BSpix / June 2009

 

 

LINK

 

June 20 2009 (Hellfest - Clisson)

It's without my questions sheet (lost before we came to Clisson apparently) that I consequently ask some things by memory to the very kind MOONSORROW's guitarist Mitja Harvilahti after their performance at the HELLFEST. And the Finnish quartet (quintet in live setting) has a lot to offer with their epic-black-pagan music. Their latest release is called "Tulimyrsky" which is an E.P. including a Metallica cover.

Fab: So are you happy to be here at the HELLFEST 2009 ? How is your feeling after you show here? Mitja Harvilahti: Oh, it was a pleasure to play here because for us, France is always very good. We've been here for a few times, and every time the French audience has been really really good. And we've been waiting to play here in this festival for a long time, so it was really a pleasure. The crowd was very good. Unfortunately (little nervous laughter), I hurt my neck during the third song so I couldn't spin my head anymore at all, because it hurts like hell all the time, but, otherwise, we had a really good time. Fab: And what do you think about the reaction of the audience? Mitja Harvilahti: It was really good. I mean, there were lots of people who probably didn't really know us, but I could see they liked what they heard, and they stayed for the whole show. Also, there were a lot of fans, so the reaction was really enthusiastic.

Fab: How do you manage to perform your very epic songs on stage? Mitja Harvilahti: This summer, we couldn't do the very epic songs. The last tour we had one and half hour. If we have one hour to play, we can play one very long song, and then shorter ones. It's just about to make the songs work. You have to rehearse a certain way so that the guitars might be taken some of the keyboard leads. But I think it works pretty easily after all, even though the songs are very long. We have many kind of different passages and parts in the songs, so, it turns to be very boring (laughter).

Fab: Can we say that your inspiration is still very into Northern Culture? Mitja Harvilahti: Yeah (hesitating), in a way. Note that it is quite abstract mostly. So we might deal with Nordic mythology matters in our feelings, but they always have this Pagan mood by nature, within the music and the lyrics. We have some songs that are part of our Northern, Finnish historical northern culture in general. But mostly nowadays they are more abstract, more poetic. But the feel of the lyrics is very Finnish. So it's definitely rooted into the Scandinavian region in Finland, even though we don't say anything about it. But always we have metaphors, some of that instinct, it does not especially have something historical, northern or something, it's not so straight.

Fab: Have you planned to release a book about all the stories that are inside your lyrics? The finland history, with drawings, etc…with your music as a soundtrack. Mitja Harvilahti: Hum, that would be interesting. Our music is very cinematic so, I think, but if you were just to make a short movie, it would suck (laughter), it wouldn't worked the way that it should. Perhaps, actually, lyrics with pictures, photographs, paintings…it would make sense. Also it would make sense to do a DVD, a live DVD with the pictures and the background, the videos. It would be strong, but to start working on it, it will take a long time to put it together, I think. But we have some ideas about that actually. We have to find the right people to do it. Because if you do something mediocre, it's bullshit, you have to do it well.

Fab: So are you going to release a dvd soon? Mitja Harvilahti: Not right now. We have a lot of material to use as an extra material, but we have to shoot some couple of shows, and we haven't decided how we should do it. Maybe in Finland or maybe somewhere else, but we really need something special. And we have to come up with the idea with the record company and everything. But someday, we will eventually release a DVD within two years I hope. Because when you make a DVD, you have to tour a lot just before the shoot, it doesn't work often when you have some dates in Helsinki and that we just rehearse in the practice room and then go to do it, because if you're not confident enough to go onstage, then it's not going to work out. So we need to find some time, be on the road for a couple of weeks and eventually shoot a DVD. When you do something especially for a DVD, you don't wanna take any risks, people playing the wrong note, or stupid stuff like that, that's something we don't want, that's why it's taking so long to make a DVD.

Fab: What is your thought one year after the release of the "Tulimyrsky" E.P.? Mitja Harvilahti: Yeah, it was an E.P. with one new song for half an hour (laughter), and a METALLICA cover (ndlr: For Whom The Bell Tolls) , a MERCILESS cover (ndlr: Back To North), and two old demo songs, "2008" version. The idea we had was from five years back, because we had arranged the METALLICA cover many years before, and we recorded it in 2005. So, we already had some bonus material, but we didn't find any use for it. So, after our last full-length album, which was a very heavy thing for us to do, we needed something refreshing, something for us to break the chains, and just do something that we enjoy all. That's why we had this idea of a very cinematic half-an-hour, epic song and of course the METALLICA cover. And we wanted to do these two demo songs again (ndlr: Taistelu Pohjolasta & Hvergelmir). We haven't really changed them anyway, but just recorded better. And we chose the MERCILESS cover, the second song, because we already played it in 2000.

Fab: How did you change the METALLICA cover song into something almost completely different but recognizable? And with a strong MOONSORROW identity. Mitja Harvilahti: Well, that's the thing when you make cover songs. If the band is original in some way, if they have their own songs, there's no point to replicate the song. We had played the riffs many years ago in the rehearsal room, and we realized that we could make something special with it, something completely special out of this Metallica song. We changed some of the riffs, the audience will know when (laughter), and we found out that is sounded more MOONSORROW than METALLICA, even if it's a cover. I think it still captures the METALLICA song really well, but it's in our performance. And that's what I think is interesting about covers, playing them almost completely different from the original. Fab: And did you had any feedback from METALLICA about this cover? Mitja Harvilahti: No, not that I know of (laughter). I have no idea if they have heard it. Actually, I should have gave the cd to a friend of mine who just met them a week ago. Maybe I will send it to their management.

