bleeding4metal.de / January 2007

 

 

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Interview mit Marko Tarvonen von Moonsorrow
Ein Interview von CaptainCook vom 24.01.2007 (6635 mal gelesen)
Only a couple of days ago, MOONSORROW published their 5th album, Viides Luku - Hävitetty. Drummer Marko Tarvonen found the time to tell us a bit about it and much more. Hey Marko! First, please tell us a bit about the new album „Chapter V – Ravaged“. What is the concept all about? Marko Tarvonen: There’s an end-of-the-world concept through the whole album. It reflects the old beliefs that the new world will be born after the old one dies and it’s kind of adapted into this day. Just watch the news and you know what it is all about. Most of it is [MOONSORROW vocalist - ed] Ville’s feelings and some mythological symbolics. „Chapter V – Ravaged“ features only two songs. Was that your plan from the very beginning or did the music just develop into these epic dimensions? Why didn't you separate the two songs into a couple of CD tracks to make it easier for people to listen only to parts of the album? Marko Tarvonen: No it was not planned at first. Actually we thought of doing a very normal Moonsorrow album. But then when we started writing the songs we found them quite epic enough and thought, whatta hell let’s do it in a big way then! So they kind of just turned out like that. We had written thousands of different riffs and song parts and started to sort out the best ideas and tried to arrange the best possible effort as a whole. And it was out of question to split the tracks to many indexes and I’m sorry how would it be easier to listen the songs with just some parts? Thomas Väänänen of Thyrfing performed some of the vocals on „Chapter Five – Ravaged“. How did it come to that? Marko Tarvonen: We met him first at Heathen Crusade festival in USA last January and asked if they had thought of doing some lyrics in Finnish with Thyrfing because Thomas is a Swedish Finn. Then we contacted him after some months and asked if he was available to contribute on our album and he liked to do it very much. So I guess this was the first time he sings in his mother’s tongue. He did a superb job. Old fans will miss some of the folky tunes on „Chapter V – Ravaged“ (especially on 'Born of Ice Stream of Shadows') that were a part of your former recordings. What made you write a more traditional Black Metal album? Marko Tarvonen: Umm... I wouldn’t say black metal at all but yes I know what you mean. We got bored with this folk metal scene totally and wanted to do something very different already on Verisäkeet. There will always be some folkish echoes in Moonsorrow’s music but most of all we’re metal bands for gods’ sake. If you want easy-listening happy melodic shit, try Korpiklaani then. They do it very well but it isn’t my cup of tea. In contrast to your last recording „Verisäkeet“ you have reduced the guitar work to mere powerchord strumming on large parts of the new album. Don't you think that this is a restriction on your expression? Marko Tarvonen: No, as there are not so many actual powerchords played on Hävitetty. You have to listen more carefully... almost all the time there are two different chords in the riffs + a different bass line. They are not easy to block out but I can tell they are not those ordinary powerchords we use. We use those very big chords where every string on the guitar is used. So yes, the album is more guitar-orientated than previous albums and reflects our live sound as well As always, you recorded the album at Tico-Tico studios with Ahti Kortelainen. And as always, I'm not happy with the sound, particularly the vocals and drums. Why did you never chose to change studios as MOONSORROW was growing bigger? Marko Tarvonen: We don’t want polished sound. We want cold mean shit and Tico-Tico is perfect place for us to get that. We don’t care if people don’t like that. MOONSORROW has been very productive in the last couple of years. „Chapter V – Ravaged“ is already the fifth album since 2001. How do you keep your creativity flowing? Marko Tarvonen: Maybe that’s because we haven’t toured so much. But now that seems to change too as we’re getting more and more shows so I guess the next album won’t be there anytime soon. When you were headlining the Ragnarök Festival in Lichtenfels last year, you had to play late at night when most people were already exhausted from the day. Nevertheless you decided to come back this year... Marko Tarvonen: Well, the festival is at the same time we’re touring so it was easy to organize that on our schedule. I heard that there will be only one song on the final MOONSORROW album. Are you already thinking about quitting? Marko Tarvonen: Someday yes, haha! Thanks and keep up the good work! Marko Tarvonen: Thanks for the interview. See you on tour, cheers!

 

Marko on Barren Earth for Obscuro.cz / August 2018

 This is not Moonsorrow but it is Marko and this is my fucking blog and I post whatever I want okay??

 

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“We want to keep it alive” – Interview with Marko Tarvonen/Barren Earth

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By Ms Cesar Little on 1.8.2018 English, Finský koutek, Interview, Nummirock

Barren Earth @Nummirock

Marko Tarvonen (photo: Ms Cesar Little)

There have been quite some changes in Barren Earth lately either within the band line up or affecting the band dynamics. When there was never a doubt that Kreator would limit Sami’s [Yli-Sirniö, guitar] availability for Barren Earth the question arose how Oppu’s [Olli-Pekka Laine, bass] return to Amorphis would affect the band. And then of course already the tour with Insomnium and Wolfheart back in January 2017 brought more new faces on stage as for example due to Marko’s child being born not long before so his family had priority. So how are things right now with Barren Earth?

Meeting Marko Tarvonen was not exactly planned during Nummirock and even less the way it turned out to be in the end. But I met him along with all the other musicians and crew members from Moonsorrow, Rytmihäiriö and Barren Earth when arriving at Nummirock and saying ‘hello’ I took my opportunity to ask Marko if he would join my drummers’ series. Of course he would! When we met it took quite some time before we finally spoke of drumming. Very obviously Barren Earth matters a lot to him and he was eager to tell me about his perspective on my favourite band. I hardly spoke at all.

Without any specific question Marko says: “I don’t know what’s gonna happen to that band. We don’t want to quit it. We want to keep it alive somewhere there.” And he is happy to add that Barren Earth are invited to play at a very big US American festival in 2019. It will be the first time the band returns to the USA since the tour with three other Finnish metal bands back in 2011. “We have been a bit unlucky with tours and of course our daily schedules didn’t let us play more shows”, and he adds in a considerate and summarizing tone in his voice: “Yeah, that’s what it is.”

Jón Aldará, Oppu [Olli-Pekka Laine] (photo: Ms Cesar Little)

As I mention that Barren Earth is my favourite band Marko replies: “Yeah, we really like the new album very much.  Really, really succeeded in what we were looking for. A little bit different sound this time and with some new members in the band like Antti [Myylynen] on the keyboards.” I noticed earlier how much the older band members appreciate Antti in anyway. “He brought some different sound to what Kasper used to do. A bit more modern and updated keyboard sounds whereas Kasper [Mårtenson, keyboards] – he was more into these 70s sounds with Hammond organ and moods and stuff which is not a bad idea either. I love both sounds and players.”

The atmosphere between Kasper and his former band mates is apparently still very trustful and close. He attended their release gig some months back in Helsinki for the “A Complex of Cages” album. Marko speaks very highly and appreciative of Kasper and tells me about his current occupation and how much he loves this. “You have to do what you love”, he ends.

I word my somewhat floating thoughts that in my perspective it seems like Antti and Jón [Aldará, vocals] only sped up the musical evolution that was heading for the same direction anyway but slower before they entered the band. Marko confirms: “They both put a lot of effort for this band. You don’t really need to give them guidance what to do, especially Jón. He writes everything on his own. He writes his own lyrics and vocal melodies and arrangements. We don’t need to guide him whereas Mikko [Kotamäki, vocals] was pretty much ‘Here are the lyrics and the parts and sing like this.’ Then he did. He wasn’t really doing a lot stuff by his own. Anyway.”

Janne Pertillä (photo: Ms Cesar Little)

He continues: “Sometimes this whole thing with Barren earth has been a bit frustrating because nothing happens for a long, long period. Nothing happens, then an occasional show here and there. So you need to activate the whole system again, start from the beginning with the rehearsing. When like five or six years ago we were more like daily practising. But now we gave up the rehearsal place and everything. I don’t know. It’s kind of bad in a way. You don’t get easily active when you don’t have a room for rehearsals and gathering together.”

