Poltinmerkki started to operate in Kotka Finland, 2002. In the very beginning the band had a different line-up, but in that year of 2002, the line-up become stable and has remained the same til nowadays. This is a Christian industrial rock/metal act with an uniqueness in style and sound that really catches the eyes and ears of the audience.
Poltinmerkki means “A mark burnt in”, in the bands native language of Finnish. Some songs are in Finnish whgch goes great along with the rough and strong industrial sound. Comparisons with other bands would be Rammstein and Circle of Dust, but the sound is even heavier and the voice of the singer is very strong and steady, accompanied with guitar, bass, drums and back-up vocals from rest of the band.
The heavy industrial sound and riffs will most truly always and forever be compared with Rammstein, but the footprints that this band follows are completely different:
“Each of us carries his own load, own weakness, own sin, own mark which cannot be removed. The main goal being to tell the listener about what can be the life of a Christian person and show the worst and best sides of it. We would like to tell you about God and the mercy, which He shows us. This mercy is our weapon against the original sin, which has effects on us since the very beginning of life. By means of this mercy, we can once achieve the paradise, where there is no more pain ”.
Janne Virtanen 
Ari Viren 
Ville Viuhko
Line up:
Janne Virtanen – Vocals, guitar and composer
Ari Viren – Drums and lyricist
Ville Viuhko – Bass
Sauli Paukkonen – Keyboards and composer, in studio line-up
RELEASES:
SINGLE and EP :
Demo CD EP Syytön, 2006
Kaistalle Kadoneet Kasvot/Jalostettu, 2009
All-Out Freefall/High Stream, 2017
ALBUM:
Askel Eteenpäin 2015
“The disc is very actual and handled questions, which everyone of us thinks in some state of our journey”.
Since the album was released they had gigs quite frequently, small and large, from rock clubs to Immortal Metal Fest in Nokia 2016. They also been to Sweden twice performing at Rainbow Rock 2018 and 2019.
This unique band deserves their own place in Christian music culture. If you have not yet checked out this Christian industrial metal act, it´s about time to do so. If you´re looking for a metal sound that’s different from anything in the mainstream, Poltinmerkki is definitely the band to listen to.
In early November this heavy industrial machine is finally coming to the UK. They have also revealed that new material is on the way, so us who have been fans of the band for a longer while, we might get us a nice surprise during the Meltdown gig.
Since they now started touring outside their home country, this unique band is most likely to start extending their fanbase in Europe, the USA and the rest of the world.
Tickets and information about Meltdown: https://www.meltdownchm.co.uk