Fab: Have you started working on the new full-length album? Mitja Harvilahti: We're just gathering ideas right now, we have one song. Our drummer has made one song but we hadn't really arranged it yet. Henri (Sorvali - Guitar/Keys) who is the main composer, is working on other things right now. He's doing some arrangements, he's finishing with FINNTROLL new album. I can't guarantee when it's gonna come out. This spring, maybe. If it takes more time, then we will have to postponed it to autumn. That would suck because we really want to make it in time for the summer festivals. But it's amusing, when you have people from many bands, like us and fintroll for Henri, how it seems that you always have all release in the same times (laughter).

Fab: Do you usually do the songwriting at home, or on the road? Mitja Harvilahti: Usually at home, at Henri home studio. He's very quick with what he does. We got to gave him some riffs, he would then add some more riffs. He will make a lot of materiel in one day, so, the whole album would take shape within two months, maybe a couple of weeks. We don't really rehearse at the rehearsal room, we just go down into the studio because we work so much on the final arrangements. It's very different from many other bands. We need tight schedule to really squeeze it hard from us. It's always hard to work that way, but that's the way it works for us.

Fab: You need creative pressure. Mitja Harvilahti: Exactly. Henri is amazingly fast. When he's doing the demos at his studio, he can programs the drums with one hand, and I can see his eyes, he's already has some keyboards stuff or guitar's riffs. When he's done the drums, he just grabs a guitar or a keyboard, any instrument and he plays a lot of stuff instantly. So it takes shape really quickly. After a couple of weeks, we already have put a lot of things together.

Fab: Did you ever thought about doing a movie soundtrack? Mitja Harvilahti: Not really. If somebody ask us to, we might do I, itt will depends on the time we had. It would be an honour to do a soundtrack, if it's a good movie (laughter). But we never know. We have some offers from friends, little companies, there were short films and not really interesting. Our music has been used in some movies in finland or television programs, bu we haven't done any official soundtrack. That would be interesting through.

 

Guitar World / May 2009

Link

(Interview date: May 4th 2009)

PLEASE NOTE: The names seem to be messed up in this interview. It was Janne who had his guitar stolen, and it was Mitja who started liking the Beatles at the age of four. Therefore, I have decided to modify them, so they are correct in this blog entry.

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Pagan Metal Roundup: Moonsorrow

Posted 11/13/2009 at 11:15am | by Brad Angle

When the popular Paganfest II tour rolled through New York last spring, featuring Korpiklaani, Moonsorrow, Blackguard, Swashbuckle and more, we caught up with Finnish pagan metal band Moonsorrow.
In the following Q&A, guitarists Janne Perttilä and Mitja Harvilahti discuss their pre-Christian beliefs, anti-nationalism and the future of pagan metal.
By Brad Angle. Main photos (and following gallery) by Sarah Sturges.

This is a paganfest tour. What the hell is pagan metal?

MITJA HARVILAHTI Well, I think pagan metal is just heavy metal with lyrics about spiritual themes, our ancestors and the pre-Christian beliefs in Finland.

JANNE PERTTILÄ And in Scandinavia in general. Things that tap into our heritage.

HARVILAHTI In Finland, it’s part of everyday life. These traditions are mixed in with the Christianity traditions and you have to seek a little bit further to understand why these traditions exist and the deeper meaning behind them. We’re not here to preach about it. We’re here to make people aware that they can see for themselves that their nation has its own history and traditions.

What specific aspect of pre-Christian beliefs interest you?

HARVILAHTI Nature. All of the old beliefs were tied in with nature. If you listen to our more recent albums, you can feel a sense of nature in the music. The lyrics are a bit more abstract, ranging from water to darkness and so on. The themes don’t always have to deal with Finnish traditions, but they should give you the feeling of being in Finland or the Finland/Scandinavia region.

So you guys are sort of tapping into these spiritual forces.

PERTTILÄ We do it for the sake of building an atmosphere, at least that’s what I personally believe.

HARVILAHTI We use it to show respect rather than to tap into one particular tradition or belief.

PERTTILÄ There are obviously fans of this scene who take it really far and actually living it out, like they’re trying to be Vikings or something. [laughs] Well, to each his own!

Do you have any wild fan stories?

HARVILAHTI I have a good one. We were in the U.S. a couple of years ago for Milwaukee Metal Fest and this guy comes over to me. I was wearing this rune and he asked me what it was. I began to explain it to him and he said, “Do you believe in Odin?” I told him no, that I was an atheist. He told me to fuck off and that I was not getting in to Valhalla! [laughs]

PERTTILÄ There are a lot of people that are surprised to find out we are just normal guys.

Moonsorrow's Janne PERTTILÄ. Photo: Sarah Sturges

What do you consider to be the roots of pagan metal?

