Alamaailman Vasarat (“The Hammers of the Underworld”) is an unusual phenomenon not only in their home country Finland, but around the globe in general. Listeners have had plenty of grey hairs trying to categorize this unique instrumental music; you'll probably see some weird quotes like “ethnic brass punk” when reading reviews or surfing the web on the subject.

"The Hammers" themselves consider to have their musical roots somewhere in a fictional continent called Vasaraasia (“Hammer-Asia”) which is also the title of their highly praised debut album released September 2000.

Alamaailman Vasarat was founded in 1997 by bass player Jarno Sarkula and drummer Teemu Hänninen. Jarno had just bought a soprano sax - a reason enough to start a new band! After a few months of experimenting the line-up was primed for live action, but has never stopped evolving. New instruments expand the band's musical vocabulary album by album.

Split between six members, the band's weaponry now consists of high and low saxes & clarinets, a trombone, tuba, two cellos with multieffects, a pump organ and other keys, and drums & percussion. Despite this weird setup, the band has proven that old wood and brass really kick ass!

In 2000, the debut album "Vasaraasia" entered the World Music Chart Europe Top-20 at the seventh position, leaving many big time Finnish world music acts far behind. In 2003 the band released their second album "Käärmelautakunta", this time portraying a mature band with refined sound and much evolved, multilayered compositions.

In 2005 Alamaailman Vasarat recorded a collaboration album "Kinaporin Kalifaatti" with famous Finnish singer Tuomari Nurmio. The album received rave reviews in the press and was subsequently awarded with a highly sought-after TEOSTO - prize from the Finnish Composers' Copyright Society.

The fourth Alamaailman Vasarat album "Maahan" was released March 2007 simultaenously in Europe and Japan. Getting back to instrumental form, the band once again proved its unique ability to blend wide variety of styles into pure and distinctive Alamaailman Vasarat sound. The album was praised all over and is widely considered best one to date.

Alamaailman Vasarat have also done some film music; most recently for an animated movie Elukka ("The Animal") by Tatu Pohjavirta (awarded for best music score at French film festival Premiers Plans 2006). The band's music has also been used in numerous theatre plays during the years.

The gig venues have varied from big time world music festivals to huge progressive rock gatherings, never forgetting intense acts at rock clubs and jazz dives. To name a few, the band has played in Portugal (Festival Músicas do Mundo), Netherlands (Stranger Than Paranoia), Germany (TFF Rudolstadt), Sweden (Urkult Folk Festival), Japan (Pit Inn, Tokyo), USA (NEARfest, Trenton) and in all major rock festivals of Finland.

The most recent addition to an impressive gig list was the unforgettable October 2007 performance at World Music Expo WOMEX in Spain, where the band took the Alamaailman Vasarat live act to a whole new level.

Future plans of Alamaailman Vasarat include intensive performing in Finland and rest of Europe throughout 2008. The new album is already in the making, slated to hit the shelves in the spring 2009. A live DVD is also in the works.

The saga of Alamaailman Vasarat has already spanned more than a decade, but hey - you ain't seen nothing yet, we're just getting warmed up!

"It's all about art and its absence."