Oz

Finland's first foray into the international heavy metal arena -- at least the first one hailed by critics and fans alike -- Oz's 1983 LP, Fire in the Brain, captured lightning in a bottle for a band whose career was otherwise mired in personnel issues and stylistic inconsistencies. Although the group was originally founded in 1977, in the small Finnish burg of Nakkila, around vocalist the Oz (real name Eero Hämälainen), its slow rise from obscurity would go largely undocumented until 1982, when the band's debut album, entitled HM Heroes, was released by Swedish independent Tyfon Grammofon.