So far away, yet held so close… I know you call me, wishing me back…
Let’s kick off the celebrations of the 13th anniversary of The Headbanging Moose, and there’s nothing better to represent over a decade of passion for the underground than paying a tribute to one of the staples of the Finnish extreme music scene as our metal lady of this month of October. If you’re not from another planet, you might have already heard of the name Tanja Kemppainen (sometimes also spelled Tanya Kemppainen), or Tanja Kirsi Tellervo Kemppainen, and who also goes by the darkly beautiful moniker Whisper Lilith or Tanya Whisper Lillith, the frontwoman for the incredible band Soulgrind since the already distant year of 1997, as well as the vocalist for other first-class bands from the land of ice and snow such as Lullacry and Gloomy Grim, always delivering those hypnotizing Stygian vocals we all love so much from one of the best places to be in the entire world when it comes to Heavy Metal. The skies are getting darker, the nights are getting colder and longer, and Whisper Lilith is among us all to remind us that winter might be coming, but there’s always beauty in its frostbitten landscapes.
Born in 1979 in Kajaani, a town of less than 40,000 people in Finland, and the regional capital of Kainuu, Tanja came to public attention as the singer of Melodic Death/Gothic Metal entity Lullacry (a play word with the words “lullaby” and “cry”) from 1998 to 2002, before being replaced by another Finnish singer named Tanja Lainio. The band called it quits in 2014, but their legacy remains with some excellent released with both Tanja Kemppainen and Tanja Lainio on vocals. Our metal lady of the month, Tanja Kemppainen (because as you know, there might be too many Tanjas in Finland), recorded with the band their very first demos in 1998 after changing their name from Coarse (which existed between 1992 and 1998 and played a more direct blend of Melodic Death Metal), those being Weeper’s Aeon and Sweet Desire, and the 1999 demo Alone.
After the release of those successful demos, the band then released their debut full-length studio album, also titled Sweet Desire, but containing 11 tracks instead of only the two original ones from the demo. The band picked up momentum and two years later released their sophomore opus, entitled Be My God, which gained tons of positive reviews from the fans and the media. Curiously enough, the band had a pretty steady lineup through the year with guitarists Sauli Kivilahti and Sami Vauhkonen, bassist Heavy, and drummer Jukka Outinen, with pretty much only Tanya leaving their classic formation and being replaced by the aforementioned Tanja Lainio in 2002, who stayed with the band until the end.
Between 1997 and 1998, she was also the female vocalist for a Helsinki-based Symphonic Black Metal horde named Gloomy Grim, having recorded with them the 1997 demo Friendship Is Friendship, War Is War!, and their 1998 debut full-length offering titled Blood, Monsters, Darkness, already going by the moniker Whisper. As a matter of fact, Tanja was the girlfriend of the band’s mastermind, vocalist and keyboardist Agathon (aka Juha Tapio Hintikka) while she was in the band. She left the band when they broke up (although they played together in Soulgrind after that). Furthermore, the band was put on hold in December 2019 due to Agathon’s deteriorating health, and then disbanded in August 2021. Unfortunately, Agathon died on May 30, 2022 due to complications of a brain cancer, but the legacy of Gloomy Grim lives on.
Another band which Tanja was a member of for a few years was Finnish Gothic Metal band Silentium. She was part of the band for a very brief period in 2003, when the band’s longtime original female vocalist, Tiina Lehvonen, took a temporary leave for personal reasons and Tanja stepped in to help them complete their next studio effort. By the time the band moved on to record their fourth album Seducia, in 2006, they had recruited a new permanent singer named Riina Rinkinen. Tanja and Silentium recorded only one studio album together, titled Sufferion – Hamartia of Prudence, released in 2003, a highly theatrical 16-song, 1-hour long concept album produced by Nightwish mastermind Tuomas Holopainen and featuring Tanja sharing vocal duties alongside Maija Turunen.
