finnishsupremacy

[finnishsupremacy]

Retrospective time: live reports of Blind Channel's gigs in Turku & Tampere (2019)

Note: these reports were written directly “in hot pursuit”, a day or two after the concert, and mostly as a memory for myself, so there is no special literary component in them.

Turku, Finland, 31.05.2019

My acquaintances Vagabond Hearts were the opening act, and I stood alone by the stage when they were performing, just to somehow support the guys. There was not a very big audience in the club.

Then more and more people began to come to the club, but not very actively. I chatted with a girl, she asked how I knew about BC, and said that this is the first time she saw so few people at their concert. Apparently, because of this, the guys delayed the start of the concert by 15-20 minutes.

Their intro was very short: they just flew out onto the stage like a bullet and then everything was as quick as a breath… They jumped, ran around and had a hell of a time, and us too. The energy just sparkled from them, and it was perfectly transmitted to the audience in this way.

These guys were absolutely crazy, jumping all the time, although, to tell the truth, the stage was quite small, even if only the vocalists were taken into account. With my “skills” it was almost impossible to catch them on stage in the lens. I can say that there are no normal concert photos, just a couple of some more or less acceptable images of Niko and Joel, and that's it.

On one song, Niko and Joel rushed into the crowd, and there a mayhem was “started”.

There was also a competition between Tommi and the sound engineer to see who would drink beer the fastest, and Niko was nickering, saying something like “the drummer drinks beer, how rare”! In general, they diluted the entire performance with jokes, and the audience also supported this clowning with might and main.

Niko at the end of the song fell on the stage and didn’t get up. Dramatic whisper from the audience: “Don't die...”.

There were few people, but they were terribly running around. On one of the songs, the guys told us all to squat, and in the end the jump turned out to be gorgeous. Actually, it’s impossible not to jump at their concert, they really don’t know what gravity is.

They also performed a new song (“Snake”) for the first time, although they promised to do it at Rockfest. In general, their music shook me so much and just dragged me through that I almost sobbed with delight there. Epic gig band...

In a couple of songs after the start of the concert, Niko looked at me and smiled, and then one more time. And at the end of the performance, he took my hand. I knew that he would do it, somehow subconsciously I was sure.

When the guys left, I grabbed the setlist, drank a lonkero [Long Drink], and once again turned to the girl with whom I chatted before the concert. She said that they always come out to the fans, and yes, the guys really came out very soon and Joel was the first to come to hug me. Then he, along with Niko, moved to the merchstand. I approached Joel while Niko was “occupied” by the fans and told him that this was my first BC concert and I was from Moscow. He was very surprised by this. He signed the setlist for me, then I went up to Niko, hugged him, told him the same thing as Joel, he was also very touched and thanked me. Then I stood next to the guys to take a picture, and while we were waiting for the fans to let Niko go, Joel put his hand on my shoulder and said how cool it would be to come to Russia. They really appreciated the fact that I traveled so far for them. However, unlike the first meetings with some other Finnish bands, none of the BC tried to switch from Finnish to English, after hearing that I was from Russia. This is a plus! And I told Joel that I would also come to their gig in July in Tampere and I was very glad about it!

Finally, Niko came to us, we took a picture, and somehow I myself didn’t notice that I clung to Niko so close that it was a bit awkward in front of Joel…

Then I told Niko how cool it was and that I'm so glad that I came and I just don't have enough words to express my feelings. He smiled, thanked me for coming, and said that it was great that we would see each other again soon.

Then I caught Joonas too; I also told him who I was and where I came from, he appreciated and signed my setlist. Then I caught Olli for a sign. It wasn’t clear where Tommi went, I didn't see him.

I had to leave, but I couldn’t leave just like that: I went up to Niko to say goodbye, we hugged, he said: “See you soon!” and I left.

Tampere, 20.07.2019, club festival (Blind Channel, Stool, Beast in Black & someone else), Pakkahuone\Klubi

On this day, the heat exceeded +32 degrees, which is completely unusual for Tampere, so this concert was really hot, in every sense.

When I approached the club, I was surprised that there was no queue. Then four girls, all in BiB logos, moved to the entrance, and I stood behind them.

Standing in front of the entrance, I realized why there was no queue. It was like an oven in there. We were waving with our tickets, searching for the shadow, plus a security guard warned us that they would let us in later, because someone hadn't tuned yet.

