Finntroll's original singer, Katla, decided to use Swedish over Finnish since he was part of a Swedish-speaking minority in Finland and the sound of the language seemed to better suit the band's "trollish" outfit.

According to band members Vreth and Skrymer, they took their name from an old Finnish legend where Swedish priests coming to Finland had an encounter with a wild-looking man who killed most of their party.

Finntroll's lyrics mainly deal with legends and tales revolving around the fictional troll-king "Rivfader" and the trolls fighting against the Christians who entered their lands and spread their beliefs.

A recurring theme is the story of two priests named "Aamund" and "Kettil": the first three full-length albums feature a rather short but fierce song about the two men who constantly get themselves into trouble with the trolls, only to get beaten up and mutilated over and over again by the wrathful followers of Rivfader.

[2] A year later they were joined by guitarist Samuli "Skrymer" Ponsimaa, drummer Samu "Beast Dominator" Ruotsalainen, keyboardist Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali and bassist Sami "Tundra" Uusitalo, creating the first stable line-up of the band.

Visor om slutet was released as a mid-price EP and held rank on the Finnish midprice chart for several weeks.

On 16 March 2003, shortly before the release of Visor om slutet, guitarist Teemu Raimoranta died when he fell off a bridge in Hakaniemi, Helsinki.

[2] Following Wilska's parting with the band, they decided to take on Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns of Chthonian and Twilight Moon as a full-time member on vocals.

Followers of the group have been waiting a long time for a live recording...the music is unique and vibrant in color and tonality, and the performance is exceptional.