Symfonia

Finnish power metal supergroup

Symfonia

Origin| Finland
Genres| Symphonic power metal
Years active| 2010–2011
Past members|

* Andre Matos
* Timo Tolkki
* Jari Kainulainen
* Mikko Härkin
* Uli Kusch

Symfonia was a short-lived symphonic power metal supergroup formed in 2010 by Andre Matos (vocals), Timo Tolkki (guitars), Jari Kainulainen (bass), Mikko Härkin (keyboards) and Uli Kusch (drums).[1] On February 18, 2011, the band made its debut performance at Finnish Metal Expo.[2] The band released its only album, In Paradisum, in March 2011.

## History

[edit]

After touring together as members of Stratovarius and Angra, guitarist Timo Tolkki and vocalist Andre Matos became good friends. When Matos moved to Sweden, Tolkki called him and told him he had some song ideas he would like to show him. On the condition of being part of the songwriting process but not of the managing duties due to his other activities, Matos flew to Helsinki and started working on the songs, though at that time they did not know if those songs would be used in a band, or a project or anything alike. Tolkki then completed the team with other musicians who were living in the Nordic countries back then: bassist Jari Kainulainen, keyboardist Mikko Härkin and drummer Uli Kusch. Months later, the five musicians met in Helsinki and started rehearsing.[3]

By October 2011 last news were that drummer Uli Kusch officially left the band to continue recovering from his nerve damage which made it impossible for him to play drums for a year. The band did a tour in South America (mostly in Brazil) and would start to record a new album subsequently.[3][4]

By December 2011, Timo Tolkki announced in his official Facebook page that he would probably never record anything again (he later announced he would return to music with his new project, Avalon). In his long text, Timo cited some problems during the recording and touring of the first Symfonia album.[5] Symfonia's homepage has since been replaced with a big red square with the verse "the key to the universe is love", which appears at the song "Key to the Universe" from Tolkki's solo album Hymn to Life.[6] In a post at Symfonia's official forum Timo Tolkki stated that "ending the Symfonia as it is, was a rational decision based on both the opinions of me and Andre Matos and the hard evidence or facts.", thus confirming that the band is no more.[7]

Commenting on the sudden end of the band in a 2013 interview, Matos said:[3]

> [...] all of us (the other members) received an email from him [Tolkki], where he stated like, 'Look, I think Symfonia didn't reach the level that I expected it should have reached. Therefore, I must say to you all that there's not going to be a second album. Therefore, I must say to you all that there's not going to be Symfonia anymore. And therefore, I also would like to let you know that I'm intending to quit my musical career forever.' And that was wow, kind of shocking for everyone, like we didn't know what to say. I knew stories from Timo. I had been warned before, because I am friends also with the other people who have worked together with him. But I mean, we had been working on this Symfonia thing for over a year, and nothing really weird happened before this very day. [...] and I said to him, 'Look, I have to respect your decision. It's your life, it's your decision. I still have my solo band which I will dedicate back again. I will go back to it. The only thing I would like you to do is to justify your attitude together with the people who are already compromised with this new record and a possible new tour, because I don't think it's really fair.'

Tolkki and Matos remained out of touch since then.[3] Matos died on June 8, 2019.[8]

## Discography

[edit]

* In Paradisum (2011)

## Line-up

[edit]

### Last line-up

[edit]

* Andre Matos \- vocals (2010–2011)
* Timo Tolkki \- guitar (2010–2011)
* Jari Kainulainen \- bass (2010–2011)
* Mikko Härkin \- keyboards (2010–2011)

### Additional musicians

[edit]

* Alex Landenburg – drums (2011)

### Former members

[edit]

* Uli Kusch \- drums (2010–2011)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Former Stratovarius, Helloween, Angra Members Join Forces In Symfonia". Blabbermouth.net. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
2. ^ "FME".
3. ^ a b c d Dr. Metal (27 March 2013). "Interview with Andre Matos (Part 2 of 2)". Metal Meltdown. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
4. ^ "SYMFONIA Parts Ways With Drummer ULI KUSCH". Blabbermouth.net. 2011-06-12. Archived from the original on 2011-06-28.
5. ^ "The statement again since some of you seem to have missed it | Facebook". www.facebook.com.
6. ^ "symfonia". symfonia.fi. Archived from the original on November 11, 2010.
7. ^ The Official Forum Of Symfonia Archived 2012-04-26 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ "Morre Andre Matos, ex-vocalista e fundador do Angra, aos 47 anos". Entretenimento.uol.com.br. Retrieved 8 June 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Timo Tolkki

Studio albums|

* Classical Variations and Themes (1994)
* Hymn to Life (2002)
* Saana – Warrior of Light Pt 1 (2008)

Stratovarius|

| Studio albums|

* Fright Night
* Twilight Time
* Dreamspace
* Fourth Dimension
* Episode
* Visions
* Destiny
* Infinite
* Intermission
* Elements, Pt. 1
* Elements, Pt. 2
* Stratovarius

|

Live releases|

* Visions of Europe
* Infinite Visions

Revolution Renaissance|

* New Era (2008)
* Age of Aquarius (2009)
* Trinity (2010)

Symfonia|

* In Paradisum (2011)

Avalon|

* The Land of New Hope (2013)
* Angels of the Apocalypse (2014)
* Return to Eden (2019)
* The Enigma Birth (2021)

Allen/Lande|

* The Great Divide (2014)

Chaos Magic|

* Chaos Magic (2015)

