Introducing: Velvet Ocean

Finnish band Velvet Ocean have honed a distinguished modern metal sound fused with symphonic elements and gothic, pop and rock influences. The band describes their music as “light and dark metal” that draws influence from the landscapes of northern Scandinavia and as “emotional, energetic and empowering.”

The Oulu band’s story began in 2015, when singer Riitu Ronkainen and guitarist Jake Ronkainen set about creating their own distinctive style of melodic metal music. They gradually built the band out with Tuomas Vesa (bass), Jami Alaverronen (keys), Arto Alikosko (cello) and Markus Määtälä (drums).

The group soon released their debut album Purposes and Promises in 2020 and are now gearing up towards their second, which has been produced by established Finnish producers Toivo Hellberg and Maki Kolehmainen at Helsinki Records who’ve helped to further develop the band’s vision.

And on the music they’ve honed since, Riitu explains: “We have come up with the description ‘light and dark metal.’ There are bright and dark sides in our lives. We draw melancholic and tragic tones from the darkness and light-filled soul landscape of the north into our music.

“Velvet Ocean’s music is a combination of gothic metal, pop, rock and symphonic elements. We use acoustic instruments and computer-generated soundscapes and rhythms with traditional band instruments. The symphony is genuinely present in our music, as the live line-up also includes an acoustic cello.”

Our first taste of this was the new album’s first few singles. The first of those is Rage, which opens up with a delicious little cello sound that gives way to dramatic guitars supporting Riitu’s engaging vocals. That flows into a powerful chorus that feeds straight into a more intense verse and another big chorus. It continues into a dramatic section led by Riitu’s impressive and unrelenting vocals, before a big atmospheric conclusion.

On the track, Riitu told us: “The reception has been good. Some have been of the opinion that this is our best and most finished song so far. We think the song is full of energy and has a really catchy chorus. The song presents the rockier side of our band. Rage would be very suitable as gym music for a person who loves metal and rock. This is also empowering music for people who have difficulties in life.” Check it out in the video here:

That was preceded by My Life (Full of Chaos), which opens up with a cool little acoustic guitar lick that drops into chunky palm-muted guitars supporting Riitu’s laid-back vocals. Delicious high-pitched vocals kick in and drop into another laid-back verse, then an intense chorus that has a lot going on. A cello solo kicks in as the track comes to a dramatic conclusion. Watch the lyric video here:

Those two tracks have been followed by Take Me Away, which opens up with jaunty guitars and synth. Riitu’s delicious vocals take over in a calming verse, which flows into a gorgeous chorus. Check out this beautiful track in the lyric video here:

The Velvet Ocean sound has been influenced by a wide range of music, from metal and 90s pop to Finnish schlager music, which is typically sentimental ballads with a simple, catchy melody. Riitu tells us that she grew up listening to a lot of Metallica before getting into bands like Within Temptation, Evanescence and Nightwish, and more recently Muse and classical composers Brahms, Mozart and Merikanto.

And on what inspires them to write music, Riitu explains: “Song ideas come to mind at any time, even in the middle of the night. I always write when things happen in life, whether they are bad or good things. I can also get inspiration from a certain place or landscape. Events in other people’s lives also provide inspiration for writing. The songs usually tell about true events and things in life. They rarely have anything imaginative.”

It’s been a little while since we covered any Finnish bands, so we asked Rittu on her thoughts on their local scene. And she told us: “In my opinion, Finnish metal music is doing well. We have a lot of well-known bands in the world and that’s a really great thing. Somehow I feel that supporting new bands is a bit bad. It would be good to get advice on what needs to be done so that the new band can gain visibility. Finland should invest more in this. Cooperation would be important and necessary. It’s really hard to manage when you’re all alone. New bands have to do more and more work to gain visibility these days.”

Velvet Ocean are busy putting the final touches on their second album, which they hope will be released in full within 12 months.

And Riitu adds: “It is important to us that our listeners understand what we want to express with our music. It would be wonderful if listeners could get strength from our music and also dare to show their own feelings freely. In these times, music is very important. It unites people and makes them forget all the evil and unfairness in the world. We hope that we can bring even a little comfort to those who need it right now. Thank you very much to everyone for the support we have received. Without you, there wouldn’t be us either. Thank you and peace and love to the world!”

You can follow Velvet Ocean on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Soundcloud, Qobuz and YouTube. And check out more Finnish music through their label Warner Music Finland.