History

Force Majeure is a melodic heavy metal band from Finland. Force Majeure's roots go back to late 1998, when the band’s guitarists Reuhkala and Ojanen met each other in Järvenpää, Finland. The two gentlemen found out they shared a devotion for heavy metal music as well as guitar playing, and the decision to form a band came about quite naturally. It wasn't until 2001, however, that the band really became active.

In 2001 the line-up included only the two guitarist, a drummer and a keyboard player. Having by this point already written several songs of their own, the band decided to record a demo with their drummer's 8-track recorder. During the recordings of the first demo, the prophetically titled 'Prelude for Invasion', the band was given the name Force Majeure. It was also during this time that Tuomas Väänänen, a bassist from Northern Finland, was added to the band's ranks. All Force Majeure now needed in order to start playing live gigs was a lead vocalist, and Niko Mattila soon took up the frontman's duties.

Soon after the new line-up had started rehearsing, the keyboard player and the drummer decided to quit Force Majeure, and the band again found themselves in need of new recruits. Juuso Myllyharju got the drummer's job in early 2002, but a suitable keyboard player could not be found at the time and the place was left vacant. In October of the same year Force Majeure headed to the renowned Sonic Pump Studio to record their second demo, the quite aptly named 'Second Strike'. 'Second Strike' got somewhat favourable responses from the metal community, and consequently boosted the band's spirits and their belief in their own abilities. 2002 also saw Force Majeure's first-ever live gig at Esperance, Järvenpää.

In 2003 Ojanen, Reuhkala, Väänänen, Mattila and Myllyharju continued rehearsing and writing their next demo cd. Force Majeure's third demo 'Division Blue' was recorded by Mika Haapasalo at Popstudio, Loimaa. 'Division Blue' featured five songs that many saw as a big step forward for the group. Veikko Oittinen was added to the line-up as the keyboard player just before the band started recording, but he didn't yet play on the 'Division Blue' cd.

By early 2004 Force Majeure had played some 15 gigs across Finland. As the band evolved and the songs got more difficult, Niko Mattila could no longer handle the vocals as well as before. Niko was asked to leave the group and the search for a new frontman began. Many people were interested and auditioned, among them Ricky Tournee, who ended up getting the gig. Late 2004 saw Force Majeure again in the studio. The resulting three-song promo cd the 'Gatecrusher', mixed by Thunderstone mastermind Nino Laurenne, was a mix of solid heavy metal songwriting combined with Ricky's razor-sharp, soaring vocals. The 'Gatecrusher' received a very positive response from the metal audience as well as the media.

2005 saw Force Majeure playing gigs and rehearsing diligently. The 500 hundred copies of the 'Gatecrusher' were quickly sold out. The band received plenty of positive feedback and the idea of recording a full-length album started to shape up in their minds. In the same year the band begun the pre-production phase by recording demo versions of new songs at the somewhat legendary L. A. Turunen Mobile Studio. The band entered the brand new Scandal Recording Studio in early 2006, closely supervised by sound engineer Kari "Huikka" Huikuri. The album 'Frozen Chambers' was recorded during several separate sessions between gigs in the course of 2006. During recording Veikko started to feel the need to concentrate on other aspects of life, leaving the post of keyboard player vacant. The band did not have to look far for replacement though, as the multi-talented "Huikka" took over as keyboardist, ending up playing the bulk of the keyboard tracks on the album.

2007 begun for Force Majeure with mixing of the debut album. The band once again decided to trust on the know-how of Nino Laurenne and his Sonic Pump Studios. With a complete album under their belts Force Majeure started searching for an associate for putting the record out. As the band got more and more serious in its activities, Juuso started to question his motivation and Force Majeure was once again forced to find a new drummer. Heikki Saari, known to metal heads around the world as the drummer of Norther, was quickly fused into a fixed part of the group, bringing an entirely new kind of heaviness into Force Majeure's rhythm section.

The band played its first open air festivals in the summer of 2007. In the meantime, the unreleased album provoked the interest of record companies. After negotiations with several different companies, Force Majeure landed a record deal with Finland's Low Frequency Records. The first joint enterprise between the band and the label was the mastering of the debut album, completed at Chartmakers Studio by Svante Forsbäck.

The year 2008 began with the first single cut from the debut album, that was 'Dr. Daydream', which was released as digital only radio edit version. In March, Low Frequency Records released 'Frozen Chambers' internationally. In October, another digital-only single was released: 'Endure the Cold' with three unreleased songs. In November 2008, the band presented their new drummer Jaakko "Jake" Nylund. Heikki Saari left the band due to time issues.

In November 2009 Force Majeure started to record their second full length album in Scandal Recording studio, located in Helsinki, Finland.

(source: Force Majeure, January 2010, last 2 chapters by AM)

(discography updated in January 2010)