AITTALA - USA

False Pretenses – 2019 – Curtaincall
Live To Regret – 2022 - Exitus Stratagem
Machines - 2025 - Exitus Stratagem

AITTALA image
  
 
Members
Vocals
Tribe, Dwell>>ERIC AITTALA>>Tribe, Dwell

Guitar
MagnetHead, Tribe, Dwell, HeadBelt>>ERIC AITTALA>>MagnetHead, Tribe, Dwell, HeadBelt

Bass
9MM Disco, Age Of Despair, Sun Of Nile>>Ali Lugo

Drum
MadTabber And The FreakShow, Tangent, Mr. Blackwell, The Fifth>>GARY "ZEUS" SMITH>>The Fifth

Keyboard
Tribe, Dwell>>ERIC AITTALA>Tribe, Dwell




History & Biography
The first incarnation of this heavy metal band existed between 1991 and 1993. Guitarist Eric Aittala lived in The Netherlands at this time and recorded the Selling Heaven demo of 1993 there. Tim Mannon, also an American, was on vocals. The band disappeared after opening for The Gathering and Sadist ostensibly because Eric had to return to the USA. Eric was involved in acts like Tribe, Magnethead and Dwell. The return, albeit as a solo act, occurred in 2008.

Thus followed the 2009 demo called Bed Of Thorns. A further demo was called Haunt Your Flesh in 2011. Effigy was a 2014 demo. 2016 brought the American Nightmare demo. The act signed with Curtaincall Records and released the False Pretenses album. Gary "Zeus" Smith was the drummer. Ali Lugo was on bass. The act had cycled through half a dozen bassists in the previous decade.

An album entitled Live To Regret was released by Exitus Stratagem Records in 2022. The main man claimed the album was fuelled by a chaotic time in his life including a “destructive relationship.” The album was to feature a re-working of a 2011 track with actual drums and guitars, which the original did not include. Exitus Stratagem had remastered and re-released American Nightmare in 2021.

Originally issued in September 2019 on Curtaincall Records, stoner act Aittala re-released its False Pretenses album through Exitus Stratagem Records in 2023. The band was playing several USA concerts in late winter and early spring. More concerts came in June. Aittala announced a full-length album, called Machines, through Exitus Stratagem Records for April 2025. It was described as a mix of Metallica, Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath. The songs on Machines were originally written and demoed on an analog 4-track cassette recorder between 1990 and 1997. The act was a duo with bassist Ali Lugo having departed. The band announced a second EP (now deeming Machines an EP) of 2025, called Ill-Gotten Gains, through Exitus Stratagem Records. for 21.11.2025. The release explored the consequences of past decisions.


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