HARVILAHTI For me, it’s definitely Enslaved from Norway. I got introduced to them when I was 13 or something and they were definitely the most influential pagan black metal band during that time. Vikingligr Veldi, their first album, really opened my eyes to the use of pagan mythologies in the music. Plus, back then, even though there were some Norwegian bands that sung some songs in their own language, it was almost exclusively in English. But these guys sang the songs in Icelandic and gave me the idea to explore that in our music. We are not viking metal, but on our last EP, Tulimyrsky, we explored viking metal themes. It was just an EP and we wanted to do something fresh, but otherwise we are much more pagan metal than viking metal.

What made you first pick up a guitar?

PERTTILÄ The Beatles.

HARVILAHTI Yeah, same here. I was four years old when I first started listening to the Beatles. In all of those pictures where they’re holding their Rickenbackers, there’s just something really magical about those instruments. I’ve been obsessed with guitars ever since.

PERTTILÄ My parents had a few Beatles records from their youth in the Sixties. I got hooked on to their Sgt. Peppers LP, and the package was so nice. It blew my mind. When I was like seven or eight, I gradually bought all of the Beatles’ records with my allowance.

Did you guys take guitar lessons when you were younger?

PERTTILÄ I borrowed some self-learning materials from the library and played along to records. Then I eventually started to take proper lessons. At the same time, my parents made me take violin lessons for like eight years, and I absolutely hated it. [laughs] In hindsight, it was probably a good idea because I wouldn’t have learned all of the theory and musical knowledge at such a young age. Then when I hit puberty, I discovered punk rock, beer and women. [laughs]

HARVILAHTI I took classical guitar lessons for like 15 years, but I suck at it nowadays. I more or less learned how to play electric guitar by myself. Since I was nine, I’ve always been in some kind of band. I would start in one class, then move on to a new school and make new friends to start a band with, and so on. My earliest bands were black metal...but not when I was nine. [laughs]

What guitarist most influenced your style?

PERTTILÄ Guys like Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, [Dave] Mustaine, Dimebag Darrell, Alex Skolnick – whose solos are just godly – and Trey Azagthoth.

HARVILAHTI For me, I’d have to say [Spanish classical guitarist] Francisco Tárrega and his complete opposite: Jeff Hanneman. [laughs] I love how Hanneman can play the same lead in every song for so long. Plus Slayer have this punk attitude when they play. They are a perfect example of how you don’t always have to be always perfect in your technique and still be able to express your aggression through your guitar.

Do you bring that same mentality when you’re playing?

HARVILAHTI Not really. When I compose my guitar solos and such, as well as the other instruments, I always make it fit the music. I never do the Jeff Hanneman stuff in our music because it doesn’t fit. I take the existing parts of the song and write my leads to that, rather than writing leads just to have leads. They have to have meaning to the song. If I was playing more aggressive music, then I would go ahead and explore that realm.

One characteristic of pagan metal is its use of instruments that aren’t traditionally associated with extreme metal. What other instruments do you employ?

HARVILAHTI In the studio, we use a lot of these old instruments, like the accordian and Jouhikko [traditional Finnish violin]. We stay very true to our roots so we never had any awkward situations with the hired musicians. A lot of folk metal or pagan metal bands these days can’t write good heavy metal music or good folk music. They should just concentrate on writing good heavy metal songs and if they want to add in some folk stuff, concentrate on writing good folk songs.

PERTTILÄ And it doesn’t help now that the scene exploded in Europe and it’s starting to happen here in the United States as well. All of these bands are coming out of nowhere, and some might have something, but most of them don’t.

What guitar technique/approach makes you stand out from the pack?

HARVILAHTI I’d have to say my Pete Townshend stage move and hanging my guitar lower. [laughs] That’s it. Well that, and a sense of melody.

PERTTILÄ I'd say the fact that we try to avoid harmonizing in the style of Iron Maiden, and do something with its own flavor.

What piece of gear is crucial to your sound?
 
HARVILAHTI My Gibson Flying V. I’ve been using it live for a few months and it’s the best live gear I’ve used. Buy it also depends on the situation. For amplifiers, I need an amp that has a straight-forward rock sound but with a bit more edge and a natural sounding EQ. I can tour with the effects easily. I plug straight into the PA, and through the head. That way if the head breaks, I am still on in the PA. As for my guitars, they are all Gibson. I have a collection of them, starting from ’79 to the modern ones. I mainly use the ’98 Natural Limited Edition, the Gothic, and, if I have the courage to bring it with me, the Silverburst from ’79.

PERTTILÄ I don’t have mine anymore. [laughs] I had a nice ESP custom shop star guitar that was stolen at the beginning of this tour in Montreal. The guitar I’m playing now is an ESP Eclipse, the standard model. For amps, I use a VHT rack unit with an ENGL preamp. Unfortunately, it’s hard to bring your own backline, so I would say that the most important thing is to be able to dial in a sufficient sound with whatever the gig gives you.

Pagan metal seem to have representatives in many different cultures: U.S., Finland, Ireland, Norway, among others. Is the scene filled with people that have strong national pride? 
 
HARVILAHTI Unfortunately, historically there are some countries, like Germany or Russia, that have destroyed pagan cultures and beliefs while employing pagan symbols to represent their views. I hate that. I hate it when people associate us and these symbols with the Nazi movement, or think we are right wing nationalists.

