Interviews | in the halls of awaiting | metal hammer
Can you tell me a bit about your bandhistory
Niilo Sevänen: - I´ll put the whole biography to the end of this. You can then decide which things interest you and the readers most.
The Album is called "In The Halls Of Awaiting" - does the titel have any special meaning for you?
Niilo Sevänen: - It´s the title of the last song, and we felt that it would also pretty well describe the overall atmospheres and moods of the whole album. The concept of the title song is based on J.R.R. Tolkien´s ”The Silmarillion”, where these halls are the place where the elves´ spirits go after they´ve died. It´s not a paradise, but more like a vast, silent, shadowy garden, where the elves wait for those who still stay in the world of the living. It´s a place of undying longing in our song too, as the narrator, who has died, is not sure if he´ll ever see his loved one again. All he can do is wait through all eternity. Our lyrics often deal with such sorrowful and wistful topics, where unfortunate souls are straying between life and death, seeking in vain for peace and rest – so that is why the title fits the album.
You live close to the Russian border and the bandinfo says your lyrics tell about Karelia, which is a part of Russia. Do or did you actually travel there to write your lyrics?
Niilo Sevänen: - Actually Karelia is a large area between the Gulf of Finland, Lake Ladoga and the Ice Sea. Big parts of it used to belong to Finland, but in the Second World War the Russians took most of them. Westernmost parts of Karelia still belong to Finland, and our hometown Joensuu is located in the province of North-Karelia. So we didn´t have to travel to Russia, since we sing of the region where we live. Karelia has a great mythical past in the Finnish minds, since the poems of The Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, were gathered from this region.
Ville Friman: - Karelia is the place where we have grown up and naturally we have taken influences from the nature around us. The very same nature inspired people to create these mythical stories hundred of years ago and in a some way we’re continueing this tradition. Yesterday I realized that maybe it is not coincidence that our lyrics are quite similar to the stories in Kalevala. I mean we haven’t copied it, I actually haven’t even read it completely, but instead maybe the surrounding nature have affected us in similar way as it did to the people long ago. For example every ”love” story in Kalevala is ill fortuned one as they does in our lyrics too and the nature around us could be one element affecting to our melancholic turn of mind.
Why did you chose Karelia for your lyrics? Finland has a wonderful landscape as well and as far as I remember Joensuu is surrounded by lakes and woods as well.
Niilo Sevänen: - The Finnish Karelia is our home, and its wonderful nature has influenced our music and lyrics a lot. Joensuu is indeed surrounded by numerous lakes and endless woods, and it is exactly the kind of scenery we want people to think when they listen to our music. Most of our lyrics are situated in the middle of the Finnish nature.
Ville Friman: - The Karelian nature offers great venue for our lyrics and as well all the band pictures were also taken in the middle of nature reserve about few kilometers away from the center of Joensuu. We try to create the right atmosphere for the listener also through these pictures and the cover of our album besides music and lyrics. Everything are Karelian from the beginning to the end.
Do you have to be in a special mood to write lyrics?
Niilo Sevänen: - I really have to concentrate and take some time before I can find the right mood to write something worthy. Usually I write late in the evening or in the middle of the night, when it´s easier to forget everything else.
Ville Friman: - I have the same thing: I have to wait the inspiration to come to be able to write anything proper. Evenings and night time are most creative times of day since I’m also calm and relaxed then. Absolutely the best time to concentrate on things.
With the kind of melodic Death Metal you play ones can assume the band is from Sweden. Finland is more known for that Gothic Rock or bands in the vein of Children Of Bodom. Do you actually follow the Finnish Metal scene?
Niilo Sevänen: - We know well what is happening in the Finnish scene, but we are simply just playing the kind of music we want to make. I think our sound is a mixture of Swedish and Finnish melodic death metal bands – melancholic Finnish melodies combined with the Swedish style of playing. We´ve taken what we have considered as the best aspects of our favourite bands, and moulded them into a new kind of entity. We are trying to make something that hasn´t been done before, so we don´t just want to imitate our own favourites. I think that songs like ”The Elder”, ”Shades of Deep Green” and ”In the Halls of Awaiting” are something quite different from the traditional melodic death metal genre. And we are constantly developing our style, since we don´t want to make too similar kind of albums.
