Met Al Metal / December 2013

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"Met Al Metal" — Israel's Metal radio show hosted by brothers Lior and Niv Peleg — recently conducted an interview with guitarist Mitja Harvilahti of Finnish crusaders of epic heathen metal MOONSORROW. You can now listen to the program using the audio player below.
MOONSORROW last year inked a worldwide deal with Century Media Records.
2011 saw the release of MOONSORROW's most majestic album of the year, "Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa", a full-fledged concept effort about a world after annihilation.
"The title means 'As Shadows We Roam The Land Of The Dead'," Harvilahti told Australia's Xpress Magazine. "It has a storyline of a group of people that are searching for life and future in the dead world. It's our first complete concept album and everything — the music, lyrics and the artwork — goes hand in hand with the story.
"I recommend people buy the vinyl copy of it to enjoy it in the best possible way, with the big pictures of the gatefold.
"CD really killed the visuality from music and Internet downloading killed the rest, but vinyl is coming back.
"We have a huge 13 LP collectors' edition box coming out next year. That is, at the moment, the biggest LP box ever in the history of metal. It will be gorgeous with all the art and extra stuff."
The box will be made available via Blood Music, although no release date has yet been set.
"Blood Music contacted us and told us how much they would love to do this mega-release," Harvilahti explained. "We saw how much effort and attention to detail and art they put into their releases, so we immediately understood that this is the right companion for our long-awaited LP release."
"Met Al Metal" audio stream:

1 h 10 min radio program (Right click - Save as)

Metal Wani / February 2016

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I have an affinity for Finnish bands. Maybe it’s something about their melancholic undertones that surrounding the particular sound and style that has emanated from that part of the world, but it has always enraptured me. Moonsorrow however, is one of those bands that I have never quite been able to grasp as strongly as some of the others, but with the release of their upcoming album Jumalten Aika (Click here To Read Our Review) however, that perception could change. This album grows on subsequent listens. With five tracks and a 70 minute run time, this album is something which, these days, is a time investment, but is also something that delivers on its core goal. This isn’t In Extremo, it isn’t Eluveitie, and it certainly isn’t Finntroll, but if you are after something that channels that pagan/folk vibe. Coupled with the darker undertones, then this album is for you.

Gearing up for the album release, Metal Wani’s Editor in Chief Owais ‘Vitek’ Nabi had a chat with Moonsorrow founding member Ville Sorvali. Ville discusses upcoming album ‘Jumalten Aika’, why it took 5 years to write the album, concept of the album, lyrical approach and spiritual side of Moonsorrow and it reflects on new album. Ville also talks about change in record label, artwork, bonus material, upcoming tours and much more.

Stream The Entire Interview Below:

Perkūno Namai / June 2014

Link

Unknown / January 2007

Interview with Ville on January 19th 2007 (or maybe 26th), short after releasing V: Hävitetty. I don't know the name of the magazine it was done for nor I have the link to where I found it two or three years ago.


If the player doesn't work try this link:
http://www.goear.com/listen/743cf74/interview-2007-moonsorrow


TRANSCRIPTION

We will be talking about your new album, Chapter V: Ravaged. It's a very cool album. It's got two tracks, two very epic tracks. Was that the intention or did it just work out like that?

No, it wasn't the intention. When we started thinking about the new album we were actually thinking we should make some tracks that are more accessible, shorter songs, more songs in an album than four, as in the previous one. I don't know, we just started writing and when we had the first 10 minutes of the first song ready we realized that it wasn't going to be like that, that the songs were going to be very long. We didn't have any problem with that, we decided to go all the way because we always wanted to challenge ourselves and this is how it turned out this time.

How do you write such long songs? The great thing about them is that I don't think... For various progressive albums I find that sometimes they tend to be too self-indulgent but the songs you have on this album are great to listen to all the way through. How do you do that?

Well, thanks! I don't know, because when we write songs we never think about the length of the song at all. It just has to be a good song, it has to work by itself. We always have this tendency to write stuff that contains a bit more parts than your usual pop song.

How do you compare this album to your previous ones? I think it was your second album that had a lot more folk influence in it, while this one is more heathen, if you like. Is that natural progression or how do you see that?

We have always felt like doing a bit different album each time and I'd say this one is the most daring we've ever done, because as I said we realized the songs were going to be very long this time, we decided to go all the way wherever it leads to. We couldn't have made this a few years ago because we have now reached the level in musicianship, or in arranging and stuff. We were at the right point to make this album now and we wanted to do something different to the concept. Most of the influences there are actually outside of metal.

Where do you get the inspiration for the songs from?

Musical inspiration?

Yes.

We listen to a lot of different stuff, and I think nowadays most of that isn't even metal. There is a lot of influence from the progressive rock of the seventies in the song structure, there is a lot of influence from classical music... I don't know, because we never really think about what kind of music we are going to do this time. It's a huge melting pot of influences.

When it comes to writing the songs, does one person write the whole thing or do you all collaborate and each person does their bit?

Usually the way it starts when we start thinking about a new album is that we throw in a few ideas in the rehearsal place, maybe. Then Henri, our main songwriter, locks himself in his home studio and starts making songs based on these ideas and his own ideas, and when he achieves something with it he shows the demo to all of us, we comment how we feel the song should continue from this and then he locks himself in his home studio again, and it goes in these cycles. He writes most of the material.

How did the recording of this album go? Were these two tracks the only ones that you made or were there other ones in there and you just picked them two?

You mean if we made other songs as well?

Mhm.

No, no, definitely. We actually never made any extra songs. (laughs)

Really? Haha, that's cool!

Yes, because we want to approach the albums as some kind of... they are whole albums, they are musically conceptual in that sense. We write the whole album, and we are actually thinking about the album when we make the songs, like, which part fits where. We never write a few songs and then pick an "albumful" of songs.

That's interesting, and how does that come across live? You have actually your first live show in Helsinki tomorrow.

Oh yeah! We're gonna play the new song there, the second one from the album. We picked a few parts from there, it's now [exaggerates with his voice] "only" 20 minutes. It turns out we were actually touring in Canada last week and we tried it on three gigs.

How was the tour in Canada?

The tour in Canada was actually great, something very very unexpected, because the audience was totally into it and I didn't expect it. We don't even have decent distribution in Canada or anything. I don't even know how we ended up there, (laughs) but it was a great trip.

(Laughs) Yeah, how do you end up in Canada and not end up here? You know, I have been playing both songs in their entirety on this show for several weeks now.

Oh, cool, thanks!

And I'm gonna play the second song in its entirety after this interview, so people have been listening to the whole album pretty much on this show.

That's cool! I don't know why we haven't played in the UK yet, I have absolutely no idea. It just doesn't seem to work.

We'll have to sort something out, mate! You must come down here.

Yes, I want to come there. We were already as close as the Heathrow airport when we flew to Canada.

Oh really!
Well, is there anything else you want to say to the fans out there?

Thanks for listening to those two songs, I hope you didn't get bored with them, I didn't, and thanks for supporting us, we will definitely come over to the UK one fine day. I don't know what is the day, but I hope it's soon.


Transcribed on March 31st 2021. Who would have told these two guys that 14 years later someone in Hungary would be transcribing their conversation for probably no-one to read!