RIOGHAN

written by Thomas Jefferson Cowgill
pic by Aarni Visuals

Rioghan has released the second single ‘Sweet Death’ (originally performed by King Dude and Shannon F.) from the upcomming EP ‘Cover III’.
Rioghan comments ‘Sweet Death’:
“‘Sweet Death’ became my favorite song that instant when I heard King Dude’s ‘Death’-album for the first time. It also became obvious, that this song had to be visited, if I only could find a suitable duet-partner. And of course we did, Tony Kaikkonen agreed to sing with me on this release too. Instrumentally we turned the song a bit to the heavier side, and for vocals we channeled our inner gothic atmosphere. All in all, a lovely song, where the lyrics also let you sink into the darkening autumn nights.”
Rioghan is now ready and has played the first gig at On The Rocks, Helsinki on November 15th, 2023.

written by Cathy Dennis, Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Henrik Jonback

track-list:
Toxic
originally performed by Britney Spears
this arrangement by Teemu Liekkala and Jenni Perämäki
written by Cathy Dennis, Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Henrik Jonback
Sweet Death
originally performed by King Dude, Shannon F.
this arrangement by Teemu Liekkala and Jenni Perämäki
written by Thomas Jefferson Cowgill
Lethean
originally performed by Katatonia
this arrangement by Teemu Liekkala and Jenni Perämäki
written by Jonas Renkse, Per Eriksson

on this record:
vocals – Jenni Perämäki, in Sweet Death also Tony Kaikkonen
guitars – Teemu Liekkala and Tero Luukkonen
keys – Teemu Liekkala
bass – Antti Varjanne
drums – Valtteri Revonkorpi

Finnish Rioghan is back after their successful debut album ‘Different Kinds Of Losses’ which was released on last December via Inverse Records.
The band is currently preparing their second studio album but before that they’ll release a 3-track EP titled ‘Covers III’ on December 15th 2023.
The chosen cover tracks are ‘Toxic’ (Britney Spears), ‘Sweet Death’ (King Dude) and ‘Lethean’ (Katatonia).
Rioghan comments:
“‘Toxic’ was such an entertaining song to work with, as we got to figure out a completely different approach to this iconic pop song (which has, not gonna lie, spinned a few times in my record player too back then). Me and Teemu wanted to bring a little rougher tones to this one, and in our opinion the song bended beautifully to a whole new prog metal vibe.”
Another excellent news is that Rioghan is now ready to hit the stages and the first gig shall take place at On The Rocks, Helsinki on November 15th, 2023.

Composed by Jenni Perämäki & Teemu Koskela
Lyrics by Jenni Perämäki
Mastered by Svante Forsbäck / Chartmakers Oy.
Vocal recordings: Ville Hautaluoma
Produced, recorded & mixed by Teemu Liekkala
Makeup by Laura Salo Creative
Hair by S-Hair/Marjo Perämäki

Line-up on ‘Home’ single:
Jenni Perämäki – vocals
Marko hautamäki – cello
Teemu Liekkala – guitar, bass, keyboards
Valtteri Revonkorpi – drums, percussions

Finnish Rioghan is set to release her debut album ‘Different Kinds Of Losses’ on December 9th 2022 via Inverse Records.
The album has been made in collaboration with Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Einar Solberg (Leprous), Teemu Liekkala (ex-Manufacturer’s Pride, Red Eleven) and Teemu Koskela (ex-Celesty).
The fifth single ‘Home’ has been released.
Responsible for the video-clip was Aarni Visuals.
Rioghan comments:
“While making the song the lyrics felt very simple and obvious from the start, but in every turn it opened up with more deeper layers, and one of those layers we are opening up with the music video. In the video, the storyteller’s virtuos image starts to crack as she tries too hard to keep up a clean facade with too many negative things held inside and eventually they spill over.”
Started out as a solo-project by singer-poetess Rioghan Darcy, the progressive metal act Rioghan has grown into a trio with Teemu Liekkala (guitars, bass, keys, production) and Valtteri Revonkorpi (drums).
Rooted deeply in both gothic and progressive metal scenes, they sure should bring something interesting on the table.
The band got some positive international attention with the debut EP ‘Blackened Sky’, and the singles from the upcoming ‘Different Kinds Of Losses’ album have already got over 250 000 streams.

Mastered by Svante Forsbäck / Chartmakers Oy.
Vocal recordings: Ville Hautaluoma
Produced, recorded & mixed by Teemu Liekkala
Hair & makeup by Laura Salo Creative

Line-up on ‘Bruises’ single:
Jenni Perämäki – vocals
Einar Solberg – keyboards
Teemu Liekkala – guitar, bass, keyboards
Valtteri Revonkorpi – drums, percussions

Rioghan releases a new ‘Bruises’ music video and single composed by Leprous frontman Einar Solberg.
Finnish Rioghan is set to release her debut album
‘Different Kinds Of Losses’ on December 9th 2022 via Inverse Records.
The album has been made in collaboration with Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Einar Solberg (Leprous), Teemu Liekkala (ex-Manufacturer’s Pride, Red Eleven) and Teemu Koskela (ex-Celesty).
The fourth single ‘Bruises’ from the upcoming album has been released.
The track is composed by Leprous frontman Einar Solberg and the lyrics are made by Rioghan.
Rioghan comments:
“‘Bruises’ will bring together the most lightweight and then again the heaviest Rioghan you’ve heard so far. Lyrical themes word out a concrete story of overcoming and understanding letting go of things that no longer serve you, with the tearing internal struggle it often brings with. Getting the vocals together for this song was a new kind of personal journey to experiment all the different layers I can come up with, and the lengths it goes serves the polarity of the lyric well.”