I mention that I noticed some differences between the two release shows and that they impressively well managed some technical difficulties. “I think we had three or four rehearsals before the first show, only. Yeah. I think the first show wasn’t really good. I think we had much tension and the Tampere show was more relaxed with all the fuck ups and everything. It was more the core and it came out very naturally.”

Marko Tarvonen (photo: Ms Cesar Little)

Marko just goes on: “It’s a shame, I could have done a few more shows in a row. Now when you are in that mood again and you are prepared and then all of a sudden it ended again. That’s what I mean. It’s a bit frustrating. Once you’re going into that mood and then they take it all of a sudden away from you.”

I am aware of the challenges the schedules of the many bands they’re active in mean for touring with Barren Earth. I found Kimmo [Korhonen, guitar] and Timo [Ahlström, guitar] (and Eero [Wuokko, drums], of course) very good stand-ins. “Time. But would rather do the gigs with our own line up.”

But if the question is touring or not at all? “Even Oppu told us when he joined Amorphis: ‘Look guys, you can do Barren Earth’ – even without him.”

During the January tour 2017 already I was thinking that Oppu is the one person that could not be replaced by whatever amazing stand-in and so a more than surprised “Really??? I cannot imagine Barren Earth playing without him. Not at all”, forces itself out of my mouth. Marko agrees entirely: “Yeah because he is primus motor in that band. Kind of the guy who formed the band and kept things going. And yeah he wrote the major share of the new songs. It would feel a bit weird to play without him. I wouldn’t do it that way but let’s see. We may have to do that at this American festival next year because we don’t know if Amorphis has something going on. He has to be there. He has some contract with them to do two years. He has taken that leave, yeah from his day job for two years. For two years then he is going back. He works for our government, house of Parliament as an IT assistant for parliamentary people. I am happy for him. He was yearning to play tours and music. So I am really happy. I told him: ‘Look mate, do it. Do it! Go there!”

Jón Aldará (photo: Ms Cesar Little)

“He has nothing to lose with only pausing his day job”, I say. “Yeah now when he is still under 50 years.” I ask him not to make us feel even older than we are already with a frown. “Maybe he cannot do that anymore when you’re 55 or 60. I’ve been considering my future as metal drummer because it’s a very physical job to do especially Moonsorrow with singing a lot.”

And so we’re drifting into the actual topic of our appointment which is another story for another occasion. I had met Jón the night before attending the show of Septicflesh. He told me with a frown and a good deal of irony that they felt honoured to have such a popular warm-up gig for Barren Earth the next night: Saxon. The show Barren Earth played that very night was unique. The setting was extremely atmospheric underlining impressively the music. It was rainy and thereby quite dark considering the midsummer brightness. The wind from the lake added perfectly blowing the stage fog in thick clouds and soon off. Jón has remarkably progressed literally from show to show, never mind if I saw him with Hamferð or Barren Earth. But this Nummirock gig was the most expressive and intensive show he delivered I have ever seen of him. Yes guys, please, keep this alive!

HeavyMusic.ru / March 2017

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  It’s been a year since the release of “Jumalten Aika”, and Heavymusic team came back to Helsinki for having a chat with the guys from Moonsorrow again. The secrets of promo photos, old Finnish traditions, the end of the world and more — have a read our exclusive interview!
          
        

          
          So how was the tour going for you?
          
          Ville: Excellent!
          
          Mitja: Yeah, very good! It’s nice to tour in Finland as we didn’t do a proper Finnish tour, just played some festivals, and then we started touring in Europe when the album [Jumalten Aika] was released, so finally we’ve been touring a little bit more in Finland.
          
          Have you received any kind of special treatment from the homeland fans? Is there any difference in mentality?
          
          Ville: I don’t know if it’s different, it was just really good. We got a very good response from the audience, maybe it’s because we don’t do this so often they don’t get tired…
          
          Or they just miss you so much because you usually play in other countries!
          
          Ville: I don’t know why actually.
          
          We’re sitting here like we did almost a year ago. The same place, nearly the same time…
          
          Mitja: Right!
          
          …but at that time we didn’t have a chance to look at “Jumalten Aika” booklet. Now after taking a closer look we can say that your promo pictures have definitely caught our attention. Can you tell us about its making process?
          
          Ville: It was Markus’s idea. He wanted to do this maybe because he doesn’t like us that much *laughs* He wants us to suffer. It was really painful to do. In a way it was fun. How did we do it?
          
          Mitja: We were in theatre with some kind of a pool of mud and dirt.
          
          So you were in a closed space, not outside, right?
          
          Mitja: Yeah, we were indoors.
          
          Ville: We weren’t really at the graveyard or anything.
          
          *everybody laughs*
          
          Mitja: It was fucking cold at that time of the year, so being outside and trying to dig ground for the hole big enough for the guys…
          
          Markus doesn’t dislike you that much!
          
          *everybody laughs*
          
          

          
          How did you feel with all that ground in your hair and even in your mouth?
          
          Ville: Dirty.
          
          Was it tasty?
          
          *everybody laughs*
          
          Ville: I was the one who had the dirt in my mouth, so I can tell you it wasn’t especially tasty. I wouldn’t use that word to describe it.
          
          You wouldn’t repeat that, right?
          
          Ville: No, probably not.
          
          *At that point Mitja shows us a photo of Markus lying on the ground in the pool half-naked*
          
          Mitja: So there’s Markus.
          
          He is trying to be so stoic…
          
          Ville: He doesn’t have to try to be stoic.
          
          Well, let’s move to the next question. Using of folk melodies has always been a strong feature of your music. Do you in some way rearrange any old Finnish melodies or do you write your own stuff?
          
          Ville: We’d like to think that all those melodies are originals, and that we’ve come up with them. Of course, there’s only a certain number of ways how you can combine these a few notes that are used in traditional Scandinavian music, so every melody sounds a bit like the next melody in a way, but we don’t use melodies that are known as traditional or anything. We try to come up with the new ones.
          
          The new ones sound like the old ones, and it’s really good! Ok, now I want to ask you about phenomenon which can be called “blood memory”. It means a special state of mind when you suddenly feel like traveling back in time and looking on the world with your ancestors’ eyes. Have you ever experienced such a feeling and if yes, what was the reason for it?
          
          Mitja: A good question. I don’t think I have. I tried to, but I don’t think it really happened to me. Although many times I try to depict in my head how things were before and so on, but I haven’t had any experience like this.
          
          Sometimes when you’re listening to music, you can imagine all this stuff they sing about and sometimes it just happens…
          
          Mitja: Well, when I usually listen to the music I see some kind of landscapes and colors but nothing very concrete.
          
          Ville: When I was writing the lyrics, I really tried to see the world with my ancestors’ eyes, but of course it’s a bit difficult, because the surroundings are totally different. Those people didn’t use to live in the cities, for example. They didn’t have running water or electricity or anything.
          
          How about escaping to the forest?
          
          Ville: I was doing some inner research in forests and Arctic areas, but that’s a different story.
          
          Ok, it will be the question for the next interview! Do you have any favorite Finnish traditions or customs?
          
          Ville: Drinking.
          
          Mitja: Customs?..
          
          *At that point our interview is interrupted with a loud “Whee!” from Marko who is riding an equipment trolley driven by one of the technicians. They say “Oh, you’re having an interview! Sorry!” and zoom off. Everybody laughs*
          
          Mitja: I would say… Just fishing *laughs* It’s not really a tradition, but…
          
          Ville: It’s not really a tradition, because it was crucial for quite many people’s living back in those days. You had to fish to get something to eat. Nowadays it’s just a hobby, because other people fish for us, we just go to the supermarket and buy that fish, and it’s actually pretty sad.
          
          The nature has always had a great influence on your music, if not to say the greatest. What do you think modern people should learn from the nature?
          
          Ville: Respect.
          
          Mitja: Yeah. Respect and I think it would be good to anybody to go in the woods by yourself completely alone and stay for a couple of nights with yourself and nature. It teaches you a lot about yourself usually.
          
