Raskasta Joulua


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

2016 line-up