Fear of Domination is a Finnish industrial death metal band with a wide range of musical influences. The band was originally formed in 2006 by Saku Solin (vocals), Jan-Erik Kari (guitar) and Jaakko Arteli (drums). Soon Marko Salmikangas was taken in to play lead guitar and Lauri Ojanen to play the bass. Within the next two years Johannes Niemi took over lead guitar and Niina Telén joined the band to play the keyboards and sing backing vocals. In 2010 Vesa Ahlroth took the throne of the drummer, completing FoD's current line-up.
The band is signed to the record label Osasto-A and has released two albums with the company. FoD had recorded two demos earlier, the first of which was never released. The band's first album, Call of Schizophrenia, was released in May 2009 and received great reviews. With the release of their debut album Fear of Domination managed to expand their fan-base all the way to Canada.
After getting to know the music scene better FoD began to prepare for their next album. Finally, after a long wait, their second album Create. Control. Exterminate. was released in November 2011. The new album generated a lot of positive feedback, including a #1 spot on Radio Rock's most downloaded single list for 4 weeks in a row. This set the band's goals for the future even higher than before. Slowing down was no longer an option. Right now the band's main goal is to focus on live shows and start piecing together their third studio album.
In August 2015 FoD released a music video of the single “El Toro” (Atlas). It was quite clear to the guys that they didn’t want to make just a basic music video with the band members playing in it – they wanted to have something bigger. Lyrics being the main inspiration for the music video, the grand Spanish styled bullfighter video was created. Junkyard films was chosen to make the scene work and the result was a great success! Another single “Adrenaline” from the album Atlas was released in May 2016 to prepare the for the upcoming release of the album “Atlas”.
The fourth album “Atlas” was released on May, 6th of 2016. As a composition “Atlas” went in a slightly different direction from past albums in terms of atmosphere as there’s often a sense of darkness that wasn’t always tangible on “Distorted Delusions”. The making process took a while because it weaved around the ambitious idea of a tribe in a post-apocalyptic setting and how the band would portray that both musically and lyrically. This meant lot of orchestrations and rhythmic electronics combined with huge metal band sound. The songs lyrics deal mostly with the struggles within and the pressure and burdens the band members had to face in their lives. In that sense the title of the album ”Atlas” brings this all together.
In the beginning of 2017 the long-term friend, live vocalist and producer Helena Haaparanta announced that she wanted to set her mind and resources into other musical projects. Haaparanta suggested that FoD should take Sara Strömmer to fill in the female vocals in live shows. As it turned out to be an insane and fruitful coalition, FoD decided to recruit Strömmer as a full-fledged member and officially as the second lead singer alongside with Saku Solin. The band dropped the bomb to their live vocalist and to the audience in the middle of their show in Tuska Open Air Metal Festival.
During the summer 2017 FoD started working on the new material for the fifth album and future plans with a new fierce mood. To nicely finish off summer 2017, FoD played a wildly praised gig at SaariHelvetti in Viikinsaari, Tampere. At the same time some changes took place, while Saku Solin was confirmed as the second lead singer in the band Turmion Kätilöt.
In December 2017 at MetalOrgy Fear of Domination announced an eighth member percussionist Miikki Kunttu. With his outrageous energy and mad stage diving skills, Miikki was a perfect addition to the band. For over two decades Miikki had been playing drums in bands such like V For Violence, The Ragged Saints, The Salvation, Anzi Destruction, Stereo Junks, Vanity Beach and Cold Cold Ground. His professionalism in drums and entertainment really lifts the whole level of FoD.
In January 2018 Fear of Domination finished the recordings for the fifth album and moved to the next stage with Fascination Street Studios in Sweden for the mixing process. In the beginning of February, while waiting the mixing results, FoD headed out to a small tour in Southern Finland with Pain. Just before the tour FoD announced their first single “The Last Call” from the upcoming fifth album.
In the end of February 2018 FoD released a second single “Obsession” along with the title “METANOIA” for the fifth album. They also released dates for a larger tour in May 2018 including gigs in Finland and a tour in the Baltics with Amaranthe.
In April the band announced a third single from the full-length, titled “Face Of Pain”. The new single offers a look in to the darker and starker side of the album. Face Of Pain sinks into the question of what pain looks like, how it shows itself and how it feels, and also how easy it is to hide behind a smile, to stand strong and pretend being able to cope with it. We all feel pain, but how we express it is a far sadder question – how we are like unfinished paintings, trying to complete ourselves.
The fifth album “Metanoia” was released in May the Fourth 2018 via Ranka Kustannus and Out of Line Music. With this, Fear of Domination cranked up a higher gear in everything – carrying a greater punch, groovier and wilder than before, the latest stage of their evolution reveals a band who are having the time of their lives. As multi-faceted as they are riveting in their delivery, “Metanoia” is literally what it says in the tin: a new mindset, a new form, yet still Fear of Domination in its core. “Metanoia” shamelessly flaunts the best assets of FoD, the singer duo’s dynamic performance with double the oomph in both clean and harsh parts not being the least of them. Add in the collective showmanship, and you’ve got yourself a freak show of the best kind, ready to wreak havoc near you.
After “Metanoia” the band started to explore with new ideas and styles. Thus the single “Dead Weight” was born and released in July 2019. The same exploration expanded to the song “Call of Schizophrenia” since the band was celebrating 10th anniversary of their firstly released album. The song was re-released carrying the name “Call of Schizophrenia (2019 Version)”.
In April 2020 after 10 years of sharing the road of Fear of Domination, the drummer Vesa Ahlroth and the band part ways. This decision was made in mutual understanding and we’ll continue the journey as friends.
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