Verenn:

Verenn is a modern rock band from Finland. Verenn's music is characterised by strong guitar riffs with metal nuances and catchy vocal melodies with lots of emotion. Influences range from industrial to heavy, from grunge to pop - but what it all boils down to is great rock tunes with interesting and intelligent lyrics. To hell with genre definitions!

The brain of Verenn is Jussi Järvenpää, the founding father of the band. Jussi is not only an incredibly talented composer but also an insightful producer and sound engineer. The original and characteristic Verenn sound is Jussi's creation from the scratch.

Respectively, then, Mikko Hautakangas could be called Verenn's heart, as he brings the songs to life with his vocals. Mikko's lyrics are one of Verenn's essential strengths, as they take the attitudes and athmospheres of the music and give them meanings that relate to the social reality of the listeners, without simply recycling rock 'n roll clichés.

Biography:

Although the first chords for Verenn were struck as early as in the spring 2000 in Jussi's home studio, the true beginning can be placed in the summer 2003. By then Jussi had went through some failed attempts with different vocalists, and finally turned to Mikko, with whom he had previously played in the same band for years.

The co-operation kicked off wonderfully. The chemistry between old close friends seemed to work even musically, and Mikko's vocal parts brought new dimensions to the Verenn sound, moving it from the more traditional heavy metal towards modern rock.

Soon the first demo with two songs (Soul and Stars Are Out Of Place) was recorded (in 2004). Although the working method of Verenn was only taking its baby steps at that time, the demo received a great deal of positive attention in the music forums of the internet.

In April 2005, Verenn joined forces with another band called Maplesnow and started their own record label, Matara Music. The label's first release was Verenn's Awake EP, released in June 2005.

Awake gained some encouraging feedback and radio airplay around Europe. The EP contained three tracks: Awake, Pilot and Nobody Wins. The title track also gained attention as it was featured on a Finnish new school video Destination Changed, which won The Most Innovative Approach -category in the world's biggest ski video contest Vast Awards.

In 2005 Jussi's brother Jaakko Järvenpää, who had been involved in the creative processes of Verenn from the earliest stages and played guitar on the recordings, decided to withdraw from the band.

It was time for the first true display of power of Verenn. The song material for the debut album was written in the latter half of 2005, and the recordings took place mainly in November '05 - January '06. The first single No Trace, No Sound was released in 31st of March, 2006, and the album, titled The Game, saw daylight on 19th of May.

The rest will make history. The ten songs featured on The Game paint a panorama picture of what Verenn is about - where the band comes from and what they are moving towards. The range from metal- influenced rock via pop towards epic and athmospheric emo-rock displays the band's versatility and courage, and simultaneously awakes anticipation for the future - if this is the start, then what might this band eventually have to offer?