Nuclear Blast Records has announced the signing of SILVER LAKE, the solo project of AMORPHIS guitarist Esa Holopainen.

Esa made good use of his coronavirus downtime in 2020 and fulfilled an old dream of his by recording his first solo album at the Sonic Pump studios.

“As some of you might have noticed, I’ve been working on my first solo album,” he says. “Well, actually, I’d rather call this a project which I’m leading as it includes different musicians and vocalists that I’ve had great privilege to meet during these years.

“I’ve had this idea in the back of my head for years and now that COVID-19 hit hard on all of us, it was time to be creative and start this project.

“The project is titled SILVER LAKE by Esa Holopainen and I am really happy to announce that SILVER LAKE is now signed to Nuclear Blast, which was a very obvious choice as NB is also AMORPHIS‘s record label and I know all the label personnel super well. Another natural move is that Grey Beard Concerts & Management is managing my solo stuff as well.

“I look forward to revealing more news about the artists who are collaborating with me in SILVER LAKE.“

Markus Staiger, owner and CEO of Nuclear Blast Tonträger Produktion und Vertriebs GmbH, adds: “An old friendship of almost three decades that goes back to the very beginnings of AMORPHIS connects me to Esa Holopainen. Back then we just licenced the band from Relapse for the European market.

“Esa Holopainen is a remarkable guitarist, whose innovative way of playing is super recognizable. You can hear it right away if he’s involved, and it was just natural for us to work together in releasing his solo album.

“I was so surprised of how diverse the final product sounded and how Esa keeps revealing hidden sides of his music. The fact that many friends worked on the album as guests just makes this fantastic record complete and I’m convinced that not only fans of AMORPHIS will love it.

“I want to thank Esa for his loyalty and this truly beautiful jewel of an album.“

AMORPHIS‘s latest album, “Queen Of Time”, was released in May 2018 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2015’s “Under The Red Cloud” included the use of real strings, flutes, orchestral arrangements and even choirs. In addition, this was the first time that people were able to hear AMORPHIS lyricist Pekka Kainulainen on the album, as he contributed a speech in Finnish.