Early 2000s digital camera footage provided the visual inspiration for CRIMSON DAY’s official music video for “The Outsider.” The Finnish heavy metal band frame the video from the outsider’s point of view, connecting its aesthetic to a song about individuality, social pressure and the difficulty of belonging.
“The Outsider” comes from Dark Dimension, released through Wormholedeath. Its protagonist chooses separation over following the crowd, even when that choice makes life harder. The song leaves that conflict unresolved: acceptance does not arrive to settle the tension between preserving a sense of self and finding a place among others.
Developing the track also involved repeated changes. CRIMSON DAY worked with producer Jussi Kulomaa to bring its different ideas together, arriving at a heavy metal arrangement with alternative elements and an emphasis on groove.
“This song was probably the hardest one to make,” the band stated, “and we ended up rearranging and changing ideas multiple times. Together with our producer Jussi Kulomaa, we eventually found the ideas that best work together and, as a result, we got a great heavy metal song with some alternative elements and a nice groove!”
The announcement also points to the band’s videos for “Song of Fire,” “False Prophet,” “Hexed,” “Dark Dimension” and “War Machine.”
Founded in Tampere, Finland, in 2013, CRIMSON DAY combine classic heavy metal with a broader range of genre influences and a melodic approach. Their recording history began with a self-titled EP that year, followed by the debut full-length Order of the Shadows in 2015 and At the Mountains of Madness in 2018. A self-titled album followed in 2023.
Vocalist Milka Uusitalo joined during a lineup change in 2020. The band’s subsequent work includes the singles “Raising the Fury” and “Black as the Heavens Above,” alongside covers of “Immigrant Song,” “Holding Out for a Hero” and “Objection (Tango).”
CRIMSON DAY have played more than 100 shows across Finland and elsewhere in Europe, including performances in the Baltics, Germany and Sweden. They have shared stages with Sonata Arctica, Turmion Kätilöt, Turisas, Reckless Love and Korpiklaani. The announcement reports international radio airplay and more than 100,000 views across their YouTube catalog.
The lineup consists of Milka Uusitalo on vocals, Ari Balzar on lead guitar, Janne Rantanen on guitar and screams, Jesse “Kämy” Kämäräinen on bass, and Janne Ollikainen on drums and percussion.
Dark Dimension is available through major streaming services and on CD via Wormholedeath. Supplied band photography is credited to Katri Kallio Photography.