Well, they finally let us in! The girls in front of us rushed to the main stage, and me, Henna and the girl behind us settled down at the Klubi stage. It was a bit bigger than in Turku, but not that much.

And exactly at 8 P.M. our violent pop revolution blasted. The guys jumped as usual, running around, sometimes crashing into each other, Niko showed off in a couple of moments, stopping right in front of me, atmospherically dropping on one knee over the setlist. This time it didn’t lie on the floor, no!

Actually, I got one of the best spots, Niko was right in front of me, and Joel was also nearby. Joonas jumped out on the monitor right in front of me once. The stage was small, you could see everyone well, but it wasn’t that small that the guys would’ve been very uncomfortable.

At first I thought that I wouldn’t be able to shoot a thing in such a light, but Joel turned out good in some pictures. Niko also turned out not bad, but I giggled a bit because of his slippers and panama!

The audience was notably having fun too: they yelled so that from time to time the guys didn’t have to sing anymore, they also jumped like clockwork. Well, again – I don’t remember which song – the guys told us all to squat and our jump turned out awesome as usual. There was a lot of energy from them, I didn’t even notice how quickly time flew by...

On “Snake”, I was in such a mood that I didn’t know whether I should yell, cry, howl, get crazy, what to do?! Makeup and rhinestones didn’t let me cry, I was actually afraid that from the wild heat and my kangaroo jumps they would slide down on my eyes! For it’s impossible not to jump at BC’s concert.

And when towards the end I realized that that’s it, it’s impossible, my face is all wet (no one canceled the tropics, even inside the club!) and I’m breathless to hell, I stood and sipped lonkero, Niko came up and took my hand in his typical manner – covers my hand and flexes my fingers. And we bumped our fists at the end. Once again, he extended his hand only to me.

And when they finished, Joel personally brought me a setlist that they didn’t trample on. Although they didn’t give trophies away. I didn’t ask, but he still brought it, it was nice.

The boys left, I, purring their outro, packed a clean setlist. Henna and I went out for a smoke and then went back to Klubi. I saw the rhythm section and Joonas were taking the equipment out. They disassembled everything quickly!

And then I saw Niko, he had already changed his clothes and tied his hair. He was talking to someone there, and when I approached, he turned to me with that awesome smile of his. We hugged, took pictures, Niko thanked me for coming and said that it was very cool and he was glad to see me. We chatted a bit more and hugged goodbye.

The guys at the concert said that this was the last concert before leaving for the studio, and the next ones would be only after the release of the album.

People ran back and forth there, but I never saw Joel. Then I realized that it was somehow depressing and hot, I had to wait for BiB for a long time, as a result, I sat down to finish my lonkero and then left.

Nowadays…

I knew about Blind Channel back in 2018, because they were friends with my previous favorite band, Shiraz Lane, whom I constantly followed around Finland and the rest of Europe. But since I was into such genres as glam rock and AOR, BC seemed so “out of my league” that I didn’t even try to listen to them until the spring of 2019 when my friend said that I am missing out a LOT. I decided to listen, and on the second or third day of listening, I looked through their tour schedule and immediately bought a ticket for a concert in Turku. It was completely unexpected for me, I have never made a decision to go to any gig so quickly, given that I was traveling from Moscow. But when I saw them in person, I was amazed at how strong this live band is.

But still, in 2019, I didn’t really distinguish BC from other young Finnish bands, at that time there were about four teams of equal popularity: my Shiraz Lane, Lost Society, Arion and BC themselves. In 2018, according to the Soundi magazine, Shiraz Lane was named the most promising young band in the country, and if someone asked me in 2019 which of these bands has the greatest chance of success, including abroad, I would definitely say “Lost Society”. The position of BC in Finland at that time wasn’t really clear, primarily because other bands played in more or less understandable and traditional genres for Finland: classic thrash metal from Lost Society, classic hard rock with a light mix of glam from Shiraz Lane and still the same classic power metal from Arion. And BC with their own style, which could only be described as “neither a mouse, nor a frog, but an unknown little animal” [quotation from Russian fairy tale “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” – translator's note], back then it wasn’t that easy to find exactly the right recess for them.

And then 2020 came and everything collapsed... Even before the famous events, I had a ticket for their concert, which was supposed to take place at the end of April 2020, and I was shocked that the venue for this gig changed several times and eventually reached On the Rocks. For those who don’t know, I’ll explain: OTR isn’t the biggest club, and by that time BC had already gathered the legendary Tavastia more than once, which is many times larger, so the announcement of OTR as a club for the presentation of the album drove me into dreary thoughts about how bad things must be for guys... but this concert didn’t take place for obvious reasons. I remember swearing at Joel when he wrote on Instagram something like “Well, I wish at least in ten years we will be able to go on stage again”. Depressive thoughts then were everywhere and no one believed in a quick restoration of the musical sphere, neither the musicians themselves, nor we.

