Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus
Biographie Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus
Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus
are known for their unique heavy rock sound. The band was formed in 1996 and enjoyed a phenomenal eight-year career on the Finnish heavy rock scene. Four of their seven albums have achieved gold or platinum status, and their live performances were also incredibly popular. The band’s best-known tracks include, for example, Nyt on mies!, Surupuku, Lumessakahlaajat, Rajaton rakkaus, Kylmä tila, Hyvä ihminen and Suomi sata vuotta. They have sold over 130,000 albums. In 2002, the band was honoured with no fewer than four Emma Awards (Pop/Rock Album of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Band of the Year). In December 2004, the band went on an indefinite hiatus from live performances, until, some two years later, they announced that their career had come to a definitive end.
In February 2017, the band’s frontman, Timo Rautiainen, told *Soundi* magazine: “Since the mid-2000s, I’ve done all sorts of things: solo and band albums, all kinds of gigs, TV series and summer theatre. I’ve also studied folk music in Kaustinen. In other words, I’ve got to do all the things I dreamt of towards the end of my time with Niskalaukaus. Then, when you’ve been busy with everything else for over ten years, even the past can start to look a bit different. At some point, I found myself wondering what the point of such stubborn obstinacy actually is. Whether I’d be satisfied with myself if, even on my deathbed, I were still grumbling that ‘well, we didn’t come back after all’. Why would I care about losing face? ‘You’re right,’ I proclaimed in many newspapers at the time, ‘you won’t see this band anywhere again. Now, however, here we are, and you’re quite free to crucify me.”
The band released their comeback single Pitkän kaavan mukaan in February 2017. A second single, Suomi sata vuotta, followed in June. Music videos were also released for both tracks. In October, a third single, Isä ei jätä, was released, followed in November 2017 by the comeback album Lauluja Suomesta. The music is released by Sakara Records. Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus returned to the biggest festival stages in the summer of 2018.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long for the band’s sixth studio album, Mahdoton yhtälö. Right at the start of 2020, the first single, Kolme vuotta sitten, was released, followed by the album in March.
We’ve already been waiting for the band’s return to the stage. During 2019, Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus undertook just one short tour comprising 10 performances, and even that was, exceptionally, an acoustic one. In spring 2021, the band were awarded gold discs for the tracks Lumessakahlaajat (3 million streams) and Suomi sata vuotta (2 million streams).
In the spring of 2025, Trio Niskalaukaus announced the name of the new drummer who had joined the line-up. Aksu Hanttu, who had honed his skills as a hard-hitting drummer in many of his previous metal bands, gladly accepted the role, and the festival gigs in the summer of 2025 proved that the band had made the right choice.
At the festivals, the band performed tracks from their 25-year-old album Itku pitkästä ilosta as well as the single Idänjuna, released that summer.
The band’s seventh studio album, Tuomiojärvi, released in September, took them back to the country’s top clubs.
