Shape of Despair
Genre(s)

Funeral Doom Metal

Lyrical theme(s)

Misery, Pain, Loneliness

Origin Formed in Current label Status

Finland (Helsinki) 1998 Spinefarm Records Active

Current line-up

Pasi Koskinen - Vocals (Ajattara, Amorphis, Mannhai, St. Mucus, To Separate the Flesh from the Bones)

Nathalie Koskinen (maiden-name Safrosskin) - Female Vocals (Tyrant (Fin), Depressed Mode)

Jarno Salomaa - Lead Guitar, Synth (Fallen (Nor), Rapture (Fin), The Mist and the Morning Dew, Wanderer (Fin))

Tomi Ullgren - Rhythm Guitar (Bass) (Rapture (Fin), The Mist and the Morning Dew, Thy Serpent, Diablerie (Fin), Impaled Nazarene)

Sami Uusitalo - Bass (Finntroll, The Mist and the Morning Dew)

Samu Ruotsalainen - Drums (Barathrum, Finntroll, Rapture (Fin))

Toni Raehalme - Violin (Kyprian's Circle)

Former/past member(s)

Azhemin - Vocals (1998-99) (Nomicon, Soulgrind (Fin), Thy Serpent, Wanderer (Fin), Wintermoon (Fin), Raven (Fin), I Flow in Depths)

Johanna Vakkuri - Flute (1999) (The Mist and the Morning Dew)

Tony Mäensivu - Drums, Vocals (1998-2001) (The Mist and the Morning Dew)

A Tolonen (Nest, DoomSquirrel, Todesbonden, Tuonenpolku, The Mist and the Morning Dew)

Additional notes

A CD called "The Eerie Sampler" has been released as a promo with all the Raven (Fin) (pre-Shape Of Despair) material.

Shape of Despair appeared on the Skepticism tribute album Entering the Levitation covering the song Aether.

Discography

Shades of... Full-length, 2000

Angels of Distress Full-length, 2001

Illusion's Play Full-length, 2004

Shape of Despair Best of/Compilation, 2005

Shape Of Despair - Fragile Emptiness

Band: Shape Of Despair
Song: Fragile Emptiness
Album: Illusion's Play (Full-lenght, 2004)
Genre: Funeral Doom Metal
Origin: Finland (Helsinki)
Formed in: 1998
Current label: Spikefarm Records
Status: Active

Lyrics:

Fragile emptiness

Crackling whilst I move
My hands (penetrating)
Through this silence
I beheld this loneliness and
A dream in illusion...
It awakens me
In somber
In drifting
Absurdness

As a burden
This dream moves in me
Tiding me inside
Closing

In it's shallowness
In it's entwined self
Life torn widely open

Flowing within this dream
Slowly sleeping away
Drifting from used reality

Exclusively Licenced to season of list for the north America

If there ever was a band in Finland living up its moniker, it must be Shape of Despair. Yet let not one be fooled by such a catch-all description. There is no easy way out of the monochrome maze laid out before the visionary eye of the listener. From inky blackness crawling over the hapless wanderer to passages of almost blinding whiteness-think of sun shining, unforgiving, over a glacier-this is modern, funereal doom without any of the tired trappings often associated with the genre.

Shape of Despair came into being during winter 1995, the brainchild of band leader Jarno Salomaa (guitars and synth) and Tomi Ullgren (guitars). All the while searching for the ultimate line-up, Shape of Despair recorded a demo-tape "Alone in the Mist", a promo, and two albums. While the debut "Shades of..." caused quite a stir in the underground, their aim became unwavering for the second one and "Angels of Distress" was a bulls-eye shot, a defining moment for a talented band already well set in their ways.

Now, on the eve of the release of "Illusions Play" the line-up has, besides Salomaa and Ullgren, settled on Natalie Koskinen (female voc), Samu Ruotsalainen (dr) (both long-standing members), Sami Uusitalo (b) and Pasi Koskinen (v). Mr Koskinens monstrous growls prove his vocal range is by no means exhausted by his other bandsTO SEPARATE THE FLESH FROM THE BONES and AJATTARA, while providing a distinct counterpoint to Natalies angelic voice.

"Illusions Play" was recorded and mixed in Hellhole Studios by Kaide Hinkkala and Antti Lindell. Tranquil, serene, yet brooding with the same sense of impending doom as their earlier albums, there is notable cross-over potential present on this powerful album. If anything, "Illusions Play" takes a stand against the fast-food mentality in music today - this is one album to truly pay attention to. Reeling over the edge to the vertiginous gulf below, try not to sway... too far...

Season Of Mist

Shape of Despair - Fallen

Shape of Despair - Fallen

I've lost it,
my strength;
i've lost it,
my sanity.
I've seen myself falling
and i'm tired to stand.

In the past few years, Shape of Despair have become a force to be reckoned with, being very much the doom band in Finland outside the traditionalist school exemplified by Reverend Bizarre (another luminary of the diverse Spikefarm roster). To celebrate the long-lasting co-operation between Spikefarm Records and Shape of Despair, here comes along a gargantuan slab of damnation from Finlands premier funeral doom outfit in the form of a rarities compilation.

The album opens up with a brand new song showcasing the band in the zenith of their career. This is funeral doom the way it is meant to be, but Shape of Despair manage to make it sound almost catchy at the same time no mean feat! From the bright, blood-red doomsday sun glow of the said song, Sleeping Murder, it is time to proceed deep down to the vale of shadows. And shadows, they sure are plentiful here. Whether it is the rehearsal track from ten years ago (time flies swiftly on black wings!) or the promo tracks dating from 1998, the determination and aim of the band shines through clear as ice.

Far from being simply an filler between albums for completists, tba is a treat for anyone wanting their metal slow, doomy and laden with an aura of nothing short of total oppression. Forget the lame goth-doom hybrids: for a heartfelt piece of all-enveloping darkness, this is the shit. Highlights on the album are many, but forgetting to mention the extremely powerful vocals of Pasi Koskinen (ex-Amorphis, Ajattara, Mannhai) would be a disgrace they complement perfectly the excellent compositions of the guitarist/keyboardist/general mastermind Jarno Salomaa.

The engineering and mixing on the album, including the talents of Tuomo Valtonen (Ajattara, Trio Niskalaukaus, etc.), Kaide Hinkkala and Antti Lindell (Babylon Whores, etc.), is another ace up Shape of Despairs sleeve. The music may hark back to the underground, but no muddy 4-tracker crap here. Turbonegro may not have had Shape of Despair in mind when they asked if you are you ready for some darkness?, but the question is ever valid.

Doomsday begins here.

Our other bands:

The mist and the morning dew

The mist at myspace.com

To separate the flesh from the bones

Depressed mode

For more information please contact:

Ms Nelli Ahvenlahti