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HEAVY METAL PERSE – Pioneers of True Finnish Heavy Metal |
On May 20, 2006, when the TV-zombies are injected with another tepid dose of Eurovision song contest bullshit, all righteous rockers gather under the ancient arches of Pub Rockstar’s (Tallinn, Tatari 7) in order to train their neck muscles for the summer highlight Hard Rock Laager 2006 metalfest. The kick-off party is headlined by the pioneers of true Finnish heavy metal with a memorable title Heavy Metal Perse. Mart Kalvet managed to extract some information regarding the band in the following interview with singer/guitarist Matias Palm.
Most of the news on your site have to do with HMP T-shirts. Do you sell more merch than you do your music? Have you met anyone who wears a HMP T-shirt just because of the cool band name? You also seem to have run out of a batch of shirts recently. Does that mean none will be available at the gig in Tallinn (please say no!)?
Hahah, no, our record sales are still way bigger compared to the T-shirts. We just order new shirts in relatively small batches and tend to inform people when there's something new to order. I am sure that there's people out there who just want the shirt just because of the words "Heavy Metal Perse" on it, but usually those who ordered the shirt, also wanted the record. Now we made some new shirts again at the beginning of the year and a few of them will definitely be brought to Tallinn too.
You claim – in a clever statement – to be the first true heavy metal band to sing entirely in Finnish. Who are the competitors to the throne – I mean, there must have been some pretty heavy Finnish groups in the past that used Finnish language, as well as some that have played heavy metal mostly in English but with some exceptions? Are there any successors (besides the rather amusing Teräsbetoni)?
Well, when we started out we actually were the only band playing this classic heavy metal (or true metal, whatever) with lyrics in Finnish. There were of course some heavy groups doing stuff in Finnish, like Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus or Mokoma or then some death or black metal bands but not one who did typical heavy/true metal and that was our aim – to take influences from bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest or Helloween, which hadn't certainly been done in Finnish before. Although Teräsbetoni came three years later than us, they were the first ones to brought the thing into a real success, I mean to the cognition of the media and everyone. Then there's one relatively new group called Kivimetsän Druidi and
they're playing some sort of fantasy metal with growling and female vocals combined. All in all there are just few bands in Finland who play typical heavy metal, I think. Then again those who do it in Finnish are even more rare.
You are listed as a member of four bands. Do you really have enough time for all of them? Please prioritize them.
Well, only three of my bands are doing gigs and keeping in mind that we only get a few gigs per year for each band, I definitely still have time for them all. Prioritizing isn't even necessary as I have a different job in every band. For example, I only write songs for HMP and it's the only band in which I play guitar too (excluding Kirwes which is a sort of a project anyway). Now Guardians Of Mankind being only a tribute band doesn't really demand that much work. Merging Flare is another band for which I sing and it's always been an important one for me as we've had it for several years already, just like HMP too.
Kasperi Heikkinen (Guardians Of Mankind) recently replaced Henjo Richter of Gamma Ray on guitar for a couple of shows, thus hopefully bringing more attenion to the rest of the Finnish heavy metal scene. Hypothetically, who would be the one person whom you would like to replace in a similar situation?
Heheh, well, since I'm a singer in a Gamma Ray tribute band, then what could be more rewarding than singing for Gamma Ray themselves ;). I don't know, I wouldn't mind playing a show with Running Wild either, hahah!
I can’t get around the band name issue... Why? How come? Who thought it up? Has the band met with any censorship attacks over the supposedly inappropriate and media-hostile name or do the Finns mostly take it as a joke?
Well, we needed a name and this was the best one we could think of. Our drummer Heikki was the one to come up with it and even I was against in the beginning but later I realized it was the one we needed, hahah! The writing form of the name leaves a lot to guesswork. I mean, you can understand it in different ways if you like. We haven't really run into any hostility regarding our band name, more like I think we're more known for the sake of it. I believe it's easy to take it as a joke but you have to see behind the name and through the whole concept of HMP. Besides, there's a shitload of bands in the world with names that don't make any sense.