          Ville: And I think people should definitely understand that even though we have all these big cities, we have these supermarkets that stock the food for us, we have smartphones and everything, we still totally and mostly depend on the nature. All these parts that are used in the smartphones *nods in the direction of smartphones recording the interview* come from the nature originally. So we’re just kind of visitors here. If we fuck up the planet, the planet doesn’t care, I think, but then we fuck up ourselves. People should really understand that before it’s too late. It’s not supposed to be a lecture or anything but that’s what just came up to my mind.
          
          You have developed two concepts of the end of the world on your albums. It will die in the fire or plunge into eternal cold according to “Hävitetty” and “Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleden Maassa” respectively. In your opinion, what will be the real end of the word?
          
          Ville: Stupidity. There are lots of possible scenarios, I don’t think if it’s actually gonna happen but… It’s not gonna happen during my life, I hope. People will eventually reeducate themselves.
          
          Mitja: Yeah, people are lucky enough to live until they do, but I think some asteroid will destroy our planet before we can do it.
          
          So it can be better for us than dying from our own hands…
          
          Mitja: I don’t know if it’s good for anything but... I hope it’s gonna happen soon, maybe tomorrow.
          
          Ville: It would be good for the other life forms on this planet, if we get rid of ourselves, but I’m not gonna get rid of myself, I don’t need that. Some things have gone a bit out of hand.
          
          

          
          Can you guys compare yourself with any kind of nature phenomena?
          
          Mitja: What do you mean?
          
          Anything like rain, storm, snow, Northern lights… maybe rainbow?
          
          Mitja: *laughs* Ok, we’re rainbows…
          
          Ville: I would like to be a stone. They are quite cool. They don’t really disturb anyone.
          
          Yeah, just lying on the ground…
          
          Mitja: Growing some mold…
          
          *everybody laughs*
          
          Ville: Unless there’s a landslide. Then they disturb quite a lot.
          
          Mitja, what about you? Rainbow was your first answer…
          
          Mitja: No-no-no…
          
          Ville: A unicorn.
          
          Mitja: Yeah, a unicorn. *laughs* No, I would say… mist.
          
          Nowadays many people think it’s important to have a warrior spirit. With regard to all events which are happening in the world what’s your opinion about that and do you consider yourself as warriors?
          
          Ville: No.
          
          Mitja: Not really. You need to have some stamina to go through everyday life, but I don’t value people who are over-aggressive and take whatever they want.
          
          Well, it’s maybe about defending their own interests and even overcoming yourself every day, doing something you don’t like to, but you have to…
          
          Mitja: Yeah, when you need to take stuff in your hands then of course, not just physically but in general. But I value wisdom more than being just a fighter.
          
          Ville: I think that’s one of the most important features of human kind that we actually have, if we want to. We have the ability to coexist and make compromises that benefit everyone. In theory.
          
          This year marks a centenary of Finnish independence. In order to commemorate this event one web-site called musicfinland.fi has made a special playlist which includes one hundred songs of different Finnish artists who has made bright and lasting international impression. Unfortunately, no Moonsorrow songs were included…
          
          Ville: I haven’t checked the list.
          
          …so if you could choose one song to be in this list, which song would it be?
          
          Ville: That’s a very good question.
          
          Mitja: I would choose “Tulimyrsky”.
          
          Ville: Yeah, because it’s the longest.
          
          The next question might be a tricky one, but we want you to be honest. Does Moonsorrow give you enough space for artistic expression, or do you sometimes feel the need to bring your material to any side projects?
          
          Ville: So far it has for me. I don’t really feel a need to do something else. I might do something else now and then just for fun, but I don’t think Moonsorrow limits my artistic expression.
          
          Mitja: Yeah, we all write all kinds of material and every material has its place somewhere, not maybe in Moonsorrow, but we want to write some Lakupaavi [punk/grindcore side project including the members of Moonsorrow] stuff definitely not under Moonsorrow’s name.
          
          Well, it must be continued!
          
          Ville: But no one knows when.
          
          Mitja: Time is also limited. I find it extremely difficult to find the time for other projects, and when I do, it’s always battle against time schedules and stuff.
          
          What kind of projects do you do?
          
          Mitja: Well, I have an old band called Shadow Cut, and we tried to make some new songs but... it’s impossible to find time for it. I have some ideas for other projects, but it never happens because nobody finds time.
          
          Do you at least have any volunteers to help you with this or do you do everything by yourself?
          
          Mitja: Yeas, it’s always with other people. I am not good enough with the computers to make music by myself, it’so slow. After seeing how Henri [Sorwali, the mastermind of Moonsorrow] works and how he can by hands play just drum kit in one minute, and then all the instruments in few minutes, while I’m still trying to struggle with the kick drum, not even be able to make a complete drum feel for one song.
          
          So no majesty of Burzum or Falkenbach for you?
          
          Mitja: *laughs* No.
          
          And now we have two special questions. The first is for you, Ville. Which part of being a musician excites you the most: playing the instrument, writing the lyrics or doing the vocals?
          
          Ville: All of those, really. I’m in a very different mood in all those different aspects. When I play the show, I’m in the mood for playing the show, when I do vocals in the studio, I’m in that mood... I enjoy all of that in a very different way, I can even compare it, I’m really sorry.
          
          The second question goes for you, Mitja. According to some pictures, which have been made during the shootings of “The Home Of The Wind” documentary, one of your hobbies is sailing. Can you tell us more about it?
          
          Ville: And sinking ships…
          
          *everybody laughs*
          
          Mitja: Yeah, I own a really old wooden boat with a friend of mine. It’s great to have it during the summer because Helsinki and the archipelago around us are really beautiful, and just in a few minutes you’re in a completely different environment. The ocean is a very interesting element for me, it’s quite scary and beautiful and all things at the same time.
          
          Ville: And the constant threat of drowning…
          
          Mitja: Yeah, it’s always there.
          
          Ville: It really puts you in perspective. Man versus the nature.
          
          Mitja: In my case it’s usually man versus the engine.
          
          *everybody laughs*
          
          Is it that old?
          
          Mitja: Yes. It’s from 60s and the engine looks like… it needs a lot of maintenance this summer, or I’m really gonna drown.
          
          Well, retro style is quite popular nowadays.
          
          MItja: Yeah, they don’t do boats like this anymore.
          
          Ville: I wonder why…
          
          Mitja: I too wonder why, because…
          
          Ville: It’s a nice boat.
          
          Mitja: Yeah, it has spirit. When it’s old and made of wood, it’s so much better to sleep and better to look at compared to fiberglass boats.
          
          We have mentioned the making of your documentary. What is its current state, have the shootings already been finished?
          
          Ville: Yeah, the main guy behind it has just mentioned that now he’s finally finished with all the material. Let’s see!
          
          Mitja: Yeah, it’s in the editing phase right now. He shot the previous week, they came to Tampere to shoot some material, and I’m delivering them some old footage as well, so they started to edit it. I guess they’ve edited some parts already.
          
          Great news! Can’t wait to see the result!
          
          Ville: Me neither.
          
          And which part of the shootings you liked best?
          
          Ville: I only did a couple of interviews so I gave a lot of background information but I wasn’t filmed during that. Interviews and all of that were really nice, they had good questions, and obviously they made a good background work. It was really nice to work with people who know what they are doing and know what band they are dealing with.
          
          Mitja: It feels sometimes like they know the band better than we do.
          
          Because probably you’ve already forgotten some things.
          
          Mitja: Yeah, yeah.
          
          That’s the fan’s nature, I guess, to know everything and even more…
          
          Mitja: But it was strange when every time they asked me to talk about paganism, it always started raining. We had a session on an island, and just when I was starting to answer their questions it started pouring down like hell. The next day we went on a hill and when I was just about to start again, it started to rain.
          
          So you aren’t the mist, you’re the rain!
          
          Mitja: Yeah, right.
          
          Or maybe you have some secret knowledge which is not meant to be shared…
          
          Ville: Or it’s so crappy it shouldn’t be shared.
          
          And now here’s our last question for today. What is the most peculiar thing you can’t live without while being on tour?
          
          Ville: Hmm, let me think… *after a long pause* I don’t have any esoteric artefacts in my bunk in the bus…
          
          Mitja: I do.
          
