Kiuas is a metal band from Espoo, Finland. The name 'Kiuas' is a Finnish word for 'sauna stove'. Name for the band comes from the word 'hiidenkiuas'. All the band members are Finnish pagans, which leads to many of their songs being about paganistic gods, such as "Ukko".

Their music has influences of several metal subgenres, such as death/melo-death, black, power, progressive and folk, making it difficult to be a common sense when it comes to find a suitable tag for the band.

Background

Before the formation of Kiuas, three musicians (Markku Näreneva, Teemu Tuominen and Ilja Jalkanen) played in a band known as Iconofear, which plays a genre of music known as dark heavy metal. Iconofear had formed after the break-up of a brutal death metal band known as Agonia. They released a single EP before those three musicians left the band to concentrate on Kiuas. Kiuas was formed in 2000 when the four original members (Mikko Salovaara, Markku Näreneva, Teemu Tuominen and Atte Tanskanen) found a lead singer, Ilja Jalkanen.

In 2002, funded only by themselves, they released their first demo known as "The Discipline of Steel", that featured four tracks, and was rooted deep in the mysticism and importance of steel, and it's effect on Finnish culture.

A year later, they attempted to catch the eye of record labels with the release of "Born Under the Northern Lights". This was successful, and soon had many offers for record deals. Their career was finally beginning to blossom. With a legion of underground fans on their side, and a tempting deal from Rage of Achilles, they signed the contract and hoped for the best.

So in the year of 2004, Kiuas's first label aided release was completed. Winter in June (MCD) splashed into the Finnish market and created a ripple in the metal and hard rock community. Their ability to combine the most extreme sub-genres of metal with hard rock, classical guitar, and old school metal was being recognized.

Later in that year, Rage of Achilles reported that they were going out of business due to the fact they could not support themselves due to belonging to so many record deals in such short amount of time. For this reason, Kiuas, and their co-workers, and good friends (Amoral, Elenium, Omnium Gatherum, Manitou) were cast out without a label, and some without any official release.

A few months later, an offer came from the major-label Spinefarm Records. In 2005 they completed and released their first full length album, "The Spirit of Ukko". In May, 2006, their second full-length album "Reformation" was released. It is generally more structured and technical, while keeping the signature sound of Kiuas.

Current Lineup

* Ilja Jalkanen - Vocals
* Mikko Salovaara - Guitars
* Markku Näreneva - Drums
* Atte Tanskanen - Keyboard
* Teemu Tuominen - Bass

Discography

* The Discipline of Steel (Demo, 2002)
* Born Under the Northern Lights (Demo, 2003)
* Winter in June (EP, 2004)
* The Spirit of Ukko (Album, 2005)
* Reformation (Album, 2006)

Kiuas' Official Website - http://www.kiuas.net