Trash Baggery / October 2013

Link

07 Oct. 2013

Dark Souls Intertwining Australia

Metalheads get excited. Finnish metal band Moonsorrow are hitting our shores for the first time this November and are set to rock.
Incorporating black metal and progressive rock with traditional Scandinavian music, these guys take listeners on a heathen metal journey immersing them in their unique sound and epic musical sagas.

Lead guitarist Mitja Harvilahti filled us in on the Dark Souls Intertwining Australia tour and what to expect when Moonsorrow hit town.

I. Can’t. Wait.

As your first tour in Australia, what are you looking forward to most?

Heh, everything! First of all, the shows of course! That’s why we’re coming anyway. But it’s really exciting to play on a new continent and none of us have visited Australia before, so naturally we are looking forward to new experiences.
We don’t have too much time off, since every day we hop on the plane and get to a new city, but we do our best to get a glimpse of each city we play in.

Why has it taken you this long to get over here? We can’t wait to see you!

I have no idea! We’ve been waiting for this for a long time as well.
I must say that the feedback from Australia have been growing a lot during the last 2 years so maybe it’s only now a good time for us to finally come over. We never had any promotion in OZ except of the social media and however people find new bands. So it takes its time for the word to spread.
But we are thankful for the fans for making noise about us!

What can fans expect from the show?

Fans can expect very energetic shows that will cover material through the whole discography, not just new stuff. I think it’s fair, since many of you have been waiting for a long time and know our stuff thoroughly. We will surely give the best shows we can! And I hope the crowd is as crazy as we’ve heard!

For audiences who are new to you guys, how do you describe your sound?

I usually describe it as blackish metal with elements from traditional Scandinavian music and influenced by progressive rock. We call it Pagan Metal but often we are put in the category of Folk Metal. In the Folk Metal genre we represent the more epic and darker side of it.

Who influences your music?

Many, many bands but the main influences for Moonsorrow as whole are King Crimson, Bathory, many early BM bands, Enslaved, traditional Finnish and Scandinavian music, Pekka Pohjola, Slayer, Pink Floyd.

If you could collaborate with any artist/s, dead or alive, who would it be?

Jeff Hanneman, Kraftwerk, Quorthon, Slash, Motörhead, John Lennon, Windir, Anal Cunt. That’s about it right now!

Party hard or chill in your hotel room, how do you guys celebrate after a gig on tour?

Well that really depends on the day and on the tour.
On a tour like this we will hang out and party after the shows for sure!
But if the tour is long, we start taking it more easy at some point or occasionally. Some guys party more and some might go straight to bed after the show, depending on the day. That’s the nice thing about tours; you’re quite free to do as you please. If you’re in a mood for a party, there is always someone to join. Especially when you’re touring in a big nightliner with 18-21 people. You have the upper “deck” for sleeping and relaxing and downstairs there might be a 24/7 party going on! Like in a party boat! I miss that traveling right now. Been home for waaaay too long. So we’re glad to have some action and come to play some shows!



Dark Souls Intertwining Australia – November 2013

Wednesday 20th –  Brisbane – Hi Fi
Thursday 21st –  Adelaide – The Gov
Friday 22nd – Sydney – Manning Bar
Saturday 23rd – Melbourne – Hi Fi
Sunday 24th – Perth – Rosemount Hotel

Julienne Gillet

The Offering / September 2012

Link

September 1st, 2012 (the day after Cleveland)

I doubt very very much it's actually Henri saying something there, basically because he wasn't present in that tour. But I don't know who else it is.
---


