SUM OF SEVEN

Composed by Ari Lempinen
Lyrics by Ari Lempinen, Esa Lempinen & Marko Loukamaa

Sum Of Seven are
(from left to right):
Rasmus Raassina – drums
Harri Annala – guitar
Marko Loukamaa – vocals
Miika Erkkilä – bass
Ari Lempinen – guitar, backing vocals
Esa Lempinen – keyborads

Finnish progressive metal band Sum of Seven released a new single ‘The Enemy’.
The track is released in collaboration with Inverse Records.
About ‘The Enemy’ single, Ari comments:
“‘The Enemy’ is a song that starts out fast and aggressive and really carries that momentum from start to finish. It is one of the heaviest songs that we have made so far. When that intro explodes you know that we’re going somewhere fast. But at the same time when the vocal melodies kick in they steer the song into a different direction than you might expect, still carrying the aggressive momentum. That element of surprise is really what crowns the song for me. ‘The Enemy’ has one of the best melodies we have written in my opinion and Marko’s delivery is just absolutely breathtaking. The lyrics talk about freedom, victory and survival, but they also have connotations to the questionable interpretations of those subjects. The message can be interpreted as positively empowering, but also as a disturbingly delusional illusion.”

The band comments the single:
“’Voices’ is a big song that we’re truly proud of. It features the best aspects of our music. Beautiful, strong melody accompanied with massive harmony, heavy guitars and tasty solos. The lyrics are a poetic package for the listener to unfold. Everyone can interpret them as they like, but for us they describe the pain and elusiveness of a creative process; music, writing, dance and art in general. For us it is modern progressive rock at its finest.”
Sum of Seven is a fresh progressive metal band from Finland formed in late 2011.
It first started off as a side project between Ari, the main songwriter, and Rasmus, the drummer.
After jamming together for a while, it did not take long for them to decide to grow from a duo into a full band.
Bass player Aki Niemi joined the group in 2012, solo guitarist Harri Annala at the start of 2013 and vocalist Timo Mustonen at the end of 2013.
The band was originally named Sonus Corona.
The band is all about creating music that is inspiring.
The groundwork for the release of their first album started right after Timo had joined the band.
The self-titled debut album was released in December 2015, with songs which portray the inner thoughts of a man trying to survive in a decaying world.
The album was praised by its songwriting and presents the listener with inspiring musical atmospheres ranging from heavy as hell to light as a feather.
It is a mixture of progressiveness, heaviness and melody.
In the beginning of 2017 they released a single ‘The Refuge’ which set the tone of the second album with a powerful sound and a firm positive feel, accompanied with a music video on YouTube.
The song has curvy melodies, groovy guitars and mesmerizing vocals.
It also introduced keyboards (which were not present on the debut album) to their music.
Esa Lempinen recorded the keyboards and joined the band soon after the release of the song.
Miika Erkkilä took over live bass duties in the spring of 2019 and became a full-time member when Aki Niemi switched from plucking the bass to taking care of the band’s graphic look.
The second album, ‘Time Is Not On Your Side’, was released in November 2019.
The story on the second album progresses with a deep narrative about a struggle with a fleeting sanity.
The music complements the story with powerful riffs and diverse, rich melodies.
The introduction of keyboards adds greatly to the overall atmospheric feel.
The album received great reviews and was again praised for the ingenious songwriting.
‘Time Is Not On Your Side’ builds up to a solid musical experience that takes the listener from depths of despair to the height of hope.
At the end of 2020 Timo decided to leave the band to focus on other aspects of his life.
After a few months of searching, Marko Loukamaa joined as the new frontman.
In the summer of 2021 The band signed a management and booking deal with the company LManagement.
With this big development and the corona pandemic the band decided to change their name to Sum of Seven.
With Marko’s versatility and depth behind the mic the band sounds better than ever and is busy writing new music.
sum of seven:
“Our main goal is to have fun and compose music that inspires us and hopefully others. We absolutely love playing live and try to deliver an energetic and powerful experience to the audience. We signed a management and booking deal recently and with that our possibilities to go forward with the band increased significantly. With this and the coronapandemic in mind we opened a discussion to change our name. The pandemic has taken millions of lives around the world and has irreversibly altered what we think when we hear the word ‘corona’. With heavy hearts we decided to change our name.”