Auri

Finnish prog-folk trio Auri originated as a side project involving Nightwish members Tuomas Holopainen and Troy Donockley alongside Holopainen’s spouse, the singer and violinist Johanna Kurkela. Plans for a joint album date back to 2011, yet repeated scheduling conflicts with the participants’ primary bands kept the idea on hold. Their first shared work arrived in 2014 on Holopainen’s solo debut The Life and Times of Scrooge, an effort that retained much of the orchestral scale associated with his main band. Only in 2017, while Nightwish was inactive, did the three finally devote time to a distinctly different musical direction. They christened the ensemble Auri, borrowing the name from a figure in Patrick Rothfuss’ fantasy series The Kingkiller Chronicle, whose books also shaped portions of the lyrics. Recording took place at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studios in Wiltshire, England, and the resulting self-titled album appeared on Nuclear Blast in 2018. Its sound proved understated and atmospheric, shaped in large part by Donockley’s Irish folk roots together with touches of world music, film scoring, and prog rock.