One of those oddities that could only come about in a culture soaked heavily in the sounds of heavy metal, Northern Kings are a symphonic power metal supergroup. While that may not be an oddity on its own, what has made Northern Kings unique is that they are a symphonic power metal supergroup that exclusively plays covers. And to make it even more peculiar, the band covers songs that were decidedly not metal -- Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero," "I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight" by Cutting Crew, and "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits, to name a few. Northern Kings are comprised of four vocalists from some of the leading bands in metal -- Tony Kakko of Sonata Arctica, Marco Hietala of Nightwish, Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto of Charon, and Jarkko Ahola of Teräsbetoni. Their first single, a cover of the aforementioned Tina Turner track from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, was a hit in Finland, and their debut album, Reborn, was released in October of 2007. The concept proved to be a success, as the debut full-length managed a Top Ten placement in the Finnish charts. ~ Chris True, Rovi