You may not be aware that Finnish language sounds a bit funny to Estonians (as well as the Estonian language does to Finns, if reviews of Metsatöll albums are any indication). Yet even when stripped of these underlying connotations, your lyrics still seem a bit tongue-in-cheekish. Looking at some of the sleeve illustrations of your releases (especially “...Ja Ylitse Vihaisen Meren”) I can’t begin to imagine that you would actually tell me that you guys are dead serious when playing songs about the stuff of classical fantasy like magic swords and dwarven kings? Have any of you ever been involved in the fantasy roleplaying circles?
Hahaha, believe it or not, none of us is involved with any roleplaying stuff, or never was. The way I see it, is that by putting our stories into this fantasy world, we can express them in a much more interesting (or funny) way. And when I say “funny”, it doesn't necessarily have to mean some ridiculous humour stuff – trying to make people laugh on purpose.
But of course we have some humour in our music too. I mean, we're not one of those bands who wanna sing about the misery of the everyday life. There are many bands out there who put lots of humour into their music without being any stupid joke band. Helloween is one of them. But for some Finns it seems to be impossible to deal with our lyrics as we say the same stuff in Finnish. And that's what makes it sound so funny to some people.
The Finnish language isn't the easiest one when doing lyrics and I think that's another nice thing. We have to put more work to the lyrics to make them sound like ours. We want to keep that certain "tongue-in-cheek" spirit in our lyrics too, 'cause otherwise we'd easily end up being a cheesy Finnish version of Manowar or Rhapsody kind of stuff – lyrically. Many of our lyrics actually have a deeper meaning behind them when you forget that they happen in this fantasy world of ours. To me it's also important that you get into a nice mood by listening to our lyrics.
When can we expect a full-length album by HMP?
Hopefully soon, as we're gonna start recordings during this summer. We just still have lots of arrangement work with the songs to be done so it's not easy to estimate when the album will be out but I'm hoping we're done with the recordings by the autumn.
Both of the Finnish bands playing in Tallinn on May 20th come from Kajaani. The only thing I know about Kajaani is that one of my childhood favourites Euthanasia (with their enthralling UG-hardcore release “Ämpäri Päässä Pyörän Kumia Pumppaa”) hailed from there. Can you introuduce us to the Kajaani rock scene? What other well-known bands and/or musicians claim it their birthplace?
Now I must admit that there are not too many bands in Kajaani - atleast not well known. The scene there is very small and getting gigs has been a struggle. Only during the past couple of years it has started to get better. Now you can actually see some metal gigs in Kajaani too. Beside us and The Carnival, our own Merging Flare comes from Kajaani too and then there's Enormity who play some sort of death/thrash stuff and Black Kamel whose former singer is now the singer for a band called Misery Inc. Kasperi Heikkinen you already mentioned and he's the mastermind of Merging
Flare and he's also a member of Elenium – a progressive death metal band from the capital city region.
There are rumours about that you’re bringing along 30 Kajaani metalheads, have them blow up a viking ship and hold a realistic swordbattle as part of your show in Tallinn... Jokes aside, heavy metal is about more than just the music. What can we expect from your performance other than professional musicianship?
Well, at least I always try to have fun on stage and to get the audience have fun with us. It's not like we're trying to be the finest musicians of the metal world, but more like putting on an entertaining gig and getting the audience into a good mood. We haven't really done too many gigs yet but so far the reactions from the people have always been really good.
The Estonian metal scene is struggling to break through to the rest of the world and has quite understandably chosen to do so via Scandinavia, the obvious starting platform being Finland. Are you aware of the existence of our scene at all? Have you heard any Estonian bands? Your impressions?
I'm aware that there's a rising scene out there but to be honest, I haven't really heard many of the bands. I know some by their name and Metsatöll – who seem to be quite known in Finland – I heard already many years ago. Basically, it seems that most of the stuff from there is from genres I don't follow anyways so that's the biggest reason I'm not too familiar with the bands either.
