TO/DIE/FOR

Emerging from Kouvola in the mid-1990s, To/Die/For entered Finland's expanding melodic metal landscape. Spinefarm Records eventually signed them near the decade's close, resulting in the 1999 release of their debut album All Eternity. At the time the lineup featured vocalist Jape Peratalo, guitarists J.P. Sutela and Joonas Koto, bassist Miikka Kuisma, and drummer Tonmi Lillman, who then toured in support of In Flames, Dark Tranquility, and Sentenced. The In the Heat of the Night EP appeared in 2000, followed by the 2001 album Epilogue; across these releases the band steadily reduced its gothic-metal leanings in favor of a stronger affinity for melodic 1980s rock. That direction became most pronounced on the 2003 album Jaded, whose pop-metal sound featured a cover of Cutting Crew's "(I Just) Died In Your Arms" as the lead single and introduced guitarist Alli in place of Sutela, confirming the group's lasting shift into non-metal territory.