BLIND CHANNEL
Biography and full discography of BLIND CHANNEL, with a page for every album, on METAL BOOST.
Biography
BLIND CHANNEL
Biography
At a glance
| Formed | September 2013, per the band's own profile |
|---|---|
| Origin | Oulu, Finland |
| Genre | Nu Metal / Alternative Metal / Modern Metal — "violent pop" in the band's own words |
| Current line-up | Niko Vilhelm Moilanen (vocals), Joonas Porko (guitar), Olli Matela (bass), Tommi Lalli (drums), Aleksi Kaunisvesi (DJ, synths, percussion) |
| Recent label | Century Media Records; Sony Music Japan International in Japan |
| Official site | blindchannelofficial.com |
A warning about sources: blindchannel.fi is not this band's website. It is an affiliate site dressed up as a guide to Finnish rock bands, with links routing readers to a music-gear retailer. The band's site is blindchannelofficial.com, which is also the address Wikidata records as their official one.
Beginnings in Oulu
Blind Channel started in 2013 in Oulu, in northern Finland. The account published by Sony Music Japan International, their Japanese label, traces the band to two teenage vocalists who found each other through Linkin Park's Meteora: Niko Moilanen, who was a rapper, and Joel Hokka, who wanted to be in a metal band. The band's own store profile dates the formation to September 2013.
Competitions opened the first doors. In 2014 they won the Finnish heat of the Wacken Metal Battle, which brought a record deal with it, and played Wacken Open Air in Germany as a result — their first show outside Finland, in front of a crowd they put at more than six thousand. The following year they won the national band contest run by YleX, Finland's largest radio station, and went on to play the Sziget Festival in Budapest. Support slots with Enter Shikari and Machinae Supremacy belong to the same period.
In 2015 they released a cover of Ed Sheeran's "Don't", which their own profile says was picked up by radio stations in several countries. That year they signed to Ranka Kustannus, the Finnish independent label owned by Riku Pääkkönen — the founder of Spinefarm Records, who had worked with Nightwish, Children of Bodom and Sonata Arctica. Work on the debut album began with producer Jonas Olsson.
What "violent pop" means, and when it started
The band calls its music violent pop, and the phrase is not a later marketing line. Their own store profile, written while the debut album was still unfinished, opens by describing them as a violent pop quintet and closes with the tag #VIOLENTPOPREVOLUTION. The description attached to it is consistent with what they went on to make: rap and electronic parts, hard guitar riffs, and pop melodies kept intact rather than buried. The third album, in 2020, simply took the phrase as its title.
Eurovision, and what it changed
In 2021 Blind Channel represented Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest with "Dark Side" and finished sixth in the final, behind the Italian winners Måneskin. The song reached number one on the official Finnish singles chart in week 8 of 2021 and stayed on that chart for thirty weeks — longer than anything else they have released. Their Japanese label states it was the most-streamed song in Finland that year.
Their worldwide deal with Century Media was announced on 19 May 2021, the day before their semi-final, after three independently released albums. The official Finnish chart credits those three to two different labels: Revolutions to Warner Music Finland, Blood Brothers and Violent Pop to Ranka Kustannus.
The effect on the back catalogue is visible in the official Finnish chart's own records. Revolutions (2016) peaks at number 26 in week 4 of 2022; Blood Brothers (2018) at number 30 in week 33 of 2021; Violent Pop (2020) at number 31 in week 9 of 2022. All three peak weeks fall after Eurovision. The two albums made for Century Media went to number one: Lifestyles of the Sick & Dangerous in week 28 of 2022, EXIT EMOTIONS in week 10 of 2024.
Line-up changes and the break
Aleksi Kaunisvesi joined as a sixth member in the autumn of 2020. He is a DJ and producer who records under his own name as Alex Mattson, and he had worked on the band's material before joining — Sony's profile says he produced "Time Bomb" and then came in as their DJ, and he is credited as a featured artist on "Timebomb" on Violent Pop.
On 7 October 2024 the band announced an open-ended break. Their statement counts two full-length albums and around three hundred shows worldwide across the preceding four years, and sets the pause from the end of 2024. On 16 December that year a five-part documentary, Blind Channel: After Dark Side, went out on the Finnish public broadcaster's streaming service.
On 26 April 2025 Joel Hokka left, twelve years after the band formed. He gave continuing sleep problems as the reason, saying they had made touring impossible; the other five said at the same time that they would carry on.
The band returned on 5 August 2026, announcing their sixth album, Painstream, after roughly a year and a half of silence. It is their first record without Hokka, and Blabbermouth's report of the announcement lists the five-piece as Moilanen on vocals, Porko on guitars, Matela on bass, Lalli on drums and Kaunisvesi on synths.
Blind Channel in Japan
Sony Music Japan International handles the band in Japan. Their Japanese debut was Lifestyles of the Sick & Dangerous, issued on 21 December 2022 as SICP-6498 and retitled Sick & Dangerous, with "Alive or Only Burning" featuring Zero 9:36 added as a bonus track for that edition alone. EXIT EMOTIONS followed on 1 March 2024 as SICP-6570, released the same day as everywhere else, with two live recordings from the band's Helsinki Ice Hall concert added for Japan. Both editions carry Japanese commentary, lyrics and translations.
They played Japan for the first time on 3 June 2024, a single night at duo MUSIC EXCHANGE in Shibuya, promoted by Creativeman Productions. Ahead of it, Moilanen told Japanese readers through the label that he had been a manga and anime fan since childhood and could not wait to visit.
