Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

HEAD FIRST present us today the official video for “Sand Castles”, the second single from the debut album of the Finnish funk/metal band around Waltari mastermind Kärtsy Hatakka (Metalville Records – release 27 May).

Here are the comments of the band members about the new song:

Kärtsy
“Sand Castles is more direction to a ”normal” Head First song. It’s a story about a guy who is living in his dreams only, and doesn’t see the reality around him. That is a very thin line to lean on, in this demanding life. Some people say, that it’s cool to act like a star and live in pure narsism, but in the long scale it doesn’t bring any further, and you will just find yourself in the middle of the sea of crisis.”

Jaani
“SAND CASTLES is the song we put together in the 90s. There are no recordings left so we had to memorize and luckily we were able to find all the parts from our heads.

The riff in Sand Castles once again is a couch jamming product. Something that comes into your head when you are concentrating on TV or something else very important. In the riff, we definitely wanted Sami to play the ride bell/middle and the ghost beats, which is essential in this song and it really gets us going.

Back then the song was slower and maybe a bit heavier, but we “modernized” it to meet the standards of 2020s. :-)”

Jespers 
“Sand Castles is my own favourites on the album, it has everything. Fast enough, tight riffs ja great melodies. The chorus of the song is very Kärtsy, and only in the good way!”

Once there was Waltari… and HEAD FIRST!!!

There’s no denying the status of Finnish crossover monster Waltari as the first “metal-like” band export from their home country back in the early 1990s.

But only a few can still remember that their singer Kärtsy Hatakka already had another band back then under the name HEAD FIRST… the only real funk metal band from Finland! And now this very band is releasing their debut… after 30 years of waiting!

Kärtsy initially played in two bands at the same time, Waltari and Head First. The latter achieved considerable success in the Helsinki area with their danceable mix of funk, metal and prog rock. In some of the first Waltari songs, the funky influence of Head First was also clearly audible.

“Head First was hip, all the big Helsinki live venues loved the band, and bigger and bigger crowds came,” Kärtsy remembers.

But then Waltari surprisingly got an international record deal in 1991, and the rest is history. And so Head First was put on hold indefinitely. But now, after 30 years, they are back!

Already a few years ago, the band took the first steps towards re-activation by playing some shows in Helsinki and the surrounding area. So the wish to finally release a first album became the declared goal of Head First.

Based on the biggest live killers, the existing song material was adapted to today’s sound expectations. In addition, some brand new songs were created. In addition to the three original members Kärtsy, Jaani Marttila and Sami Timonen, a new bass player, Jesper Anastasiadis, was brought into the band.

Head First means old-school funk metal with a fresh edge of groovy beats and infectious energy!

HEAD FIRST Line Up:
Kärtsy Hatakka: Vocals
Jaani Marttila: Guitars
Jesper Anastasiadis: Bass and Backing Vocals
Sami Timonen: Drums