          Ville: I just have my music I listen to, that’s it. I don’t even have books. I have one book on this tour, but I’ve already read it before the tour, so I just lent it to other people.
          
          What was the book?
          
          Ville: It was a very short book about an American tour from the prospective of a roadie. It was really short and I actually read it. I bought it for the tour, but I actually read before the tour.
          
          Mitja: Well, I don’t really need many things. It happened to me once when all my possessions were stolen from the bus, with all my clothes and stuff. I did have my wallet and phone in my pockets, but everything else I lost. As long as somebody provides you with drinks and food, then I’ll be fine. It was horrible to be in the US without clothes, because when we arrived to Hollywood my clothes looked horrible. It was so dirty after two weeks of touring, and I thought “Ok, I’m gonna go and buy some new stuff from H&M”, but they were closed. It was Sunday or just the late hours, and the only shop that was opened was Armani shop…
          
          Ville: Yeah, in Hollywood.
          
          As long as you have a good credit card you’re fine.
          
          Mitja: I’ve bought Armani sweater and shirts and stuff, and it cost like hell. It was like a completely different person when I came back to them.
          
          I bet you made a lot of fun on him!
          
          Ville: He doesn’t really have to dress up differently for us to make fun on him…
          
          So that’s it! Thanks for the answers and have a good show tonight!
          
          
          Questions: Olga Degteva, Maria Meledyakhina

Metal Crypt / October 2015

SOURCE

Interview date:  October 10th, 2015.

Interview with Mitja Harvilahti, Marko Tarvonen and Henri Sorvali

Interview conducted by Luxi Lahtinen

Date online: October 24, 2015

Interview, studio pictures and other crap by Luxi Lahtinen

Finnish Pagan Metallers Moonsorrow earned a reputation as a cornerstone of the Folk/Viking/Heathen/you-name-it genre in recent years. Every album that they have put out has been an event. The band's latest work, Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa, a concept album about life on earth after a nuclear war was released on Spinefarm Records at the end February 2011 and marked the end of an era for Moonsorrow. They have been composing material for their forthcoming as-yet-untitled seventh studio album ever since and it has been a painful process for the band due to a number of different reasons.

The Metal Crypt had the privilege to be one of the first media publications to get an advance taste of what is to come from the Moonsorrow camp. Because the album is still far from finished only snippets were heard at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki, Finland, but it's safe to expect no less than a mind-blowing and epic journey from these Finnish Pagan Metallers. The album features five songs with one around seven minutes in length and the remaining four each surpassing the 10-minute mark. As usual, magnificently catchy, made-for-humming choruses and melody lines and clever compositions that ooze both testosterone-filled power and beauty, are present on this forthcoming opus. Frankly, it doesn't sound like it could get more epic and adventurous than this! In a nutshell, another earth-shattering masterpiece is on its way, believe me.

Let's have Mitja, Marko and Henri share their thoughts and feelings about their latest creation. Horns and swords up - and read on...

Luxi: Let's get straight to the main course. Can you tell us something about this new album, how this new material sounds to your ears and how it differs from everything you've done in the past?

Mitja: For starters, I guess it should be mentioned this album has been two long years in the works. At some point during the songwriting process we basically threw most of our old ideas out of the window and started with a clean slate because we weren't satisfied with the stuff that we had come up with. After that, when we knew the direction we wanted to take Moonsorrow in it took some time to find the right balance with the new stuff and how we wanted this new album to sound. With this record, the composing process wasn't finished until the final chalk line but we are very satisfied with what we have done. 

Marko: The very last song that we finished for this record was completed just two days before we started recording drums. I didn't have as much time to rehearse the song as I originally hoped for. Most of the songs took final shape during the last week before we entered the studio and started the recording process.

Luxi: When you were composing songs for this forthcoming album did you feel that you needed to shed your skin and not repeat any of your other albums?

Marko: Yes, in fact it's always been that way for us when we start working with a new Moonsorrow album. There's no sense in repeating any of our old stuff really and it's important to progress and find new ways to express yourself musically, you know. I mean, it would be very easy to make a near copy of your most successful albums - like making Kivenkantaja II – because that way you would surely keep your fans satisfied and your record label would undoubtedly like it as well. But it neither serves anyone nor feels right because the bottom line is you always want to challenge yourself as a musician and come up with something different every time. There's no point in repeating your past stuff over and over again. Then again, there's always something that you could have done better on earlier releases but that's part of the musical evolution as you become a better player and musician. You start finding new ways to avoid the "mistakes" that you made on past releases.

Anyway, people should keep in mind that Moonsorrow isn't the same band that it was let's say 10 years ago other than we still have the same guys in the line-up. The stuff we did 10 years ago is radically different compared to the stuff we do these days, I would say.

Luxi: That's all true, yes. Then again, if you change too radically, as some bands have done over the years, die-hard fans may raise their middle finger and eventually stop listening to your stuff, if you know what I am trying to say here...

Marko: Yeah. The basic elements of the "Moonsorrow sound", in which epic melodies meet aggressiveness, have always been there on each album and they won't go anywhere, that's for certain. With this forthcoming album, I believe the main emphasis is more on those aggressive elements. In the very same breath I must also add that this new album will probably contain some the most folk-orientated elements that we have ever done for a Moonsorrow release, though they won't dominate the songs. Our new album is arguably a Metal album and not a Folk album, that's for certain. In my opinion we have also reached out to the extreme end on this new Moonsorrow album.

Mitja: I have to agree. Both sides are well represented on this new Moonsorrow record, both the folk side as well as the more extreme side. I think this album will have more Folk-orientated stuff than any of our previous albums. Perhaps our third album, Kivenkantaja, comes closest to this new album in terms of folk-orientated parts are concerned. I think finding the right musical balance on this record was really hard because some of us wanted to incorporate more extreme Black Metal elements into the songs but our new songs aren't extreme Black Metal in the true sense, you know. We struggled to get this album to sound like us which we eventually did, in my opinion. For example, just two days before we were supposed to enter the studio and start recording, Henri (Sorvali) wanted to turn a recently finished song totally upside down and basically strip all the folk influences down. We had a huge argument about this inside the band, I can tell you. The rest of us were totally against modifying the song because all of us felt like it's just perfect with some truly excellent elements in it. In fact, I believe it will become the most meaningful number off this new record for our fans. This particular song wasn't so Black Metal orientated in the first place so there's no point to make it sound like that although this burning argument took place in our camp because of the musical direction. This has been one of the reasons the making of this new album has taken such a long time. Sometimes it's easier to accept the fact that a song tends to take a certain format and everyone should be happy with it and not try to fix something that isn't broken, you know. However, I am confident enough to say that we have managed to pull together a very satisfying album once again.

Marko: Yeah, I agree but after many not-so-beautiful twists and turns I would add.

Luxi: Do you think that this new album is the most diverse album compared to your previous works where you have gone from one extreme to another?

Mitja: Hmm, in my opinion we still had the biggest musical contrast on our Verisäkeet album, but this new album comes pretty close to it when it comes to musical diversity. This forthcoming album will have a lot of blast-beat stuff, sheer rawness and such but we have a good dose of symphonic elements too, so the album will be a very diverse, which is a great thing.

Luxi: How did you share the work load with this album? Who did what and how much?

Marko. Henri is the primary motor when is comes to songwriting for Moonsorrow. It's always been that way and will always will be. Everyone in the band is of course allowed to contribute to the songwriting process with either musical or lyrical ideas but Henri is still the main filter that either approves or rejects stuff. He has the final word about everything when talking about Moonsorrow's songs. However, this does not mean that he is king of the hill with all the power over our stuff. Each of us is able to discuss our own ideas on a constructive level even if sometimes we cannot completely avoid twisting some arms. Little arguments between the band members are constructive to the songwriting process because they have a tendency to open our eyes as to where we are with our material and whether the musical direction is right and so forth. The thing for us has been that sometimes we have been totally lost with our direction and when we have tried to force ourselves back into a certain mold it has never sounded good. Eventually this has put our backs against the wall and at times has deepened our fights inside the band regarding what we should do and what we shouldn't. Sometimes if you are not getting anywhere with your stuff it is easier to call it a day and start all over the next. If you desperately try to get things done you may lose your musical vision and the result ends up sounding like crap. Plus, arguing with everyone in the band does not help that situation. Eventually you may start arguing about things that are not even related to making music. This holds some water when it comes to the writing process for this new Moonsorrow opus. In all honesty this new Moonsorrow album hasn't been an easy project for us. It's absolutely been our toughest and sweatiest album to make. Of course we are happy about the fact that when we entered the studio to record this opus we had all the material ready so the recording process itself has been quite smooth.