After two years Moonsorrow has finally come back to the States to the delight of all their fans. Along for the ride to North America is Moonsorrow’s fellow heathens, Metsatöll from Estonia; the mighty Týr from the Faroe Islands and brothers in arms Korpiklaani. The last time Moonsorrow toured the States was in 2010 with Finntroll and Swallow the Sun where they all appeared on the first Finnish Metal Fest. Since then the men in Moonsorrow have been up to many adventures and drunken shenanigans and have released a new album titled “Varjoina Kuljemme Kuollleiden Maassa”. Alcohol was spilled everywhere, dances were made merry and not a single person was able to escape from the enchantment of the night. And this written interview is what is left prior to the massive metal wreckage in Joliet.
All aboard the Moonsorrow tour bus! I had the great privilege of talking to Ville Sorvali and Marko “Baron” Tarvonen. Occasionally, Henri Sorvali would stick his two cents in. As soon as I walked into the nifty tour bus with its flat screen television that I almost smacked my head on I was offered a beer to console my near death experience. Now that’s what I call Finnish hospitality! Baron proceeds to complain about the lack of alcohol and I proceeded to talk about what a beer snob I am and Ville high-fived me for wanting something stronger then piss water only to have one of the Moonsorrow men sneak off outside to “borrow” some pop and steal back their vodka from the Korpiklaani tour bus. “Shhh!” “They never expected it!” “What they don’t know won’t kill them.” In the midst of confusion and utter tom foolery is how this interview begins and ends. It begins with alcohol and ends with alcohol.
The Offering: Hei! (Finnish for Hello)
Marko Tarvonen: Hei!
Ville Sorvali: Hello!
TO: How’s the tour going so far?
MT: Pretty good. It’s very nice, honestly. We started in Canada and it was a terrific three shows. Yesterday was pretty good in Cleveland. But it’s only starting now.
TO: I recognize that. First week?
VS: First week.
MT: Anything could happen. Anything CAN happen.
TO: Anything CAN happen? Anything? So will you guys play any tricks on other bands?
MT: Well we’ll have to see for when the tour starts to roll and big stuff starts happening and of course the last show of course which is usually the case.
MT: So, uh looking forward to like uh…it’s Saturday for fuck’s sake!
VS and MT together: YEAH!
VS: Damn right. My drink is quite strong.
MT: That’s good!
VS: I accidentally poured a bit too much whiskey.
TO: You accidentally the whole thing?
MT: Now you’re going to play like shit.
VS: No. I’m going to play like an angel.
MT: Alright. Shit for that.
Henri Sorvali: Finally! So you’re going to flap your wings and fly away?
VS: You know I couldn’t fly away.
TO: I’ll just sing Charon’s “Little Angel” while you fly away.
(Ville Sorvali, Marko Tarvonen and Henri Sorvali snort loudly.)
VS: Yep.
TO: How do you guys prepare to get ready for the show?
MT: Like this.
VS: Like this.
TO: Lots of drinking I understand is the Finnish way.
MT: Lots of drinking, less talking.
TO: Less talking?
VS: Yes.
MT: I have to do both now because you’re doing the interview. (Laughs) Other than that I really don’t talk that much.
TO: I’m under the understanding that the more alcohol you give a Finn the more they talk? Is this true?
VS and MT: Yes, this true. (Laughing)
MT: It’s the only way to get the Finns, the Finish man to talk to you.
Moonsorrow laughs together
TO: What about hockey?
MT: No. (Firm No.)
TO: No, hockey?! You guys don’t do hockey? (Disappointed rabid Blackhawks fan)
MT: Yeah, but that’s only screaming!
VS: It’s not pretty.
MT: (screams and imitates a Finnsh hockey fan) GAHHH AHHHHHHHHHH!!! (Tarvonen stand up and flails arms up and down) COME ON!!!!!
TO: How different is touring in Europe in comparison to touring here in North Anmerica?
MT: Better hospitality.
VS: Better alcohol!
MT: Showers!
VS: Russia and all the slavic countries have really bad showers. They’re still living in the medieval ages.
MT: Kind of. The venues here don’t have showers.
TO: I have heard from the band that I’m wearing right now (points to Turisas shirt) that England has the worst showers in the world.
VS: That’s right. After centuries they still couldn’t figure out how to mix the water. They have got hot and cold in separate.
MT: Separate. Separate taps. I don’t see how that works.
TO: So it really is that bad.
VS: Unbelievably. It’s very medieval.
TO: It is very medieval.
MT: Yeah, it is.
TO: Does it make you miss your sauna?
VS: Everything does. (sigh) I’m missing it right now. I don’t have one but I’m missing it.
MT: You miss sauna?
VS: Yeah, MY sauna!
MT: With this heat outside?
VS: Yes!
MT: I don’t miss sauna. You go outside it’s already a sauna.
VS: You can’t be naked in the public!
TO: Sure you can but, you’ll get arrested.
VS: Yeah, exactly.
TO: You can if you wanted to.
MT: Why do you have such laws in here? Why can’t you be naked?!
TO: Honestly, I don’t want to live here either.
VS: Come to Finland. Actually, I don’t think you can be naked on the streets in Finland either.
MT: You can. Course they’ll give you shit and ask that you to leave. But you can.
TO: Yeah, my Finnish is very limited. I can swear proficiently and say thank you.
VS: That’s enough!
TO: I can say kiitos, perkele, vittu, paska and that’s about it.
VS: Can you order beer?
TO: No I cannot. Do you want to teach me?
VS: Yeah! Olut, kiitos! Actually you don’t have to say the kiitos. Just olut.
TO: Olut.
VS: Yes!
VS & MT: BEER BEER!
MT: Beer! But you have to snap your fingers.
TO: What are you guys listening to currently?
VS: Right now?
TO: Yes.
VS: There is no music playing? (Laughs)
TO: Smart ass! It doesn’t have to be heavy metal? But I mean on your free time what do you listen to?
MT: Psychedelic. Mmmm…shit like drug related shit. Anything you can find.
TO: Techno.
MT: Yeah.

