Auri

The Finnish folk band Auri is an acoustic spin-off from the successful symphonic metal band Nightwish. Auri's vocalist Tuomas Holopainen and guitarist Troy Donockley are both members of Nightwish and the two men joined forces with the talented vocalist and violin player Johanna Kurkela to create the band. Holopainen cites Celtic music and folk as the band's main influences and says the band's name was inspired by a character in The Kingkiller Chronicle, a book by Patrick Rothfuss. The band's self-titled debut album was released in February 2018 and is promoted as an associated project on the Nightwish website. The trio followed with albums II - Those We Don't Speak Of (2021), and III - Candles & Beginnings (2025), ranked Number 22 in UK's Independent Albums chart