Tarot

O

riginally formed by the Hietala brothers in the early '80s, Tarot was originally called Purgatory. But just as Purgatory made the grade to get a record deal, the label wanted them to change their name and Tarot was chosen. The line-up settled into Marko Hietala (bass/vocals), Zachary Hietala (guitars), Mako H (guitars) and Pecu Cinnari (drums).

The Wings of Darkness single would arrive in April 1986 to become the act's most successful song. Their first full-length album, Spell of Iron soon followed later that year in December. In April 1988, following the release of another single in the form of Rose on the Grave, their second album Follow Me into Madness arrived.

After the second album, the bad took a hiatus. During the downtime keyboardist Janne Tolsa joined, while second guitarist Mako H chose to leave.

After To Live Forever (1993), Tarot received publicity in Japan for the release of their first live album To Live Again (1994) as a Japanese special edition. The live album was recorded at Tavastia Club, Helsinki in August 1994. Some of the tracks were later released the following year on a limited edition bonus CD with the following studio album, Stigmata (1995). To Live Forever would be later was remixed and re-released in 2006, along with the first three albums. For the Glory of Nothing (1998) and the compilation album, Shining Black (1998), followed.