When I found out that BC were announced for UMK, I just waved it off. For me, as a dinosaur, who started listening to rock in 2001 (yes, babies, I'm a superstar :) [wordplay: “star” in Russian translates as “old” – translator's note]) Eurovision has always been that “nasty thing where everyone wears pink tutus and sings something like “la-la-la”. And there is BC! Who’s gonna let them into this pop hotbed?! Arion was at UMK in 2013 and, of course, they didn’t pass, and I was sure that the same fate awaited BC.

But somewhere in the forest the last mammoth died and they went to Eurovision. From that point on, I grabbed some popcorn and got myself comfortable, watching what else “ma boyzzz” were up to.

The results of the Eurovision itself didn’t please me much, primarily because of the completely unfair judicial voting, but I was very happy with what happened in Finland after that.

Since 2021, BC have already become “band number one” for me, since I stopped listening to Shiraz Lane for personal reasons, and they somehow got lost and still haven’t got back to the “pre-Corona” level, but Blind Channel began to illuminate the severe Finnish vasts so brightly that I was naturally delighted, constantly repeating: “Hey, these are my boys, I still remember how they gathered 100-200 people, and look at them now!”

It was this band that helped me to get through the hardest years of 2020-2022, and became an incredible source of motivation to move forward.

So, now I have no doubt that they can handle any achievement, and if someone in ten years tells me that Blind Channel are preparing a concert for a million fans on the moon, I’ll say: “So what did you expect, these are my boys, this is what they are!”

Live reports by glammetalbuzzard

Translated specially for Blind Channel Russian News by Diana "Di" Chekanova

Русскую версию лайв-репорта вы можете найти здесь.

[finnishsupremacy]

Interview with Miika Huhtala (Beyond Awareness) [12.01.23]

Over the past few years, the number of unique bands on the alternative scene in Finland has increased several times, the goal of many of which is to create something new and unusual, to come to their own sound and to show their music to the whole world.

One of those artists was the metalcore band Beyond Awareness. The band was formed in 2019 in the city of Tampere, released several successful singles and quickly received a pleasant result of their work: in the same year they signed a deal with Ranka Kustannus, a Finnish label known for their collaborations with bands such as Shiraz Lane, Cyan Kicks, Blind Channel, Block Of Flats and other.

After a year-long hiatus following the latest release of "Like A Brother", a cover of a Blind Channel song, Beyond Awareness is back with a new single, Crime.

We talked to the founder, songwriter and guitarist of the band, Miika Huhtala, who told us how the band was formed, what ideas united four different young people, how their first MV "Burn" was shot, how the new track was created and shared funny stories about how the band members relax.

The history of your band officially began in 2019. What was it like to start a career right before the pandemic, and how much did it affect you?

If the pandemic was to come, this was quite the best timing for us. We were in the situation where we had to just write new songs as much as we could, so sitting at home wasn’t that bad for us. Can’t even imagine if we had been in the situation where we had just released an album and should have been touring and promoting the new album. So feeling really sorry for the bands that were in that situation.

How did you meet? At what point did you decide that you should form a band? 

We have known each other for a long time. Me, Joonas and Jani met in elementary school. The first time I met Joonas he tried to steal my bike to ride to his home with it.

We played in the same band for a couple years before BA. One time when we were playing a gig at some club in Tampere, Jere was watching our show. Many situations later he joined the band. About one year later Jani joined the band as well and BA was finally formed.

Whose idea was it to name the band that way? What does the band name mean to you?

We tried to figure out the name for at least a couple of weeks. We’re all pretty deep people who like to have conversations about space, simulation theories, meaning of life etc. so that name was kinda perfect for us I guess.

And so it is! Which bands have inspired you to create your band's unique sound? Who inspires you right now when you write a new album? 

You can find inspiration from everywhere. For me the biggest song writing block comes when you’re sitting too much at home. Taking a walk will refresh the mind and many times after that I’ve gotten ideas for many other things than just music.

Many modern metal bands have inspired us a lot but lately I’ve listened to Spiritbox and Bad Omens. There’s also some pop artists that I find inspiring like Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa.

