Insomnium have officially announced Tomy Laisto as their third guitarist. Laisto, known for his work with Hateform and Pain Confessor, has already been integrated beyond the live setting and is confirmed to be involved in the recording process for Insomnium’s forthcoming, as-yet-unannounced album. Laisto initially joined Insomnium as a live member following the abrupt departure of Jani Liimatainen, which the band confirmed in early 2024. Over the past two years, he has become a familiar presence onstage, making this formal lineup addition a natural progression.
On Monday (19th), the band shared a lighthearted video introducing Laisto more fully, accompanied by the following message:
“Thank you for the very warm welcome you gave to our newest member Tomy. Want to know some more facts about him and how he actually got to meet some of us? Spoiler: Explosions included!”
The initial announcement came on Friday (16th), when the band stated:
“With great pleasure we welcome Tomy Laisto as official member and third guitarist of the band. Most of you have already witnessed him on tour with us in the past two years and he’s a familiar face, but for the upcoming album it was about time to turn Insomnium into a quintet again and make this gentle fella from Turku a full-time member.
“Hello fellow humans!
My name is Tomy Laisto, some of you I have already met along the way during last couple of years of being on the road with these guys…
At the end of 2023, I was asked to fill-in for one show in Zurich with relatively short notice and as things went smooth (I guess), I was asked to do some more, so I ended up filling in for quite a few shows all over the globe! At some point last year the guys took the cat out of the bag and asked me to join the band as a full-time member, which I gladly accepted!
My old band shared a rehearsal place with Insomnium in 2005 and I vividly remember them even borrowing my old band’s bass gear for the recording of “Above the Weeping World”. And former Insomnium guitarist Ville Vänni played as my sidekick in that band as well, so it is like circle completing, for lack of better term!
Being friends for 25 odd years, joining Insomnium feels like coming home! Looking forward to see all of you on the road again!””
Since Liimatainen’s exit, details surrounding his departure have remained unclear. There have been no public updates from him, including no activity on his social media since 2023, and no news regarding new material from The Dark Element, his project with former Nightwish vocalist Anette Olzon. There has only been hints of speculation, found in forums such as Reddit. Olzon, meanwhile, completed a solo Latin American tour in fall 2025.