Henri Sorvali, Marko Tarvonen and Ville Sorvali of Moonsorrow

TO: What about you? (Points to Ville)
VS: I’m forced to listen to his bullshit.
(Moonsorrow laughs)
MT: I didn’t ask you.
VS: Unfortunately.
MT: I’m the DJ.
TO: So one day when I was on YouTube I came across Finnish rap and I couldn’t stop laughing.
VS: Finnish rap?
TO: Yes, Finnish rap.
MT: That’s cool.
TO: Can you answer this question? What do Finns have to rap about? How can you be ghetto in Finland?
VS: Things are not a roseberry either for some people. There are a lot of unfortunate people.
TO: Well I understand that. It’s the economy. It’s affecting everyone no matter what country you live in.
VS: But anyway, I think Finish rap is cool.
MT: That is something I can accept. The worst thing. The worst thing is Finnish reggae. THAT IS HORRIBLE!!!! WHAT KIND OF SHIT IS THAT?!
TO: I thought there was nothing worse than Finnish rap.
MT: They’re pretending to be Caribbean whatever. (snorts)
TO: In the video they were all ghetto like this and riding in a white low rider car and they had bandanas on their shaven heads and they were making gang signs and singing in Finnish and dancing with a bunch of bitch and hoes and putting money in their thongs and tits. They had bling as big as my head. I just don’t understand why would you want to be America?
MT: This is a turning point! We’ll never recover!! We must drink more.
(Tour manager enter the tour bus)
VS: We’re going to make you an alcoholic.
MT: I’m already an alcoholic. You made me an alcoholic.
MT: More drinking!
VS: We’ll make you an even more alcoholic. I want to see that part of you.
MT: Who was the one who was having eight shots with Eluveitie?
VS: In where?
MT: I caught them having the pre-ritual shots of vodka before the show. The only problem is that I could them get them all together so I would have a shot with four of them and then a shot with two of them and then a shot by myself. And then three of them?
TO: Is Anna Murphy a light-weight?
MT: Are you fucking kidding me? With a last name like Murphy? That girl pretty much drank everyone under the table.
VS: She’s a hot girl.
Everyone laughs
VS: Where were we?
TO: We were having a tender metal moment.
VS: I’m going to pity you when you have to write all this down.
TO: It’s ok. I live for shit like this. This is soo much better than asking you guy so what are your influences? What is your band based on? Why are you called Moonsorrow? I’m sorry you guys don’t want to hear that.
MT: Yeah, fuck that shit.
VS: We don’t answer those questions.
TO: You don’t want to hear that.
MT: Hell no! We don’t need that shit. No one is interested in that shit.
TO: You’ve heard that a million fucking times.
VS &TM: Yeah! It’s so refreshing.
TO: I like asking different things.
MT: Just don’t ask. Keep it recording. (points to phone)
VS: There you go! The real life of Moonsorrow!!
TO: Who else have you played with? I also like Omnium Gatherum. I think it would be awesome if they toured here.
VS: We have played festivals with them. We have played with lots of bands.
TO: What is the breakfast of campaigns for Finns?
MT: Whiskey and coke!!
TO: Not vodka!
MT: Nope. Whisky and coke.
VS: I love Mojitoes.
TO: I love vodka!
MT: Have you tasted the Fisherman’s and vodka in here?
TO: Nope. But Keijo of Rotten Sound told me to put gummy fish in licorice alcohol.
MT: It’s great.
VS: No. It’s awful!
MT: If you don’t like that we have an even worse version in Finland.
TO: Really?
MT: Yeah, it’s very salty and very licorice.
TO: I don’t like eating licorice but I like drinking it.
VS: I like drinking. In all forms.
MT: They love it in Finland. Salmiakk.
MT: Now we have a question for you?
TO: Shoot.
MT: Don’t you want to hear what we think of our last album? (laughs)
VS: It’s fucking awesome! Epic!
VS: I really have something to say. We clearly got the inspiration for the album from supernatural forces like Darth Vader.
TO: And drinking!
VS: Darth Vader drinking. You have not seen Darth Vader drink.
MT: Anyway, it’s a science-fiction album. Like conception.
VS: Post Christan science fiction. (Laughs)
TO: So no Kalevala, no Vainamoinen.
VS: No, no. They’re all dead. We write music from the times when Vainamoinen was already dead.
MT: So I saw two transformers yesterday. I saw this one crazy homeless couple dressed up in metal cans and had shinny gunnels and transformer symbols they made out of duct tape and pieces of aluminum.
TO: That’s weird. I guess that answers the question of what’s the craziest thing you have seen on tour so far.
MT: They were the craziest.
VS: No, I think the guy we saw in New York.
MT: Yeah. You’re right.
VS: He was probably the best out of all of them. Well he was really nice. He looked like Woody Allen. Woody Allen from Hell.
MT: From Hell.
VS: And he had a facial tattoo. You don’t see facial tattoos that often but then there are some. But then again you don’t see tattoos like that ever. It looked like he made it himself because it was really bad quality. He had a bat on his forehead, a spiderweb all over.
TO: Maybe he was in jail.
VS: No, no. It was great. He as a really cool guy.
MT: What a joke! If you’re reading this interview you’re the best. Because he was coming to the show anyway. Chances are he’s going to read this or comment about this.
TO: Who did the artwork for the album?
VS: It was a photographer by the name of Juha Arvid Helminen. We had ideas of the concept album. Every page of the album is part of the story. So it starts with the cover and ends with the back of it. And we discussed how the story line goes when I sat down with the photographer. We made sketches of what happens. So it is more like a movie anyway.
TO: Kittos. Thank you very much for this interview. It was great just hanging out with you guys.
VS: No problem!

Power of Metal.dk / September 2012

Link

September 23rd, 2012 (last day of Manala North American Tour, featuring Korpiklaani, Moonsorrow, Týr and Metsatöll)

Interview with Ville Sorvali and Mitja Harvilahti - Moonsorrow, October 2012

Power of Metal: How are you guys doing this evening, ready for the show?


-Mitja: Yes, getting ready and well...


- Ville: Getting ready for going home as well, yeah. As you see we're going to have to pack everything. The last days are always the most frustrating part of the tour cause you have to collect all your stuff... all around the bus.


PoM: This is the last day of the tour?


- Ville: This is the last one.


PoM: Any crazy stories so far?


-Mitja: There have been a lot of crazy, crazy stories. Some of them we can't tell.


- Ville: Most of them we can't even classify.


-Mitja: On this tour, a lot of things have happened. A lot of interesting stories, a lot of crazy people we have met. (laughs) I don't think we can even tell those stories, they we're a little bit too bizarre.


- Ville: Yeah, bizarre exactly. At least I managed to get really wasted yesterday in New York. Just warmed up a couple of hours ago.


PoM: What do you think of the American crowd, how do they differ from the Finnish crowd?


-Mitja: Well, the American crowd I would say they are very energetic. They give a lot of energy to the band because we work very hard on stage to give the best performance we can for the audience and the American crowd is the best you can find, definitely.


-Ville: That's right. It's the 6th member of the band, the audience, it really is. If the audience is boring it's pretty hard to play live. But here it's really easy to just play and enjoy yourself on stage.


-Mitja: It doesn't feel like work.


PoM: Throughout the years, who has usually taken responsibility when it comes to writing the music and lyrics of the albums?


-Ville: That would be Henri - the guy who is not with us.


-Mitja: Yeah but you do all the lyrics.


-Ville: I do all the lyrics, yeah. (laughs)


-Mitja: Henri is responsible for 90% of the music.


-Ville: Our drummer Marko and I contribute in writing, but whatever we do he still rearranges so it fits the Moonsorrow pattern. So he really is the guy behind the sound.

---

PoM: Was it a conscious decision to evolve the music the way it did after ?Voimasta ja Kunniasta? or was it natural progression? It seemed to have drifted away from the folky and ?paganistic? nature of the first two albums into a more epic direction as a whole.


-Mitja: Yeah. I mean it was always an obvious choice for us to take the direction that we did because the second and the third album are quite symphonic and quite orchestrated, then we decided we really want to go back for more organic sound, more raw sound. We really didn't want the over pompous production to be present in our music so much anymore.


-Ville: Yeah, after those albums we kind of felt like we've done it all already - we want to do something different.


PoM: Have you played any bits of ?V: H?itetty? live?


-Mitja: Yeah, half of it, the second song. The first one we'd never played live. We never even tried it at the rehearsal place.


