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Kalmah is a melodic death metal band from Oulu, Finland that formed in 1998. In less than a year after its formation, Kalmah was signed by Spinefarm Records, a Finnish record label. "Kalmah" is Karelian and could be translated as "to the grave" or "to the death". The band is often termed "Swamp Metal" after their album cover themes.
Kalmah began in 1991 when Pekka Kokko and Petri Sankala founded the band Ancestor which originally played thrash metal, speed metal and death metal. After Ancestor had recorded two demos, Antti Kokko joined the band as lead guitarist. In 1998, after having recorded five demos and going through five different bassists whose names are unknown, Ancestor disbanded, and was refounded as Kalmah. The new band consisted of Pekka Kokko (vocals, guitar), Antti Kokko (lead guitar), Pasi Hiltula (keyboards), Altti Veteläinen (bass), and Petri Sankala (drums) and converted to melodic death metal, but still incorporating their original styles. The newly formed Kalmah then began to write new songs for a promotional CD entitled Svieri Obraza. With this demo, they acquired a recording contract with Spinefarm Records. The band then headed to Tico-Tico Studios to record their debut album.
Current members: Pekka Kokko – Vocals, Guitar (1998–present) Antti Kokko – Lead guitar (1998–present) Marco Sneck – Keyboards (2004–present) Timo Lehtinen – Bass (2001–present) Janne Kusmin – Drums (2001–present)
Former members: Anssi Seppänen - Guitar (1992-1993) Altti Veteläinen – Bass (1998–2001) Petri Sankala – Drums (1998–2001) Pasi Hiltula – Keyboards (1999–2004) Antti-Matti Talala – Keyboards