Eternal Tears of Sorrow

Eternal Tears of Sorrow

Company type	Band
Industry	Music
Founded	1994
Founder	Jarmo Puolakanaho, Altti Veteläinen, Olli-Pekka Törrö
Defunct	February 2, 2025 (2025-02-02)
Headquarters	Pudasjärvi , Finland
Products	Melodic death metal music

Eternal Tears of Sorrow (abbreviated as EToS) was a melodic death metal ensemble originating from Pudasjärvi, Finland.

Biography

Established in 1994 by Jarmo Puolakanaho, Altti Veteläinen, and Olli-Pekka Törrö, Eternal Tears of Sorrow came into existence following the dissolution of their earlier band, Andromeda, which ended due to a fire at their rehearsal venue. Initially, they recorded a demo titled Beyond the Fantasy in 1993 under the name M.D.C. Before adopting the Eternal Tears of Sorrow moniker, they released another demo in 1994 called The Seven Goddesses of Frost. From 1994 to 1996, the band contributed songs to various compilations across Europe and Canada and launched their debut album, Sinner's Serenade, through X-Treme Records, a modest Swedish underground label. After releasing their sophomore album, Vilda Mánnu, they secured a contract with Spinefarm Records.

Their third studio effort, Chaotic Beauty, introduced three new members after Törrö's exit and was followed by a European tour alongside Nightwish and Sinergy. The fourth release, A Virgin and a Whore, managed to enter the Finnish Album Top 40 charts. Following four albums, the group went on hiatus and officially disbanded in January 2003.

In 2005, Eternal Tears of Sorrow declared their return. Their fifth album, Before the Bleeding Sun, was unveiled in April 2006 and achieved a peak position of No. 26 on Finnish charts. Due to some members being unavailable during this time, two session musicians were brought in. By late 2008, Jarmo Kylmänen was incorporated as an official band member. Soon after, longtime drummer Petri Sankala departed because of health-related reasons. In 2009, guitarist Risto Ruuth left and was succeeded by Mika Lammassaari.

The sixth album, Children of the Dark Waters, was released in May 2009 under Suomen Musiikki (Finland), Massacre Records (Europe), and Marquee/Avalon (Asia). The single "Tears of Autumn Rain" supported this release. This album reached No. 19 on Finland’s charts.

Their seventh studio album, Saivon Lapsi, came out in February 2013.

On 2 February 2025, Eternal Tears of Sorrow announced their dissolution through social media platforms.

Final lineup

• Altti Veteläinen – bass guitar and vocals (1994–2025)
• Jarmo Puolakanaho – guitars (1994–2025)
• Risto Ruuth – guitars (2005–2009, 2018–2025)
• Janne Tolsa – keyboards (2005–2025)
• Jarmo Kylmänen – clean vocal duties (2008–2025)
• Juho Raappana – drums (2008–2025)

Former members

• Olli-Pekka Törrö – guitars (1994–1999)
• Antti-Matti Talala – guitars (1999–2000)
• Pasi Hiltula – keyboards (1999–2003; session musician 2009–2010)
• Antti Kokko – guitars (2000–2003), bass (session 1997–1998)
• Petri Sankala – drums (1999–2008), session musician (1997–1998)
• Mika Lammassaari – guitars (2009–2018)

Session musicians

• Pekka Kokko – bass guitar (1999)
• Heidi Määttä – keyboards (2000)
• Juha Kylmänen – clean vocals (2001)
• Veli-Matti Kananen – keyboards (2006–2007; 2010)
• Tuomo Laikari – drums (2006–2007)

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:15 right:15 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1994 till:02/02/2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors =

 id:voc       value:red    legend:Vocals
 id:gtr       value:teal   legend:Lead_guitar
 id:gtr2      value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar
 id:bass      value:blue   legend:Bass
 id:kbd       value:purple legend:Keyboards
 id:drums     value:orange legend:Drums
 id:Lines     value:black  legend:Studio_album
 id:other     value:gray(0.5) legend:Other_release

Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4

ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1994 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1995

LineData =

 at:01/10/1997 color:black layer:back
 at:01/12/1998 color:black layer:back
 at:01/04/2000 color:black layer:back
 at:01/09/2001 color:black layer:back
 at:01/03/2006 color:black layer:back
 at:01/05/2009 color:black layer:back
 at:01/02/2013 color:black layer:back

 at:01/05/1994 color:other layer:back
 at:01/10/1994 color:other layer:back

BarData =

 bar:Altti text:"Altti Veteläinen"
 bar:JarmoK text:"Jarmo Kylmänen"
 bar:Olli text:"Olli-Pekka Törrö"
 bar:AnttiT text:"Antti-Matti Talala"
 bar:AnttiK text:"Antti Kokko"
 bar:Risto text:"Risto Ruuth"
 bar:Mika text:"Mika Lammassaari"
 bar:JarmoP text:"Jarmo Puolakanaho"
 bar:Pasi text:"Pasi Hiltula"
 bar:Janne text:"Janne Tolsa"
 bar:Petri text:"Petri Sankala"
 bar:Juho text:"Juho Raappana"

PlotData =

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Altti from:start till:01/03/2003 color:voc
bar:Altti from:start till:01/03/2003 color:bass width:3
bar:Altti from:01/02/2005 till:end color:voc
bar:Altti from:01/02/2005 till:end color:bass width:3
bar:JarmoP from:start till:01/03/2003 color:gtr2
bar:JarmoP from:start till:01/03/1999 color:kbd width:3
bar:JarmoP from:01/02/2005 till:end color:gtr2
bar:Olli from:start till:01/03/1999 color:gtr
bar:Olli from:start till:01/03/1999 color:kbd width:3
bar:Petri from:01/03/1999 till:01/03/2003 color:drums
bar:Petri from:01/03/2005 till:01/12/2008 color:drums
bar:Pasi from:01/03/1999 till:01/03/2003 color:kbd
bar:AnttiT from:01/03/1999 till:01/11/2000 color:gtr
bar:AnttiK from:01/11/2000 till:01/03/2003 color:gtr
bar:JarmoK from:01/03/2005 till:end color:voc
bar:Janne from:01/03/2005 till:end color:kbd
bar:Risto from:01/03/2005 till:01/03/2009 color:gtr
bar:Risto from:18/09/2018 till:end color:gtr
bar:Juho from:01/12/2008 till:end color:drums
bar:Mika from:01/05/2009 till18 /09 /2018 color:gtr

</timeline>

Discography

Studio albums

• Sinner's Serenade (1997)
• Vilda Mánnu (1998)
• Chaotic Beauty (2000)
• A Virgin and a Whore (2001)
• Before the Bleeding Sun (2006)
• Children of the Dark Waters (2009)
• Saivon Lapsi (2013)