Marco‘s solo album, “Pyre Of The Black Heart”, came out in January via Nuclear Blast. The style of the effort, which was issued in Finland last May 2019 under the title “Mustan Sydämen Rovio”, has been described by Hietala as “hard prog.”

Earlier this year, Marco told Subculture Media about his influences: “Oh, man, I listen to so much music. Since my youth, I have been a metal guy, but I also listen to a lot of other stuff. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve listened to jazz, Irish folk songs, classic, Elvis Presley, THE BEATLES… whatever. My father had a very big vinyl collection; he was an enthusiast. He also played guitar and sang so that is where a lot of the versatility comes from.”