Additional information:
www.heavymetalperse.com
Hard Rock Club forum
Imperiumi.net forum
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Added on: May 10-th 2006, at 13:40
Added by: Dark Patrick |
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SOUTHERN METAL ON THE RISE |
The members of two metal bands soon on tour, Dark from Morigan and Hendric from Aldevia will explain in the interview, how were their groups and the “Rebellion from the South Tour” born.
Introduce your band. When and where was it found, how do you define your style, what is particularly interesting to your band?
Dark: Originally founded by schoolboys and as a black-metal group, Morigan has existed already for six years. The only founding member still active in the band is Jihad. Such destiny – band mates moving away because of studies, or simply losing interest in creating such music – is quite familiar to many groups. And exactly that happened to Morigan in 2001.
It was the fall of 2003 when Jihad and I felt new power and will growing inside and demanding to get out. That entailed new members and also a new style – trash metal. On that moment the trends of the metal scene were verging towards old-school trash. Bull's eye!
Undoubtedly, one of our special traits is the long-awaited female vocalist. Well, eventually she found us for she was the one to make the offer. ;) Around the world there are a lot of ladies occupying draconian vocals, but in Estonia there are only a handful. HRC's columnist Dark Patrick has compared us to good old Holy Moses!
Morigan comprises of Dark – guitars, Jihad – guitars, Mari-Liis – vocals, Thonolan – drums and Reaper – bass.
Hendric: The idea to form Aldevia was born on 30. of April, 2003, the Walpurga night. Back then we called the band NeverRise – up to the end of 2004. By then, we had acquired a visage fair enough to present on a tour. The newer oeuvre of the band is melodic metal with large doom influences. During a short span of time we have undergone major volatility of personnel. And that has given us a chance to sort out the best comrades seriously willing to work and with whom it is simply a pleasure to cooperate. Now we have accomplished it.
Aldevia consists of Triinu – vocals, MetsaAnts – vocals&guitars;, Shanadelator – guitars, Hendric – bass, Sarvik – keyboards, MordylouS – drums.
How was the idea to organize a tour for Southern-Estonian bands conceived? And why, precisely, did Morigan and Aldevia meet?
Dark: The decision was swift and spontaneous. The main credit points should be given to me and Hendric for it was us chatting on a morning, two days after Werro Rock 2005. There are all the possibilities: the clubs, the gear, the transportation, the crew and the supporters. All you had to do was to bring the dates and the aforementioned into accordance.
Morigan and Aldevia have followed rather different paths on the metal scene. I hope collaboration will bring its benefits to both of them.
Hendric: Dark has technically said it all. And that's for sure that both bands will gain from the tour.
Why the specific towns chosen? Tallinn and Tartu are comprehensible, but Valga? Why didn't you choose Viljandi or Pärnu instead?
Dark: As you mentioned, Tartu and Tallinn as concert sites are not surprising at all. Valga, on the contrary, is definitely underestimated by the publicity. The list of bands which have performed there, is rather impressive – Waterdog (SWE), Recycle Bin, Necro Strike, J.M.K.E., Bullfrog Brown & Electric Toad, Leech, Slide Fifty... The club caught the eye thanks to my job, through which the acquaintanceship evolved.
Hendric: Until now, Aldevia has performed only in Tartu and in Hiiumaa. We definitely needed to be introduced to the scene closer to the border and there was no reason, why the conquest of the capital should be postponed. :)
„Rebellion from the South Tour“ - how and what are you revolting against? Where did the name of the tour come from?
Dark: Our drummer Thonolan suggested the name „Mürgel (racket) from South of Hell Tour“. Pretty witty and funny to use.
The dictionary proposes: „rebellion: uprising, scrutiny, revolt“. The idea of the tour is to find new protagonists and supporters, by whose help we could verify our skillfulness and sustainability in developing the Estonian metal scene. The emphasis lies on the factor of upgrading rather than uprising.