-Ville: We didn't actually even record it in one take. It's too long to remember. (laughs)


PoM: Where do you draw the inspiration to the stories told in your songs?


-Ville: I have a mouth full of nuts. Please start... (laughs)


-Mitja: No, you have to finish your nuts, I'm sorry. (laughs) Take your time, I'm not answering this question. It's one of the most difficult questions to answer. (laughs) It's obvious, but still, it takes a long time...


-Ville: ...yeah. Inspiration to the music, lyrics or both?


PoM: I'll go with both. (laughs)


-Ville: For the music, that's quite hard because that's Henri. When he writes music and I write the lyrics; we don't even have to communicate with each other and that's how we have this weird link - that we do stuff which fits together. In any case, maybe because we've been writing music together for... almost 20 years. (pause) I think our main inspiration sources are old legends, history, stuff like deep respect for nature and the concept of paganism; That is hard to explain, I'm not even going to try. It's definitely stuff that doesn't fit the world we live in now. I'm not sure if I've said anything sensitive, but... (laughs)


PoM: It must be difficult to create lengthy, functional pieces of art. What the Hell possesses a person when that happens? How do you do it?


-Ville: I would say that in the case of this band, it would be even more difficult to try to make short songs, if that makes sense. We are just somehow driven to do that in what we are doing.


-Mitja: When you start writing epics like this, you learn how to work with the structures, how to build up the tension and stuff. We started making longer and longer and more complex songs until the point that we already made an album with 2 songs, and then we had to go back a little bit. I think we had found our formula and the form that our music is and will be. It will always be pretty much long songs. We can move from shorter to longer, which ever way we want, but making a 6 minute Moonsorrow song, it doesn't seem like it's happening very fast.


-Ville: I wouldn't say that we have any sort of time limit. For example, if we for some weird reason came up with a 3 minute song that could really fix the concept of Moonsorrow, then we would use it, of course. I would compare the music to the story, even the song in itself, even without the lyrics, it's a story. If you have a book that has 300 pages, you don't stop reading after you've read 60 pages, the story isn't finished yet. (laughs) It doesn't make any sense to me.


PoM: Have you heard any complaints from the fans about the length of the songs, saying they're too long?


-Mitja: Yes.


-Ville: Of course there are always people who'll complain about anything that we do. Of course it's natural.


(interview gets interrupted)


-Mitja: Yeah, so... uhhh what was the question again? (laughs)


PoM: Complaints from fans... (laughs)


-Mitja: Of course some people don't like overly epic music.


-Ville: You can't please everyone.


-Mitja: ...and we don't care because we only write the music we want to. That's the only way to make good music. If we start listening to the record label's opinion, the manager's opinion, the audience's opinion, it would never work because then it would not be our music anymore.


-Ville: We want to write music we can also listen to ourselves.

PoM: How would you describe your music to someone who is unfamiliar with this band?


-Mitja: One of the other questions that's most horrible to answer.


-Ville: Try. (laugh)


-Mitja: Well okay, I'll try... (pause) Moonsorrow's music is metal that has elements from traditional Scandinavian music and for example folk music, like ummm, progressive rock and black metal...


-Ville: ...traditional Scandinavian music like progressive rock?!


(both laugh)


-Mitja: Oh no... Well, yes! Exactly. (laughs) What else?


-Ville: Black metal.


-Mitja: Yes.


-Ville: There's a lot of black metal in it actually. And I think that the fans acknowledge that, pretty much. On this bill for example, we are the black sheep of the crew.


(mumbling in the background)


-Ville: No, I'm not black.


-Mitja: You're just a sheep.


-Ville: I'm just a sheep. (laughs)


PoM: As a little sidetrack, what are the future plans for Lakupaavi? (side project of Moonsorrow) Could you give us an update?


-Mitja: Well, the update has been the same since we recorded. I have... I'd say 20 songs that are brilliant. But we can't release them right now.


-Ville: I also have a few. One of them is a blues song, actually. We will record them when the time is right. We just have to feel like it. It's like, 'oh we're going to do it', and then we go to the studio or whatever.


-Mitja: Actually we're not even allowed to have it done because there's a record contract which says that only two members of the band can be in the same (other) band.


-Ville: Oh, yeah, yeah. I don't think they would mind. (laughs)


-Mitja: Maybe they won't, let's not tell them. (laughs)

PoM: You appeared on Finnish TV last year at the time of your latest album (Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa)...

-Ville: Oh yeah, that was a really awkward moment. I've never been on a broadcast that reaches 1 or 2 million people.

PoM: There were talks of covering a song called 'Rekkamies'...

-Both: Ahhh!

PoM: Is that really in planning or was that merely a jest?

-Mitja: Well...

-Ville: It's actually a song that we could cover but...

-Mitja: ...it's not impossible. It was requested by the guy who was interviewed before us on the same program and well, we might do it. Moonsorrow with some truck samples sounds a little bit strange but still, it might work.

-Ville: Vikings do not have trucks... (laughs)

PoM: It might not be too awkward, I think. Ensiferum just did a cover of Bamboleo.

-Ville: Yeeeah they have done some crazy stuff over the years. They are the fun band, we are not. We are dead serious and fucking depressing.

(both laugh)


PoM: Nah... So what's going to happen after this tour?


-Mitja: Oh, after this tour we have one other show coming up in the Netherlands and then...


-Ville: ...and then we will just relax and try to make our livers work again.


-Mitja: Yeah and start negotiating about a lot of stuff like a DVD...


-Ville: ...and then a new album.


-Mitja: And the new album as well. We have to start coming up with ideas - slowly start putting it together. That's the main part, anyway.


-Ville: Yeah. I can promise that it will be out before 2020. (laughs)


PoM: What would you like to say to the fans out there?


-Ville: You're good at this...


-Mitja: The message that I would like to say is: I hope you enjoy our music and I really hope you'll always come to our shows because we really want to play live and we want to see them, too.

Finnish Undergröund Rädiö / August 2012

...interviewed by Narri
with Ville Sorvali of Moonsorrow
filmed by Nick Knudsen
@ Rocky Point Cantina, Tempe AZ
August 15, 2012
US Tour 2012





TRANSCRIPTION


The tour started out kind of crazy, how is it going so far?