Could you share your favorite artists at the moment? What plays the most on your playlists? 

At the moment for Jani it’s Falling in Reverse. For Jere it’s I Prevail and Bad Omens. For me it’s Bad Omens, Spiritbox, Alissic and FINNEAS. And for Joonas it’s Ice Nine Kills and Latin Pop.

Who in the Finnish rock music industry would you like to mention right now?

Maybe Archie from Santa Cruz. He’s a pretty good example of how you shouldn’t handle fame and how you can destroy a promising career. No hate tho.

What was the last concert/festival the band members went to (other than your own)?

I think it was the Finnish summer festival called Provinssi. Still sad that Architects canceled their show but hope we’re gonna see them there next year.

It's sad indeed when a long-awaited concert gets cancelled. How did you start to work with Ranka Kustannus?

When we were releasing our song “Pyrochemical” a guy from a Finnish radio channel contacted us. He was liking the song a lot so he contacted Riku Pääkkönen to check us out. After a couple of zoom meetings we signed a deal. Still the best day of my life so far.

Miika and Jere, as songwriters, do you take inspiration for lyrics from your own life or is it inspiration from other things? 

It’s all about our own experiences in life. Writing about things you’ve been through makes the songs real and gives them a real meaning. It’s also a lot easier to write about something that you know a lot about.

Which of your band's songs is special for each of you?

I think it’s “Burn”. The lyrics, energy and riffs have a big meaning for us all. Playing it live is so much fun and the crowd always waits for it the most. The new single “Crime” also has a special meaning for us and we’re hoping that other people will find it relatable as well.

By the way, let's talk about it! Your first MV "Burn" was filmed in very beautiful locations. Thanks to your backstage video now we know that you shot it on your own, it's very cool! What locations were in the video, and did you encounter any difficulties during filming? or was the granny with the dogs the only one who could interfere with you a little?

We actually just walked a couple of kilometers from our home to a forest and started filming. One hard thing was to find a stable spot for the drums. I still think the hardest role was the actor's role. It was pretty brutal for her to be dragged against ground and rock.The lake was also freezingly cold when she had to play like she’s drowning.

But Milka (the actor) did really well and we couldn’t be more proud of her. She’s actually a real actor who's been playing the main role in a Finnish TV series called #loveMilla.

You announced that a new album will be released soon. What interesting things can you tell us about it? Who is working on the album and what will be special in it?

Don’t know what’s soon but yeah it’s coming haha. The album will have many different styles and different sounding songs. We don’t want to write an album where you feel like you’re listening to just one song when listening to the album.

It’s gonna have a lot of synths and layers besides all the organic instruments. Actually the first three songs had like 300 tracks even though all songs had been merged together.

We work a lot with James Carey (synth production) and Joona Muistola (engineering). We wouldn’t be here without them.

Would be cool to release a version that could have just synths and vocals so you could hear all the elements in the songs better. Like the version of the song “Feel Nothing” that The Plot In You released a couple months ago.

Sounds exciting! This album will definitely be interesting! What are your plans besides the album? Maybe we should wait for new performances, or videos?

The main plan is to finish the album before we’re all 40 years old. So the big focus is on that but of course we’re trying to play as many gigs as we can besides making the album. We already filmed a music video for “Crime” (which btw looks really awesome) and hope we could film more videos for the other songs too. Anyway, basically it’s just endless grinding where you try to balance between keeping your (mental)health good and making new music and trying to get it for people's ears.

Tell us a fun fact about each band member. Do you have any special nicknames that you call each other within the band?

We’ll give you one as this is going to be a long one.

Jani and I were living together as flatmates for a while, and this one time Jani was out of town, Jere came to visit the flat. Jere got a bit drunk while enjoying the night at the flat. 

He was texting a woman and was thinking if he should ask her to come over. Since there were no guest beds, the only available one was Jani’s vacant bed. Jani heard the ‘’news’’ from our group -snapchat and understandably was very angry about the plan that Jere was going to sleep in his bed with a girl. As the night continued, Jere’s inebriation got progressively worse and the end was nigh. The girl however, was totally still on board and was on her way to the flat. Eventually Jere passed out (alone) and the girl did not show up.

Ultimately, it was good that Jere just passed out and Jani didn’t have to do an extra laundry day once he came back home.

Jani seems to have been under a lot of stress at that moment… There is not much left, and of course, I can't help but ask about "Crime". Tell us about your new single!