Mitja: Yeah. Actually a big difference between the making of our previous album, Varjoina... and this one is that Henri was able to compose the songs for that previous record at his old workplace. He did almost the whole album from start to finish alone. For the rest of us it was tough to get there and give our input. With this new album it's been totally different as all of us have had a chance to arrange the songs at our own home studios. We have made quite a few visits to his home during the past few months and it's been good because Henri has been craving input from the rest of us. This album definitely feels more like a collective work than Varjoina...

Marko: Exactly, or our V: Hävitetty album, which was far from a whole band effort, I think.

Luxi: Will this new album be a concept album, at least partly, in which the songs have something in common to each other lyrically? 

Marko: No, it's not the kind of a concept album people think of although there's a faint connection between the songs lyrically which you may want to discuss with Ville (Sorvali). But in the sense of a concept album, where each song tells a story from one to another, it is not that. I prefer saying that each song has a story of its own.

Mitja: In fact, this was also one of the most challenging issues for us, when we decided not to put out a concept album this time around. We really didn't want to write songs the same way as we used to. Adding bits and pieces into a bigger whole that way prevented us from seeing the forest for the trees, if I can put it that way. We wanted to clarify our song structures on this new album because adding more and more parts into one song does not make much sense at all. We put more emphasis on the song arrangements so that the songs would stand out better than ever before. To be honest we haven't worked that way in 10 years or so. Finding the kind of right mode was also quite a challenge for the band.

Marko: It was very refreshing for us to work that way, which was totally different from how we used to work. Even though it's been a tough journey to get all of these songs put together for this album it's been somewhat easy for us to work in the studio environment with this material because we already knew how the album was going sound, which put us in high spirits. Getting to the recording stage has felt very good for the whole band, I think. I remember thinking two months back that this project was doomed. We were stuck in a miserable hole with no way out. Then a miracle happened within the last month or so and before we were about to enter the studio things started really flowing for us regarding our visions about the material (the starts in the night sky were in a favorable position for us, bla-bla-blaah, haha!!). It's really hard to put a finger on it and say what actually happened but things really started locking into place. Something definitely magical happened because all of a sudden things got drastically easier for us with regard to this new material.

Mitja: I have to agree. Somehow we found this nice flow and balance for our new stuff. Each of us was very secure about getting the right vibe and needed nuances incorporated into this record. I have a good example. Yesterday Jonne Järvelä (vocalist of Korpiklaani) visited the studio and did his special Shaman-type of vocals for one of our songs. He nailed it perfectly because when Henri heard what he did he was truly touched. We all agree that Jonne was the right man to sing this part. None of us would have sung that particular part as perfectly as Jonne did so we were really fortunate to have him sing it.

Luxi: Moonsorrow really isn't the kind of band that releases a new album every year. I was wondering if while in the middle of the songwriting process one or more of you have started flagging heavily for the kind of either musical, lyrical or conceptual ideas that would cause there to be a gap of 3-4 years (or more) between albums?

Marko: I would not say that has ever happened to us. It's basically been about personal matters as to why fans cannot get a new album from us every year. Plus, people should keep in mind that we don't make our living from this and we personally don't feel the need to keep Moonsorrow in that type of a strict release routine.

Mitja: That would be almost impossible for us...

Marko: Yeah, exactly. Why should we release a new album every second year or so? I just cannot see any point in it. We would rather take our time and work carefully and determinedly with it until we are 200% satisfied. Like with this album, we had almost an album's worth of material done but we weren't quite satisfied with it so we decided to clean our table and start all over again for better results.

Henri: I also have to admit working with the material for this new opus hasn't really offered any sweet honey. As Marko said, we did have a whole bunch of material composed for this record but eventually decided to throw it in the trash can. This has been a really difficult process for me to get the songs done for this album due to a couple of different reasons. To begin with, as Mitja and/or Marko has told you already, I used to compose stuff for Moonsorrow at my old workplace. I simply haven't had much time for anything due to long days at my current job plus my family has eaten up a good share out of my spare time as well. Also, my band mates have been coming and going to my place actively during the entire songwriting process so nothing has been easy for us with this album. Hopefully the fans can appreciate our efforts with this record when they get a chance to hear it eventually because I am truly happy with everything that we squeezed into the songs on this album. I have to say I am extra-happy with the last song that we finished for this album.

Mitja: Me too. It's going to be the most significant track on this forthcoming Moonsorrow opus.

Marko: It's going to be a true cornerstone of Folk Metal, haha!!

Luxi: When you signed a deal with Century Media Records this year, and congratulations for that by the way, how much pressure did they put on you regarding the promotion (interviews, playing gigs around, etc.) they expect you to do? Do they understand that you all have day jobs, families and stuff so promotion may be limited especially when it comes to doing longer tours?

Marko: Of course we want to play around as much as possible within some perhaps limited resources but we will definitely play as many shows as we just can. We understand that labels want to keep their bands on the road as much as possible from an album sales perspective. If you don't go out and play it's hard to get any recognition, that's for sure. Playing gigs is probably the best way to get your band promoted and that's something we are aiming to do when the new album is out.

Luxi: As this new album will be released in early spring 2016 will some summer Metal festival slots be your main target?

Marko: Our gigs are getting booked for the next year already. Some festivals have already been booked. I believe by the end of this year we will make more announcements. Germany, Holland, etc. - and Finland, hopefully – will most probably get their share of Moonsorrow, but we'll see. Tuska festival wanted us to play this year but we had to turn down their offer because we wanted to get the new album done and out first.

Mitja: When the new album has hit the stores everywhere we will want to tour in Europe plus a bunch of gigs are planned for Finland as well. We have a tour coming up in China which we will do before this album comes out. It was booked a long time ago. We are also hoping to tour in the States during the fall of 2016 but all this will depend on our other schedules in life. Normally, in the past anyway, whenever we have toured Europe we have also toured the States. Touring is always nice and cool and I have to say that I personally look forward to getting back on the road again.

Marko: I want to point out that changing from Spinefarm Records to Century Media Records hasn't changed a thing as far as our touring plans are concerned. When we were on Spinefarm they didn't pressure us to tour and it will be the same thing be with our new label. I don't believe they will push because they should already know that Moonsorrow isn't the kind of a band that puts the food on our tables. We all have our jobs outside of Moonsorrow.

Luxi: Surviving in the music business is a tough game. Money is tight and the markets have changed drastically due to the digital revolution with illegal downloads being a big part of the picture. In that sense I can understand why labels are under so much pressure nowadays as they are constantly striving to survive and to keep their boats afloat. 

Marko: Yeah, like you said, they are all under a lot of pressure. The whole music industry has changed so much over the past few years. The album sales have gone down a lot and to survive you have to sell something else besides music like band merchandise in its many forms.

Mitja: It's going to be interesting to see how well this new album will sell as the times have changed within just the last five years. What is a positive signal though that people, especially those with more metallic tastes, are still buying music in a physical format. Even vinyl has made a comeback, which is nice of course.

Marko: I also find it great that people who have been there for us since the very beginning are still there and supporting our band which we are grateful for. Many of them are older than us and this older generation of Moonsorrow fans seems to have some money to spend because they all have jobs so they are still buying the physical formats, which is cool. 

Mitja: They seem to understand that if they buy a physical release it supports bands releasing new stuff. They would rather pay for a physical copy than listen to Spotify accompanied by an annoying amount of commercials.