We had a lot of good times, it's been great so far. At this point we are getting [tired?], but we had two days off.

Are you working on anything new?

We never do any new work on tour. I know bands who actually compose new material on tour, but I don't feel comfortable with the idea. I just like to concentrate on the shows.

A lot of Finnish bands that are beginning to have global success are starting to write lyrics and sing in English. Is that a trend Moonsorrow might follow?

Never. We will always stick with Finnish.

What are some themes or inspirations behind your lyrics?

I guess the main thing is that the lyrics, whatever they are, they always have the pagan undertone. You can't describe it in one word, but it's like... I'm influenced by the old traditions and the old culture before Christianity, and the respect for nature that our ancestors had, stuff like that. It's basically that I want the lyrics to be somehow apart from this fucked up society that I don't even want to live in, but I have to. I don't even have a choice, because there is no time machine. The lyrics for the new album actually take place in the future; this isn't tied to any period in time; they just have the same undertone [incomprehensible couple of words]. On this new album is what happens after the end of the world, when almost everyone died and there's just a group of survivors. It's a story, it has a beginning and an end, and it's basically that these guys have to find their way, because the whole system collapses, so they have to go out into the wild and try to find [ruins?]. The story is a bit less than one year and in the end everyone dies, so they don't survive even for one year.

Does Finland or Finnish culture influence your music? How so?

I always felt that I am Finnish, and I'm very interested in everything that people before [?] how they were thinking abouit the world. Finland is a very special place. Every winter we are like, "why the hell did Finnish people think about settling here?"

What is the strangest thing that has inspired you?

I have absolutely no idea. They just kind of pop up in my head. I have been writing, for example, when I was travelling alone in a train, looking out of the window, and grabbing my notebook.

How do you think Moonsorrow's music has evolved from the first album?

Quite a lot, I think. [laughs] Of course. Some of the others might disagree, but we have been taking huge steps forwards with each album and we always try to explore some new territories without forgetting our roots. Every time we sit down and start writing material for the new album, that is the turning point where we actually know what it's going to be like. Maybe we had some rough ideas, but it's only when we start writing that we know.

It's been said you consider yourselves Epic Heathen Metal. Can you explain what that is?

We don't want to describe our music, it's alive all the time. But it's metal, that is for sure; it has the term "epic" because it's kind of... You know, "epic" doesn't mean long songs or anything, as most people think. Epic as a word means "telling a story", and our songs are... it's a cliché to say it, but our music is more than just music, it's supposed to paint a picture in the head of the listener. So that's the "epic" part. And the "heathen" because we are heathen, we don't really like this Christ dude. [laughs] We want to describe our music as heathen or pagan metal because we don't want to tell too much about the music, we want to tell about the influences that we have.

Your fifth album, Viides luku: Hävitetty, is comprised of two 30-minute songs. How do you get inspired to write such lengthy tunes?

No idea. Why did we do that? It was how it felt at that time. We started writing and realized that Henri, who writes most of the music, had the intro for the first song and it was already six minutes, so we kind of knew that this was going to be something very extraordinary. We didn't stretch it intentionally, it just happened. Then we were like, "ok, we have one 30-minute song, let's have another one as well, let's see where we can go with this." It was a thing we had to do.

Throughout the years of the band, was there ever a time where you felt like you wanted to throw everything out and just start over?

No. All of us have had our moments, especially on tours, where we think "is this really worth it? I'm flying home, you carry on," but it's never that serious. We are a tight unit, every one of us is basically married to this band.

What's one thing you have learnt about people while being on the road or travelling?

More than about people, I've learnt a lot about myself, especially when I'm spending time alone in some foreign place. That's what I'm aiming to do, actually; I want to... I think everyone needs to know themselves; not everyone wants to, but I do. I take these experiences as an opportunity to get closer to myself by seeing other places and people who live there. When it comes to the people, [cuts abruptly and ends].

 

Transcribed on 23·II·2021.

Die Metal Krieger / September 2012

13/09/2012 CA - Santa Ana, The Observatory (USA)





TRANSCRIPTION

Hello, this is Markus from Moonsorrow and you're watching Der Metal Krieger!

This is Carol from Der Metal Krieger and we are here at The Observatory in Santa Ana, just a few hours before Korpiklaani's headlining Manala tour, and here with us we have Moonsorrow, who are supporting them tonight. We have Ville, Marko and Markus from the band. How are you guys doing tonight?

[Various jokes]

I think you are a little more than halfway done with this North American tour. Tell me a bit about what you've seen as far as the energy of North American crowds versus what you guys are used to out in Europe.

Ville: I wouldn't compare, because I can't remember that far, but on this tour the energy of the audience has been outstnding.

Marko: Even quite fanatic at some venues. In San Francisco it was mad.

Markus: Way better than in the previous tour.

Marko: I don't know what the reason is, maybe it's our setlist.

So did it surprise you? I definitely know that sometimes, especially here in L.A., one kind of gets the feeling that people are sitting there with crossed arms, but it seems like you guys have definitely gotten good responses.

Marko: Yes, very intense, with moshpits and all.

You had moshpits here?

Marko: Several.

Really? That's very interesting, considering some your newer material, which we'll certainly talk about later. Your newest album is called As Shadows We Walk in the Land of the Dead, it was released in February via Spinefarm, and since then you've had some time to get some feedback. What has been the general feedback?

Ville: Critics like it, and audiences like it as well, judging on...

Marko: Even we like it!

What do you guys think?, you have evolved quite a bit from your folk metal roots, in your  Chapter V: Ravaged album you took on this huge black metal. How are you guys feeling as far as the evolution of Moonsorrow goes?

Ville: We just do what we want to do.

Marko: It's been very natural since the beginning, the whole development of things. For example, on the third album we got those progressive rock elements besides all the traditional folk stuff or metal in general, and during 2005 or so we just got the idea that we had to make our sound much rougher and grimmer. Then we sort of went back in time to the roots of Moonsorrow, to the demo period...

