Esa Holopainen (born 1 October 1972) is a Finnish musician, currently the main songwriter, occasional lyricist, founding member and lead guitarist of the Finnish metal band Amorphis. He is one out the two longest standing members of the band (the other being Tomi Koivusaari) and one of the four original members in the band (the others being Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari and Olli-Pekka Laine).
He was also formerly the guitarist of the bands Violent Solution (1990) and Chaosbreed (2003-2004).
Holopainen did the guitar solo on “Dambuster” from Hellroad Caravan by Mannhai.
His influences include Ritchie Blackmore, David Gilmour, John McLaughlin and Petri Walli of Kingston Wall. Holopainen uses ESP guitars and Koch amplifiers.
instruments played
Guitar
Vocals
Associated Acts
Amorphis, Chaosbreed, Violent Solution, Gorefest, Exit-13, Phobia, Goreaphobia, Epica
Genres
Thrash metal, death metal, death/doom, melodic death metal, progressive metal, folk metal
Labels
Nuclear Blast (with Amorphis)
Years Active
1987 present
Name
Esa Holopainen
Nationality
Finland