tarot

Interview with Tarot, Marco Hietala: 25 Years of “Spell of Iron” And “Savonian XXX-Press”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on May 3, 2011

Posted in: Interviews. Tagged: interview, marco hietala, tarot. 1 Comment

TAROT is an heavy metal band from Kuopio, Finland, formed in 1985. While enjoying a broad underground popularity in Finland, the band has gained more success in the recent years when singer Marco Hietala joined Nightwish in 2002. I had a long and enjoyable chat with Marco, on the way to a gig (April 15, 2011)…

Hi there Marco, I’m Tarja, welcome to Metal Shock! How’re you doing today?

Yeah, it’s going good. right now I’m lying here on the bed in our tour bus, we’re on the way to Oulu for a gig tonight.

Let’s talk first about the past, in early 80’s you and your brother Zachary formed Purgatory-band … what memories of those times remain in your mind and why?

In those days Purgatory began to become a more serious act, we were about 15-16 years old, we played at various events, and participated in the Rock SM- competition, where we arrived in the finals. In Rock King, organized by Suosikki magazine, we reached a shared second place. The band had a clear potential. In ’84, we changed the drummer and in that moment we realized that we had a core group of 3 persons, which could go very far. In those years, there weren’t too many metal bands around in Finland, there were more so-called oldish hard rock and punk bands, and from the very beginning, we were more oriented to harder stuff.
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Tarot To Release Re-Recorded Version Of Its Debut Album

Posted by tarjavirmakari on March 22, 2011

Posted in: News. Tagged: "The Spell Of Iron MMXI", re-recorded version, tarot, The Spell Of Iron. Leave a comment

TAROT — the Finnish group led by NIGHTWISH/ex-SINERGY bassist Marco Hietala — will release a re-recorded version of its classic 1986 debut album, “The Spell Of Iron”, under the title “The Spell Of Iron MMXI” on May 6 via Nuclear Blast Records. The band also filmed a video for the new version of its song “Wings Of Darkness”, which was originally made available as TAROT‘s first single in 1986. Check out the clip below. Source: Blabbermouth.net

Raskas Joulu (Heavy Christmas) — a Finnish project which celebrates Christmas and its music tradition mixed with metal — will be touring again this year.

Taking part in this year’s event are the following musicians (Note: Not all musicians will participate in each concert):
Nightwish, Tarot, Teräsbetoni, Sonata Arctica, Northern Kings, Ari Koivunen, Sub-Urban Tribe, Charon, Machine Men, Stratovarius, Children Of Bodom, Sinergy, Kotipelto, Ensiferum, Kilpi, Leningrad Cowboys, Peer Gunt, Los Bastardos Finlandeses, Thunderstone, Urban Tale, Kiuas, Dyecrest, Ancara, Verenpisara, Mauron Maiden, Twilightning, Maija Vilkkumaa, Havana Black, Wigwam, Amoral, Soulcage…

Raskas Joulu has combined these elements for 6 years now and it looks like the end is not in sight.

Raskas Joulu Tourdates:

Nov. 20 – Imatran Kylpylä, Imatra – FIN
Nov. 26 – Pakkahuone, Tampere – FIN
Nov. 27 – Raahesali, Raahe – FIN
Dec. 03 – Rikala-Sali, Salo – FIN
Dec. 04 – Finlandia-Klubi, Lahti – FIN
Dec. 05 – 3 p.m. – Kerava-Sali, Kerava – FIN
Dec. 05 – 11 p.m. – Osmantupa, Eura – FIN
Dec. 10 – Himos-Areena, Jämsä – FIN
Dec. 11 – Klubi, Turku – FIN
Dec. 15 – Akustiikka, Ylivieska – FIN
Dec. 16 – Musiikkikeskus, Kuopio – FIN
Dec. 17 – Bar’n Night Vaakuna, Mikkeli – FIN
Dec. 18 (3 p.m. + 9 p.m.) – Tavastia, Helsinki – FIN

For more information, visit http://www.myspace.com/raskasjoulu.

Ari Koivunen (vocals) – “Sylvian Joululaulu” (live at Nosturi in Helsinki on December 18, 2009):