Biography

With its roots firmly planted in the barren lands of Kuusamo, Finland A.R.G is a child of the Finnish mid- to late 80s thrash metal explosion. Started in 1987 as a pastime between a bunch of thrash crazed friends, to everyone’s surprise they happened to win the Northern Finland's band championship in 1988 scoring them a deal for a single. It held the #3 position on Finnish single charts resulting them a record deal with Megamania. The fruits of the collaboration were seen late 1989 with the release of debut album "Entrance" In 1991 recession hit Finland heavily. For the most part unemployed and broke, the band was under duress to write their sophomore album. Heavy rehearsing resulted in a diverse album "One World without the End" in 1991. As the speed/thrash metal fad in Finland fizzled out, the number of gig offers plummeted. Frustrated and disillusioned, A.R.G. faded away in the mid 90s. Once a thrasher, always a thrasher. A.R.G. did a comeback in early 2011 with the original lineup: Tenho ”Tepa” Kareen (vocals/bass), Jari Kelloniemi (guitars/vocals), Vesa Säkkinen (guitars/vocals) and drummer Timo Hanhijoki replacing Pasi Takkula, who had sadly passed away earlier. A.R.G. recorded new songs which caught Ranka Kustannus’ attention. ”Redemption from Refaim” (2015) contains musical somersaults to delight a demanding aficionado of technical yet brutal thrash. Since then, a split-album ”Hellcome Misery/Chaotic Nausea” with comrades Worthless was released in late 2017.