Pete Lehtinen (born in 1975, lives in Lahti) is a Finnish composer and lyricist. He is known as a frontman of the Finnish dark metal group MUSTAN KUUN LAPSET. Besides to writing most of the material, Lehtinen was a lead singer, rhythm guitarist and studio session keyboardist throughout the band’s 30-year existence.
As Mustan Kuun Lapset defunct in 2023, Lehtinen “retired” from his active music career which started in early ´90s. In the spring of 2024, however, he released new music as a solo artist. Digital single Snowflower was based on the tunes of Lumikukka (from MUSTAN KUUN LAPSET´s fourth album Viimeinen laulu kuolemasta, Stay Heavy Records, 2007), which is one of the most popular songs Pete has written. And like Snowflower, Procession is based on an old MUSTAN KUUN LAPSET song too. Original Saatto (Engl. Procession) from the album of the same name was released in 2017 (Inverse Records).
This time, the single also features a guest vocalist. Micko Hell is a singer who was born in 1978, lives in Kerava, and has influenced many Finnish metal bands. Pete and Micko met when they did their civil service in Vaasa 1997. Five years later, in 2002 when MUSTAN KUUN LAPSET released their debut album Suruntuoja (Northern Sound Records), Micko became known to the general public as the vocalist of Denigrate. They released the Taiska cover song Mombasa, which was the theme song for the movie “Menolippu Mombasaan” (Cinemaker Oy). The song like the movie became a big hit. In addition to this, this angelic-voiced man is known for Micko Hell & the Motherfuckers, Million Dollar Beggars, Gloomy Grim (guitars) and many, many more. He has also guested on the records of several bands such as Wintersun and Re-Armed to name a few.
Procession is the first song representing -maybe you could say- dark electronic dance music for Lehtinen & Hell. In fact, all those involved in the production process are experienced mainly in metal music, so this was a big leap into the unknown for everyone.
Procession was recorded by Sami Heinonen (INFERIA, NECROPSY & SACRILEGIOUS IMPALEMENT), and mixed and mastered by studio engineer Pasi Löfgren (Where’s My Bible, MUSTAN KUUN LAPSET). Löfgren also co-produced the single together with Lehtinen. Let’s also mention the nearly ten-year collaboration with Jaakko Tarvainen and Inverse Records. Inverse released all Mustan Kuun Lapset albums and EPs from 2016 to 2023 as well as Pete´s Snowflower single, and now the collaboration continues.