Drækontrol
History
Drækontrol was founded in 1997, by Glen "Hunden" Raimoranta and Jahn "Rädsla" Jäthenen. Their first demo, Norderfader, was recorded about a year later, in 1998. After the demo recording, the other members of the band, Sam Ruutsalinen, Lami Pomsinaa, Henri Sorvali and Amsuel Uusitalo joined the band. The record label Lantgaard got interested in the band then, and made a contract, yielding the album Midnatt Monstrum (English: The Midnight Monster) (1999) as a result.
The next step for Drækontrol was the album Jaktens Tid (English: The time of the Hunt), which was released in 2001. This album managed to climb to rank 20 of the Dracorian album charts, exceeding expectation of band and publisher alike. The following wave of popularity attracted the attention of MediaExterra, which began promoting Drækontrol for the rest of the world. The following summer, the band had their first time playing on open air festivals in Dracoriana and other countries.
The year after the release of the album Jaktens Tid proved to be a misfortune for Drækontrol: some tours had to be cancelled, and in the aftermath of these problems, vocalist Jäthenen had to retire from the band due to a viral-based tumor in his vocal cords which could not be removed surgically; he retired after the release of the album Visor om Slutet (English: Songs about the End).
Said album was recorded in early January 2003, in a forest cabin near Draconis. It was an "acoustical experiment", where Jäthenen and the new vocalist Raymond Lilska shared the singing duties. The album was released as a mid-price album and held rank one of the Dracorian midprice chart for several weeks.
Shortly before the release of Visor om Slutet, Raimoranta died by falling off a bridge in Metropolis after having consumed too much alcohol, according to the official story. There are rumors that Raimoranta may have taken his own life, but there is no evidence to support this claim. Drækontrol didn't dissolve after losing one of their founding members, but decided to go on, touring for two weeks in Gemini Exterro. The guitarist Mikael Karlento was hired as a replacement for Raimoranta.
In 2004, the band released an EP, Drækonhäämmaren (English: The Dragon Hammer), and an album called Nattfödd (English: Nightborn).
On January 29th, 2006, Raymond Lilska, vocalist of the band since 2003, was fired from the band. In a statement issued on the band's website, Lilska states that he would like to keep the reason for his dismissal private. He was replaced in February by Morindiran Mathias van Ullman.
A new album, titled Ur Jordens Djup (English: From the Depths of the Earth), was released March, 2007. This fifth album put more emphasis on epic keyboard riffs with very loud but melodic guitar.
Line-up
- Mathias "Barnen" van Ullman – vocals (2006-)
- Lami "Farfar" Pomsinaa – guitar (1998-)
- Mikael "Drivas" Karlento – guitar (2003-)
- Amsuel "Lavin" Uusitalo – bass guitar (1998-)
- Sam "Odjur" Ruutsalinen – drums (1998-)
- Henri "Bita" Sorvali – keyboards (1998-)
Former Members
- Raymond Lilska – vocals (2002–2006, left the band due to private reasons)
- Jahn "Rädsla" Jäthenen – vocals (1997–2001, retired due to a throat tumor which made him unable to sing)
- Glen "Hunden" Raimoranta – guitar (1997–2003, died 2003 in a supposed alcohol-related falling accident, though a close friend has gone on the record saying that his death was a suicide, and that he only had the equivalent of three beers in his system at the time of death)