It's going to be five years since our previous album came out so I am more than ready to put some effort into promoting this forthcoming opus; as much as possible, definitely! It's about time to get something out for our fans. They deserve this album for sure.

Luxi: As many of us already know, the creative process can be a real pain-in-the-arse if you don't want to repeat the same concept over and over. It naturally takes a lot of time, patience and nerve to give birth to a new album so can we assume and/or predict that the next album after this one won't come until 2018 or 2019, perhaps?

Mitja: That's really hard to tell of course but you never know. It depends on so many things and it isn't necessarily that hard to get back into the songwriting mood again if a great idea for a concept album occurs all of a sudden. Sometimes it helps if you have a concept or idea for your forthcoming stuff. It makes it easier and faster to compose and come up with the kind of stuff that fits the concept, you know. For example, when we had the idea ready for the previous album, Varjoina..., we knew right from the start how we wanted it to sound. It helped a lot to have the concept in our minds and build the songs around it. We all had an "advance script" about Varjoina... going through our minds which helped us finish the songs pretty fast. If we know in advance what a Moonsorrow album should be all about musically, visually and thematically it helps us reach goals more efficiently. With this forthcoming album we didn't want a concept album and that's one of the main reasons it has taken so long to get it finished.

Marko: And while we are at it, talking about album concepts and/or themes, we don't know for certain where we are at with this band as far as our musical ideas in the future are concerned. We might well record an album that is not a Metal record, who knows. It could be a 100 percent folk album with no Metal elements to it at all. As a single idea it would be worth trying out. It's not something that we would completely rule out, not at the idea level. It would be interesting to see how the response for that kind of an album would be.

Luxi: Finntroll did a fully acoustic/experimental EP (Visom om Slutet, in 2003) some years ago...

Marko: Well, I would not be so much into doing an acoustic album with Moonsorrow but perhaps something along the lines of Opeth's Damnation album with all these Metal elements being stripped out of it, you know. I think they also wanted to dig up some elements from their past releases but leave out the striking Metal elements. It turned out to be a very successful attempt from them in terms of releasing a genius progressive Rock album. We in Moonsorrow could pick up all of the folk parts we think we are pretty good at and progress from there to see what we could do without any Metal elements. That might be interesting in my opinion. But IF we ever did something like that, it would fulfill some of our personal ambitious, I guess. It would all be done with good taste without getting into an embarrassing Spinal Tap situation. I would be ready and open-minded enough to try out more experimental things under the Moonsorrow moniker. It would not be any problem for me personally. It could even be a synth/ambient/soundtrack type of thing that might work under the Moonsorrow's name with big choirs and stuff.

Mitja: Yes, actually I have been thinking the same thing for some time now.

Marko: In a way it's good to keep your mind open to new ideas. We may never carry out these plans any further than the idea level, but never say never. It would be easier to list the type of stuff you'll never hear done under the Moonsorrow moniker; Industrial music and shit like that. 

Luxi: Or maybe some "famous" Finnish Rap artist would make a guest appearance on a Moonsorrow album, haha!!

Mitja: Mysterious are our ways... haha!!

Marko: We already did a project combining Kalevala with Rap music but it won't be released under Moonsorrow's name.

Mitja: We are planning to let people hear it at the Eurovision Song Contest one of these days. The line-up for this project features some known names but it will remain completely secret until 2050, haha!!

Marko: When Europe is ready for it (*laughs*).

Luxi: What could you tell us about the Moonsorrow documentary that is currently in the works? It's going to be put together by a couple of true Moonsorrow fans from Spain, if I am not mistaken...

Marko: Yes, that's in the works indeed and I believe the fellows that are putting it together will be travelling to Finland in November to do some interviews.

Mitja: One of these guys has taken the time to put together basically everything about us with little details taken from old interviews we have done over the years. I believe this documentary will be based on interviews about us so we also want to make sure that the band members put some serious thought into it because obviously the fans of Moonsorrow want it to be as in-depth and informative as possible.

Marko: Also, this forthcoming document is supposed to feature material from behind the scenes; people who have been involved with this band in the background for many years and so on.

Luxi: Do they have a deadline as to when they are trying to get this documentary out?

Marko: Nope. They are using a crowdfunding campaign to get it financed and released as far as I know.

Mitja: The most important thing is that they get the kind of a documentary out that everyone involved will be 100 percent happy with. There's still a lot of work to be done before it's finished. It comes out when it comes out. We will find out soon, I suppose.

Marko: The guys want to see some of those studios where we have recorded our albums when they come to Finland and have some promotional pics taken of us and so forth. Plus, they want to see where each of us live, etc. so they will also get a peek into our private lives.

Luxi: Ideally it would be great timing if the Moonsorrow documentary was released in March 2016 when your new album comes out but I guess that's impossible considering timetables and stuff...

Marko: Ideally it would be a good promotion for this new album, that's for sure, but it won't happen. I believe it will take a while before it's ready for the pressing plant.

Luxi: Where are you going with the album cover artwork at the moment and who's going to be responsible for that?

Marko: An artist named Tuomas Tahvanainen from Nucleart Design is working on it as we speak. He's a guy we have worked with before for some t-shirts. He has done many band logos, album covers, etc. for bands like Impaled Nazarene, Ensiferum, Barren Earth and Deathchain just to name a few. He has mostly done work for Black and Death Metal bands.

Mitja: Tuomas has been around for a long time and is well known for his work because he has been there since the beginning and is a friend of many bands. He has known both of the Sorvali brothers since their teenager days, especially Ville.

Marko: Yes, in that sense he's quite familiar with Moonsorrow because both Henri and Ville know him so well.

Luxi: Did you give him some sort of a sketch for how you want the cover art to look or the album title so that you'd get what you want?

Marko: Well, we told him what style we are looking for plus we sent him the lyrics of our new songs to help him to achieve the result we want for the album cover. We have liked his past works a lot and that's the reason we chose him.

Mitja: We have always had a different artist for each Moonsorrow album and we wanted to continue this tradition for this new Moonsorrow album. We have also used different photographers on each Moonsorrow album because we wanted a different approach as far as photos, graphics, etc. are concerned. It's been refreshing for us to work that way and avoids routine. We always get something new incorporated into this band.

Marko: All this has worked just fine for us, changing the people that have worked with us in the past because each of our albums has been quite different from the others. In a way, the album cover for this new album should reflect the era we are at with Moonsorrow today.

Mitja: Now this reminds me and I cannot recall if we have even talked about this in interviews before but there's a somewhat funny episode related to the Kivenkantaja album which I would like to share with you. We wanted to order a real runestone from some Finnish craftsman just for the album cover. Eventually it was delivered to us in Helsinki by van and our plan was to get some promotional shots of the band taken at the same time. We wanted to find a nice spot for the runestone, a scene with some forest in the background and stuff, and when the time came to lift that runestone out of the van we faced a major dilemma. It was as heavy as hell and even with six people trying to move that mountain-heavy runestone away from the van this whole scene started looking like some hilarious Spinal Tap moment. Just try imagining six not-so-bodybuilder-looking musicians swearing, sweating and looking like dorks, desperately trying to get this stone moved out of the van with eventually ending in disaster, sort of. It was funny when we finally got that piece of rock moved out of the van and placed it on the wheelbarrow we brought. First, it made the tire burst and then the whole wheelbarrow started getting crushed into one miserable chunk of metal by the weight of the stone. I bet Henri's poor mom must have been happy as he borrowed it from her. Anyway, the story goes on and we finally, somehow, got that huge piece of rock placed on the ground in a way it looked alright. We filmed it using a high resolution picture format which we were somewhat happy with. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the work that Spinefarm's ex-graphic artist in those days did with the pictures. He simply photoshopped the cover in a way that it looked like was made with some cheap computer program which wasn't what we were originally looking for. He pretty much ruined it for us.

The stone was left where we originally dropped it, at least for a little while because Spinefarm Records, who had paid for it, raised quite an argument with us as we didn't give a shit about returning to the Spinefarm office. We did not. Eventually some of the guys from their staff came and picked it up and took it back to their office building.