PERTTILÄ Of course, there are some good reasons for us to use these symbols, but it’s a touchy subject for some people. It’s hard for us to explain it without sounding like nationalist bigots. When you talk about pride, it’s not about thinking you are better than someone else or the self-righteous aspect of it.

HARVILAHTI And you have to keep in mind that there are pagans all over the world, in places like Siberia, the Amazon, Africa. It’s just recently that Europeans are rediscovering their pagan history. We came from these Christian backgrounds and are rediscovering our history after many generations of being away from it. We should be supporting these smaller nations who are struggling to keep their pagan culture alive after all these years.

What’s up with the costumes, chainmail and facepaint that many people and bands wear in the scene?

PERTTILÄ Well, it’s always funny to see people in hats with horns...and it always makes my day. [laughs] Living in today's culture, it’s always refreshing to see people dress out of the norm. It seems as if you include the word “heritage,” it makes the scene more “real” and attractive. It’s not something that I would do, but I can definitely understand it if you wear a costume to the party.

HARVILAHTI On our earlier albums, we dressed up like that for the pictures in the booklet. But not anymore. I have nothing against it, and I think people should have some fun once in a while.

This movement is just getting going here in the States. Where do you see it heading?

PERTTILÄ Hell. We've played so many pagan metal festivals in Germany with so many sucky Finntroll copies that it’s unbelievable. Occassionally, some good bands pop up but I wish it wouldn’t escalate any further.

HARVILAHTI And if you look at the lineup for this tour and other similar shows, it’s always the same bands because there aren’t enough bands with potential, yet. The scene really needs some new blood and quality music. Otherwise, these same bands will tour for another 10 years.

PERTTILÄ You just can’t mix distorted guitar with an acoustic guitar or accordian and say you’re as good as Korpliklaani or Finntroll. It’s like the Sunset Strip in ’84—if you had big hair you would sell lots of records. [laughs]

Metal Hammer / April 2009

Link

I suppose there's a longer version in the paper version of the magazine. If you have that particular issue of Metal Hammer, please contact me. Thanks!

Google Übersetzung: Ich glaube, es ist eine längere Version in der Papier-Version des Magazins. Wenn Sie diese besondere Frage der Metal Hammer haben, kontaktieren Sie mich bitte. Vielen Dank!

Moonsorrow: Interview beim Metal for Fairness Festival

Moonsorrow sind düster, schwermütig, mystisch? Von wegen! Sie führen im METAL HAMMER Interview ihren Band-Namen ad absurdum und blödeln um die Wette.

Foto:

myspace.com/moonsorrow

Moonsorrow Promo Bild

Selten, aber immerhin manchmal hat man das Glück, eine gesamte Band zum Interview zu treffen. Das Glück ereilt den Metal Hammer im Falle von Moonsorrow, die vor ihrem Headliner Gig beim “Metal for Fairness”-Festival in Wien (hier der Bericht) bester Dinge sind, pausenlos lachen und abwechselnd sich selbst oder den Interviewer verarschen.



Interessant ist die Band-interne Rollenaufteilung: Gitarrist Mitja ist der polternde Rädelsführer, Schlagzeuger Marko sein intellektueller Widerpart, Keyboarder “Lord” Eurén macht seinen Namen alle Ehre und schweigt würdig in die Runde, während Session-Gitarrist Janne laufend zynische Witze reißt – und ausgerechnet Frontschreihals Ville ist der Schüchterne und Introvertierte der Truppe.



Moonsorrow sind gut drauf und haben allen Grund dazu – immerhin ist ihnen mit ihrer letzten EP TULIMYRSKY ein außergewöhnliches Stück Musik gelungen. Eigentlich schade, so eine epische Komposition im Repertoire zu haben, die sich live kaum reproduzieren lässt. “Da kennst Du uns aber schlecht, Bürschchen,” schimpft Mitja drauflos, “natürlich spielen wir ‘Tulimyrsky’ live, das ist doch kein Problem!” Naja, das Ding dauert immerhin eine halbe Stunde – damit ist ein Moonsorrow-Gig schon zur Hälfte vorbei! “Toll, nicht? So haben die Leute genug Zeit, um unser Merch zu kaufen,” kontert Janne.



So eine clevere Geschäftsstrategie lässt erwarten, dass das nächste Album der Finnen wieder mit überlangen Songs gespickt ist. Hier allerdings brüllt die gesamte Band lauthals “Nein!”, und Marko führt aus: “Auf keinen Fall, das haben wir jetzt vorläufig ausgereizt. Das nächste Album ist zwar erst für nächsten Januar angesetzt, aber die Songs werden definitiv kürzer. Ich denke, wir werden zumindest einen Fünf-Minüter dabei haben, damit wir endlich mal ein Video drehen können.” - Janne: “Dich will da aber keiner sehen” - Marko: “Halt die Klappe.”



Ob Band-Boss und Mastermind Henri Sorvali da mitspielt? Immerhin schreibt er die gesamte Musik für Moonsorrow. Was passiert eigentlich, wenn irgendein anderes Mitglied einmal kreative Ideen hat? “Dann wird es getötet,” flüstert Ville. Und Mitja ergänzt: “Jaja, so geht’s mir ständig - ich hab wirklich oft gute Riffs, aber die landen schneller im Mistkübel, als ich bis Drei zählen kann.” Janne: “Du kannst eben nix.” Mitja: “Halt’s Maul.”



