It has come the time to release ARKADIA's first music video. The song that got the honor of being first is "My Life is Mine" off the EP "A Drop for the Past". Watch the video here.

...not even ARKADIA's original line-up. Aapo Iisakki Rikala, rhythm guitarist of ARKADIA since its founding in 2003, has decided to leave the band. It was with great surprise and sorrow that we received his resignation letter last week. This is what he had to say:

I could not agree more to the last two sentences of his - there will always be a special place reserved for Aapo in ARKADIA. It seems unrealistic that a good friend and composer of our first song is gone from the band; however, constant change is part of life, in all the areas of life. It is quite ironic that last week Soundi, one of the largest music magazines in Finland, thanked our "original line-up for a coherent sound" in their review. (You can read the whole review here, along with some other new reviews.)

As a proper tune to Aapo's departure, we have today released the title track of our latest EP, A Drop for the Past, to our Myspace site. Feel free to commemorate the six and a half years Aapo served with us by visiting, or write a line to our address. Hopefully we also see as many of you as possible in the final three gatherings to be performed by the original line-up of ARKADIA in Riihimäki, Oulu and Raahe during the following month.

As for the future, we have already started looking for a replacement for Aapo - even when one cart falls, the wagon must continue.

Fall arrives, noose tightens - October brings upon two gatherings. First we'll hit the stage at Kaamos Metal Festival in Rytmikorjaamo, Seinäjoki, 2nd October, along with Liquid Society, Whitemour and Forever One. Our show starts around 9:30 pm. We'll also play Bar Escape in Riihimäki, on 16th October. More information about the gatherings here.

Order proper wear for the grim and endless Fall ahead - ARKADIA's first garment is now released. The "A Drop for the Past" t-shirt shown in the photo above is yours for the damage of 15 euros. Contact us for this limited kick-ass piece of a suit. (Available in M & L sizes.)

After five live Drops for the Past this Summer, we're thirsty for more. Scheduled festival gathering for next week at Kuortane got cancelled - the whole Sepelit event was pulled off for this year. However, we just got confirmation that we'll play the UBTH festival in Pori on 1st August. Compensation, vindication.

Oh, and be sure to check us out Sunday next week at Luomusa fest in Töysä. Show will start at 20:30, right after Dying Sun.

As promised: live material from the previous gathering. Previously unreleased song called Killing Growing Addiction. Enjoy!

Last Saturday's EP release gathering went grrreat! In fact, we'll release a live video of one unpublished song during the next couple of weeks, so you all can witness the atmosphere. Meanwhile, check out the stills. I also added a couple of Finnish newspaper articles, one from 2007 and one from last Thursday. Furthermore, A Drop for the Past was reviewed first at Desibeli.net - check what Mr. Roth had to say about our latest record here (in Finnish).

Two years of training and composing, six months in studio - it's been a long but rewarding journey. We are proud to release A Drop for the Past, our fifth self-release after six years in existence. Although A Drop for the Past continues from where our previous EP Circle of Distress (2007) ended to, as the energy and metallic melodies of ARKADIA are still to be heard, the entity has evolved to a whole new level. Or, more accurately, sank a couple of levels below the ground - A Drop for the Past carries the listener from initial disbelief and hatred via grief and guilt to the very end.

Expect to witness some live grimness next Friday (15.5.) at the release gathering of A Drop for the Past, held at Hotelli Puustelli in Alavus. This will be the day to celebrate the joy and suffering experienced, left foot in the grave. Expect some surprises to our usual show. We have another five gatherings coming up around the country , so Summer '09 is starting to look pretty nice'n'heavy.

In the meanwhile, check the new material out; we've released two songs, My Life is Mine and Insecure, in mp3 format for you to download. Another track off the EP, Realization, is available at our MySpace site. Contact us by writing to our address, via e-mail, or at the gatherings to get the complete dirge - a digipak for ten euros.

Did we make parting shots or did we just waste our time? That's for you to determine.

See you at the gatherings.

In addition to the gig we have in Isojoki on Saturday 16th August, we'll play in the Minirock fest, Alavus on Sunday 17th August. On this gig we'll pay some never heard brand new tracks live, so be sure to be present on this Bloody Sunday!

In Isojoki we'll open up the MBR fest with a blast - our showtime will be around 2 pm. Check out the complete schedule of this festival at the Gigs section.

Nine pics from the Sepelit-rock gig have been added; check them out here. Five songs of ours were shot with three videocameras by the organisers, so expect to see some live action on video within a month or so.

We also have another gig coming; we'll play in Mouthbottomrock, Isojoki on 16th August (Saturday). We'll add further info (schedule etc.) later.

So let's all Drop for the Past then once more.

Found out today that Circle of Distress was reviewed twice by The Metal Observer. Read the other review here. I also added the old reviews of The Krossing Point to the Media section should someone be interested how our 3rd demo was received in the media in 2005.

It's great to be back in Finland and training with the band! And not only training - thursday next week we will have a gig at Spelit festival (Sepelit-rock) in Alavus along with 7 other bands, so be sure to check it out! Our gig will start at around 19:40 - check out the complete schedule from the Gigs section.

What's going on in the site.. For starters, go sign our finally added guestbook! Then you can check out this newly published review of Circle of Distress from The Metal Observer magazine or move on to the Media section for "new" gig pictures from the final two gigs of last fall. Finally, go listen Majesty of Freaks at our Myspace site; now the whole of Circle of Distress is online.

