songs previously sung by Heidi Parviainen, but interpreted by Capri.
Official site: http://www.amberiandawn.com
Kokko
Amberian Dawn Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Light has gone
Dark nights no light under the sky
Hard to find the Fire-child
Eagle of fire with fiery feathers
Made a spark
Ukko made the Kokko's spark
Fly into the night bring back the light
That left the hearth stones
Find the light Eagle of fire
Fly through skies, let there be light!
Dark skies ablazed with fire when
Kokko flew across the heavens
After the child, the child of fire
Floating through the vaults of ether.
Ether maidens cradled the fire child
In starry skies
Slipped through the hands of lady Ether
Escaped from silver cradle
Low descends the dome of heaven
Upon, under
On the edge of the ether
The clouds of Northland thunder
Fly into the night bring back the light
That left the hearth stones
Find the light Eagle of fire
Fly through skies, let there be light!
Dark skies ablazed with fire when
Kokko flew across the heavens
After the child, the child of fire
Floating through the vaults of ether.
The lyrics of "Kokko" by Amberian Dawn tell the story of a Fire-child who has left Väinölä's hearth stones, leaving behind dark nights with no light under the sky. The Fire-child is hard to find, but an Eagle of fire with fiery feathers manages to make a spark and Ukko makes the Kokko's spark kindle as a fire. The Eagle of fire flies into the night to bring back the light that left the hearth stones, searching for the light of the Fire-child. The skies become ablazed with fire when the Kokko flies across the heavens, following the child of fire, who is floating through the vaults of ether. The Ether maidens cradled the Fire-child in starry skies, but the child slipped through the hands of Lady Ether and escaped from the silver cradle.
The lyrics describe a fantastical mythological scene, with the imagery of an Eagle of fire and Kokko flying across the heavens in search of the Fire-child. It seems that the Fire-child is something precious and vital, as the darkness that it has left behind is described as hard to bear. The lyrics suggest that the Fire-child represents hope, light, and warmth, which are all desperately needed on cold, dark nights. The story seems to end on a hopeful note, with the Eagle of fire searching for the Fire-child, and the skies becoming ablazed with fire, as if the light has returned.
Line by Line Meaning
Fire has left Väinölä′s hearth stones
The hearth of Väinölä has been extinguished
Light has gone
The light has disappeared
Dark nights no light under the sky
The sky is without light during the dark nights
Hard to find the Fire-child
It is difficult to find the child of fire
Eagle of fire with fiery feathers
A fiery eagle with glowing feathers
Made a spark
Created a small flame
Ukko made the Kokko's spark
Ukko created the spark of Kokko
Kindle as a fire
Start a fire
Fly into the night bring back the light
Travel into the darkness and bring back the light
That left the hearth stones
That left the hearth's stones without light
Find the light Eagle of fire
The eagle of fire must find the light
Fly through skies, let there be light!
Fly across the skies and illuminate the darkness
Dark skies ablazed with fire when
The dark sky became illuminated with fire
Kokko flew across the heavens
Kokko flew through the skies
After the child, the child of fire
In pursuit of the child of fire
Floating through the vaults of ether
Drifting through the celestial realm
Ether maidens cradled the fire child
The fire child was nurtured by the maidens of ether
In starry skies
Within the celestial expanse
Slipped through the hands of lady Ether
Escaped from the grasp of Lady Ether
Escaped from silver cradle
Fled from the silver crib
Low descends the dome of heaven
The heavens descend to a low point
Upon, under
Above and below
On the edge of the ether
At the cusp of the celestial realm
The clouds of Northland thunder
The clouds of the Northlands roar with thunder
Writer(s): Heidi Parviainen, Tuomas Seppälä
Contributed by Christian A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Halfblood Dragonrider
Fire has left Väinölä's hearth stones
Light has gone
Dark nights no light under the sky
Hard to find the Fire-child
Eagle of fire with fiery feathers
Made a spark
Ukko made the Kokko's spark
Kindle as a fire
Fly into the night bring back the light
That left the hearth stones
Find the light Eagle of fire
Fly through skies, let there be light!
Dark skies ablazed with fire when
Kokko flew across the heavens
After the child, the child of fire
Floating through the vaults of ether
Ether maidens cradled the fire child
In starry skies
Slipped through the hands of lady Ether
Escaped from silver cradle
Low descends the dome of heaven
Upon, under
On the edge of the ether
The clouds of Northland thunder
Fly into the night bring back the light
That left the hearth stones
Find the light Eagle of fire
Fly through skies, let there be light!
Dark skies ablazed with fire when
Kokko flew across the heavens
After the child, the child of fire
Floating through the vaults of ether
AmberianDawn
There's no need to compare those singers with each other. We're glad that you like both versions. We have a history and a future. Our future is with Capri but we also are proud about our history with Heidi :)
Abiga ill Kruss
Wise words
Halfblood Dragonrider
Fire has left Väinölä's hearth stones
Light has gone
Dark nights no light under the sky
Hard to find the Fire-child
Eagle of fire with fiery feathers
Made a spark
Ukko made the Kokko's spark
Kindle as a fire
Fly into the night bring back the light
That left the hearth stones
Find the light Eagle of fire
Fly through skies, let there be light!
Dark skies ablazed with fire when
Kokko flew across the heavens
After the child, the child of fire
Floating through the vaults of ether
Ether maidens cradled the fire child
In starry skies
Slipped through the hands of lady Ether
Escaped from silver cradle
Low descends the dome of heaven
Upon, under
On the edge of the ether
The clouds of Northland thunder
Fly into the night bring back the light
That left the hearth stones
Find the light Eagle of fire
Fly through skies, let there be light!
Dark skies ablazed with fire when
Kokko flew across the heavens
After the child, the child of fire
Floating through the vaults of ether
RawrItsJuul
I've waited so long for this song and I'm not disappointed! The vocals feel more fitting to the music than before, I love it!
Patrick Sayet
nice to see the band goes to new horizons, Heidi's soft and classical voice gave a very emotional and deeply melodic sound to AD - even if never thought AD was in the same genre as old Nightwish. Capri is clearly rock but can do some nice technical things too and has a good range for low voice. I'm enthusiastic for the future of AD.
mc23243
I think with this album Amberian Dawn will become on of my absolute favourites. I'm glad I can finally fully enjoy their music.
avojaifnot
It's amazing how perfectly Capri fits into the band's sound
Laura Kanaar
This song is magical. The melody, and the lyrics! I'm addicted to it! And I never knew this band because I live in America.
Kent Bateman
What a great version. Love Capri's voice. I will miss Heidi but I am so glad the band found Capri. Looking forward to the "Re-Evolution" CD then looking forward to some new tracks. All the best!!! :)
petsitterlinda
I like Capri's voice prior to AD so for me she is just as amazing here. She has a gritty bombastic metal voice and I love it! Capri singing the "old" songs is like a re-birth of the the band!! I will definitely buy the new album. Guys, you could not have made a better choice for a vocalist!