Beim abschließenden Thema werden die Finnen jedoch ungewohnt ernst. Bei der letzten Paganfest-Tour kam es zu Anschuldigungen, Moonsorrow wären eine verkappte Nazi-Truppe. Darauf angesprochen wird Mitja richtig sauer: “Oh Mann, erinner mich bloß nicht daran. Im Prinzip war das nur ein Typ, der aber Ärger für zehn gemacht hat. Wir haben diesen Blödsinn zuerst gar nicht ernst genommen - bis es zu spät war und alle Zeitungen darüber berichtet haben.” Und Marko ergänzt: “Ich wünschte, wir würden ihn eines Tages kennen lernen, damit wir das persönlich besprechen könnten. Zu unserem letzten Konzert in Berlin haben wir ihn auch eingeladen, aber er ist natürlich nicht gekommen. Was für ein Feigling!” Aber wer will sich schon mit Wikingern anlegen…?

Skulls N Bones / May 2009

Link

I'm not sure if this is an interview with background music or music with a background interview. Good luck in uderstanding & following!




TRANSCRIPTION

[Nonsense about pronouncing Sorvali correctly]

The last time I talked to you was about a year and a half ago, no?

Yes, something like that.

A lot actually happened since then. We lost [somebody], you've been accused of being nazi, you released Tulimyrsky... Do you feel different now than you did a year and a half ago?

I've grown older. [Something about worse hangovers]

This is fucking absurd so I'll paraphrase from here on. Approximations follow. Additional detail: this interview happened during a US tour.

Do you like touring with these bands?

Yes I love touring, but it doesn't matter who we're touring with. It doesn't have to be the same kind of music. It's better for the audience. To tour with Korpiklaani is great because they're great guys.

Tell me about Tulimyrsky. When we spoke last time you told me about a 30-minute long song, and you actually did it. It's an awesome song that feels much shorter. Have you had any negative feedback?

No. Of course some people could consider it borig, but these people actually [inaudible] and even if they did [inaudible]. I like it a lot but [inaudible].

You play it in sections, anyway, right?

We used to play it in sections, the first part and the last, then we started playing it in full.

Are you gonna play "For Whom the Bell Tolls"?

No. It's Henri singing and he's not on the tour.

Last time you told me you don't play any instrument, but then I saw you in a photo playing bass.

Yes, I play bass, but I don't consider myself a musician.

You've been called a nazi in Germany by some human rights organizations. How did that happen?

It had nothing to do with human rights. It was some dude doing it in the name of Antifa. There wasn't any organization behind it, just one guy. He started looking at album covers and lyrics and pointing at things: this is nazi, this is nazi. But those symbols have nothing to do with nazism, they're ancient symbols.

And how did you respond to that?

At first we wanted to just forget about it, but then we realized we had to make some sort of statement, because we were in danger of getting our berlin gig cancelled. In the end there was no problem.

You have two other bands, Lakupaavi and Homosika. What about them?

Just Lakupaavi. Homosika is supposed to be the forthcoming album. Sometimes we write something when we are at home. It's crappy hardcore. Maybe we'll make it at some point when we have time. We don't need much time. One day in the studio and eight crates of beer. That's an album.

Personal goals?

To get fat and happy. I don't know, I've achieved more than I've ever dreamed of. Being here, for example. Playing on a stage for lots of people. It feels weird, I'm just a normal guy from Finland. Suddenly I'm here. It's weird. Other than that, some peace of mind in my personal life. There is a lot to achieve in that. Music-wise, I'm living the dream.


Transcribed on 6·II·2021. What a fucking waste of time.

Metal Injection / August 2009

Link




Noa Avior interviews Ville Sorvali for Metal Injection during Paganfest US 2009.

Moonsorrow happens to be one of my favourite bands of all time. They have opened up my ears and my mind to a new area of music that otherwise probably would have never known, so I wanted to personally thank you for creating your music.

I'm flattered. And good evening.

A large part of the Moonsorrow sound are all the atmospheric elements that you incorporate into your music, like the wolf howls and the sword clangs, water, birds... You're so good at putting this atmospheric elements together. Can you describe the atmosphere of the Paganfest tour, and what sounds would you use to describe it?

What sounds would I use to describe the Paganfest tour?

Yeah, what atmospheric sounds of the Paganfest tour?

The clinging of beer bottles.

Beer bottles? Nice. What about other stuff, like battly sounds, I think?

There are a lot of sounds in the bus, but you don't want to hear about them.

You guys are sharing a bus with the guys from Primordial, right? So, how's that?

They are the nicest guys on the planet. We toured with them 3 years ago in Europe and it was good to have them again in the bus with us. We get along very well. We have the same weird sense of humour and there is always someone partying if we need it.

That's awesome! So, have the US been treating you well? I know there's been some good parts of the tour and then some really really bad parts of the tour.

Good part: all of the venues we played were really cool, with lots of people, we played great shows and so far the response has been really good. We're really excited to be here. I didn't expect it to be this good, actually. So I'm happy.

Now let's go back to Moonsorrow. The band. Can you talk about what your music is, what symbolism do you portray, what mythological stories do you tell. Because I know you don't like to be associated as a Viking metal band, so how do you interpret your music?

