Korpiklaani

Korpiklaani is a Finnish folk metal band, unique in the fact that they were first a folk music band but later turned metal. Known for their happy danceable folk metal tunes and their lyrical themes of beer and partying, Korpiklaani's music makes you feel like you are out in the woods partying with bears. In sum, Korpiklaani's music is very lively and fun.
Korpiklaani is impressive in their use of a variety of folk instruments, as they not only have guitars, bass, and drums, but also an accordion, violin, jouhikko (2-string bowed lyre), tin whistle, recorder, mandolin, bagpipes, and mouth harp. The singer is unique in his use of traditional yoik vocals. In addition to their authenticity, Korpiklaani also has an exceptionally clear and crisp recording quality of their folk instruments.
Their violinist is Jaakko "Hittavainen" Lemmetty (usually referred to as Hittavainen). He plays both acoustic and electric violins. At one point he played a Yamaha SV 120 or 130 (as seen in the "Happy Little Boozer" live video), but now it looks like he plays an NS Design violin (seen in the "Vodka" music video and live). The violin parts are of a fast folky fiddle style, which uses many double-stops and often doubles with the accordion. Sometimes there are even distorted violin solos, such as in "Wooden Pints."

Recommended Songs: "Hide Your Riches," "Wooden Pints," "Happy Little Boozer," "Fields in Flame," "Spring Dance" (Inst.), "Vodka," "You Looked Into My Eyes"


Official Site: www.korpiklaani.com/
Myspace: www.myspace.com/korpiklaani

"Hide Your Riches":


"Wooden Pints" live, solo @ 2:24:


(Watch the music video for "Wooden Pints" if you're in the mood for hilarity)