Apart from those, Tanja was also involved in two other pure Finnish metal bands. The first one was Symphonic Heavy Metal band Metallimessu. The band’s name is Finnish for “Metal Mass”, a service of worship which follows a Lutheran service patterns but where Finnish hymns are adapted to a Heavy Metal style. The first Metal Mass was held in 2006, becoming a phenomenon in Finland, but the group disbanded a couple of years later, in 2008. Tanja recorded with the band the songs Herra, elämääni, Herra, kädelläsi, and Ken tahtoo käydä Herran askelissa, which should translate to English as “Lord, my life,” “Lord, in Your hand,” and “whoever wishes to walk in the Lord’s footsteps,” from their 2008 self-titled album. She was also involved in the project Raskasta Joulua, which means “Heavy Christmas” in Finnish, delivering traditional Christmas carols and Christmas hits in a Heavy Metal style mostly with Finnish lyrics (although some are also in English and Swedish). In 2004 the project released their debut self-titled album, and Tanja was the vocalist for the song Maa on niin kaunis, or “the earth is so beautiful.”
Needless to say, her biggest contribution to the world of heavy music will forever be her role as vocalist for Helsinki-based Gothic/Black Metal beast Soulgrind as Tanya Whisper Lillith, fronting the band alongside the excellent vocalist Miika “Azhemin” Niemelä. Tanja joined Soulgrind back in 1997, when the band was the solo project of guitarist Jussi “Lord” Heikkinen and already had a couple of EPs and two full-length albums released. Right after joining the band with other musicians, hence Soulgrind becoming a full-bodied group, she recorded with them a 1997 demo titled Helkavirsiä, Promo 1997, followed by the albums Whitsongs (1997), Kalma (1999), Elixir Mystica (2001), Into the Dark Vales of Death (2002), The Origins of the Paganblood (2005), Pakana (2007), The Tuoni Pathway (2010), and more recently the excellent Ad Pulchram Mortem, as well as an EP in 2010 titled March Butterfly, all available on Spotify, slightly changing her moniker to Ms W. Lilith or Ms Tanya Lilith, depending on the album. You can find most of the songs from all albums also on YouTube, including official videos and lyric videos for songs such as Jylhä metsämies (or “the grim forest-dweller”) and Tears of the Earth.
Our incredible and unstoppable vocalist also participated in several amazing bands and projects as a guest musician through her undisputed career. For instance, she recorded backing vocals for the 2007 album Silent Waters, by Finnish Melodic Heavy Metal/Rock masters Amorphis; additional vocals for the 2010 demo The Space Opera, and the voice as “Princess Celeste” for the 2024 album Legacy of Morfuidra, by Finnish Power Metal act Coventhrall; vocals on the 1997 album Yellow, by Finnish Death/Thrash/Black Metal horde Nomicon; backing vocals on the song Black Lotus, from the 2006 album Fuck the World, by Finnish Stoner Metal/Hard Rock band Stoner Kings; and additional vocals on the Sandra’s cover In the Heat of the Night, from their 2000 single In the Heat of the Night, and backing vocals on the 2001 album Epilogue, both by Finnish Gothic Metal/Rock titans To/Die/For.
Once our metal lady Tanja was interviewed together with the diva Tarja Turunen to talk about women in metal in their homeland, and Tanja made some interesting comments about that. “In Helsinki’s heavy circles tough women are called rude chicks. That means the attitude that combines all heavy women. You can be any size or look anyway as long as you have the right attitude. Although the concept of rude chick started out as a joke, it means not to make trouble with me,” she said. Displaying the same style both onstage and in her personal life, Tanja (and also Tarja) said it’s certainly not hard to be a woman in the world of heavy music. “I’ve never faced hardships because I’m a woman nor have I gotten any concessions. Except for the fact that I rarely have to be a roadie! I pretty much have the same things as the guys, there’s no special position,” she commented.
After all is said and done, it’s crystal clear that there is no Heavy Metal in Finland without Tanja Kemppainen, and there is no Tanja Kemppainen without Heavy Metal. She’s a staple of the metallic scene in the always beautiful land of ice and snow, and I’m sure she’ll keep on rockin’ no matter what until her final breath. She has a Heavy Metal heart and soul, and it’s a true honor to let you readers know more about her stunning career here on The Headbanging Moose. May Whisper Lilith continue to darkly whisper her hypnotizing words to us, mere mortals, through her undisputed music, keeping the fires of Finnish Heavy Metal burning bright for many centuries to come.
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