Music / Hevisaurus

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Hevisaurus is a heavy metal band created in 2009. Its members, who take great care in concealing their real identities, all dress up as dinosaurs and play kid-oriented metal songs.

Yes, that's right. Dinosaurs who play metal songs for kids. Of course, the band is from Finland.

As of 2021, the band has released 8 studio albums and is popular enough in Finland to have their own live-action movie.

In 2025, the band featured on Britain's Got Talent and a UK version was formed. In 2026, they released their first English-language single, "Heavy Metal Horns" (a translation of "Hevimetallisarvet").

Members

Since Hevisaurus strictly conceal their real identities to the public, the band that performs onstage and the band that records in the studio compose varying line-ups of musicians. Only the members of the live band will be noted for the sake of simplicity.

• "Herra Hevisaurus"^*portrayed by Olavi Tikka, SauruXet incarnation "Herra Saurus" portrayed by Riku Turunen — vocals
• "Milli Pilli"^*portrayed by Emilia Takayama from 2009 — 2012, Hanna Risku since 2013 — keyboards
• "Komppi Momppi"^*portrayed by Mirka Rantanen from 2009 — 2012, Ville Siuruainen since 2013 — drums
• "Riffi Raffi"^*portrayed by Ari Manninen from 2009 — 2012, Kimmo Nissinen since 2013 — guitar
• "Muffi Puffi"^*portrayed by Time Schleifer from 2009 — 2012, Vesa Kuhlman since 2013 — bass

Discography

• Jurahevin kuninkaat ^*Kings of Jurassic Heavy Metal (2009)
• Hirmuliskojen yö ^*Night of the Dinosaurs (2010)
• Saurusplaneetta ^*Saurus Planet (2011)^note recorded by the same human members as Hevisaurus (except with Riku Turunen as "Herra Saurus"), but credited as SauruXet due to a contract dispute
• Räyh! ^*Rawr! (2011)
• Räyhällistä joulua ^*A Rawrtastic Christmas (2011)
• Kadonneen louhikäärmeen arvoitus ^*The Mystery of the Missing Dragon (2012)
• Vihreä vallankumous ^*Green Revolution (2013)
• Soittakaa Juranoid! ^*Call the Juranoid! (2015)
• Mikä minusta tulee isona? ^*What Will I Be When I Grow Up? (2017)
• Bändikouluun! ^*To Band School! (2019)
• Maailmankiertueella ^*On a World Tour (2025)

Tropes related to Hevisaurus:

• Album Title Drop: Happens in the 2013 album "Vihreä Vallankumous", where the so-called "green revolution" is only mentioned in the first track, Jurahevarit.
• All Just a Dream: The music video for "Viimeinen mammutti" is implied to be one.
• And I Must Scream: "Katakombi-zombi" is a song about an Egyptian mummy who danced atop the Sphinx and caused its nose to fall. His punishment? To be trapped in a dark dungeon underneath the pyramids, where he lives in solitude and discomfort for possibly thousands of years.
• Animated Music Video: "Hevimetallisarvet" and "Kalloween" both have one.
• Anonymous Band: The members of Hevisaurus strictly conceal their real identities whenever they make public appearances.
• Artistic License – History: According to "Hevimetallisarvet", the Heavy Metal Horns^note which are believed to have been popularized by Ronnie James Dio in the 1970s are actually "a symbol old as time".
• Artistic License – Paleontology: According to their background, the eggs containing the band members survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction and hatched in 2009 (the year the band was created). Thing is, Muffi Puffi is a Stegosaurus and Komppi Momppi is an Apatosaurus, two species that lived during the Jurassic period and were long extinct by the time of the Cretaceous. Not that it matters much.
• Auto-Tune: Used on more than half of the tracks on Maailmankiertueella.
• Bad Butt: They are a heavy metal band for kids.
• Baldness Angst: Discussed in "Ihmeainetta kaljuun", a song which has Mozart (yes, really) singing about a "miracle cure for baldness".
• Balloonacy: The song "Pirkolla on purkka" is about a girl named Gina who uses bubblegum to blow a bubble so big that it carries her off into the sky.
• Band of Relatives: According to the movie, all the band members consider each other siblings, even though they are obviously of different species (especially the dragon member).
• Bland-Name Product: In 2011, during a contract dispute over the rights of the characters' likenesses, the band rebranded as SauruXet — as in the Finnish saurukset, which simply means "The Saurs".
• Call-Back: During the song "Naurava portinvartia" from Kadonneen louhikäärmeen arvoitus, the Hevisaurs come across the Catacomb Zombie, the subject of the song "Katakombi-zombi" from the Räyh! album.
• Catchphrase: "Räyh!"
  • In the 2015 movie, Riffi Raffi seems to have "Rock n' Roll!" as one. Lampshaded by Komppi Momppi during the end credits:
  Komppi Momppi: You say that all the time. What does it mean?
• Christmas Songs: "Tonttuheviä", from the album of the same name.
• Concert Film: Hevisaurus - Hirmuliskojen Hevikonsertti in 2011.
• Cover Version: They've covered "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and "Riders In The Sky" in Finnish.
  • Their performance on Britain's Got Talent consisted of "We Will Rock You" and "Livin' On A Prayer".
• Damsel in Distress: Milli Pilli is this in the Animated Music Video for "Hevimetallisarvet" and has to be rescued by Herra Hevisaurus. Downplayed in the music video for "Kalloween", where she shows more agency.
• Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Riffi Raffi is seen breathing fire at various points in the 2015 live-action movie. Justified due to him actually being a dragon. Also, he's quick to point out this fact to everyone calling them a group of "five dinosaurs" (four dinosaurs and a dragon).
• Dreaming of Things to Come: The Kadonneen louhikäärmeen arvoitus album begins with Herra Hevisaurus telling the others about a dream he had about their purple dragon friend disappearing into Muffi Puffi's bass bag, which had somehow turned into a teleporter/time machine. The others find this dubious, so they convince the purple dragon to test it out. Guess what happens next?
• Driving Song: The track "Nasta Lautaan" from the album Vihreä Vallankumous is about car racing.
• Educational Song: Although the producer of the band has mentioned that their intention is to avoid this entirely, some of the songs are still very much this. A particular example is their cover of an old song about road safety called "Lasten Liikennelaulu".
• Epic Rocking: "100", their 100th song, is a nine-minute epic featuring a veritable legion of Special Guests from bands such as Nightwish, Battle Beast, and Megadeth.
• Food Songs Are Funny: Certainly the case with their song "Tuokaa ruokaa".
• Free-Handed Performer: Herra Hevisaurus is the only member who doesn't play an instrument. The only example of him doing so is in the 2015 movie, when he and Riffi Raffi perform "Teksasin jättiläinen" on accordion and banjo, respectively.
• Friendship Song: The track "Laulu Ystävyyden" is literally called this.
• Garnishing the Story: Adding a dragon member to a band otherwise full of dinosaurs seems to be just for the sake of this trope.
• Gentle Gorilla: "Ugala Bugala" is about a friendly gorilla who makes banana curry and fricassee to sell to the other animals.
• Got Me Doing It: During "Muffi Puffin oppitunti", Muffi Puffi is fumbling with the alphabet and he asks guitarist Riffi Raffi to continue with a solo while he concentrates. In doing so, Riffi Raffi fumbles a few times in his guitar-playing.
