Entwine

Hailing from Finland are Entwine, a gothic metal quintet specializing in a darkly melodic and richly textured form of heavy pop music. The group began as a three-piece death metal outfit in the spring of 1995; that early lineup, consisting of Aki Hanttu (drums), Tom Mikkola (guitar and vocals), and T. Taipale (bass), gradually began incorporating more melodic and textural dimensions to their music, moving further away from death metal and into more conventional pop territory. After a few lineup changes, which included the addition of a second guitarist, P. William, Entwine produced its first demo tape, the four-song Divine Infinity, in 1997. By the time keyboardist Riita Heikkonen joined the band's ranks in 1998, Divine Infinity's atmospheric metal had earned the group a buzz of interest in the underground press, not to mention a growing horde of fans. Entwine's first proper full-length album, The Treasures Within Hearts, was released to continued acclaim in September of 1999, although the group's lineup was still in a state of flux. Willman and Taipale split in April 2000, the latter being replaced by Joni Meittinen. A new lead singer, Mika Tauriainen, entered the picture in May of 2000 and gave the band its most commercial appeal thus far. With a warm yet occasionally edgy singing style strongly reminiscent of Alice in Chains' Layne Staley, Tauriainen's voice was the perfect fit for Entwine's increasingly melodic and pop-based goth metal. The retooled Entwine entered Astia A-Studio late in 2000 (following three months' worth of rehearsal and woodshedding) and, with producer Anssi Kippo (Children of Bodom, Sinergy) at the controls, recorded the full-length Gone. Century Media released the record in 2001 and it quickly found a place in the Finnish pop charts, settling at number 25 while the single "New Dawn" raced to number ten on the singles chart. They went back to the same studios soon after and jumped back into the writing process. The end result, Time of Despair, was a far more alternative sounding record that shaved away many of their gloomier tendencies in exchange for simpler songwriting and more direct melodies.