MARKO HIETALA

If you’ve followed the global shenanigans of heavier music over the past decades, you know the name Marko Hietala. And if you don’t, I strongly suggest you go back down the dark rabbit hole and do your homework again.

There is no doubt about it: Marko Hietala has been synonymous with quality for more than four decades. Hietala has not only shaped, but also defined the sound of harder rock, as a founding member of the heavy metal band Tarot, as an essential member of the supergroup Sinergy (next to extreme talents such as Alexi Laiho) or as one of the key figures of world’s biggest symphonic metal band Nightwish. Needless to say, his thunderous bass lines and rich vocals have been echoed in the world’s most famous venues, such as Wembley Arena and legendary festivals like Rock in Rio. However, despite all the achievements, new conquests are coming at a steady pace… Just recently, Marko Hietala has appeared in a starring role in the Finnish TV series “Vain elämää”, which has gathered millions of viewers in Finland. When it comes to an endlessly talented artist with a strong musical flame in his heart, an eponymous album is always just a matter of time.

In the case of Marko Hietala, it took a while, but better late than never: his long-awaited first solo debut, Mustan sydämen rovio, finally arrived to grace the spring of 2019 (later reissued in English as Pyre of the Black Heart). „Sometime in 2017-18, Nightwish took a break – first for about 20 years – and I decided to spend my time working on my first solo album“, Hietala recalls.

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