So far we have no other upcoming gigs for this year except for the one next week. We'll probably throw a couple in the fall, though, but our primary focus is the recording of a new EP, scheduled to be released in early 2009 under the name "A Drop For The Past". Expect to hear some of these new songs next week in Alavus!

Our latest EP is soon being distributed by Levyvirasto.net. In that web music store, it is possible to buy the record in CD-format. You'd better be quick if you want to have this kickass record, because nowadays Circle of Distress is almost sold out.

Metal never ends! Circle of Distress got 4/5 in a review by Finnish music forum Noise.fi. Other reviews also added to Circle of Distress reviews section.

Noise.fi also made an interview of the band, readable here.

Time for a change. Both for me personally and for Arkadia. I'll leave for my exchange period to Malaysia this week, and I won't be returning home until next summer. To replace me in the band for this period of 6-8 months will be Timo Silver from QBA. He has already played with the band last fall when Ade was abroad, is an amazingly talented guitarist, and drinks shitloads of whisky, so he is definitely the right man for the job. Welcome aboard!

Obviously the focus in band action will be set to training gig songs with Timo, but also the recordings of some new songs have started. Expect some new songs and gigs in the spring.

I'd like to thank you all for support during the year 2007. It has been a wonderful year for Arkadia with 8 gigs all around Finland, releasing Circle of Distress, and training new, great songs.

As a goodbye-gift to all of you, I've put "Before the Dawn" from Circle of Distress to our Mikseri.net site. Enjoy!

Stay metal,

Nothing lasts forever. Not even September. Along with the colder fall nights we bring you a new song from Circle of Distress. Check it out @ our Myspace or Mikseri.net site!

Circle of Distress is now being distributed by Levykauppa Äx in Oulu, Musiikki Lukinmaa in Kajaani and Markun Musiikki in Seinäjoki. Go get yours if you haven't already!

See ya in a couple of weeks at our breezing fall gigs in Jyväskylä and Alavus!

We have just confirmed another gig for October; we'll play at Ilokivi in Jyväskylä on the 10th of October. Cheers to Timo & Aki from QBA!

Check out the Media section to see how we looked in the two previous gigs.. And perhaps recognize yourself from the crowd pics ;)

The Lekkeri club gig date at Alavus has been changed because the club isn't held in September after all. Worry not, for the delay is less than a month. We will rock in Hotelli Puustelli on 12th of October.

And a reminder: tomorrow we'll play at Mouthbottomrock festival in Karijoki. Dunno exactly where that is, but I bet we can orientate ourselves. See ya in the front row moshing your brains out, right?

Playing in Ähtäri was great! Check out the Media section for pictures from Club B52. The next chance to see us play live will be next week's Sunday (12.8.) at Huhtalava in Alavus, where the Minirock festival is to be held. This will be the first gig we'll play with keyboard tapes, so u'd better show up to testify the complete richness of Arkadia sound live! No, we aren't planning on getting a keyboard player on our ranks... ;)

Finally, the moment has come.

Circle of Distress was released in the beginning of July, a bit late of schedule because of various reasons, but better late than never, right?

We have made 300 copies of the EP for sale and to be sent to representants of the media and to clubs, festivals, etc to get some gigs. The EP has indeed been liked by gig organizers: we have at least 4 gigs coming before October! I say at least because it looks like we'll have a couple of more in the late fall. Check the "Gigs" page for more info.

If you want a copy of Circle of Distress, you can buy it for a price of 4 euros from us at any of our gigs, or contact us either by mail, e-mail or phone and we'll send you info how to order (contact information on "Contact" page, surprisingly...).

Finally some updates to the site as well. Check out photos from the latest Töysä and Alavus gigs as well as promo pictures taken in February. Expect some video material and reviews from the EP to appear in the "Media" section in the near future also.

Guestbook is still under construction (PHP coding takes too much time considering I have a full-time job on the summer), but until it's ready please go send your greetings to the little guestbook on our Mikseri.net site. Comment songs while there also, all feedback is most appreciated!

We have created a site in MySpace and to celebrate the occasion we have released second track from the upcoming EP "Circle of Distress" online! The song, "Lithium Division", can now be heard in the MySpace page (www.myspace.com/arkadiametal). The song can also be listened to, downloaded from and commented in our Mikseri.net site (www.mikseri.net/arkadia). Check it out 'n let us know what you think of it!

The construction work of this site is still underway. If everything goes as planned, it should be complete with every section available in late June.

Here it is! The new site we've been working on for the past year or so.

All areas of the site aren't complete yet but will be updated shortly.

And now, a quick way around: as you probably can see, this is the "News" page where we inform you of latest updates in the site and tell what's happening in the band in general. The "Band" page contains information about each of the players of the band and a biography of the band as a whole.

The "Gigs" page gives a quick look at the forthcoming gig schedule of the band, and also (eventually) lots of information of the past gigs (who we played with, setlists, etc.). From the "Releases" page you can see the records we've done so far, and be able to download songs also (at some point).

In the "Media" page there will shortly be a collection of pictures, videos, music and other types of downloadable stuff of the band. The "Contact" page naturally provides you with contact information of the band, should you want to ask us for a gig or just say hi. The latter you can also do in the near weeks in the form of writing to our "Guestbook" - it's an easy way of giving us feedback of our music, or this new site, or anything you feel like.

That was our new site in a nutshell, now it's your time to experience it for yourselves.

There's not much to download or anything yet, but in a couple of weeks there will be! The release date of our new EP "Circle of Distress" will be within a month!

Welcome! \,,/