Marko: They left it in their backyard and after a while the stone was full of cracks because some construction workers weren't too careful with the stone. There's was some facade renovation going on at that time near by the Spinefarm Records headquarters. The stone was truly in bad shape and bits and pieces were missing. Some of those pieces ended up going to a bunch of Moonsorrow fans, at least that's what I heard.

Also, we didn't have enough guts to return the crushed wheelbarrow to Henri's mom but dumped it in a landfill instead, haha!!

Luxi: Spinal Tap moments, I see...

Mitja: All of those tiny, embarrassing moments that can happen to a band in the Spinal Tap movie, I have experienced myself in the past 10 years or so while touring with Moonsorrow. We have even had a Stonehenge-type of thing onstage, not with midgets but some of the guys from Swallow the Sun instead, covered by some folio-made outfits and shit. It was hilarious as hell during the gig. This happened in Leipzig, Germany, in 2007. This can be found on the DVD that came along with the Moonsorrow vinyl box set (titled Heritage: 1995-2008 - The Collected Works, released by Blood Music in September 2014).

Marko: Swalow the Sun thought it was such a great idea that they decided to do the same thing to all other bands they have toured with on the very last gig of every tour. They are such nice fellows indeed, haha!!

Luxi: That was the perfect ending for this conversation, so thanks to both of your for your time. All the best finalizing the recordings for the new Moonsorrow album.

Mitja & Marko: Thanks to you, too.

Other information about Moonsorrow on this site

Review: Tulimyrsky

Review: Tulimyrsky

Review: Verisäkeet

Review: V: Havitetty

Review: Voimasta Ja Kunniasta

Review: Kivenkantaja

Video: Aurinko ja Kuu (Fan Video)

Stormblast / March 2006

SOURCE

INTERVIEW WITH MOONSORROW -MARKO (drums) & VILLE (vocals, bass)-

ATARFE VEGA ROCK 11.03.06

MOONSORROW were started in autumn 1995 by the Sorvali cousins Henri and Ville. After the release of two demos and an album back in 2000 entitled 'Suden Uni', they released their latest heathen-hearted opus 'Voimasta Ja Kunniasta' on Spikefarm Records.

Heilsa Ville & Marko! How are you today?

"Heathen hails to you, Nhashi! It's a sunny day outside and I'm listening to "Hell Awaits" by SLAYER so I'm definitely fine, thank you."

Your second album is out for half a year now. All reviews I got to know on "Voimasta Ja Kunniasta" were very positive. What kind of reactions did you expect when you had finished the album? Are you still satisfied with the album or is there something you would have changed?

"We could never have expected such a positive response for "Voimasta Ja Kunniasta", that's for sure. "Suden Uni" was much more straight-forward in all aspects, and we were afraid if our audience would have a hard time accepting such an epic and progressive album as "Voimasta Ja Kunniasta" is. However people seem to appreciate what we've done, and that is good because we appreciate it ourselves.

Of course there are bits and pieces on "Voimasta Ja Kunniasta" for all of us that are not entirely satisfying, but then again, what would there be left to be done after a perfect album?" Whose ideas were the photos in the CD?

"The idea was collectively processed within the band - we wanted to bring the concept of the whole album to the uttermost perfection." I am simply asking because in my opinion these pictures look rather dull and are the only negative point on your release.

Have not too many people used an overdose of artificial blood? I personally think your pictures would fit better to a Hollywood movie than to a pagan album, but I think you will not agree?

"This is your opinion and I respect that, but one thing is for sure - we have never used artificial blood. If Braveheart fits your conception of an ordinary Hollywood movie, then yes, those pictures would fit better to a Hollywood-movie. Those pictures are at the culmination point of Metal clich'n d so be it."

Your first album was released on Plasmatica Records, a rather small label. How do you look upon your first album "Suden Uni", the contract with aforementioned label and the work it has done for you?

"Suden Uni" was recorded in an 'inexperienced' phase, so to speak. We had just taken a step towards the live sound of MOONSORROW with Baron Tarwonen and it seemed so fluent to write and rehearse for the album. It is far from perfect, but I like it as it is. The contract with Plasmatica was good on paper, but it did not work out - let me say that their resources did not quite meet our demands. It was an educative experience, and I'm not of the kind who would not be thankful for that."

Before you had released two demos - "Mets and "T Ikuinen Talvi" - the latter one to be re-released by Tommi Launonen (Sagittarius Prod.) last year. As they led to your first contract they seem to have fulfilled what they were supposed to. What were your main influences when you started? Besides, you recorded two promos (one of them entitled "Thorns Of Ice") that were never officially released - why? What is your opinion on the demos today? Whose idea was it to re-release "T Ikuinen Talvi" on CD - yours or Tommi's? Why did you re-record it partly? Are you satisfied with the way the re-release turned out? Will there be a chance to get hands on the other recordings that have not been released yet?

"When we started with MOONSORROW, our main influences were supposedly ENSLAVED, EMPEROR and BATHORY. We just wanted to create music to support our pagan views and we did what we were able of. I am proud of the demos because they were the first milestones on the path of MOONSORROW. To be honest, I even like them.The re-release of "T Ikuinen Talvi" was an idea of Sagittarius Productions. They actually wanted to release the demo ever since it was recorded, but they did not approach us with an offer until 2001. By then we had already decided that we should make some improvements to the original recording, because our level of dissatisfaction on the vocals and on the mix was just too high. The re-recording lead to better results, which is quite natural because time had elapsed. The two missing demos were not released mainly because of major technologic fuck-ups. The mastering process erased the other half of "Thorns Of Ice" and the mix ruined the sound on the promo. There is simply no chance of getting hold of the erased material on "Thorns Of Ice", and we have not planned to release the preserved material either. It would be a hoax."

When can we expect the next release? Will it be another album on Spikefarm? Do you think it has been a good choice to change the label between the first and second album?

"And once again we will head to the almighty Tico Tico Studio, this time in November, so expect the third MOONSORROW album in early 2003 or so. We just extended our contract with Spikefarm, so they will also be found behind that release. Switching to them in the first place was nothing but a good choice."

I know that you have played a few gigs in Finland? Is there a chance to see you live one day in Germany and the rest of Europe? Do you actually enjoy to play live or is it rather a "necessary evil" in your opinion?

"So far we have played only 10 gigs, and all of them inside the borders of Finland. I'd like to say there will be a chance to see us live abroad, but at the moment I can't make a promise. Touring depends solely on our booking agency and local promoters and so far no one out there has been interested to invest in our performance. To answer the second part of the question, yes, we do enjoy playing live. We wouldn't do it for so little money if we didn't."

So is there anything special one can expect when attending at one of your shows? Your live-pics on the homepage looked quite bloody, so to say. Anything special?

"There's nothing really 'special' on our live shows, because anything 'special' would require a much bigger budget than what we possess. We just play louder than hell and bang our heads covered with blood. I dare say we are an intense live band, and I hope no one leaves our gig disappointed."

You are responsible for all the lyrics. When did you first get interested in pagan stuff and northern mythology? Does this interest have an influence on your everyday-life? Are all members of MOONSORROW pagan or is it merely a personal thing for you and a good-selling point as an image for the rest of the band?

"I have been interested in myths and legends since a child, and my interest was fully sparked in the age of 16 or so. I guess I can also say that I have always been a heathen, because I have never felt like turning into one, but incidentally I did not dig deeper into the ideology until around the time we started with MOONSORROW. Naturally my beliefs and interests are present in my everyday life - I live according to what I am. I won't talk on behalf of the other members of MOONSORROW, because I would likely say something that is to be corrected. Let me just say that there are NO selling points within MOONSORROW." So if this question is not too private, I'd like to know what direct influence it has in your everyday-life. "No, the question is not too private, but it's hard to answer it nonetheless. Perhaps it has to do with the way I am perceived by the outside world, but more than that it has to do with the way I perceive the outside world. My beliefs are personal - I will share my views with people who are interested, but I will not try to turn anyone's head. Moreover I don't consider it too important to wear symbols or to perform sacrifices, if not of sheer reverence, for the gods are well aware of those who follow their path."

Is there a special concept on "Voimasta Ju Kunniasta"? If so, please explain it to us.

