Oz magazine / November 1999

Link
This interview is published in Spanish, here displayed is the English version as which it was conducted.


When was Moonsorrow born?

[Ville] Moonsorrow was formed in late 1995 by me and Henri, at the same time when we had numerous other projects as well. Unlike those projects, Moonsorrow however is still alive - as a serious band.

Name of the members of the band and instrument that play each one

[Ville] I, Ville Seponpoika Sorvali, do the vocals and play the bass, while my cousin, Henri Urponpoika Sorvali, handles the guitars and keyboards. In 1999 we also got a real drummer, namely Baron Tarwonen (from Gorewinter).

Under what influences was created Moonsorrow (musical and theme influences)

[Ville] The actual reason for why we formed Moonsorrow was the need to express the heathenish corners of our minds musically. We were listening to loads of different music back then and anything of it could've affected Moonsorrow, but perhaps Enslaved was the greatest influence.

What is the main philosophy of the band?

[Ville] To me, Moonsorrow represents heathenish values, such as sincerity and utter respect for nature. It reminds us of the Finland (and why not the whole world) before the Christian invasion and, for our part, keeps the myths and traditions alive. Above all, however, I see Moonsorrow supporting individual thinking and thus it is not here to convert anyone.

How many songs do the band has, title of them and a small explain of them please ex: (title of the song) this song was made thinking of...etc. or this song was made because of....etc.

[Ville] I think you'd want me to settle with presenting those songs that we've released, and of those I can of course only speak on my behalf. As I didn't have much to do with our "official" debut "Metsä", I'll give you a lecture of my work on our latest demo "Tämä Ikuinen Talvi". (Henri speaks about "Metsä" after this, so hear him. And I'm sorry to say, but our upcoming debut album, "Suden Uni", will be kept as a secret as long as it is actually recorded.)
1. "Taistelu Pohjolasta" (The Battle For Pohjola) - To start with, this song undoubtably has the best lyrics I've ever written. Basically they were created in just minutes, when I was like struck by lightning with an inspiration from a theme that has generally been pissing me off very much: the crusaders. The telling itself can be interpretated in different ways, and that I leave up to the listeners. Musically speaking, I only made two riffs for this song or something like that, frankly I can't even remember which those riffs are... so I can't tell much about my musical inspirations for this one, obviously the intention was to create hateful northern-sounding metal and that's all for me.
2. "Vihreällä Valtaistuimella" (On The Green Throne) - Numerous times I've been inspired by nature when writing, and of that inspiration I also made the basis of these lyrics. However, I seemed to get totally stuck when trying to complete them. I asked my fiancée for assistance because of her fascinating poems, and I must say it was the right solution. Besides the lyrics, I had made a short integral part of this song, consisting of two of my riffs and one that I borrowed from our friend Kalle. The latter riffs were more like folkish as it was meant to be, and even though the first was more aggressive they fit very well together.
3. "Talvi" (Winter) - Henri had made some weather-report lyrics that he said he wasn't satisfied with, and he asked me to make something exceptionally good out of them. I ended up altering them quite a bit, mostly for the means of making them less corny, and the result was, uh, cold indeed.
4. "Luopion Veri" (Blood Of An Apostate) - This time it was Henri who was inspired by the crusaders. His violent lyrics, however, got my treatment once again, but as the co-operational result was just as we wanted it, no one should complain, eh? For this song I had also made the synth interlude that appears after 3 minutes. In fact it wasn't originally meant for Moonsorrow, but it worked well in this song after all.
5. "Kuun Suru" (The Moon's Sorrow) - One of those melodies that evolved when I was once again on the tip of boredom and playing with my piano. I played it to Henri and he was like "wow" which I thought was kind of unexpected, and he asked if he could arrange it for Moonsorrow. I of course let him do that because there usually is no use for this kind of stuff from me, and the result was something I simply must be satisfied with.

[Henri] I was really into the northern mythology back then, and when I had made the music for the demo, the lyrics just came along, so to say. Ville says they're crap anyway. Well, I've never been a killer lyricist... The music was pretty Enslaved-ish, being partly fast as hell and partly melodic and atmospheric, but let me say a few words of each song...
1. "Jo Pimeys Saa" - Basically, this was just a short introduction song I actually made long ago before we decided to do the demo tape, and as we were in lack of some kind of an intro, we decided to use it. So, nothing special here. Disappointed? Anyway, then we added some battle samples and - voila! - there it was. However, the ones with the most accurate ears may recognize from where the samples are taken...
2. "Fimbulvetr Frost" - This song tells a tale of the Fimbulvinter - a deadly winter in the nordic mythology, which lasts three times more than a regular one and is supposed to come just before Ragnarök - the twilight of the gods. The lyrics tell a story of a disciple of Odin, who survives this great snowy tide.
3. "Hvergelmir" - This one was inspired by the old myths and it's kind of a short lecture into the northern mythology. And even if the music is - ehh - kinda "traditional" I still find it to be very interesting indeed.
4. "Elivagar (Pakanavedet)" - "The stormy waves", the eleven rivers which flow from Nifelheim are what this song is all about.

What is the most important country or place Moonsorrow thinks that is the most important in Europe and America or Latin america to be known?

[Ville] In terms of metal music, the most important place to know nowadays is Eastern Europe. You wouldn't believe how much good music they produce there! Perhaps it has something to do with that they haven't got so much money that they could afford to release crap (like e.g. the Finnish are able to). On cultural grounds then, I think it's important to get acquainted with all areas with a remarkable pagan past. In Europe such are, besides Finland of course, Scandinavia, the Baltic, Russia and other Slavonic countries, Britannia, the German sphere of influence, Romania, Greece, and almost every other place, as Europe bears many strong traditions. Coming to America, there are the Indian lands: the whole United States (...shivers...) and parts of Canada that were inhabited by the North American Indians, Alaska, Greenland and other parts of Canada with inuits, the moist areas of South America that carried the Amazonian Indians, and as the most notable the Maya and Aztec realms of Central America and the Andean land of the Incas.

