Pelastus

Pelastus is a Christian heavy metal band originating in Ukhta, Uralica. The band is also the highest-selling non-classical act in Uralican history and the highest-selling Christian act in Robertian history.

Current Membership

 * Matti Pitkänen (b. 14 July 1985, Lappeenranta) - rhythm guitar, lead vocalist
 * Lauri Sinisalo (b. 2 December 1985, Seinäjoki) - lead guitar
 * Tanne Kangur (b. 24 March 1984, Pärnu) - bass guitar, backing vocals
 * Samppa Niskanen (b. 31 July 1986, Joensuu) - keyboards, programming, backing vocals
 * Jarno Mäkelä (b. 9 May 1984, Rovaniemi - drums and percussion

History
All children of founder members of the Uralicist movement, Pelastus was actually formed before Uralica was a nation, as they had all already moved to the city of Ukhta as part of the pre-Uralican rush towards that particular area. All Christians (and part of the growing Uralic Evangelical Baptist Movement for that matter), they met in First Baptist Church of Ukhta the first Sunday they were there (in early December of 2007) and eventually became part of the church's worship team, but also got permission to use the building as a practice venue for music that would perhaps be a bit brutal for a church setting but would maintain the Christian principles of what they did on Sundays.

After two months, Pelastus (Finnish for "redemption") was born. At first, Niskanen was only a guest keyboardist from time to time, but he also was considered a member because he did the sound management for the band. However, as time went on and Pelastus earned money from selling out club gig after club gig in Ukhta, Niskanen was invited by the other four to become a full-time keyboardist and programmer for the band, thus defining their current thrash/death metal with "a dash of cyber-metal for colour" sound.

In early April of 2008, not long after Uralica's official declaration of existence as a nation, Pelastus were invited by nation ruler Jarkko Salomäki to come to Deep Chill Studios in Syktyvkar to record a demo professionally, free of charge. What he heard absolutely amazed him, and he referred them to Life To The Fullest Records, a Christian label that specialised in non-contemporary music. June saw the recording of a self-titled full album since Pelastus had been working on songs since their February convention.

In the meantime, they had begun doing gigs all over Uralica, and people loved their music so much that they began begging for recordings to take elsewhere. The time was coming for an explosion into superstardom. Christian metalheads from all over Planet Bob, and even some non-Christian metalheads who loved the sound, flocked to Uralica to hear them.

And then the CD hit the shelves. Copies of "Pelastus" sold out faster than the CDs could be printed. The Ukhta quintet soon found themselves millionaires, but they used their money to "further the Kingdom" (in Matti's words) by planting churches, financing church buildings, and donating to the work of the Uralican Emergency Relief and Human Development Corps, only keeping enough to live off of and to buy updated equipment when needed.

By the end of 2008, Pelastus was already 4th all-time on the list of Robertian Christian music acts in terms of record sales. Their "completely Biblical yet completely human" lyrical style combined with "brutal, skillfull metal music" has been noted as the reason.

The songs are predominantly in English, although Finnish and Russian songs are also in the repertoire.

Full Albums

 * 2008 - Pelastus
 * 2009 - The Deconstruction Of Hedonism

Singles

 * 2008 - My Salvation (from Pelastus)
 * 2008 - Wake Up (from Pelastus)
 * 2008 - Pendulum (from Pelastus)
 * 2008 - Malicious (from Pelastus)
 * 2009 - Blasphemer (from Pelastus)
 * 2009 - The HateKilla (from The Deconstruction Of Hedonism)
 * 2009 - Hearts of Stone (from The Deconstruction Of Hedonism)

Inspirations

 * Matti claims As I Lay Dying's Tim Lambesis, K626, and Jesus Christ as his influences lyrically, while in terms of his vocal technique he names Robb Flynn from Machine Head, Burton C. Bell from Fear Factory, and again, Tim Lambesis from As I Lay Dying. His guitar-playing is also heavily influenced by Robb Flynn, as well as that of Dino Cazares.


 * Lauri lists his technique inspirations as Kirk Hammett, Phil Demmel, Robb Flynn, Dave Mustaine, and Alexi Laiho.


 * Tanne has been compared to Rob Trujillo from Metallica and Adam Duce from Machine Head because of his stage presence. He also lists Byron Stroud as an influence from both a bass and a vocal standpoint.


 * Samppa lists several classical composers as influences, most notably Frédéric Chopin and Jean Sibelius, but also has "a ton of respect" for Rhys Fulber. Vocally, he lists Josh Gilbert of As I Lay Dying and Pete Loeffler from Chevelle as his inspirations.


 * Jarno says Dave McClain, Ray Herrera, Gene Hoglan, and Jordan Mancino are his inspirations.