Why the name ‘Aittala’? (pronounced ‘eye-tah-la’)
Simple. A name was needed and Eric’s last name seemed like a good choice. It’s ambiguous and doesn’t lend itself to any specific genre like some band names tend to do.
The music crosses many metal genres; it’s hard to put it into just one category. The sound infuses elements of classic heavy metal, doom, progressive, power, thrash and hard rock with lyrics drawing inspiration from the darker side of the human condition.
The Aittala sound has been cited for being unique which is no easy task in the metal world.
Eric formed the first version of Aittala in 1991 while living in Holland. With fellow American Tim Mannon on vocals, Dutch drummer Ed Vereijken and Dutch bassist Jon Doe (while his first name is Jon, his last name has been forgotten with time, so he’s become ‘John Doe’), the band played numerous shows around the Dutch metal scene.
With the release of the 3-song EP Selling Heaven in summer of 1993, Aittala opened for such bands as The Gathering and Sadist. But as the band and the demo started to create a buzz in the underground Dutch metal scene, Eric had to leave the country.
Over the next decade or so, Eric played in numerous bands and lost focus on Aittala.
Near the end of the 00’s, Eric decided it was time to refocus his efforts on the Aittala brand.
In 2009, Aittala released Bed of Thorns; the first full-length album. Bed of Thorns was an eleven song downward spiral; a deep, dark look into the human condition. While the songs are guitar heavy, the album is more experimental and keyboard-laden. Even though the album had mixed reviews, Bed of Thorns laid the foundation for the classis Aittala sound.
In 2011 the second full-length album, Haunt Your Flesh, was released. It built on the momentum of Bed of Thorns and took it up a notch in production and song writing. Haunt Your Flesh was a ten song, guitar-driven journey that explored themes of tormented lives, Armageddon, control and redemption. Haunt Your Flesh was widely praised by critics for its original sound; something that is difficult to do in this day and age.
In 2014, Effigy was released. This third full length release consisted of 10 songs; 7 brand new hard and heavy Aittala songs along with a ‘re-imagining’ of the 3 songs from the Selling Heaven EP.
The seven new songs that make up the bulk of Effigy were heavier and more guitar driven but kept the unique Aittala sound.
In 2016, the band’s fourth full-length album entitled American Nightmare was released. American Nightmare consisted of 10 brand new songs that returned to the more diverse song writing established on the first two full-length albums.
The current line up of Aittala consists of Gary ‘Zeus’ Smith on drums and Andrew Sullivan on bass. They continue to write, record and tour to bring Aittala to the masses.