Aina

[Moondance]

Almost no one I know of in the Metal community is aware of this band as they only had released one album before disbanding, as it was a project produced and led by Sascha Paeth, with music composed by Robert Hunecke-Rizzo and both concept and lyrics written by Amanda Somerville.

The album "Days of Rising Doom" was released in 2003, and even has a guest appearance by Marko Hietala in the song "Oriana's Wrath". Emppu Vuorinen even plays a guitar solo in "Rebellion". Various guests appear on the album such as: Simone Simons, Michael Kiske, Tobias Sammet, Andre Matos, Candice Night, Glenn Hughes, etc.

As of 2013, Sascha Paeth has indicated that there is no plans to revisit and return to making any more Aina-related material.

The full album can be listened to here on YouTube.

[Fugazi]

You're right, I never heard of Aina! 😇 Though back then I wasn't much into metal music -- even now, I'm more of an imposter, I like some metal bands, and lots of stuff that isn't metal. But I'll give this a listen for sure, and I can't help but notice that @Paul Botterell already has this album down in his Marko and Emppu lists! 🤘

[Fugazi]

I've listened to the whole album a few times, and it's really growing on me! Rock opera describes it well, it's got catchy melodies, varied musical themes and perhaps a hint of progressive rock.

A summary of the story can be found on Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aina_(band)

There's even a second disk of extra material for those interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aJiZPOocPw

[Moondance]

Found a fifteen minute documentary on the making of the album.

[Moondance]

Looks like both Marko and Emppu who had participated in the recording of the album did have some things to say in the Once Upon a Nightwish book, stating that it was "an interesting in-between job".

Quote

"I got to read the rudimentary synopsis, so I knew the theme, it was your usual concoction of fantasy and heroic Heavy Metal. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but this project seemed to have quality written all over it -  I mean, if they got people like Glenn Hughes, I guess I could be bothered, too. Not that big names are that important, but I just thought that the project must be professional, seeing as it had guys who surely wouldn't go along with any old junior high music class thing."

- Marko Hietala

Quote

"It was an interesting project because it involved all these cool musicians like Glenn Hughes and Michael Kiske, it was fun to be a part of the whole hodgepodge and get to play in the same sandbox with the big boys. Besides, they'd also gotten my pal, Jens Johansson of Stratovarius, who was also in the Barilari project. After I'd received the song via e-mail, I worked on it at home, added some stuff and sent the whole thing back. I was able to try out different stuff at home in peace. That's why I like these kinds of projects."

- Emppu Vuorinen

 

[Fugazi]

Emppu acts like a clown both on stage and backstage, but from the band biography one can gather that he's doing his own thing, recording his tracks from home whenever possible, visiting cities on his own when on tour, and avoiding interviews more often than not.

Glenn Hughes may be known for stints with Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, but he will be remembered for lending his voice to this 90s hit:

The KLF - America: What Time Is Love?

😜