For those that don’t know, Auri is exactly 50% of symphonic metal outfit Nightwish; namely keyboardist and composer Tuomas Holopainen; guitarist/pipist (that’s sounds like a cancelled insult, doesn’t it?) Troy Donockley; and drummer Kai Hahto, at least on the studio sessions although I hear rumours he might form part of a tour group later this year.
Making up the trio or quartet as you prefer is Mr Holopainen’s wife, Johanna Kurkela, a classically trained violinist and pianist who has released numerous singles and albums in her own right, is also a member of other bands and who was a Eurovision contestant in 2007 with a song that finished sixth in the Finnish qualifying competition.
Which says a lot about Eurovision and if you want to read my scathing analysis of this year’s Nordic country entries please do, you’ll find it on the News & Reviews page. Finland’s entry beggars belief but it is entertaining, I assure you.
Auri, named after a character in The Kingkiller Chronicle, a fantasy trilogy, have two previous albums to their credit, a self-titled first one (2018) and ‘II – Those We Don’t Speak Of’ (2021). ‘Fantasy’ seems to hold a very high degree of dependency in the Holopainen household. Nightwish is riddled with it, especially in the early songs before science and ecology took over and Tuomas has been heard to describe Auri as “rabbit hole music and celestial metal”.
I prefer to think of them as Nightwish-lite – similar themes but for the most part without metal riffs while others have described them as prog-folk.
The Auri ‘concept’ has existed for 14 years this year but I do believe they’ve never toured, due to the demands of their other bands, especially Nightwish.
‘Shieldmaiden’ is the first single from their third album, ‘III – Candles & Beginnings’, which is scheduled for release on 25th August, just preceding their first tour which has been enabled by Nightwish’s decision to go on touring hiatus that was taken in 2023, which will last until 2026 at least and which has also enabled Floor Jansen and Kai Hahto to go on the road with their own tours.
What has surprised me is that much of the creative lead in Auri seems to come from Englishman Troy Donockley in rural North Yorkshire rather than Tuomas and Johanna, who take responsibility for building melodies and lyrics from Nightwish Central Command in Kitee, close to Finland’s border with Russia.
One tends to assume that Tuomas, who is responsible for 95% or so of Nightwish’s output, is the musical Donald Trump of Finland, dominating everything, but how wrong can you be.
And what struck me about ‘Shieldmaiden’ is its similarity with their song ‘Pearl Diving’, a personal favourite of mine. By which I mean the lighter synthesiser chords than Nightwish fans are used to (at least early doors, they grow in intensity late)r, the slow build up via a planned trajectory to a commanding ending, the late arrival of piercing guitar and Johanna’s vocal delivery of short, staccato lines that are spoken as much as sung.
I’m starting to think of her as the Julie Andrews of Finland.
And yes, the melody. They’ve hit on a winner there.
A shield-maiden by the way was a female warrior from Scandinavian folklore and mythology. The term is also used in modern English as synonymous with valkyrie. A very metal concept. Sometimes there’s no getting away from it.
Uncertainty and mystery seem to inhabit Auri songs and that is evident in the video here, again by Ville Lipiäinen, a full blown movie director, which opens with what looks like the Bates house from Psycho but within which, unaccountably, this beautiful music is being played.
Auri are touring later in the year as I mentioned before. Details on their social pages.
I’m just wondering if they might chance a Nightwish ‘cover’ on this tour. I’m thinking especially of ‘Lanternlight’ from the most recent album ‘Yesterwynde’, which is yet to be performed live. I reckon Johanna could eat that vocal.
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AURlband
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auri.band/
