Auri
Ethereal chamber folk that feels like a portal to a hidden world. Lush pipes, shimmering violins, and celestial vocals for deep dreaming and quiet wonder.
Ethereal chamber folk that feels like a portal to a hidden world. Lush pipes, shimmering violins, and celestial vocals for deep dreaming and quiet wonder.
Auri sounds like the quietest, most magical corners of a high-fantasy film score brought to life in an intimate studio setting. It is music of immense space and delicate detail, where the ancient breath of uilleann pipes meets the crystalline precision of modern synthesizers. The atmosphere is consistently otherworldly, evoking the feeling of stepping through a wardrobe into a land where the air is clearer and the stars are brighter.
What makes them distinctive is the 'celestial metal' philosophy applied to acoustic instruments. While two members are from the symphonic metal giant Nightwish, they strip away the distortion and bombast to focus on the melodic purity and harmonic complexity that usually sits beneath the surface. Johanna Kurkela’s vocals are not just singing; they are a textural element that floats like mist over the intricate arrangements of Troy Donockley and Tuomas Holopainen.
Start with their self-titled debut, 'Auri'. It perfectly encapsulates their 'rabbit hole' aesthetic, moving from haunting folk melodies to soaring, cinematic crescendos. It is the ideal gateway for anyone who loves the storytelling of Celtic music but craves the sophisticated production of modern progressive rock.
Auri is a Finnish progressive folk band composed of vocalist and violinist Johanna Kurkela, keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen (her husband), and guitarist and pipe player Troy Donockley. Holopainen and Donockley are also members of the band Nightwish. Their self-titled first album, Auri, was released on March 23, 2018. and was recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios. Holopainen described Auri's style as "rabbit hole music and celestial metal" with "influences from folk music, Celtic music, [and] soundtracks". British rock magazine Prog describes the band as prog folk. The band's name is based on a female character from The Kingkiller Chronicle.
Shares neofolk, forest, chamber folk, violin (subgenre)
Shares neofolk, forest, ethereal, violin (subgenre)
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Shares neofolk, ethereal, violin, chamber folk (subgenre)
Shares neofolk, chamber folk, ethereal, cabin in woods (subgenre)
Shares neofolk, forest, chamber folk, cabin in woods (subgenre)
Shares forest, ethereal, chamber folk, cabin in woods (signature)
Shares neofolk, forest, ethereal, chamber folk (subgenre)
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