Rapture is a band formed in 1997 by a group of musicians from Helsinki, Finland. The members of Rapture have played in several bands, including Barathrum, Diablerie, Ensiferum, Finntroll, Fragile Hollow, The Mist and the Morning Dew, Rain Paint, Shape of Despair and Thy Serpent. They play a vein of depressive doom metal with a lot of light guitar work, keyboards, with heavy riffs combined with clean and growling vocals.
In 1999, Rapture signed a contract from Spikefarm Records, a subsidiary of Spinefarm Records. The band released their debut album, Futile, in early 2000. The album was also licensed to Relapse Records for distribution in the USA. In early 2002, the band recorded their second effort, titled Songs for the Withering. This album sold better than their debut and gave Rapture recognition in Europe and the USA, eventually leading them to sign a contract with Century Media. Rapture released their third album, Silent Stage, in 2005. This album continued in the vein of the previous two, with a morose, depressive atmosphere and a combination of both clean singing and death grunts.