I'd just say it's concentrated around Finnish paganism and the pagan mindset. We're not actually singing that much about mythology any more. It's more the pagan mindset and respect for nature and our discontent with today's world or the modern world. We're not happy with how things are going. I'm not saying we would like to go back to the Stone Age or anything like that, I'm happy with having electricity and running water in my house, but all this consuming and consuming is not good for the planet and it's not good for the people either.

Is that why you incorporate a lot of your nature sounds in your albums? I can think of the song Kaiku, there's five minutes of sounds of the forest, the birds and everything. Is that why you use those sounds in your music? To try to preserve it?

Partly it's because we want to emphasize the emaning behind our music, and partly it is because we don't really think that music should be only music. We all like a lot of movie soundtracks that are not just about the music, there are other sounds as well.

Is that why you thank Mel Gibson on Suden Uni?

Yes, we thank Mel Gibson because Braveheart gave us a lot of inspiration. We watched it 9 times during the making of our first album. 9 times in 9 days.

You think nobody reads the credits, huh?

Yeah, I thought no one reads the credits!

Is there a back story to the name Moonsorrow? Why is your band called like that?

It's a stupid name to begin with. But I think all the good heavy metal bands should have a stupid name. The story in all its glory is that Henri took it from the Celtic Frost song Sorrows of the Moon. That's the whole story.

Skrymer of Finntroll made the album cover of "Strength and Honour" [Voimasta ja kunniasta]. Did he also do the cover of Firestorm [Tulimyrsky]?

No, he didn't. It was a Belgian guy called Kris Verwimp who did the cover for this one. We have a tradition of using a different cover artist every time. I don't know why we have that tradition, but we decided to go that way and check if we could still find some people who could draw covers accordng to our ideas. Honestly this one became even better than we thought.

Right. And you also help expand the work among artists that are struggling, probably, and they need to have some [...], right?

We're all the same people, so we have to keep together!

On "Firestorm" there are two covers, you guys covered Metallica and Merciless. Why did you choose those two bands, and are there other bands you guys like to jam on when rehearsing?

I don't know why we chose Metallica in the first place. It was more than five years ago when Henri made the arrangement in Moonsorrow style, probably because he had too much time in his hands.

In my opinion it sounds better than Metallica.

Well, it's different than the original, I'm not comparing which one is better because "For Whom th Bell Tolls" is actually one of my favourite songs ever, but I think we pulled it through pretty well. In my opinion it's a really good cover.

In my opinion too.

When Henri made the arrangement, I heard it and I said, "we have to record this". Then we recorded it in 2005 and the record label asked us to do a bonus song for some sort of release which never happened, so now, when we had the idea of the EP, we decided to use it. And we decided to do another cover as well, of Merciless, because we were playing it live back in the days when we started.

Okay, so you guys are not going to be like Children of Bodom, you're not going to cover Britney Spears or something and put that on an album, right?

Most probably not.

We won't see that in the future of Moonsorrow.

The thing is that you don't only have to cover metal bands. You can cover anything. The thing is that you have to make the cover sound like your own band. That's why we're not covering Bathory, for example.

On the last track of "Suden uni", which is "The Wolf's Dream", there's a song called "Come Along, Fellows!" [Tulkaapa äijät]. Is that your funeral? That's how I interpret it, all the guys celebrating your funeral, and then it ends with a quote that you would like on your tombstone? That's what I thought. How wrong am I?

You're sort of right. It's just not for my funeral, even though I wrote it under my own name, because as you realized I left my own name out from the listing of the names.

Right.

But it's a cover song, actually, froma Swedish folk tune that had similar lyrics. Actually it just had different names on the listing of the names, listing the friends who should attend the funeral.

It seems like a very upbeat song. Is that what a traditional Finnish funeral is? More of a celebrtion as opposed to a somber setting?

Not nowadays. The funerals in today's world are boring! I hate them. But back in the day, in the Iron Age or whatever, I'm pretty sure that people actually celebrated at funerals, because the spirit of the guy who was dead was free, so they celebrated it.



Transcribed on January 10th 2020. Believe it or not.

Xtreem Magazine / July 2009

Link

Juanma Torre (03.07.2009)

MOONSORROW es una banda finlandesa que con su particular visión del Viking Metal, no dejan de sorprendernos con cada trabajo que editan. Desde sus inicios mas Folk hasta su Viking mas crudo y agresivo, no hacen mas que ganar adeptos. Y seamos sinceros, la calidad de esta banda es realmente sorprendente. Gracias a la amabilidad y predisposición de Ville Sorvali, podemos conocer un poquito mas a esta banda.

Lo primero, me gustaría saber de vosotros, de vuestros inicios y vuestras últimas actividades como banda.
Nos remontamos allá por 1995, cuando comencé este proyecto con mi primo Henri. Mucho tiempo ha pasado ya desde entonces, pero la idea básica todavía es la misma; hacer pagan metal épico. Hemos tocado con la misma formación (Ville y Henri Sorvali, Marco Tarvonen, Mitja Harvilahti, Markus Eurén mas Janne Pertilla como músico de directo) durante casi una década y hemos pasado muy buenos ratos juntos.

Los proyectos mas recientes de MOONSORROW implican realizar un paréntesis en las giras lo que queda de año para poder componer y después entraremos en el estudio para grabar nuestro sexto álbum en enero/febrero del 2010.