• Harsh Vocals: Mostly averted, but used in "Pingviini vilkuttaa" for the character of Dorgir, a king penguin with a throatache. Upon being given a throat lozenge by another penguin, he switches to clean vocals.
• Keet: Herra Hevisaurus, particularly in videos that feature him alone like the video for "Maailmanpelastajat".
• Last Note Hilarity: Considering who is the target demographic of this band, this is bound to happen quite often.
• Last of His Kind: The song "Viimeinen mammutti" is about the last of the woolly mammoths getting ready to sleep, seemingly knowing that he won't be waking up again.
• Listing Cities: In the song "Jurahevarit", they mention how their music reaches Finland, China, South Africa and Argentina.
• Longest Song Goes Last: "100" from Bändikouluun!, as mentioned above.
• Lyrical Cold Open: "Mummon mopo" from Hirmuliskojen yö and "Pöllönsilmä" from Mikä minusta tulee isona?.
• Mundane Made Awesome: They write epic Power Metal songs about topics like milk and cookies, burping, school, and furry animals.
• Non-Mammalian Hair: Every band member, except Milli Pilli (who averts the Furry Female Mane Trope) has a head full of long hair, and Muffi Puffi sports a purple mohawk.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Every member of the band is only known by their stage name, and they are never seen without their suits in public.
• Out-of-Genre Experience: "Tonttuheviä" and "Bäng Bäng!", which are rapped instead of sung. The bridge of "Jurajyrä" is also rapped, while the rest of the song is sung.
• Questioning Title?: Mikä minusta tulee isona?
• Rhyming Names: With the exception of Herra Hevisaurus, each member has rhyming stage names: Muffi Puffi, Milli Pilli, Komppi Momppi and Riffi Raffi
• Rock Opera: The album Kadonneen louhikäärmeen arvoitus could be seen as one.
• Rockers Smash Guitars: One of the cutaways between songs in the 2011 concert film has Riffi Raffi playing his guitar, only to notice that it's been replaced with a cheap inflatable toy. Cue Riffi Raffi pulling a Pete Townsend.
• Shout-Out:
  • During live performances, Riffi Raffi would sometimes perform Chuck Berry's duckwalk.
  • Near the end of "Muffi Puffin oppitunti", Muffi Puffi is still struggling with the alphabet and ends up saying, "A, C, D, C— wait, no... C, O, B..."
  • Near the end of the "Kalloween" music video, the monsters that were chasing after Herra Hevisaurus and Milli Pilli are seen doing a very familiar dance.
• Silly Simian: The music video for "Ugala Bugala" has a few of these riding carnival rides and dancing around the band.
• Singer Namedrop: Happens every now and then with all the band members, specially in the track "Louhikäärme Ja Ritari" where the band does a rollcall accompanied by a solo from each of the members.
• Sixth Ranger: The Purple Dragon, a small dragon that the band is friends with. In addition to sharing vocals with Herra Hevisaurus on a few songs,^note "Laulu Ystävyyden" from Räyh!, "Päivänsäde ja menninkäinen" from Vihreä vallankumous, and "Metsänkeiju" from Mikä minusta tulee isona? the album Kadonneen louhikäärmeen arvoitus is about the Purple Dragon getting lost in time and the band trying to find them.
• Spelling Song: Taken a bit literally with the song "Muffi Puffin oppitunti" where Herra Hevisaurus attempts to teach the alphabet and how to count to the bassist, who seems to struggle at both.
• Spoken Word in Music: Appears fairly often. Prominent examples include "Syntytarina" from Jurahevin kuninkaat and "Muffi Puffin oppitunti" from Hirmuliskojen yö, as well as the interludes on Mikä minusta tulee isona? and Kadonneen louhikäärmeen arvoitus.
• Step Up to the Microphone: Milli Pilli sings lead on "Liskodisko" from Vihreä Vallankumous and "Unkka Dunkka" from Maailmankiertueella.
  • Muffi Puffi sings the verses on "Muffi Puffin oppitunti".
• Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Illan tullen", the final track on Maailmankiertueella, is a soft piano ballad.
• Title Track: All of their albums except Räyhällistä joulua and Kadonneen louhikäärmeen arvoitus have one. Soittakaa Juranoid! and Vihreä vallankumous are edge cases, with the former having "Juranoid" as a sort of half-Title Track and the latter having the Album Title Drop mentioned above.
• Trademark Favourite Food: According to the UK band's biography, Riffi Raffi's is milk. He even has "MORE MILK" written on his guitar, as can be seen in the music video for "Heavy Metal Horns".
• Truck Driver's Gear Change: Used in "Saurusarmeija" and "Hevimetallisarvet".
• Video Full of Film Clips: The video for Juranoid consists of clips from the 2015 live-action movie.
• White Void Room: The video for "Viimeinen mammutti" mostly takes place in one. The smoke/fog around them gives the impression of a Fluffy Cloud Heaven.
• Younger Than They Look: In-Universe, the band members hatched from their eggs in 2009, meaning they are basically the same age as their audience. It could explain why they are human-sized despite being dinosaurs.