Mikko Härkin — Finnish keyboardist — is known for his work in Sonata Arctica, the band with which he recorded during the phase that defined Finnish power metal. He was in the group between 1999 and 2002, the period of Silence (2001) and of the tours that carried Sonata Arctica internationally. It is the phase in which the band found its identity: fast power metal with strong melodies, keyboards in a soloist position and a melancholic sensibility that set it apart from the German bands of the genre. The keyboard in this configuration is not accompaniment. In Sonata Arctica it shares the foreground with the guitar, plays complete solos and carries part of the songs' harmonic identity. It is an approach drawn from the progressive rock tradition, and Finnish power metal adopted it more consistently than the German did. Härkin left the band in 2002 and went on working in other projects on the Finnish circuit. His contribution is on the record that established Sonata Arctica as one of the genre's most important bands in Europe.
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