CMX

A bit of history

On Good Friday four young men from a northern town of Tornio decide to start playing very fast hardcore punk and name themselves after the main sewer system in ancient Rome: Cloaca Maxima. The lead singer doesn't show up for the first local concert so the bass player Yrjänä has to sing, well growl, through the set. Now a trio, with Kimmo Suomalainen on guitar and Pekka Kanniainen on drums, the band abbreviates its name to CMX.

1988

First ep Johannes Kastaja (St. John the Baptist) is released by a small indie label P. Tuotanto. The ep has 6 songs: side a with Finnish lyrics, side b in English (Well, 'Shaman's Prayer' is not really English, is it!?). This is the only publication so far with English texts in addition to a compilation called "10 vuotta myöhemmin" (Hiljaiset Levyt 1987) which includes a song called 'Butterfly' taken from an early demo.

1989

"The most uncompromising and most individualistic of all Finnish independent labels" Bad Vugum signs CMX and releases Raivo (Rage) -ep.

1990

The first album Kolmikärki (Trident) is released. The album gets rave reviews in one of the most important music magazines in Finland, Rumba. The ep Tanssitauti (Chorea) is released. CMX is now a quartet with new guitarists Pasi Isometsä and Janne Halmkrona.

1991

Timo Rasio replaces Isometsä on guitar.
Veljeskunta (The Brotherhood) is released. "The album of the week" on RadioMafia, a national radio station.

1992

17-date European tour with another Finnish band Radiopuhelimet.
CMX signs to Herodes which is owned by EMI/Finland.
Aurinko (Sun) is released.
"Album of the month" - (Soundi-magazine).

1994

Aura is released.
"The greatest artistic breakthrough in Finnish rock in the nineties." (Rumba)
"We've seen the future of Finnish rock music and it is definitely NOT CMX." (City-magazine)
Critics choice: Album of the year.

1995

Rautakantele (The Iron Kantele) is released.
"Album of the month" (Soundi).
"If CMX keeps this level of standard and pace we'll have to develop a new grading system for this band" (Rumba).

1996

The first European band to play live on the Internet. A full video and audio broadcast attracted over 18 000 viewers worldwide.

Discopolis is released.

1997

A 3-cd compilaton Cloaca Maxima is released.

One of the founding members, drummer Pekka Kanniainen, leaves the band. Tuomas Peippo is accepted as a new drummer of the band after an intense education period on a successful November tour.

1998

New album, Vainajala, produced by former Faith No More bassist Billy Gould, out in October.

Both Discopolis and Vainajala sold gold by the end of the year.

1999

March: Tour in Greece and Finland with the greatest Greek band ever, Trypes.

July: In January CMX announced that they will stop playing live! The last concert was at Ilosaarirock festival on July, 17th. The band will go on making albums. No release date for the next album has been specified yet. Some time next millenium for sure.

2000

August: Dinosaurus Stereophonicus, a double album of entirely new material, is released. It reaches gold status within a month after its release.

2001

The band resumes touring after only two years of absence from the live scene. They perform at eight different summer festivals in Finland - plus one secret gig in Jyväskylä under the Rappion Apostolit (The Apostles of Decay) moniker.