Our new single "Crime" is going to be a great start for this year. "Crime" has heavy and modern riffs combined with an emotional and massive chorus. The song is really personal for us and we hope many others can find it relatable too.

We also filmed a very stunning music video for the song in Helsinki and the end result couldn’t have gotten any better. So with that said we’re really looking forward to the release of this song.

And the last one! What would you like to say to our subscribers who listen to you?

To everyone that listens to our music; Thank you so much for making it possible for us to do what we love. This year is going to be a huge one for us and we’re really thankful to be able to share it with you. Hoping to see you all at the upcoming gigs.

We thank Miika for the interview! Subscribe to the social media of Beyond Awareness, and also pay attention to it on the main streaming platforms:

Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/4QLBCc2W2uxqr6ZbBMjMBs?si=FYbN3-AKQHuJT0uyw0a08g

Instagram: instagram.com/beyondawarenessband

Facebook: facebook.com/BeyondAwarenessBand

YouTube: youtube.com/@beyondawarenessband

TikTok: tiktok.com/@beyondawareness

Interviwed by nas_nakrylo

Photos: @beyondawarenessband (ig)

Русскую версию интервью вы можете найти здесь.

[finnishsupremacy]

Interview with Teemu Halmetoja (BERTH BENEATH) [03.11.22]

BERTH BENEATH is a metal band from Oulu, which debuted this spring, released its first EP on August, 6th. The band's sound combines elements of 2000s metalcore and death metal. Also, the debut EP has its own lore, which is supported by the visual component of MVs and single/album covers. "Visual" part of the band is handled by Teemu Halmetoja, vocalist of the band. We talked with him about the inspirations, the concept of the album and the band itself, his thoughts on the future of the Finnish metal scene and many more!

What were the inspirations when we are talking about "In The Midst Of Chaos"? It can be anything — from music or other media to any real life things.

I’ve always been inspired by the events that took place in World War II so I wanted to make a story of my own – “What would happen if there was only one dictator that ruled the whole world.”

How did the idea of the EP's story come to you?

I think it pretty much came to me from the situation that’s in the world at the moment. And also I’ve always been interested in World War II kind of stuff so I wanted to make a fictional story from that.

Will you continue this line or will the next releases have a different theme?

There might be some lyrical similarities in the next release but the whole theme probably won’t be the same.

Could you briefly tell the story behind every song in the EP?

Frontline:   About a guy who used to work for the dictator’s army comes home from the warzone but his mind is still there on the battlefield.

Eden:   Is about two best friends, but the other one (man from the ‘Frontline’) chooses to betray his friend and joins the army of the evil dictator so their ‘’Eden’’ is gone.

Exile the Tyrant:   Is about regular people living in that era and they are willing to fight the dictator and his army.

Soul Eater:   Guy from the ‘What If’ finds out that the kidnapping of his girl was staged and she actually left him to join the army.

Breaking Point:   Guy from the ‘Frontline’ is being questioned by a betrayed friend from ‘Eden’ about his secrets and bad things he did in the war (timeline is between Eden and Frontline).

What If:   Guy falls in love with a girl but the girl is black so the dictator’s army kidnaps her and he starts to fight the world to get his girl back.

How did the members of the band meet? Is there any backstory?

I knew our former guitarist Eemeli (before he quit the band) from my childhood and he introduced me to other guys in our band. Later on I met our present guitarist and I showed him our demos and he got interested and came to our band.

Do you, guys, have any jobs outside of the band?

We do have jobs outside the band, one of us is studying at the moment.

Teemu, you are a designer yourself! Does the band help you to embody any of your ideas that couldn't be implemented earlier?

I’m pretty much doing everything by myself on that area and that is fine with boys. They do give me some ideas but mostly I stick with mine and ask their opinions if they like it. What I usually do is that I picture the lyrics in my head and make it a piece.

Whose face did you take for the guy on the cover as reference?

It was some random guy I found from stock photo websites when I was searching for material to make our album cover art. He seemed pretty confident in that photo and I used his face.

What are the plans considering this EP? Are there going to be any live shows in its support or something like that?

Yes there will be shows in the future, but currently we are working on our live performance and new songs for our setlist.

Are there going to be any extra MVs or lyric videos?

I’m pretty sure there will be something coming up later.

Were the band members the only ones who worked on this EP or maybe somebody helped outside BERTH BENEATH? In addition to the already announced roles in the band, who has any other ones, like production for example?