Markus: Yes.

Marko: ...and we are still continuing in that way, that path of mixing the sound of the early days, that was based on mostly symphonic black metal, and... and... I don't know, there is this blacker stuff and progressive stuff, and lately, the traditional influences have been put away a bit.

Ville: They appear in a different shape. We still have a lot of that folky stuff over there, but...

But it's harsher, it's something like Chapter V, where there was this distinctive very black metal.

Ville: Yes, but it had folky elements as well, it's just not as prominent as with the other bands in the same league.

Marko: It's not that happy joy-joy oompa-oompa fiddle fiddle. It's darker, it's more intense... In Finnish traditional folk music, the majority of it is very dark, very sad and melancholic, and we always took our folk influences from that kind of music. So that's why we sound so depressive. :)

Ville: We are depressed.

One thing that does add to the depressive mood is the length of your songs. I was going through your discography and you realize that once you get to album 4 you guys started to get bold and brave with your 12-minute, 15-minute—the longest is 30 minutes and 25 seconds, I believe. How do you keep your energy when you're playing to live audiences, and how do you keep the energy of your audience too?

Ville: It just happens...

Marko: Eating healthy food, [everyone laughs] try not to drink so much before the show...

Just say that alcohol puts you in a trance or something so that the 12 minutes go by.

Marko: I think people, the crowd, are just acting very naturally to our songs. The energy from the crowd comes very naturally. We almost don't have to do anything. If we just stood there, shoegaze, whatever, they would still be doing the moshpit.

They did moshpits here, that I find very interesting.

Marko: But then again, we don't shoegaze. We headbang a lot and...

Ville: We have a lot of energy on the stage.

Marko: It's like doing exercise or something, like workout, really, for me.

Markus: For all of us, somehow.

Marko: It's good sport, you lose weight and everything.

All your records have been released on Spinefarm. However, you've recently made the switch in April to Century Media. Why did you make this change, and what do you think Century Media is going to do for your future records?

Ville: The answer to the first question is that sometimes you just...

Marko: The contracts run out.

Ville: ...you need a change. Contracts ran out several times and we re-signed to Spinefarm a few times, but sometimes you just need a change, and we felt that this was the right time.

Marko: I would confirm the Spinefarm era as a marriage that after certain years is just not going anywhere, you know... I don't know if you're married or not, but... [in a mocking voice] I've been married for one year and I can feel it now! It doesn't go anywhere! [everyone laughs]

There's a whole other interview to tell Marko's personal life!

Marko: But you know the expression. We somehow felt like it didn't go anywhere. The promotion was always the same, very... there was something, but not really anything special.

Okay, I totally understand you.

Ville: With Spinefarm we all have to realize that they certainly helped to establish the band, they actually made us what we are now. It's not out of disrespect to them or anything, but we felt that we needed a new kick to the butt, and we all thought that with Century Media it might be possible. They have been really interested, we had a few meetings before they even directly asked about the signing.

Now comes a question from a fan on Reddit. Asator wants to know if the shift from the folkish sound was fully intentional and if we can expect a return of your folk elements in the future.

Ville: You never know. [laughs] We never know ourselves. We just do what we do.

Marko: I think on the next material there will be more dynamics. The way I see Chapter V and Like Shadows, they're very like... you put the CD on, they are like CHVVVVV [separates his hands vertically, moves them to the right while he makes this low-pitch "white noise", joins them again at the end] and then it ends.

Ville: Yes, it's a crushing wall of sound.

Marko: But for the next one I'd like, we would like, to do something more like this [moves his hand from left to right drawing a wave in the air].

Something more unpredictable?

Marko: ...probably...

We never know! You know what? Who will come and interview us, they will know! [or something like that]

Markus: That's true.

Marko: At the same time, we want to have our listeners crushed under the wall of sound and fierce blackmetalish blast beats and everything. We want to include as much as possible. But still to keep it within some limits and not to go too far, too psychedelic-progressive or too fast, I don't know, Darkthrone.

Oh, no, please! We'll have an intervention if that happens.

Marko: In Moonsorrow it's easier to say what we cannot do than what we can do.

Ville: And we can do a lot of things.

Marko: It's easy to say that there will never be any kind of industrial elements in Moonsorrow, or electronic.

Ville: But it's as easy to say that in Moonsorrow you haven't seen anything yet.

But we're all looking forward to seeing it and seeing you guys progress! Thank you all so much and good luck with your show tonight.

Transcribed on 22·II·2021.

Metalitalia / Early-mid 2003

Link

MOONSORROW – Quando il metal serve per raccontare antiche leggende…

Pubblicato da Paolo "Cernunnos" Vidmar | 0 commenti

Anni fa gli Amorphis avevano timidamente cercato di farci assaporare le atmosfere della cultura finnica tradotte in musica. Ora ci sono i Moonsorrow a farci entrare in una dimensione distaccata, dove a parlare è l’amore per la propria terra, la Finlandia, il paese dei mille laghi, ma non solo… Il black metal con il tempo si è sbiadito, ora il metal epico domina la proposta dei Moonsorrow, forse gli eredi più accreditati al patrimonio lasciato dagli scandinavi Bathory. Il chitarrista della band, Mitja Harvilahti, ci introduce in un mondo oltre i confini dei ghiacci perenni…

CIAO MITJA, SINCERI COMPLIMENTI PER IL VOSTRO BELLISSIMO “KIVENKANTAJA”! POSSIAMO CONSIDERARLO IL VOSTRO MIGLIOR ALBUM ,ANCHE GRAZIE AD UNA PRODUZIONE ECCELSA…
“Grazie! Sì, ‘Kivenkantaja’ è senza dubbio il nostro miglior album, fino a quando non uscirà il nuovo ovviamente (ride, nda)! Sono totalmente soddisfatto della produzione, anche stavolta lavorare ai Tico-Tico Studios è stata un’esperienza bellissima e divertente”.

