Afire

August 16, 2026 104

Afire is a melodic hard rock band hailing from Oulu, Finland.
The band was formed in 2016 when vocalist Suvi Hiltunen joined forces with long-term Oulu-based musicians: guitarist Antti Leiviskä (ex-Poisonblack, Brüssel Kaupallinen), guitarist Sami Kukkohovi (ex-Sentenced, KYPCK), bassist Harri Halonen and drummer Tarmo Kanerva (ex-Poisonblack).

So, if you’re into catchy choruses and groovy, solid rock music, Afire is a band you definitely need to check out!

The band´s debut album, “On the Road from Nowhere” released on November 16th by Concorde Music Company. The album was recorded in various locations during the winter of 2017-2018. The vocal tracks were produced and recorded by Jonas Olsson (Amorphis, Poisonblack) and the album was mixed by Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, Moonspell, Apocalyptica).

Songwriter Harri Halonen comments the album: "I´ve had a bunch of songs for quite a while, but for which I didn’t have an outlet, so we started Afire. With Suvi’s vocal lines and lyrics, the songs started molding into their current shape, and we finished them together. Lyrically the album is about leaving and departing. It’s not a theme album, but the lyrics do revolve around the subject anyhow."

Harri Halonen comments: "'Let Me Be The One' is one of the first songs I wrote with our singer Suvi Hiltunen for this band. It might not be the most evident choice as first single amongst the uptempo rock songs on the album, but it does represent well the moodier side of Afire, which is an essential part of what we have to offer."