Their first Japanese tour follows in November 2026: Shibuya Club Quattro on the 18th and Umeda Club Quattro on the 19th, both doors 18:00 and start 19:00. As of writing, no Japanese edition of Painstream has been announced.
One more connection turns up repeatedly in Japanese coverage. Sony's profile notes that the band's shape — six members, two vocalists and a DJ — is the same as Linkin Park's, and that when Chester Bennington died in 2017 Blind Channel recorded a cover of "Numb" as a tribute. That video is still on the band's own channel, dated 1 August 2017.
Members
Niko Vilhelm Moilanen
Vocals, and the band's rapper, since 2013. He is also credited simply as Niko Vilhelm; the official Finnish chart even carries a separate artist entry under "Niko Vilhelm Of Blind Channel". Since Hokka's departure he has been the band's only vocalist.
Joonas Porko
Guitar, since 2013.
Olli Matela
Bass, since 2013.
Tommi Lalli
Drums, since 2013.
Aleksi Kaunisvesi
DJ, synthesisers and percussion; joined as the sixth member in autumn 2020. He releases solo work as Alex Mattson.
Joel Hokka (2013–2025)
Vocals. A co-founder, and one of the band's two singers until he left in April 2025.
Discography (as registered on this site)
| Year | Title | Format |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Revolutions | Album |
| 2018 | Blood Brothers | Album |
| 2020 | Violent Pop | Album |
| 2022 | Lifestyles of the Sick & Dangerous | Album |
| 2024 | EXIT EMOTIONS | Album |
| 2026 | Painstream | Album |
Sources
This account draws on Sony Music Japan International's official profile and news posts, the band's own site at blindchannelofficial.com and the profile on their official store, the artist page maintained by Musiikkituottajat (IFPI Finland), which compiles the official Finnish charts, the Emma Gaala winners' list, Century Media's announcement of the 2021 signing, Blabbermouth.net, the event pages published by Creativeman Productions, and reporting by Gekirock. Track listings and release dates were settled by comparing the band's Bandcamp, the label metadata delivered to Deezer, and Spotify's own published data, taking the reading that independent distribution feeds agreed on wherever sources differed. Video dates were read from each video's own page. Album ordinals are not used here except for Painstream, which the band and its label both present as the sixth.
Trivia
Their Japanese debut album came out with part of its title removed. Sony Music Japan International released it on 21 December 2022 as SICP-6498 under the name Sick & Dangerous — the original is Lifestyles of the Sick & Dangerous. A twelfth track, "Alive or Only Burning" featuring Zero 9:36, was added for that edition alone.
"Dark Side" was the most-streamed song in Finland on Spotify across the whole of 2021. Måneskin, who won that year's Eurovision, took second, fifth and sixth on the same list. The winners placed three songs; the act that finished sixth took the top spot with one.
The first time Blind Channel played outside Finland was at Wacken Open Air in Germany. In 2014, about a year after forming, they won the Finnish heat of the Wacken Metal Battle, and the festival slot came with it. Their own profile puts the crowd at more than six thousand.
The title of the fourth album, Lifestyles of the Sick & Dangerous, is built on Good Charlotte's "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous". The band's own Bandcamp calls it a winking homage, and Sony Music Japan International says the same thing in its official profile.
When Chester Bennington of Linkin Park died in July 2017, Blind Channel recorded a cover of "Numb" and posted it to their own channel on 1 August. Their Japanese label sets the tribute beside two other things: that Blind Channel had the same shape as Linkin Park — six members, two vocalists and a DJ — and that Linkin Park's Meteora is how the band's two singers found each other in the first place.
All three albums Blind Channel released before Eurovision reached their highest position on the official Finnish album chart in a week that falls after the contest. Blood Brothers, from 2018, peaks at number 30 in week 33 of 2021; Revolutions, from 2016, at number 26 in week 4 of 2022; Violent Pop, from 2020, at number 31 in week 9 of 2022. The final was held in May 2021.
The Japanese edition of EXIT EMOTIONS — SICP-6570, released on 1 March 2024, the same day as everywhere else — carries two extra tracks that exist nowhere else: live recordings of "Alive or Only Burning" and "We Are No Saints", both taken from the band's concert at the Helsinki Ice Hall.
Blind Channel played Japan for the first time on 3 June 2024, one night only, at duo MUSIC EXCHANGE in Shibuya. Sony Music Japan International announced it explicitly as their first Japanese concert, at ¥8,000 all standing. The two shows in November 2026 are the first Japanese tour they have ever played.
News
Blind Channel Announce Their Return With Sixth Album “Painstream” And Two November Japan Shows
The Finnish band’s comeback after a year and a half of silence runs to 12 tracks; two songs arrive August 6, and they play Shibuya Club Quattro on November 18 and Umeda Club Quattro on November 19.
Albums
The sixth album, and the first the band made as a five-piece after Joel Hokka's departure, following roughly a year and a half away.
The fifth album, and their second consecutive number one on the official Finnish album chart. Japan got it on the same day as the rest of the world, with two live recordings from Helsinki added.
Their first album for Century Media and their first number one in Finland, built around "Dark Side", the song they took to Eurovision. Japan received it as their debut release there, retitled Sick & Dangerous.
The third album, named after the genre tag the band invented for itself. A European tour ended about a week after its release when the pandemic closed everything down, and "Dark Side" came out of that.
The second album for Ranka Kustannus. It did not appear on the official Finnish album chart until August 2021, when it entered at number 30.
The debut album, produced by Jonas Olsson. It closes with "Don't", a cover of the Ed Sheeran song.