15 Memorable Albums from the Last 15 Years
2009-2024
After 10+ years of music journalism in a country that’s quite oversaturated with all sorts of heavy acts, music began to get a little stale after a while, inevitably leaving behind a feeling of having heard it all. This year, it occurred to me just how few albums I’ve really gotten to know in the last decade and a half, as I’ve listened to them a few times in order to write a review, but have been too focused on the next review that I never went back to them again after the first few spins. With that realization in mind, I wanted to use the end of my fifteenth year in Finland to shout out fifteen albums that I have returned to over and over since my move abroad!
1. (2009) Ensiferum - “From Afar”
There was a landslide of hot albums that came out in 2009 when I had just moved to Finland, including Sonata Arctica’s “The Days of Greys” and (what I personally think is an underrated album) Lacuna Coil’s “Shallow Life,” among others. However, of all of those releases that hold a special amount of nostalgia, none does so more than Ensiferum’s “From Afar.” Apart from being what I think is the band’s best album, its album release show at Nosturi was also one of the best live shows I’ve ever been to, so this album is always worth coming back to for another listen.
2. (2010) Kiuas - “Lustdriven” (+ new discography)
Thanks to a recommendation to check out “To Excel and Ascend” from a friend when I moved to Finland in 2009, I started to listen to Kiuas. I wasn’t into journalism yet in 2010, so I wasn’t following along with new releases yet, but, I did know that Kiuas had put out a new album and, since my partner and I were up in his hometown, which is not too far away from Kuopio, we decided to check out the band there during their album release tour. Before the show, I said that if I liked what I was hearing live, I’d buy the album. It goes without saying that I went home with it playing in the car stereo. I’m still not sick of tracks like “Of Love, Lust, and Human Nature,” and “The Lights Are Many” has my long-standing favorite keyboard solo. Great release, and I love their comeback EP from this year too!
3. (2010) Machinae Supremacy - “A View from the End of the World” (+ new discography)
When someone comes dancing into a room singing, “I’m gonna do you a favor, and not teabag you for your behavior,” you might very justifiably think that they’re making something silly up. But you’d be as wrong as I was and hopefully that would likewise lead you to discover a new favorite band. While Machinae Supremacy’s 2010 release, “A View from the End of the World” is a full-score release as far as I’m concerned, it’s worth saying that, in the three albums and even more singles that the band have released since, I’ve only disliked one of the songs. These guys have never let me down and still remain one of my very favorite bands both on-album and live. Can’t wait for the upcoming shows in January!
4. (2011) Nightwish - “Imaginaerum” (+ new discography)
It probably goes without saying at this point that I really appreciate Nightwish for a lot of reasons. I saw the Dark Passion Play World Tour’s final show in September 2009; I’d seen them twice before in Canada and I’ve seen them another eight or so times outside of that, including the premiere for the Imaginaerum movie. I’m not fussy about who their singer is, because I feel like the band’s spirit comes from Tuomas Holopainen and his life journey has always felt strangely parallel to mine, which has meant that, even though I have albums I’ve listened to endlessly and others I’ve only heard a few times, I can always turn to Nightwish’s music when I feel like I need a boost.
5. (2014) The Beards - “The Beard Album”
As a huge supporter of beards in general, you can imagine that it delighted me to no end to learn about the existence of an Australian band called The Beards who only writes songs about beards. Once, I even promised myself that if they ever flew near enough to me that I could reasonably justify the cost to go, that I would buy the best-quality fake beard I could get my hands on and go see them. Well, that’s one of my favorite-ever gig memories, which happened on the promotional tour for “The Beard Album.” Don’t stop at this one though, all of their albums (except maybe the first one) are hilarious and full of incredible talent all the while. It’s a shame they’re not active anymore, because I have a ton of great memories associated with this band (and one mortifying one).
6. (2015) Bring Me the Horizon - “That’s the Spirit”
I could have shouted out any number of albums from 2015, because that year was a memorable one for really great releases and I could have probably picked ten albums from that year alone for this list. Alongside solid releases from Nightwish, Iron Maiden, Apocalyptica, and Kamelot, September alone supplied really great new releases from Leaves’ Eyes, Amorphis, and perhaps the most surprising of them all, Bring Me the Horizon. They were a band I had never paid much attention to before, but “That’s the Spirit” was so genuinely good that I still come back to it with reasonable regularity.
7. (2017) Ember Falls - “Welcome to Ember Falls” (+ new discography)
From the moment that my friend played me the music video for “Shut Down With Me” in 2015, I was completely sold on this band. From there on out, every single they released was pure gold, from their 2017 debut, “Welcome to Ember Falls,” through their 2021 followup, “Ruins,” past their EP of cover songs, and into their final song, “Avalon,” before they called it quits a year or two ago. Not once did this band ever let me down. I also have a fair number of incredible personal memories that I associate with this band, so even if they never make a comeback, I’m sure I’ll never stop enjoying their music. “Falling Rain” and “The World Is Burning” are both on my songs-I-never-skip playlist.
