1996:
VORDVEN"s story begins as Matti Kaasalainen (guitars/synth) and Mika Packalen (guitars/synth/vocals) decide to form a band which would better suit their musical tastes than the former bands they had played in. From the very beginning it was clear that the style of VORDVEN would be fast, majestic and somewhat folk-influenced metal.
Kaasalainen and Packalen start writing material and after finishing 4 songs they get Rami Suontausta to play bass for their first "release" which is a rehearsal tape consisting of those 4 tracks. The tape has computer drums which were programmed by future member Tommi Rantanen. Mostly because of the bad sounds the tape is only spread among friends and a few tapetraders.
After some months the band has found a complete line-up which is:

Matti Kaasalainen - guitars, synth
Mika Packalen - guitars, synth & vocals
Rami Suontausta - bass
Joni Virtanen - synth
Pekka Koponen - drums

With this line-up the band rehearses new material to be featured on their debut studio-recording. During New Year of 1996, they enter the Akaan MR-Studio for two days and record their first real demo "When the Wind Blew for the First Time". This tape gets some positive feedback from the local people, which encourages the band to write new and improved material.
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𘹭:
Even though the demo is recorded, it has yet to be released because of financial problems as well as laziness of the band. In spite of this, Kaasalainen and Packalen prepare new material which will appear on their next recording. In the end, 8 songs are finished and rehearsed during the first months of the year. After some consideration, they decide to include a female vocalist to the band to get everything out of the new material. Again the line-up changes:

Mika Packalen
guitars, synth and vocals
Piritta Repo
female vocals
Rami Suontausta
bass
Matti Kasalainen
guitars and synth
Joni Virtanen
synth
Pekka Koponen
drums

With this formation, the band play a few gigs with such bands as BARATHRUM, WIZZARD, FAERGHAIL, NIGHTSIDE, FALL OF THE LEAFE and MUSTAN KUUN LAPSET. The gigs go quite well considering the fact that these were the first gigs the band played. Most of the problems can be blamed on alcohol anyway...
VORDVEN once again enters Akaan MR-Studio, this time for four days to record "Towards The Frozen Stream". Consisting of 8 songs and about 45 minutes of symphonic and melodic (blackish) metal, the band is very confident about this recording and starts sending it to some underground labels. Many of the labels which bother to answer mostly complain about the sounds which were left a bit damp and messy. During autumn, a letter arrives from german No Colours Records which praises the record and want to sign the band.After some time, VORDVEN signs for No Colours for two albums.
After some problems with album covers, the band get all the material sent to the label and start waiting for the promised release. Also, in November 1997, the "When the Wind Blew for the First Time" demo gets released by local Alkahest Creations tapelabel. Because of the upcoming album release, the tape only gets printed in a limited edition of 100 copies.
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𘹮:
In early 1998, "Towards The Frozen Stream" is released, only a few months after the deal was signed. Because the band was still unknown in the scene, there was no real response to the record for a long time. After some months, letters start arriving with praising comments on the album. Still, many people complain about the sounds, but comment the music as being some of the best stuff they"ve heard for a long time. Comparisons are drawn to bands such as ANCIENT, DIMMU BORGIR, FALKENBACH and others, which basically is the kind of music which the band"s main song-writers (Kaasalainen and Packalen) listened to.
After some time of silence, VORDVEN is back in the process of song-writing... Problems occur within the band and some members are excused from their duties in the band. During spring 1998, Tommi Rantanen from NIGHTSIDE joins the band and again the band has a new face:

Matti Kaasalainen
guitars, synth
Mika Packalen
guitars & vocals
Piritta Repo
female vocals
Tommi Rantanen
bass

Within a few months, Rantanen leaves NIGHTSIDE to fully concentrate on VORDVEN. The band once again starts working on new material for their second release on No Colours Records.
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𘹯:
VORDVEN appears on "No Colours sampler II" with the album-track "Moonlight in the Northern Sky" and because of this, many new people notice the band and again some positive feedback (as well as negative) is received from around the world. Also the band negotiate with the label about the recording schedule of their second full-lenght album and come to the conclusion that it would be better to release a MCD first. This because the band feel that they cannot get all the new material ready for a full-lenght recording and they want to release something during 1999, just to give people a sign of life.
VORDVEN takes Beleth from NIGHTSIDE to appear as a session drummer on live gigs and studio recordings, but again problems delay the recordings and it seems that 1999 shall be a silent year for the band. Some of the members are located in different cities, so because of the lack of rehearsals the band feels that it would not be wise to record the MCD for some time.