If you had got any chance to listen to a mexican metal band, what is the name of the band or what is your opinion about the metal that Mexico is exporting?

[Ville] To tell the truth, I've come across only a handful of Mexican metal combos: Shub-Niggurath, Cenotaph, Extincion Cerebral and perhaps some others I can't remember at the moment, or some that I just don't know to hail from Mexico. I must also confess that I'm not a big fan of any of these bands, but that doesn't exclude the option that there could be good Mexican metal I just haven't heard yet or still about to be made. A good band can be born just about anywhere.

Name 5 bands that you think that are leading the metal scene in Europe.

[Ville] It is easy to name any five bands that constantly stay in the spotlight and whose actions thus affect the direction of the "scene". These kind of "leaders" could for example be Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Moonspell, Children Of Bodom and In Flames. It is useless to deny these acts' influence on the current market, as unfair as it would seem. However, these bands don't have too much respect amongst serious metal musicians, who perhaps would rather like me to make a list of those bands who have had a huge influence on the current state of metal music and imagery - without thinking of their sales figures. From my point of view, the absolute top 5 would then consist of Iron Maiden, Venom, Celtic Frost, Bathory and Mayhem. Or if talking about bands that are still alive and well, I would, besides Iron Maiden and Mayhem, name Darkthrone, Emperor and Satyricon.

What are the things that you most like or dislike in the metal scene nowadays? and what Moonsorrow is offering?

[Ville] At least there are a thousand things I dislike in the current metal scene, if nothing else. As if anyone liking metal couldn't cope without a band, the result is that there are too many shitty bands being formed every day. Even more irritating is that too many of these shitty bands somehow manage to get record deals and thus getting a wide distribution for their excrement. This has been caused by a thing that itself is a negative aspect within the metal scene as well: the growing number of record labels. As if anyone liking metal but unable to play even the shittiest forest metal couldn't cope without a record label. If we however cut the lamenting on this injustice, as it is rather banal nowadays, the bad blood flowing around is a thing to complain about at least. I don't see Moonsorrow being a part of this miscreation, as we are a band that has deserved its record deal - even though I say it myself. Also we have not created any negative tension between ourselves and other bands, at least not on purpose. But that you wouldn't get me wrong, I don't hate the scene. I like to communicate with nice metalheads around the globe and trade or buy music that is worth it, and that is what makes my scene. I don't care about the rest as it isn't my business.

What do you think about the cult bands?

[Ville] Usually "cult bands" obtain their statuses with rather outmusical achievements, which means that they don't have to be anything musically speaking. A shocking image or just an action of some of the band members can buy a band a cult status. You can think of any cult band and you would always notice that their reputation isn't all about music, if you get my point. This is also the reason for why I don't like these so-called cult bands in general. To name a few remarkable exceptions, however, I would say Bathory, Mayhem, Darkthrone and Emperor. I like their music and frankly I don't give a fuck whether they are "cult" or not.

Do you have any plans to record a CD? and if it is , when and with what company?

[Ville] My favourite question, ha ha! As we partly expected, some people got interested in "Tämä Ikuinen Talvi", finally resulting to a record deal with Plasmatica Records from Sweden. We are going to record our debut album in February 2000 in Tico-Tico Studios, and it will propably be out somewhere in spring. I wouldn't like to say this myself, but expect a killer release...

Who do you think is a remarkable metal producer nowadays?

[Ville] Luckily there are many of them, one being the producer of our album, Ahti Kortelainen. I also like very much the work of Peter Tägtren, Fredrik Nordström, Tomas Skogsberg and Dan Swanö for instance, and of course there are shitloads of really admirable producers in USA too.

What is the market that Moonsorrow is interested to be important in? ( other than Europe)

[Ville] It would of course be cool to be important on any market, but perhaps South America would be the nicest. I have heard that there are many devoted metalheads, and it would be nice to see whether they would appreciate our music.

What do you think about metal bands (like Nightwish) bringing sampled keyboards to their shows, and the use of keyboards in metal bands?

[Ville] Umm... we're on the same train. However, the use of keyboards is everyone's own business. In some cases keyboards support the music, in some cases they ruin it. I really like bands like Bal-Sagoth who overuse synths if they do it well, but somehow I would still like to see more bands who could create their atmospheres without keyboards and still sound great, such as Dissection or Solstice. Whether the keyboards are sampled is usually not a choice, because hiring an orchestra is very expensive. It would of course sound a lot better, but if you have a good synth it's enough.

What do you think that is the most important thing for a metal band to keep doing and what thing is the less important?

[Ville] Undoubtably the most important for every metal band is to keep playing the music they like. It is also very important to rehearse and record a few demos before signing for a full-length. The least important thing is of course emphasizing of the image, because if you're sincere with your image you don't have to concentrate on it too much - and it still keeps looking good.

Moonsorrow, had any real meaning for you (the name) or is just something that means what it means?

[Ville] I'm not sure where the name Moonsorrow came to our minds or which one of us invented it. Anyway, the name itself doesn't mean much on a concrete level, but both "moon" and "sorrow" have strong meanings as themselves. Everyone can interpret the combination of these in one's own way. To me, there's a hundred meanings to it as well as there is none, as it is a symbolic name. One concept that this symbol can be attached to is the dear Finnish melancholy.