* v
* t
* e

Stratovarius

* Timo Kotipelto
* Jens Johansson
* Lauri Porra
* Matias Kupiainen
* Rolf Pilve

* Timo Tolkki
* Tuomo Lassila
* Jörg Michael
* Jari Kainulainen
* Antti Ikonen
* Jari Behm
* Jyrki Lentonen
* Mika Ervaskari
* John Vihervä
* Staffan Stråhlman

Studio albums|

* Fright Night
* Twilight Time
* Dreamspace
* Fourth Dimension
* Episode
* Visions
* Destiny
* Infinite
* Elements Pt. 1
* Elements Pt. 2
* Stratovarius
* Polaris
* Elysium
* Nemesis
* Eternal
* Survive

Live albums|

* Visions of Europe

Compilations|

* Intermission
* Best Of
* Enigma: Intermission 2

Related pages|

* Discography
* Kotipelto
* Cain's Offering
* Revolution Renaissance
* Symfonia
* Blackoustic
* Avalon

* v
* t
* e

Angra

* Rafael Bittencourt
* Felipe Andreoli
* Fabio Lione
* Bruno Valverde
* Marcelo Barbosa

* Kiko Loureiro
* Andre Matos
* Luis Mariutti
* Ricardo Confessori
* Edu Falaschi
* Aquiles Priester

Studio albums|

* Angels Cry
* Holy Land
* Fireworks
* Rebirth
* Temple of Shadows
* Aurora Consurgens
* Aqua
* Secret Garden
* ØMNI
* Cycles of Pain

Demo albums|

* Reaching Horizons

Compilations|

* Best Reached Horizons

* v
* t
* e

Sonata Arctica

* Tommy Portimo
* Tony Kakko
* Henrik Klingenberg
* Elias Viljanen
* Pasi Kauppinen

* Jani Liimatainen
* Marko Paasikoski
* Pentti Peura
* Janne Kivilahti
* Mikko Härkin

Studio albums|

* Ecliptica
* Silence
* Winterheart's Guild
* Reckoning Night
* Unia
* The Days of Grays
* Stones Grow Her Name
* Pariah's Child
* The Ninth Hour
* Talviyö

EPs|

* Successor
* Orientation
* Don't Say a Word

Live albums|

* Songs of Silence
* For the Sake of Revenge
* Live in Finland

Compilations|

* The Collection
* Acoustic Adventures – Volume One
* Acoustic Adventures – Volume Two

DVDs|

* For the Sake of Revenge
* Live in Finland

Singles|

* "Paid in Full"
* "The Last Amazing Grays"
* "Flag in the Ground"

Related articles|

* Discography
* Cain's Offering
* Northern Kings
* Symfonia
* Blackoustic
* A Tribute to Sonata Arctica

* v
* t
* e

Helloween

* Michael Weikath
* Markus Grosskopf
* Kai Hansen
* Michael Kiske
* Andi Deris
* Sascha Gerstner
* Daniel Löble

* Ingo Schwichtenberg
* Roland Grapow
* Uli Kusch
* Mark Cross
* Stefan Schwarzmann

Studio albums|

* Walls of Jericho
* Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I
* Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II
* Pink Bubbles Go Ape
* Chameleon
* Master of the Rings
* The Time of the Oath
* Better Than Raw
* The Dark Ride
* Rabbit Don't Come Easy
* Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy
* Gambling with the Devil
* 7 Sinners
* Straight Out of Hell
* My God-Given Right
* Helloween

Extended plays|

* Helloween
* Mr. Ego (Take Me Down)
* Burning Sun

Live albums|

* Live in the U.K.
* High Live
* Keeper of the Seven Keys – The Legacy World Tour 2005/2006
* United Alive in Madrid

Compilations|

* The Best, the Rest, the Rare
* Karaoke Remix Vol.1
* Karaoke Remix Vol.2
* Metal Jukebox
* Treasure Chest
* Unarmed – Best of 25th Anniversary

Singles|

* "Future World"
* "Dr. Stein"
* "I Want Out"
* "Kids of the Century"
* "When the Sinner"
* "I Don't Wanna Cry No More"
* "Windmill"
* "Perfect Gentleman"
* "Sole Survivor"
* "Power"
* "The Time of the Oath"
* "Forever and One"
* "Lay All Your Love on Me"
* "If I Could Fly"
* "Mr. Torture"
* "Just a Little Sign"
* "Mrs. God"
* "Light the Universe"
* "As Long as I Fall"
* "Are You Metal?"
* "Nabataea"

Related articles|

* Discography
* Members
* Keeper of the Seven Keys

* v
* t
* e

Masterplan

* Roland Grapow
* Axel Mackenrott
* Rick Altzi
* Jari Kainulainen
* Kevin Kott

* Jørn Lande
* Jan S. Eckert
* Uli Kusch
* Mike DiMeo
* Mike Terrana
* Martin "Marthus" Škaroupka

Studio albums|

* Masterplan
* Aeronautics
* MK II
* Time to Be King
* Novum Initium
* PumpKings

EPs|

* Back For My Life
* Lost and Gone

Live albums|

* Keep Your Dream aLive

Singles|

* "Enlighten Me"
* "Far From the End of the World"

Related articles|

* Helloween
* Beautiful Sin
* Ark
* Iron Savior
* Rage
* Riot
* Allen-Lande
* Beyond Twilight
* Symfonia
* At Vance
* Cradle of Filth

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* France
* BnF data

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

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