New to The Rose Thorn this year will be a puzzle testing the knowledge of music aficionados.



Each week clues for a new band will be offered. Bands will be chosen from common genres and those from the world scene. Anyone wishing to know the correct answer to the clues can simply go to http://www.rose-hulman.edu/thorn for the answer.



Now for this week’s clues:



• Originally, this band’s creator intended to record simple acoustic guitar songs, similar to the style often heard around campfires. However, after hearing the power of the lead vocalist, he instead decided on a harder style, more heavily influenced by metal elements. Finally, the band settled on symphonic metal or, as the founder of the band has stated, “melodic heavy metal.” Due in part to their popularity, both in their native Finland and around the world, symphonic metal has grown as a genre, particularly in the late 1990s.



• Since their inception in 1996, this band has released five studio albums (with a sixth on October 2) and 17 singles. In addition to a number of their own tracks, this band has recorded or performed a number of covers of well known songs, including the Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne.



• In 2005, the band’s lead vocalist was released following conflicts of interest and an open letter posted on the band’s website. However, this previous summer a new vocalist was selected following open auditions and a new studio album is scheduled for release on October 2nd.



Well, those are your clues. To verify how well you really do know the world-music scene, go to http://www.rose-hulman.edu/thorn to check your guess.

Name-that-artist solution →