"The lyrics on "Voimasta Ja Kunniasta" form a story. There are various viewpoints to observe it from, but the overall starting point is the concept of a brave warrior. In the beginning he returns home after a long journey, and in the end we attend his funeral. The songs themselves deal with the turning points in his life and in the life of his treacherous brother, portraying simple values and emotions in human life. The intention is to take the listener on this journey with us and send his / her imagination a thousand years back in time."

So the main intention is to tell a story that can be followed by the listener and give him a good hour to leave behind his allday-problems but not to teach anything?

"I wouldn't say quite so. The main goal is to entertain, but besides entertainment there is also content in the story. I only guide people to think about it and leave the rest up to them." Please define the words "strength" and "honour". "Strength: Quality of being strong before difficult decisions and conflicts. Ability of protecting oneself and other people. The foundation of leadership. Honour: Good personal character or reputation. Quality of acting according to certain values (a code of honour) and not selling those values at any cost. Ability not to falter in defeat. Being true to oneself and other people." I don't know why but for me MOONSORROW sound real - unlike bands like ENSIFERUM for example who are too much into party-stuff in my opinion.

Why do you think this is so? Am I wrong if I attest MOONSORROW a kind of national-romantic approach? How important is your origin for you?

"Thank you for saying those words. If MOONSORROW sounds real, that is because MOONSORROW is real - we have never tried to be anything we are not. We know what we represent and we are honest with it, that's all. Our approach is certainly national romantic. I am proud of my Finnish roots to the extent of fennomania, so yes, my origin plays an important role in my whole being."

Could you imagine to live somewhere else than in Finland then?

"I could imagine that, but that doesn't mean I would wish it to happen. From all the places I have visited, Finland remains the dearest for me."

Have you ever faced problems with your reference to the pagan past? In Germany you are allegedly accused of being "nazi" rather fast if you tend to have interests in those subjects. The use of the "S"-rune (like you did for MOONSORROW ) in a logo would even fasten that process.

"Of course there are always people accusing us to be nazis, but what can you say? People are stupid. (Doubtless!!!!! Nhashi) We are national romantic heathen souls, and there is no room for national socialism in our hearts. People always seem to forget (or not to know) that it was nazis who draw those parallels and that real paganism has never had anything to do with such bullshit. It is a shame upon all heathen brothers and sisters that nazis once adopted and shaped pagan ideology for their own purposes."

In the sixth song 'Sankaritarina' you quote Havamal 75/76. How important is the Edda actually for the Finish mythology? Correct me if I am wrong - but as far as I know the importance of the Edda sinks dramatically the further east one comes in Scandinavia? Finish actually does neither belong to the Indo-German language nor to the cultural group.

"The importance of Edda in the Finnish mythology can be discussed after forever, if you insist, because there are fewer documents of the belief systems in prehistoric Finland than of Scandinavian ones. The general understanding of the whole matter is that there were (at least) four different mythological foundations in Finland during the iron age: the Karelian religion in the east, Asatre "viking religion") along the coast, the Tavastian religion in inner Finland and the Samic religion up north. The three first together form the basis of my own belief system. And to set one thing straight - I had no obligations to quote anything, it just happened that those verses fit the concept of "Sankaritarina" perfectly."

Is there a kind of reviving the heathenish way of life in Finland? In many areas people tend to discover their roots to get a way of life beyond thatsuperficial and American way that most people lead nowadays. Are you involved in anything like this? What is your opinion on this movement anyway? Can heathenism / paganism offer anything to the civilised human in the 21st century?

There are some more or less organized pagan movements in Finland, but because of my individual ideological foundation, I am not a part of any of them. I appreciate the aims of these movements as long as they concentrate on the essential, and I am happy for each person who discovers his / her roots and forsakes the plastic culture of our time. I believe that paganism would deliver freedom for the "civilised human", but the "civilised human" is not ready to accept that."

Is there actually a need for organized pagan movements? I mean one of the main critics of the Easter religions is of course the fact that they do not support any form of individualism. Your boundaries to earth and nature are on the other hand something very individual.

"I wouldn't say there's a need for any organizations by means of practising pagan religions, but they are of course valuable when we want their message to reach more people. I do not support any kind of converting, but people must be told about alternatives for their religion before they can make a decent choice. Paganism is individual for everyone who understands what it is about."

Finland has since the birth of the extreme Metal-scene always had some outstanding bands - just to mention BEHERIT as the gods of all time or bands like DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED etc. - and there have always been bands that were different to many other bands. Among my last discoveries were WYRD, AJATTARA or CLANDESTINE BLAZE. Please let me know your opinion about those bands. What do you think is the reason that, although all bands did not invent a new genre of course, it seems that Finish bands are more innovative than bands from other (European) countries? Was it maybe the influence of Finland itself in this case? Is one of the reasons that Finland lies at the periphery of Europa and therefore trends etc. do not reach Finland as fast as the European mainland? Are there any bands you would advise us to have an eye on or two?

"I have been asked to speculate the influential environment of Finland a thousand times, and I still haven't found the ultimate truth about it. Perhaps it is that Finnish bands are particularly innovative, and if it is, the reason must be in the surroundings - be it history, location or whatever. Of the bands that you listed BEHERIT stands for innovation and AJATTARA for rediscovery. They both rock. DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED and CLANDESTINE BLAZE have their moments, and I reckon never actually hearing WYRD. I would advise you to have an eye on MOTHER DEPTH, THE SINKAGE and KHARADRAI." WYRD are a Finnish band from Hyvink and have yet released two demos and a CD entitled 'Heathen'.

As far as I know this is the band of one guy from AZAGHAL and HIN ONDE. Most Finish people seem to be involved in more than one band. Is this true for the MOONSORROW-members as well?

"The AZAGHAL-fellows are the extreme example of the inbred Finnish Metal scene. Many people around are involved in more than one band, but none in so many as them, I believe. It is true that the musical involvement of any of us does not limit to MOONSORROW, but only on rare occasion that has made us even discuss of priorities."

Something completely different. When I gathered information for the interview I read that DARKTHRONE and IRON MAIDEN are among your favourite bands. As IRON MAIDEN and MOONBLOOD are my fave bands of all time, I wonder which is your favourite MAIDEN-album? Have you had the chance to see them on stage?

"My favourite MAIDEN-album must be "Somewhere In Time", but "Brave New World" and "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son" finish threateningly close. Unfortunately I have never seen IRON MAIDEN on stage; I had the opportunity twice, but managed to miss it. I promise I will correct the situation the next time they come over to Finland! Although you didn't ask about DARKTHRONE, I haven't been interested in their comings and goings since "Total Death"." (Which might be a mistake in the case of 'Ravishing Grimness' but beside the albums from 'A Blaze' until 'Panzerfaust' mark Darkthrone's golden era for sure. NHASHI)

Thanks again for your time and your patience. Any wise heathen-hearted words for our readers?

"Thank you for this interview, it was truly a pleasure to travel through these questions. Hereby I pledge to "Voices From The Darkside" and proudly I say: Follow to wherever your hearts lead you and together we will raise our swords for a new pagan age to come!"

BAND

Marko Tarvonen - drums

Mitja Harvilahti - guitars

Markus Eur?- keyboards

Ville Sorvali - vocals, bass

Henri Sorvali - guitars, keyboards

DISCOGRAPHY

Veristevet Spikefarm Records 2005

Suden Uni cd+dvd Spikefarm Records 2003

reissue of the debut album Kivenkantaja Spikefarm Records 2003

Voimasta ja Kunniasta Spikefarm Records 2001

Tav Ikuinen Talvi Sagitarius Productions 2001

partial remake of the 2nd demo Suden Uni Plasmatica Records 2001

www.moonsorrow.net

INTERVIEW BY: TRISTESSA.

PHOTOS: ESTHERATH.

SPECIAL THANKS TO: MARKO, VILLE, TOUR MANAGER AND STAFF OF ATARFE VEGA ROCK.

Thank you so much for this interview. Good luck with the tour and all the best for you. THANK YOU GUYS!!!!!.