Heidi Parviainen

Parviainen was the keyboardist and a vocalist in the band Agonia which was active from 1995.[1] The break-up of Agonia led in 1999 to the formation of the band Iconofear, in which Parviainen was again keyboardist/vocalist. Iconofear released three EPs between 2003 and 2006.[2]

Amberian Dawn performing at the Metal Female Voices Fest on their The Clouds of Northland Thunder tour.

Parviainen joined Amberian Dawn in 2006. [3]

She started to write lyrics which were often influenced by Finnish and Norse mythology, and many of her songs reference the Finnish national poem Kalevala. She undertook three European tours with the band and performed at several European festivals.

On 19 November 2012 the band announced that Parviainen had parted ways with them. The decision was made in early 2012, making Metal Female Voices Fest their last show together with her.[4]

A few days after her departure from Amberian Dawn, Parviainen announced that she had started a new musical project called "Dark Sarah". She said Dark Sarah "is making one of my dreams come true, a dream that had been sleeping for many years but now has finally awoken."[5]

Parviainen explained the concept:

Dark Sarah's story Behind the Black Veil tells a story about a young woman called Sarah. She is left at the altar by her husband and she almost has a mental breakdown but instead something wakes up inside her and she changes to another person, her meaner half: Dark Sarah.

The musical style combines elements of film music, metal music and music theater. The album called Behind the Black Veil, will feature several guest musicians such as Manuela Kraller, Inga Scharf (Van Canto) and Kasperi Heikkinen (U.D.O, Merging Flare). Dark Sarah consists of a band including musicians like: Erkka Korhonen (guitar) (Raskasta Joulua, Northern Kings), Sami-Petri Salonen (guitar), Jukka Koskinen (bass) (Wintersun) and Lauri Kuussalo (drums).[5]

Dark Sarah has released three albums so far after an initial EP. The first album, Behind the Black Veil, was released in 2014. This was followed by The Puzzle (released 2016) and The Golden Moth (released 2018). The Violent Roses EP was released in 2014.[5]

In 2020 the band announced their signing to Napalm Records and a new studio album called "Grim".

Parviainen has performed with a few other bands in studio, with Eternal Tears of Sorrow on the song "Tears of Autumn Rain" from the album Children of the Dark Waters in 2009, and with Ensiferum on their album Unsung Heroes, providing the choir vocals.