Impaled Nazarene is a Finnish extreme metal band that started as black metal but has incorporated grindcore, thrash metal and death metal, and grown towards hardcore punk.

History The band formed in November 1990, with Mika Luttinen, Kimmo Luttinen, Mika Pääkkö, Ari Holappa and Antti Pihkala. Their debut album, Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz, entered the Finnish charts.

The band was infamous for their apparent hatred of the Norwegian black metal scene in the early 1990s. The band seems to have disassociated themselves from that dislike. Luttinen later claimed, "We have absolutely nothing against Norwegians. I even made up with Euronymous before he was killed so just forget this thing, it is ancient history".

Impaled Nazarene stopped wearing corpse paint in the mid-1990s. Luttinen explained that "we felt it was time distance ourselves a bit from the ridiculous ideas and statements that were circulating around the whole scene back then. And look around, we are not alone who have done this. Even Norwegian bands have dropped paint and other shit and are concentrating on the music instead of childish statements".

With Suomi Finland Perkele, Impaled Nazarene became less aggressive, but this direction ended with Kimmo Luttinen's removal from the line-up. Mika Luttinen explained his dissatisfaction and how the band changed under his brother's guidance,

After growing unpolished in delivery, the band shifted with Nihil (2000) and the accession of Children of Bodom guitarist Alexi Laiho, towards "a benzedrine-fueled combination of thrash metal and Iron Maiden".Schwarz, Paul (14 January 2002). "Nazarenes Aren't the Only Fiends: CoC chats with Mika Luttinen from Impaled Nazarene". Chronicles of Chaos. Retrieved 9 February 2014. Luttinen explained that Laiho's role was critical: "it was clear that now that we had finally two guitar players that we kind of like wanted to get away from that punky kind of writing style and started just wanting to get more back to the metal feeling".

Their ninth studio album, Pro Patria Finlandia, was a popular Japanese import. Impaled Nazarene have toured with bands including Cannibal Corpse, Mayhem and Dark Tranquility, traversing four continents and over thirty countries.

On 16 March 2003, guitarist Teemu Raimoranta fell to his death off a bridge and onto the ice below, in "an alcohol-related accidental fall".

On 15 January 2022, the band announced that after almost 15 years, Tomi Ullgrén had left the band, citing busy work schedules that interfere with the band's rehearsal schedule.

Lyrical content For most of their history, Impaled Nazarene has focused on Finnish nationalism (for instance, "Total War - Winter War" is about the Soviet-Finnish war in 1939 and 1940), and have demonstrated an anti-communist bent, as exemplified in "Healers of the Red Plague" on Rapture. Other lyrics revolve around war and Satanism. When asked about the hints of humour in their lyrics, Luttinen affirmed that this was limited to Suomi Finland Perkele: "There will be no humour, we are not some fucking joke. If people find my lyrics funny, then, well, something is most certainly wrong in their heads".Zamora, Bruce. Tartarean Desire. Retrieved 9 February 2014. The band has included at least one song on every album with the word "goat" in the title, which Luttinen considers a "trademark" of the band:

Impaled Nazarene's Nihil (2000) is their only banned album. This has caused problems for the band as, according to Luttinen, "Somebody seem to have really something against us and unfortunately that somebody has power enough to get our shows cancelled".Kwakkel, Mart (4 December 2007). "Interview with Impaled Nazarene". Rockezine. Retrieved 9 February 2014. Luttinen criticized the performance bans that the band has suffered in Germany and Poland, which he made explicit in the lyrics for Manifest (2007). About the lack of sexual themes on Manifest, Luttinen said,

In June 2017, hardcore festival Ieperfest in Ypres (Ieper), Belgium, removed Impaled Nazarene from the line up after threats of violence from protesters. The reason for the protest was the band's lyrics condoning homophobia and rape. The festival organizers issued the following statement:

In November 2024, there was a stir about the Eindhoven pop venue Effenaar in the Netherlands, after it had booked the band for the Eindhoven Metal Meeting on December 13 and 14. A petition 'no far-right bands in the Effenaar', in which the arrival of Impaled Nazarene was strongly condemned, was signed more than a thousand times.

Members Current line-up Mika Luttinen - vocals (1990–present) Reima Kellokoski - drums (1995–present) Mikael "Arkki" Arnkil - bass (2000–present) Kimmo Korhonen - guitar (2025–present)

Former members Kimmo "Sir" Luttinen – drums (1990–1995), guitar (1992–1995) Antti Pihkala - bass (1990–1991) Ari Holappa – guitar (1990–1992) Mika Pääkkö – guitar (1990–1992) Harri Halonen – bass (1991–1992) Jarno Anttila – guitar (1992–2010) Taneli Jarva – bass (1992–1996) Jani Lehtosaari – bass (1996–2000) Alexi Laiho – guitar (1998–2000; died 2020) Teemu Raimoranta – guitar (2000–2003; died 2003) Tuomo "Tuomio" Louhio – guitar (2003–2007) Tomi "UG" Ullgrén - guitar (2007–2022) Kim Lappalainen - guitar (2022–2024)

Timeline

Discography Albums Studio albums Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz… (1993) Ugra-Karma (1993) Suomi Finland Perkele (1994) Latex Cult (1996) Rapture (1998) Nihil (2000) Absence of War Does Not Mean Peace (2001) All That You Fear (2003) Pro Patria Finlandia (2006) Manifest (2007) Road to the Octagon (2010) Vigorous and Liberating Death (2014) Eight Headed Serpent (2021)

Live albums Death Comes in 26 Carefully Selected Pieces (2005)

Compilation albums Decade of Decadence (2000)

Split albums Impaled Nazarene/Driller Killer (2000)

EPs Goat Perversion (1992) Enlightenment Process (2010) Die in Holland (2013) Morbid Fate (2017) Goat of Mendes (2021)

Demos Shemhamforash (1991) Taog Eht Fo Htao Eht (1991) Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz... (1992)

Singles Sadogoat (1992) Satanic Masowhore (1993) Motörpenis (1996)

DVDs 1990–2012

References

External links Impaled Nazarene on Myspace Interview with Impaled Nazarene at Diabolical Conquest Webzine