Personalmente, creo que con cada álbum vais evolucionando hacia un sonido mas crudo y menos Folk. ¿Estás de acuerdo con esta idea?
No necesariamente, por que en realidad cuando comenzamos teníamos menos influencias Folk que en nuestros tres primeros álbumes. Hemos ido desarrollando nuestras ideas en varias direcciones, pero también es verdad que hemos vuelto un poco a nuestras raíces mas Black con menos elementos Folk, pero siempre logramos incorporar nuevos elementos a nuestra música. Lo que quiero decir con esto, es que no sé si nuestro próximo álbum podría ser mas crudo que “Tulimyrsky” o no, ya se verá.

Cuéntanos un poco como es el proceso de composición de vuestros álbumes.
El trabajo siempre sigue la misma rutina; Henri graba las demos de los temas en su estudio casero y nos envía los resultados para que cada uno de su impresión. Después hace los cambios oportunos según nuestras sugerencias (es el compositor principal, pero todos tenemos que estar de acuerdo con los resultados). Cuando las demos están terminadas,(esto puede tardar varios meses), ensayamos los temas, les damos los últimos retoques y nos metemos en el estudio.

En vuestros inicios, incluíais varios temas en cada álbum, en cambio en “V:Havitetty”, tan sólo hay dos, con una duración total de 56 minutos. ¿Como se os ocurrió esta idea?
Simplemente quisimos hacer algo diferente, salir de nuestros esquemas con algo grande. En principio nuestra intención no era crear dos temas demasiado largos, pero tras componer la intro, comprendimos que esta vez los temas iban a ser muy extensos. De todos modos, decidimos seguir adelante y ver que pasaba. Creo que hicimos bien. Seguramente el próximo álbum incluirá algunos temas mas cortos.

Después editáis “Tulimyrsky Ep”, con un tema nuevo de 30 minutos de duración, mas dos versiones y dos temas pertenecientes a vuestras demos. ¿No teméis que vuestros seguidores piensen que la duración de los temas es demasiado extensa?
Para nada. Escribimos exactamente el tipo de música que queremos escribir, y resultó que los últimos tres temas que compusimos acabaron con una duración de 30 minutos cada uno. No es un modelo a seguir, simplemente surgió así. “V:Havitetty” y “Tulimyrsky”, deberían ser apasionantes para nuestros fans mas antiguos también, aunque sean bastante diferentes que nuestros tres primeros discos. Me gustan las bandas que tienen su propio sonido, pero que al mismo tiempo experimentan y evolucionan un poco.

¿Por qué las versiones de METALLICA y MERCILESS, y no otras bandas?
Tan sólo ha sido una coincidencia. La versión de METALLICA la grabamos en en el 2005, entonces no teníamos ni idea del Ep. Cuando comenzamos a planificar este Ep, sabíamos que esta versión todavía estaba libre y que podríamos incorporarla. “Back to North”, la habíamos estado tocando en directo entre el 2000/2001 y también había sido una gran influencia para la fundación de MOONSORROW.

¿Cuáles son vuestras mayores influencias?
Hay muchas influencias dentro del mundo de MOONSORROW, ya que escuchamos mucha música diferente. La banda fue fundada principalmente influenciados por bandas tales como ENSLAVED y BATHORY, pero un poco después comenzamos a incorporar cada vez mas elementos de la música folklórica tradicional, además de Rock progresivo, aunque esto fue mas tarde. Es difícil poder etiquetar nuestra música, personalmente lo prefiero así.

A parte del DVD que incluis en la reedición de vuestro álbum debut “Suden Uni”,no habéis editado nada en directo. ¿para cuando un álbum en vivo o un DVD?
Hemos tenido proyectos para un DVD en directo durante mucho tiempo, pero hasta ahora no ha habido presupuesto para ello, el tiempo lo dirá

Pienso que utilizar vuestra lengua nativa para las letras es un dato muy interesante, ¿tenéis pensado utilizar el inglés en un futuro?
Probablemente no. Cuando comenzamos a usar el finlandés como idioma para nuestra lírica, mas o menos sobre 1998, comprendimos que era la opción perfecta para nuestro concepto global. Hay una fuerte conexión entre nuestra música y la cultura finlandesa y el mejor modo para expresarlo es a través de nuestra lengua nativa. Puede haber traducciones para cada tema, pero en realidad no creo que vayamos a escribir letras en inglés

¿Crees que el Viking es un estilo demasiado saturado?
Bien, el Pagan/Viking/Folk, es un estilo que tiene infinidad de bandas y es posible que algunas sean como clones de otras. Musicalmente, en definitiva está saturado porque la mayor parte de las bandas no tienen ningún punto musical que los haga destacar del resto. Hay pocas formaciones que en realidad inventen algo nuevo y tengan su propio sonido. Ideológicamente, sin embargo, lo veo como una cosa buena, porque cada vez se demuestra que hay mas lugares que se interesan por sus propias raíces y la cultura que existió antes, alejándose de la cultura consumista, la cual devora nuestro planeta vivo y hermoso.