8. (2018) Ayreon - “Ayreon Universe”
It’s incredible to think that a live album made it onto this list because I am generally not someone who listens to live albums unless they offer something I can’t find on studio releases. However, when the literal best show you’ve ever seen happens to be released on video… you’ll return to it time and time again. That goes for most of the Ayreon live shows, to be sure, but there was something particularly special about the best-of set from “Ayreon Universe” that somehow made it better than all of the other Ayreon shows (and I’ve been to them all). It managed to peak in quality, song selection, cast, and staging. I can’t wait for the show this year, which is the band’s 30th anniversary show… perhaps this album will get dethroned?
9. (2020) Altamullan Road - “Altamullan Road”
I am so grateful that this album exists, because it brought more of Johanna Kurkela and Johanna Iivanainen into my life. From the unexpected onslaught of new friends I’ve made thanks to one very special fan of theirs, through the incredible adventures around Finland and the Netherlands, to the… ten shows this year that I’ve seen featuring them (alongside Timo Kurkela and Mikko Iivanainen)… between the incredible memories, the shows that made me feel emotions when I thought I was dead to music, and the genuine kindness and beauty that each of these women constantly put out into the world, these two have changed a lot of lives with this music. There’s no reason to ever stop playing this album and I really hope they’ll make another one sometime sooner rather than later!
(2021) Luna Kills - “not to be bitter, but it helps”
During my Tuonela Magazine days, the editor-in-chief introduced me to a band called Tocarnal who had a surprisingly good thing going on in their sound. Then, during the pandemic, they reinvented themselves as Luna Kills and I’d be the first one to tell you that if Finland has a Bring Me the Horizon, it’s these guys. And I don’t mean that to say that they sound like BMtH (though they were clearly influenced by them), but rather, they have the same sort of energy and talent when it comes to both performing and songwriting. Lotta Ruutiainen is one of the most talented vocalists in the country right now, with such a diverse sound. This album was such a great hit that I’m really on the edge of my seat for the next one, which is hopefully coming out in 2025!
(2021) Noora Louhimo Experience - “Eternal Wheel of Time and Space”
There’s no doubt that a lot of Finland’s musical spotlight gets shined on Battle Beast these days, which is in many ways thanks to the talent of their vocalist, Noora Louhimo. In case you didn’t catch it, she released something that I might call a very diverse psychedelic rock album during the pandemic under the solo act name Noora Louhimo Experience. This is one of my favorite albums to return to if I need to shake things up, because it’s got everything: weird psychedelic prog, a great coda, a disco song, a country song (or two), pure hard rock… there’s everything and she kicks ass all the while doing it. Love this album!
(2021) Pihka Is My Name - “Everything Is in Between” (+ new discography)
When Gingervine Management & PR were working hard during the pandemic, this indie album from a local duo going by Pihka Is My Name jumped out at me, perhaps because GVM wasn’t working with many non-metal bands at that point. Always liking the ones who stand out from the crowd, we gave these guys a shot and “Everything Is in Between” turned out to be a magnificent piece of art! Their 2023 follow-up, “Caller Unknown,” was equally good but in a totally different way, and since then, I’ve seen the band a few times live and I love watching them perform as well. They always shake things up in their music, with a hint of that DJ influence in their electronica. They’re really fun, I can’t wait to hear more from them!
(2022) Classless Act - “Welcome to the Show” (+new singles)
Sometimes, someone gives you the wrong Zoom interview code and you discover something amazing by accident. At least, that’s what happened when I tried to interview Cory Marks but accidentally somehow landed with Derek Day of Classless Act instead. After we figured out what was going on and had a good laugh about it, I promised to check out his band. Much like Ember Falls back in 2015, they only had one single at that point: “Give it to Me,” but it was so damned catchy and fun, really throwing me back to the rock music of yore, that I fell in love with it instantly. Three interviews with Derek later and one with everyone else in the band (and a couple live ones with everyone too, now that I think about it), I still love everything these guys do. When “Welcome to the Show” came out, I was amongst the top 0.05% of listeners that year in Spotify Wrapped, and that doesn’t include playing it from the CD in my car!
(2022) Shaman’s Harvest - “Rebelator”
Speaking of bands that I discovered by accident, I learned about Shaman’s Harvest back when “Red Hands, Black Deeds” came out when a promo showed up in my mailbox. The only reason I listened to it was because I thought it sounded like a folk metal band based on the name, but it ended up being way more alternative rock and I immediately fell in love with the album. When “Rebelator” came out in 2022, I loved it even more than its predecessor and eventually went back and started listening to their older material as well. Shaman’s Harvest have been a delight to discover and are a bit of an unheard-of gem outside the US, unfortunately. They’re on my list of bands that I’d kill to get to see live someday! Plus, Nathan Hunt and Josh Hamler were some of the nicest guys I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing from back out west.
15. (2024) Merta - “Virta”
I knew about Merta for far longer than I ever paid attention to them, which in hindsight I regret quite a bit. When I finally started listening to them after they played a show with Machinae Supremacy last year, they became my year’s most-listened-to band in a month because I couldn’t stop listening to “Minä.” What’s even better is the preceding album, “Kokonainen,” is equally good and their 2024 release, “Virta,” just so happens to also be awesome. These guys were once again at the top of my most-listened-to list of 2024 with this new album dominating my streams (I landed in the top 0.05% again). And that’s not even counting the times I listened to the older albums in the car… what can I say? I kinda love these guys.