Composed by Jenni Perämäki & Jonas Renkse
Lyrics by Jenni Perämäki
Mastered by Svante Forsbäck/Chartmakers Oy
Vocal recordings: Ville Hautaluoma
Produced, recorded & mixed by Teemu Liekkala

Hair & makeup by Laura Salo Creative

Line-up on ‘Sight’ single:
Jenni Perämäki – vocals
Jonas Renkse – guitar solo
Teemu Liekkala – guitar, bass, keyboards
Valtteri Revonkorpi – drums, percussions

Finnish Rioghan is set to release her debut album ‘Different Kinds Of Losses’ later in 2022 via Inverse Records.
The album has been made in collaboration with Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Einar Solberg (Leprous), Teemu Liekkala (ex-Manufacturer’s Pride, Red Eleven) and Teemu Koskela (ex-Celesty).
The third single ‘Sight’ from the upcoming album is released and a stunning music video made by Aarni Visuals.
Rioghan comments:
“‘Sight’ brings a story to the feeling when you fantasise about revenge so much it fills your whole perspective with passive-aggressive emotion and you no longer have clear sight of other things or what is normal. When the thought of revenge consumes you slowly, maybe leading to your own demise instead of the one you’ve sought to bring down. With this composition I had the pleasure to work with Jonas Renkse, and I was of course terrified of my own (self-alleged) incompetence but soon Jonas made me realise I actually have some good stuff going on. Jonas picked this exact poem he wanted to work on, we got into the vibe and the whole process from there was very effortless and encouraging. This was also the first song from the album we got ready and only made some really minor arrangement additions later on.”
Jonas Renkse comments:
“I’d never written a song for someone else before but when this opportunity showed up I jumped at the chance. I was already in writing mode and had everything set up. I think me and Rioghan found a starting point quickly and could just go with the flow on this one. We were bouncing ideas for a bit and then the song pretty much wrote itself.”

Composed by Jenni Perämäki & Teemu Liekkala
Lyrics by Jenni Perämäki
Mastered by Svante Forsbäck/Chartmakers Oy
Vocal recordings: Ville Hautaluoma
Produced, recorded & mixed by Teemu Liekkala

Finnish Rioghan is set to release her debut album ‘Different Kinds Of Losses’ later in 2022 via Inverse Records.
The album has been made in collaboration with Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Einar Solberg (Leprous), Teemu Liekkala (ex-Manufacturer’s Pride, Red Eleven) and Teemu Koskela (ex-Celesty).
The second single ‘Promises’ from the upcoming album is released together with a stunning music video made by Aarni Visuals.
Rioghan comments ‘Promises’ single:
“‘Promises’ brings out some new colors and tunes from Rioghan. A bit more aggressive, a bit more djenty, let’s see where it leads. The lyric of this song inspired the overall mood and structure a lot, as it tells a story of violence from those who are closest to you. The song holds some sharp turns and reflects the more progressive metal side of the upcoming album.”

Composed by Jenni Perämäki & Teemu Koskela.
Lyrics by Jenni Perämäki
Mastered by Svante Forsbäck / Chartmakers Oy.
Vocal recordings: Ville Hautaluoma
Produced, recorded & mixed by Teemu Liekkala

Line-up on ‘Breath’ single:
Jenni Perämäki – vocals
Marko Hautamäki – cello
Teemu Liekkala – guitars, bass & keys
Valtteri Revonkorpi – drums, percussions

Hair & makeup by Studio Viivi K/Viivi Kiilunen

Finnish Rioghan is set to release her debut album ‘Different Kinds Of Losses’ later in 2022 via Inverse Records.
The album has been made in collaboration with Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Einar Solberg (Leprous), Teemu Liekkala (ex-Manufacturer’s Pride, Red Eleven) and Teemu Koskela (ex-Celesty).
Rioghan comments single:
“This song really speaks to me in a personal level, as I have wrote the original poem in a pretty dark place, and somehow me and Teemu captured the essence of it musically too, a lot of polarity, ups and downs and finally some gruesome beauty in acceptance. We chose this as the first single as I think it represents the former Rioghan a bit more than the rest of the album, so it is also kind of a transition to new things ahead.”
Rioghan is a music project performed by singer Rioghan Darcy.
Rioghan was founded in 2019 and is based on Lapua, Finland.
“Rooted deeply in both gothic and progressive metal scenes, I sure should bring something interesting on the table. I started off in 2010 as a poetry and lyric writer, but in 2019 I finally wanted to add some more to the mix and decided to fleshen up some of my words with music. Songwriting wasn’t my strong suit, so I teamed up with a few skilled writers and together we came up with a 4 song EP ‘Blackened Sky’, which was released in March 2021.”
EP got some positive attention in alternative scenes, a few interviews and radioplays internationally.
“As things started rolling I decided I want to make a full length album and wanted to gather a new songwriting crew for that. Between the album demo making, we made a few cover songs with Teemu Liekkala and 2 songs from the EP ‘Covers II’ got to Spotify editorial playlists, and have gained about 100k streams at this point.”