Sapattivuosi

Sapattivuosi is a Finnish Black Sabbath tribute band singing in Finnish. The band was initiated as a project by vocalist Hannu Paloniemi, drummer Simo Vehmas, and guitarist Janne Halmkrona (also of CMX). Sapattivuosi's first two albums covered songs from the Ozzy Osbourne era. Then vocalist Paloniemi left the band. He was replaced by Marco Hietala, known from bands such as Nightwish, Tarot and Northern Kings. Hietala first appeared with Sapattivuosi on their single Pelon lait (a cover of Neon Knights), which came out on March 4, 2009. The band's third full-length album, Ihmisen merkki, also covers songs from Black Sabbath's Ronnie James Dio era. It was released on April 1, 2009. All three Sapattivuosi albums made the Finnish charts, with two making the top ten. At least two singles have also spent weeks at #4 on the charts.