Somnium, born as Teemu Raimoranta (19 May 1977 – 16 March 2003), was the guitarist and a founding member of the Finnish folk metal band Finntroll.
Somnium founded Finntroll in 1997 together with the vocalist/lyricist Jan ‘Katla’ Jämsen. They were later joined by a guitarist Samuli ‘Skrymer’ Ponsimaa, drummer Samu ‘Beast Dominator’ Ruotsalainen, keyboardist Henri ‘Trollhorn’ Sorvali and bassist Sami ‘Tundra’ Uusitalo and the band’s first demo, Rivfader, was released in 1998. It was soon followed by the full-legth album Midnattens Widunder (1999). The band’s name and lyrics revolved around the legend of a Finn-Troll (Rivfader) who scared away the Swedish missionaries coming to Finland to baptise its inhabitants. Being a part of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland, Katla decided to write the lyrics in Swedish because he thought that the sound of the language seemed to better suit the band’s ‘trollish’ image.
Finntroll’s second album, Jaktens Tid, was released in 2001 and promoted during the summer festivals, as in case of the debut, Somnium wrote most of the music together with the keyboarist Trollhorn. Soon before the next record, an acoustic EP Visor Om Slutet, was to be released, an accident happened. On 16 March 2003, Somnium died after falling from the Kaisaniemi bridge in Helsinki. His funeral was held on March 29 in Helsinki and on March 25, at Nosturi in Helsinki, a memorial concert was organised in his memory, involving such bands as Finntroll, Impaled Nazarene, Barathrum, Ensiferum, and Children Of Bodom. Visor Om Slutet, which came out on 30 April, was dedicated to his memory.
He also played in Thy Serpent, Barathrum, and Impaled Nazarene.
METAL GRAVEYARD 