COM’E’ STATO TRATTATO IL VOSTRO ALBUM DALLA STAMPA? SIETE SODDISFATTI DELLE VENDITE FINO A QUESTO MOMENTO?
“L’album ha ricevuto davvero notevoli responsi. Non eravamo sicuri di come il pubblico e la stampa avrebbero potuto reagire, ma i commenti sono stati molto positivi e siamo molto soddisfatti di questo. Siamo anche abbastanza contenti di come stanno andando le vendite, è stata una sorpresa esser venuti a conoscenza del fatto che ‘Kivenkantaja’ era entrato nel sedicesimo posto della classifica qui in Finlandia! Però bisogna anche ammettere che non è facile vendere bene fuori dai nostri confini dato che cantiamo in finlandese; la nostra musica è poco esportabile da questo punto di vista”.

DATO CHE I TESTI SONO IN FINLANDESE, CE NE PUOI PARLARE? L’INGLESE NON E’ UNA LINGUA ADATTA PER DESCRIVERE LE VOSTRE SENSAZIONI?
“Ville, il nostro cantante, scrive tutti i testi e i contenuti cambiano da cd a cd. Ci sono alcune canzoni ancorate a fatti storici realmente accaduti, altri testi riguardano racconti fantasiosi e leggende antiche. I testi di questo nostro ultimo album sono molto poetici e al tempo stesso astratti (almeno lo sono per me…). La maggior parte delle canzoni sono malinconiche o riguardano la rabbia e la tristezza. Per contro ci sono alcuni casi in cui trattiamo poesia eroica. In ogni testo di questo album c’è un forte legame tra uomo e natura. Dovresti leggere i testi per farti un’idea più precisa. Tutti i testi li puoi trovare tradotti in inglese sul nostro sito internet. I Moonsorrow non cambieranno mai la propria lingua per l’inglese! Perché dovremmo farlo? Per avere più ascoltatori? No. La nostra lingua madre è troppo importante per noi, è un elemento essenziale nella nostra musica”.

POSSIAMO CONSIDERARE I MOONSORROW UNA ‘PAGAN METAL BAND’? QUAL E’ LA GIUSTA DEFINIZIONE PER IL VOSTRO GENERE?
“Senza ombra di dubbio i Moonsorrow sono una band pagan metal! Noi chiamiamo la nostra musica ‘Epic Heathen Metal’, ma anche folk metal, pagan metal, viking metal può andar bene come definizione. Non mi interessa di rientrare per forza di cose all’interno di un genere ben definito”.

LA CANZONE D’APERTURA, “RAUNIOLLA” E’ FORSE IL BRANO PIU’ COMPLETO DELL’ALBUM: CI SONO CORI, PASSAGGI ATMOSFERICI, FEELING EPICI E MOMENTI AGGRESSIVI. SEI D’ACCORDO CON QUESTA IMPRESSIONE?
“Sì, lo sono! Quella canzone è totalmente epica!”.

NON PENSATE DI SOSTITUIRE IN FUTURO LE TASTIERE CON STRUMENTI TRADIZIONALI IN MODO DA DARE UN TOCCO ANCORA PIù ‘ANTICO’ ALLA VOSTRA MUSICA? AD OGNI MODO L’USO DI TASTIERE CHE FATE E’ ECCELSO…
“Inizialmente volevamo che questo album suonasse più acustico, ma avevamo un budget ristretto e non potevamo permetterci un’orchestra. In futuro tutto è possibile, dipenderà da come saranno le nuove canzoni. Forse faremo a meno delle tastiere (anche se non lo credo!), vedremo come ci evolveremo musicalmente. Suonare strumenti ‘veri’ è sempre interessante e se ce ne sarà l’opportunità lo faremo”.

QUALI SONO I GRUPPI CHE TI PIACCIONO CHE SUONANO UNA MUSICA SIMILE ALLA VOSTRA?
“Personalmente credo che gli Enslaved siano in assoluto i numeri uno! Sono un loro fan sin dai loro primi album e il loro sound mi ha molto influenzato, ma non quello dei loro ultimi due album che non ho apprezzato troppo. Anche gli svedesi Thyrfing sono una buona band e i ragazzi sono simpaticissimi! Bathory ovviamente! Non si possono dimenticare le influenze dei Bathory nei Moonsorrow quando tu ci ascolti; sono stati sicuramente la nostra maggior influenza musicale. Mi piacciono anche i Finntroll ed i Ensiferum, ma soprattutto mi piace bere assieme a loro!”.

“MATKAN LOPUSSA” E’ UNA CANZONE MOLTO PARTICOLARE E DIVERSA DALLE ALTRE. SEMBRA IL RICHIAMO DI UNO SPIRITO SCIAMANICO. CREDI CHE IN FUTURO INCREMENTERETE IL ‘TOCCO ETNICO’ DELLA VOSTRA MUSICA?
“Non saprei… abbiamo solo qualche riff pronto per il prossimo album ed è troppo presto per dire come ci muoveremo in futuro”.

QUAL E’ IL MESSAGGIO PIU’ IMPORTANTE CHE TRASPORTA LA VOSTRA MUSICA?
“Il paganesimo, l’anticristianesimo, le tradizioni nordiche: tutti sono aspetti molto importanti per noi. Noi non vogliamo predicare, vogliamo soltanto esprimerci liberamente. Suoniamo musica principalmente per noi stessi e quando alla gente piace ne siamo felici! Diffondiamo il messaggio della musica, che racchiude un lato spirituale molto importante”.

QUAL E’ L’ASPETTO DELLA VOSTRA CULTURA FINLANDESE DI CUI ANDATE FIERI?
“Difficile a dirsi… il suono e lo spirito finlandese dei nostri testi, che sono figli del nostro paese e natura e di quelle esposioni nordiche che noi cerchiamo di far confluire nella nostra musica. Non stiamo vendendo l’iimaginario basato sulla sauna o sulla vodka finlandese come fanno altre band! Ad ogni modo sauna e vodka comandano (ride, nda)!”.

