Finnish rockers Poets of the Fall - singer Marko, guitarist Olli and
keyboardist Captain - started out their musical adventure from scratch
in 2003. Marko sold everything he had to invest in pursuing the love of
his life, music, with his buddies Olli and Captain. He moved into his
folks' basement, when he couldn't keep a place of his own any longer.
The guys then built a little studio of their own in Captain's living
room for the recording and producing sessions, and kept an office in
Olli's beat up old car. The result of the recording sessions was a blend
of pop, rock, metal and industrial sounds. Later the guys were joined
by guitarist Jaska, bassist Jani and drummer Jari.
The band's first single was Late Goodbye, written for the acclaimed computer game Max Payne 2.
Reaching millions of people through the game, the song earned the guys
international recognition and the first prize at the G.A.N.G. Awards in
2004.
Their debut album Signs of Life went straight to #1 on the Finnish album chart in January 2005, and stayed on the chart for over a year. The next album Carnival of Rust,
released in April 2006, also hit the number one spot on its first week,
with the debut album still on the official Top 40 chart. To date, both
albums have sold platinum in Finland. The third album Revolution Roulette
was released in March 2008. It also took the first place on the album
chart, and broke the gold record limit in just a couple of weeks after
its release. The fourth album Twilight Theater, released in March
2010, sold gold in one week, and made Finnish chart history by giving
the band four number one places with their first four albums. 2011 saw
the release of the first song and video compilation Alchemy Vol. 1, and the fifth studio album Temple of Thought hit the stores in March 2012.
The singles and videos released from the albums have received lots of plays on radio, TV and the net. The song Carnival of Rust was the most played Finnish song in 2006, and singles like Dreaming Wide Awake and Cradled in Love have spent several weeks among the top songs on national radio and TV. The blockbuster video games Alan Wake and Alan Wake's American Nightmare featured songs from Twilight Theater and Temple of Thought, as well as completely new songs, performed as the in-game band Old Gods of Asgard.
Among others, Poets of the Fall has received the following awards:
- Best Finnish Act at MTV Europe Music Awards 2006
- Best Finnish Music Video of all time in TV2's Musiikki-TV and Best Music Video of 2006 at The Voice (video Carnival of Rust)
- Two Emma Awards (the Finnish Grammys) in 2005 - the best debut album and the best new act
- The Bronze Muuvi and People's Choice Muuvi 2006 Awards (video Carnival of Rust)
- Best Finnish band at the NRJ Radio Awards 2006
- Commercial Radio Stations' Newcomer of the Year Award in 2005
