Finnish folk metal superstars Korpiklaani will release their new studio album Kulkija ("Wanderer") on September 7th via Nuclear Blast. Pre-order the album here.

The band have released an official video for the track "Harmaja", which can be seen below. Directed by Ville Lipiäinen, the video was filmed at Maritime Safety Training Centre in Lohja, Finland.

Founding member Jonne Järvelä comments: "'Harmaja' is an unusual Korpiklaani song with its slow tempo and emotional strength. The song is about longing and I managed to charge it with a great emotional atmosphere. When making the album we mostly used the first takes; we didn't get stuck in details when there was no particular need to. It was important for us to keep the emotion and mood at the forefront even if the technical side wasn't absolutely perfect at times. I was surprised - although in a positive sense - that Nuclear Blast wanted to release 'Harmaja' as a single and a video. Usually they prefer more uptempo, fun drinking songs.

"The new album Kulkija of course has that material too since being over an hour long it contains the entire scope of different emotions. I bought a new classical guitar and started to reacquaint myself with the 5-finger picking technique. I created a finger exercise that then formed the basis of the song. The exercise started to sound more and more like an actual piece of music and suddenly a melody came out of that. I sent a very basic version of the song to our lyricist Tuomas Keskimäki who, in the same evening, sent back the lyrics for 'Harmaja'.

"The text refers to 'Sylvian Joululaulu', a well known poem about longing by Zachris Topelius. I sang the demo in my home studio immediately and that was it - the song felt good and strong right away and I knew that it was going to end up on the album. The video was shot in the pool of the Maritime Safety Training Centre in Lohja. The water was so cold that even constant visits to the sauna couldn't stop the coldness from creeping into my bones. It was very difficult to remember the lyrics, keep my head above the surface of the water and sing - while at the same time trying to look like I wasn‘t freezing to death. All for art!

"We managed to create a nice contrast in the video with the angel. Director Ville Lipiäinen found her accidentally while grocery shopping. I don't know if he stumbled on her wings or what, but the angel also flew to the same pool in Lohja. The story is about a man missing his dead wife who then returns from the afterlife for one last goodbye, so that the poor man can go on with his life. He manages to drag himself out of the stormy waters back to dry land.

"Lipiäinen knew exactly what was needed for the video and managed to create just the right atmosphere. The shots change slowly, there is no rush with anything and the story stays just right above the surface until the more stormy ending.”

With 14 tracks and a total running time of over 71 minutes, Kulkija is the group's longest album to date. Working with producer Janne Saksa for the first time, the album was recorded at Petrax Studio (Hollola, Finland) and mixed at Sound Supreme Studios (Hämeenlinna, Finland). Mastering duties were handled by renowned engineer Svante Forsbäck. The cover was designed by Jan Yrlund (Battle Beast, Manowar), who has already created several artworks for previous albums and singles for the band.

Tracklisting:

"Neito"
"Korpikuusen kyynel"
"Aallon alla"
"Harmaja"
"Kotikonnut"
"Korppikalliota"
"Kallon malja"
"Sillanrakentaja"
"Henkselipoika"
"Pellervoinen"
"Riemu"
"Kuin korpi nukkuva"
"Juomamaa"

"Kotikonnut" lyric video:

Trailer:

Since every album release needs to be celebrated in the right way, Korpiklaani are additionally announcing an accompanying Russian release tour, which will lead them through 13 cities in 16 days. The full itinerary can be found below.

Kulkija Release Tour:

September
7 - St. Petersburg, Russia - Aurora (Release Show)
8 - Moscow, Russia - Glavclub (Release Show)
9 - Voronezh, Russia - Aura
11 - Rostov-on-Don, Russia - Arena
12 - Krasnodar, Russia - Arena Hall
13 - Samara, Russia - Zvezda
14 - Ufa, Russia - Ogni Ufy
15 - Ekaterinburg, Russia - Tele-Club
16 - Chelyabinsk, Russia - Galaktika
18 - Omsk, Russia - Angar
19 - Novosibirsk, Russia - Podzemka
21 - Irkutsk, Russia - Dikaya Loshad
22 - Vladivostok, Russia - San-Remo

More Korpiklaani dates:

July
6 - Barcelona, Spain - Rock Fest
12 - Neukirchen-Vluyn, Germany - Dong Open Air
15 - Vizovice, Czech Republic - Masters of Rock

August
3 - Wacken, Germany - Wacken Open Air
16-18 - Dinkelsbühl, Germany - Summer Breeze