CREDI CHE LA CULTURA SAMI ABBIA INFLUENZATO INDIRETTAMENTE LA VOSTRA ATTITUDINE MISTICA NEL COMPORRE LE CANZONI? POTREI FAR L’ESEMPIO DEL BRANO “MATKAN LOPUSSA”…
“No, non lo credo. Non ci sono influenze Sami in quella canzone. Be’, forse qualcosina, ma le canzoni attuali suonano più kareliane e russe piuttosto che finlandesi”.

COME VANNO LE COSE CON L’ATTIVITA’ LIVE?
“Al momento abbiamo in programma solo un paio di concerti sicuri e si faranno in Finlandia. Spero presto di suonare nell’Europa centrale, ma non c’è niente di suicuro per ora”.

GRAZIE PER LA TUA DISPONIBILITA’, MITJA. SIAMO AI SALUTI…
“Rimanete pagani! Rimanete nel metal e bevete! Visitate il nostro sito internet www.moonsorrow.com!”.

Onslaught Radio / August 2012

Link


10·VIII·2012
Bloodstock Open Air, UK






TRANSCRIPTION

You played on the Ronnie James Dio stage earlier today. What was the experience like for you?

Playing on a stage with that name is an honor, and we don't play in England too often, so that's a very special occasion for Moonsorrow. Although it was an early show, 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the audience was full of energy and we were very warmly welcome, as usual in England. We like it very much in here.

What are the English crowds like compared to the rest of Europe? Here we have a reputation for being a little bit crazier.

It's hard to tell, because we played so early. Considering that, it was fantastic, but if we had played at 9 o'clock in the evening, who knows what kind of havoc there would have been! But as for comparison... There are good audiences everywhere. There are different types of, let's say, fanaticism, for example in Mexico, or last October we were in China, and on one show we did there, they had never witnessed any Western rock and roll band. It was in a city called Harbin. And well, obviously, because they never saw any rock bands, it was very easy, Ville just told them "let's go fucking crazy" or whatever and people were spilling beer and whatnot. But it doesn't really matter where we are playing, in what conditions we are playing. Of course, playing here is top notch...

We had a good weather today as well, didn't we?

Yeah, it's better than in Finland! This is very rare during summer.

To us too... So, if somebody was to find Moonsorrow for the first time, how would you describe your sound? What makes you unique? I've heard the term "epic heathen metal".

We made that up ourselves some years ago. But then again, the word "epic" nowadays... Do you think it's a bit overused?

It is getting that way, yes, but it's still very much relevant.

It is, yes. You could say Moonsorrow being epic as fuck. Can I say that? [laughs] Yes I can? But some words... We're definitely Finnish, because we sing in Finnish and we're not going to change that, it's gonna be Finnish or nothing.

Superb, that sounds fantastic.

It's very hard to tell. We are the band that does very long, boring songs, for some people, for most of the people, but those who understand what it is all about get it very easily. Even my father, he's 70 years old and...

Big metal fan?

No, not at all, he sings in a choir and... But he respects a lot what we are doing and he comes to our shows in Helsinki. It's crazy.

Pretty awesome, actually. So, your last album was released in February 2011 — are there any sort of plans for a new album in the near future?

Yes, we just secured a new record contract with Century Media, and Henri, our main songwriter, he's also in Finntroll, as you perhaps know, he's doing a new Finntroll album first, and after that, and after whatever stress vacation he must have after that, we will slowly start to write new songs. Or actually, maybe we will start with Ville and Mitja and Markus even before the whole Finntroll stuff is finished. We're just trying to go to our rehearsal place and do it the old school way, because that's not really the way we have done the albums in the past. It's normally being Henri or myself, at home, doing MP3s, sending them over, "I have these ideas", or even whole ready songs. But this time we really wanted to do it the more old school way, just have some... well, maybe jamming is not the right word, but just on a normal way, "I have this riff, what do you have?, oh, maybe those could fit together". We try to approach it a bit differently than what we have done before.

Superb. So...

As for the schedule or whatever, I would say late next year for a release.

I look forward to that. Do you have any more shows lined up after Bloodstock in the UK?

Actually, tomorrow we are going to do our first show ever in Ukraine, in the Carpathian Mountains, there is this metal festival about which we don't have much information beforehand, but from what we heard, it's located in the mountains, over a thousand metres high, so I'm looking forward to the view and everything. That will be our last festival for this summer, and in three weeks we will start the North American tour with Korpiklaani and Týr and Metsatöll from Estonia. It's going to be a 4-week tour covering the major cities in the States and something in Canada also.

Are you going to be due back in the UK anytime soon?

I hope we can do some mini-tour at least next year, because we regret we have been skipping the UK all these years. But, I don't know, you must push your local promoters more, because we play everywhere. Last October we did China, four shows in China with very primitive equipment, but we had a lot of fun. We were totally tourists there. But hey, we played in Shanghai for 600 people, we played in Beijing for another 600, and we never thought we would play for that many people in China. It was awesome.

That sounds very awesome. To wrap things up, do you have any messages for your fans, anything you'd like to say?

In the UK? Well, uhm, I don't want to be sorry for not playing here more often...

No, don't be sorry.

...but be patient, push your local promoters and whatever. I hate to play only every four years here. It sucks that most of our tours are skipping the UK for some reason. We will make a correction for that next year or... Yeah, next year.

Superb. Thank you very much for your time, it's been an absolute pleasure, and [to the camera] catch you guys later!

Transcribed on 19·II·2021. I was in that Ukrainian festival up on the Carpathian mountains, the name was Carpathian Alliance, and it was fucking awesome. It was terribly cold for August and the sound in most of the concerts was horrible, but the general atmosphere and especially the location were amazing. The place was a ski resort called Zahar Berkut, in a village called Volosyanka, few hours away from Lviv. Other bands in the line-up were Arkona from Russia, Týr, Carpathian Forest (in an actual Carpathian forest!), Inquisition, Dark Funeral (who gave me a lift to the hotel the first night) and a few smaller ones, including a then-promising but eventually short-lived Ukrainian act called Viter. You can check some of my photos and videos here, here, here and here.