Ancara

Although national recognition remained out of reach until 2006, the English-language heavy metal outfit Ancara traces its roots to mid-'80s Finland and the towns of Kerava, Tuusula, and Järvenpää. Inspired by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the group first assembled in 1985 as Metal Circus, later shortened to MC; the name shifted again in 1992 to Resistance and settled on Ancara in 1996. A full decade passed before the band issued its debut full-length, The Dawn, in 2006. By then repeated personnel changes had produced a stable five-piece lineup of Sammy Salminen on lead vocals, Mika Rajala on bass, Samuel Hjelt on guitar and vocals, Juha Wahlsten on guitar and vocals, and Timo Rajala on drums, with only Rajala still present from the original 1985 Metal Circus roster. Three months after The Dawn entered the Finnish albums chart’s Top 30, Ancara issued the standalone single The World, whose title track—featuring Riku Niemi—reached number two on the singles chart. The follow-up album, Beyond the Dark, appeared in 2007, climbed into the Top Ten, and yielded the widely played single “Deny”; Metal Heaven subsequently issued the record across Europe in 2008.