How did you find the supporting bands and on what basis did you make the choice?
Dark: We planned one or two side-bands for every town, mainly through acquaintances. The supporters in Valga and Tartu may be considered as rather young bands. Silent Grove, for example, will be participating in the Hard Rock Club's Young Bands' Festival. Analysis and Nightmare have also proven to be worthy of their names. But Tallinn's line-up had to be compiled to be a bit more dashing since the spectators are even more demanding. Monstera, who recently released an LP, and Devotus Regnum are no inconnues.
How are the preparations for the tour coming – is this a complicated undertake on a rather plain one?
Dark: Actually, fixing up a tour is quite simple. As mentioned before, there are the clubs, in the clubs, you can find the technique, the stage lighting and the audience, and finally, there is a lot of support coming from the club managers. Morigan and Aldevia found suitable dates. The representatives of both bands contacted the club managers. In the case of a positive answer, it was considered done. Though there is someone to take the overall responsibility.
Hendric: I concur with Dark, all the clubs have expressed really affirmative attitudes and made our lives a lot more easier. Therefore, there’s nothing more to it than just being eager and venturous.
Is the tour also brought to life to promote some album released in the near future?
Dark: For Morigan, this is not an initiation of a studio session for the debut album. We are rather planning further gigs for the summer. But as you know, any publicity is good publicity. Aldevia, on the contrary, is making plans...
Hendric: Yes, Aldevia is still a band without any demo recordings. It is a while ago since the first time we announced that we have begun recording a three-track demo. But everything has not gone exactly as we imagined in our sweetest dreams, so... The material was technically ready by the end of 2004, but we decided to give it a brushoff and commenced the sessions all over. The whole process has taken so long that the face of the band has changed! We yearn to finish it by the beginning of the tour, but unfortunately, it seems to be utopic. Anyway, this spring is the final deadline, where from everyone who feels an appetite for more Aldevia arising during the tour, can stay their stomach at home.
Morigan is quite well-known and serves a good reputation, but still, it’s not a star like certain national-romantic and folk metal bands... Aldevia is comparatively unknown hinder the borders of Tartu. Do you think there will be enough crowd on the concerts?
Dark: Supposedly the number of people present will be continually on the rise while moving northward. Every visitor, who comes by is important. You’ll never know, what is passing through that lad’s mind during the concert. Maybe one discovers something new, finds new friends, receives positive emotions... The Valga live is on Thursday, what is exclusive per see. If we had written on our posters that Smilers and Nexus were performing on 21st of April, the whole town would have flocked, they say. We’ll see, what they’ll think about metal. :)
Hendric: That is exactly, what we are going to fix with Aldevia! To acquire wider publicity outside Tartu. We hope that people will show up at least because of curiosity.
A provocative question. :) Don’t you think the gigs will turn out rather mawkish with a female vocalist in both headliners?
Dark: But then, what kind of women! I believe that Aldevia’s members are as proud of their Triinu as we are of Mari-Liis.
Hendric: Dark’s right. Anyway, Morigan’s Mari-Liis is not the most typical female vocalist. And Triinu’s pretty voice is also spiced up by MetsaAnts.
What should be the expectations and what has to be considered by the people attending one of the concerts of the “Rebellion from the South Tour”?
Dark: Morigan will guarantee you all an experience of speed and power inherent to trash-metal. Everyone coming to support the tour and the bands can be proud, because this is an undertake first of its kind – to visit Estonian metal clubs for three days long. We would be delighted to see people junketing with us throughout the tour. The first have already subscribed. As much as possible shall be recorded on video, which will be pressed into a presumptive DVD.
Hendric: Aldevia promises beautiful melodies and powerful riffs accentuated with clean vocals. Our tunes will haunt you! I hope that the audience will be as giving as Morigan and Aldevia.
Interviewed by Sadness.
Translated by Mari-Liis. |
Added on: April 19-th 2005, at 17:38
Added by: Dark Patrick |
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