Ville Friman: - I agree completely. I think most Finnish melodic death metal bands follow too much Children Of Bodom, you know them when you hear them. But for example band called Enter My Silence is great exception in Finnish Scene. They have also their own thing and their sound is a mixture between Finnish and Swedish band.
How does it work when you write songs? Is it something the band does as a collective or do you have one songwriter who brings the ready song to the rehearsal place and the rest of the band simply learn how to play it?
Niilo Sevänen: - Ville Friman and I have wrote most of the songs for this album. Usually it´s a long process for us to make a finished song. We play the new parts at the rehearsals and everybody affect the arrangements equally, so the structures can change dozens of times before we all are satisfied. Though two guys make most of the music I think we are a very democratic band.
Ville Friman: - Yes, I and Niilo compose the melodies and I do most of the riffs. Then we have some 3-5 part bits which we introduce to the other members. Ville Vänni affects a lot to the guitar arrangements and we can really get the most effective outcome from riffs and harmonies together. Markus gets freedom to arrange the drums althogh we usually have the basic idea what to play and in where. He also listens lots of progressive music besides metal so he adds his own ”spice” to Insomniums music through the rhytm section. I think the democracy in our band is due to that we all have usually something really noteworthy to say. It’s sometimes hard to think what option is the best one but we want to explore and try many ideas in our music so eventually the hard work pays back in a form of a great song.
Which bands made you start playing music? What bands are you listening to nowadays?
Niilo Sevänen: - For me it was Metallica´s black album which made me a metalhead. Soon after that I started playing with some of my friends. Other bands I liked as a teen were Sepultura, Slayer and Paradise Lost. Nowadays very few bands really move me in any way, but acts like Children of Bodom, Sentenced, Rapture, Opeth, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Arcturus and Dimmu Borgir have made interesting albums lately. A really tough Finnish newcomer is Arrival, suitable for all those into melodic black/dark metal!
Ville Friman: - Metallica was the band for me also in the beginning. They had it all: riffs, melodies, harmonies, great vocals and beautiful acoustic parts! I have listened recently lots of Norwegian bands: Arcturus, Ulver, Borknagar, Emperor, Winds & 3rd and the mortal to name a few. I think the best metal bands nowadays comes definitely from Norway!
You signed to a English label while most finnish bands stick to Spinefarm. Do you you see any advantage being signed abroad or is it rather a disadvantage as Spinefarem works really close to most Open Airs in Finland and a lot of bands of them usually play there.
Niilo Sevänen: - Spinefarm has never shown any interest towards us, so of course we took the deal from where we could get it. Candlelight was clearly the best choice we had. I think that at least for the markets of UK and USA it is better to be on Candlelight than on Spinefarm, but of course the latter would be better for Finnish markets and summer festivals. But one can´t get everything at the same time!
Ville Friman: - I think the Candlelight will work better for us than Spinefarm, because they don’t have ”million” melodic death metal band as the spine does have. So in a way we’re more original already being in Candlelight than in Spinefarm. Both companies are great ones and absolutely have their good and bad sides. Still I think it won’t prevent us to play in Festivals and open airs in Finland eventhough we’re not in Spinefarm. Take Sentenced for example. They aren’t in Spine either but play many gigs in Finland too. Because we’re not promoted as well as Spines bands in Finland it might though take more time.
Any chance to see you live in Germany?
Niilo Sevänen: - We would be very eager to tour Europe, but unfortunately it is not up to us. First we have to see what happens now with this album, and if it will sell anything anywere. But I am hopeful that one day we´ll play in Germany!
Ville Friman: - I agree. I sincerely wish that some day we’ll play in Europe too! In the mean time check out the ”In the halls of awaiting”, I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed! Thank you for the interview.
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