Está claro que tenéis una buena legión de seguidores en todo el mundo.¿Qué opinión tienes acerca de esto?
Estoy muy feliz sobre el hecho de que MOONSORROW tenga tantos seguidores fieles en el mundo entero, ya que esto quiere decir que hay mucha gente con una actitud similar a la nuestra. Nuestro objetivo no es reunir a ninguna legión, pero desde luego, nos gustaría que nuestros admiradores pudieran extender el mensaje a su gente mas cercana y hacerles entender el verdadero significado de la cultura y que se olvidaran del consumo excesivo que venden en la TV.

¿Tenéis pensado volver a vuestros inicios mas Viking Folk?, o ¿seguiréis la tendencia de vuestros últimos discos?
Como ya he comentado anteriormente, no sabemos como será el próximo álbum, francamente, podemos tirar en cualquier dirección, no tiene porque ser como nada que hayamos hecho antes. Para mí en MOONSORROW no hay ningún patrón establecido de cómo debemos sonar.

¿Conoces la escena Underground española?, ¿hay alguna banda que te llame especialmente la atención?
No estoy demasiado familiarizado con la escena española y tampoco he seguido el Underground en la actualidad. Tengo unas demos, pero no recuerdo sus nombres, ya que justamente me estoy cambiando de apartamento y todavía deben estar dentro de las cajas de embalaje.

Pues con esto hemos terminado, muchísimas gracias por tu atención.
De nada, gracias a vosotros.

Revolver Mag / January 2009

Link

As soon as the members of Finnish pagan-metal band Moonsorrow introduce themselves at Spinefeast 2009, Revolver Associate Editor Kory Grow knows he’s in for an interesting chat. Vocalist-keyboardist Henri “Trollhorn” Sorvali, who also plays in pagan-metal phenoms Finntroll, calls himself “John Longhorn.” Vocalist-bassist Ville Sorvali (Henri’s cousin) says, “Just call me ‘Nashville.’” (Henri adds “Son of Dolemite” to Nasvhille’s name.) Luckily guitarist-vocalist Mitja Harvilahti gives his real name. What follows is just as tongue-in-cheek as the band’s introductions.

REVOLVER None of the bands on this boat sound alike. What is it about Finland that produces such a wide variety of metal?
VILLE SORVALI It wasn’t always like that. It changed in the late ’90s when some bands started making—
MITJA HARVILAHTI Their own music instead of copying each other.
VILLE Yeah. My words exactly. [Laughs] Glad you said it. We should fire you.
HENRI SORVALI But wait a minute, I take it back. We’ll rehire you. Finland in ’92 was, music-wise, Poland in ’83. It wasn’t bands doing their own music…I think we all could agree that HIM were the first ones to open the vision of Finnish bands and labels to realize that Finnish people can also do their own sounding music and still succeed, and not to copycat foreign bands.
HARVILAHTI And after, like, Children of Bodom and Nightwish got bigger.
HENRI Yeah, those were two pioneers.
HARVILAHTI So there’s a lot of skill in the Finnish metal scene. There are a lot of really good musicians.
HENRI There are good and bad bands.
HARVILAHTI Let’s leave the bad bands out of this.
HENRI [Annoyed] Yeah, I know. [Mocking voice] Don’t mention it.

Didn’t Moonsorrow form in 1995?
VILLE Oh, you mentioned the name. [All laugh]
HARVILAHTI These guys formed the band in 1995.

That’s a little bit before HIM was popular, at least worldwide.
HENRI Yeah. The thing is, the black-metal scene was in its own little world, which was famous. It was like a parallel world; there was this commercial world and the black-metal world. Something that would be a huge hit in the black-metal scene would not affect anything in mainstream metal. Being mainstream in any goth genre doesn’t have anything to do with us. We were in a different league, so to speak. We just wanted to play.

But since then, obviously Moonsorrow has gotten popular. We recently did a feature on pagan metal, and many of the bands cite you as an influence.
VILLE Yeah, yeah. I’ve noticed it. Some years ago, it wasn’t big in the States yet, but Finntroll got very big there. And folk metal and pagan metal are still the only new genres of metal that have come up in the last 10 years. So there’s no reason why you wouldn’t catch on in the USA.
HENRI The new thrash metal, death metal, black metal.
VILLE Then folk metal, pagan metal, whatever.
HENRI What I said in an interview before is that people are feeling ruthless these days with all this plastic culture surrounding us and reality TV shows and culture, blah, blah, blah. That’s why people are searching for something more deep and more profound.
HARVILAHTI I’ve seen bad examples of that as well. Folk metal in central Europe is such a big trend. A lot of people make folk metal by adding stupid fiddle melodies on top of Bathory.
HENRI [Mocking voice] We are descendents of Vikings. Yes! I do Viking metal, jah! [Normal voice] I’m not referring to any specific countries, but you can read between the lines. Jaaaah.

Have you been surprised by the interest in the US?
VILLE Yes and no. We’re surprised that it’s so big already. I thought probably in the next five years it would catch up.
HENRI I thought it wasn’t that big but two interviewers from the States have stated that it’s big over there. I have to rethink my thinking.
VILLE Well, you’re the guy behind Finntroll, but you haven’t toured the United States.
HENRI Well, I don’t fly.
VILLE Finntroll was definitely the first ones. They have been opening up doors there for a couple years already.

Before we wrap up, Henri. I understand you have a joke to tell.
HENRI A kick drum, snare, and a crash cymbal fell off from a cliff. Bu-dump-tsh.