We did basically everything ourselves except the mixing and mastering. That was done by our very dear friend Eemeli Bodde (EVB Audio).

Question to Teemu: Your previous band, Funeral For The Masses, was, as we understand, a pure deathcore. What made you change the genre that you are working with and start BERTH BENEATH?

I’m still listening to lots of deathcore and harder stuff, but I’ve always liked those bands and genres that do clean singing and have more melodies in their music. So that kind of pushed me to that direction a little more, and of course I’ve always loved to sing.

And question to the others too: are there any bands that you have played before?

Few years back before BERTH BENEATH existed, the band was called Airoria. Niko, Christian and Sami played in that project before Teemu and Aleksi joined in. After that the name got changed. Aleksi has played in a music school’s cover band before joining BERTH BENEATH.

Right now the most streamed genres in the world and Finland in particular are pop and rap. How hard is it to be noticed at least on the metal stage right now and does it differ from how it was, for example, ten years ago?

I think it’s always kinda hard when playing more extreme music than just basic metal or rock music. Times have maybe changed a bit and more metal bands are coming out every year so I think it might be harder to stand out from the group of bands that are out there at the moment.

What stands behind the idea of singing in English?

It might sound a bit weird but it feels more natural to sing in English and it also sounds better. Of course you can’t get rid of the fact that it’s also harder to get popular out there in the world by singing in Finnish.

There are a lot of talented artists that come from Oulu. What do you think: is there something that differs citizens of this city from the rest of Finland if we are talking about music?

We honestly don’t have any knowledge about that, but we have a really good music school here in Oulu so that might help us to produce quality musicians. 

Your logo looks like a butterfly? Is that just one's imagination or does it make some sense?

Yeah it kinda does and it was also how we imagined it as we tried to connect the letters BB together. Butterflies symbolize resurrection and hope for example.

What plans does BERTH BENEATH have for the future? What are the goals?

Make better songs, have a lot of gigs and get the name BERTH BENEATH known.

We thank Teemu for the interview! Subscribe to the social media of BERTH BENEATH, and also pay attention to it on the main streaming platforms:

Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/72WMN2c4guXnAsKZHNpsZZ?si=w8HiA7L6TaycRdqdEJoF9w

Instagram: instagram.com/berthbeneath

Facebook: facebook.com/berthbeneath

Interviwed by Diana "Di" Chekanova

Photos: @berthbeneath (ig)

Русскую версию интервью вы можете найти здесь.

[finnishsupremacy]

Digest of the latest releases (09.09.22)

Blind Channel – Alive or Only Burning (feat. Zero 9:36) (Single)

Genre: Violent Pop (alt rock/post hardcore/nu metal)

For fans of: Hollywood Undead, Smash Into Pieces, Zero 9:36 

Check it out on Spotify

________________________________________

Apocalyptica — Metal Classic, Classic Metal (Single)

Genre: Symphonic Metal, Cello metal

For fans of: Nightwish, Within Temptation, 2Cellos

Check it out on Spotify

________________________________________

Mouhous – Tyhmä (Single)

Genre: Rap/Hip-Hop

For fans of: JVG, Spekti, Dilemma

Check it out on Spotify

________________________________________

costee — Olen Muistanut (Single)

Genre: Pop/Rap

For fans of: Edi, Mouhous, Dilemma

Check it out on Spotify

________________________________________

pehmoaino – ikuinen virta (Single)

Genre: Indie Pop

For fans of: Pihlaja, Sini Yasemin

Check it out on Spotify

________________________________________

Isac Elliot – Makso Mitä Makso (Single) 

Genre: Pop

For fans of: Robin Packalen, Antti Tuisku

Check it out on Spotify

________________________________________

Wake up Frankie – RATATATA (Single) 

Genre:  Thrashrock (thrash/rock/metal)

For fans of: Where's My Bible, Dope

Check it out on Spotify

________________________________________

One Morning Left – Tonight (Single) 

Genre:  Metalcore/Electronicore/Post-hardcore

For fans of: Electric Callboy, We Butter The Bread With Butter

Check it out on Spotify

[finnishsupremacy]

The authorized Amorphis biography finally in an English translation.

The official and authorized Amorphis biography by Markus Laakso in English is finally out on 30th September. You can pre-order the limited hardcover edition now with worldwide shipping here: http://levykauppax.fi/book/amorphis/amorphis/#793125

[finnishsupremacy]

Robin Packalen announced tour dates 👀✨

[finnishsupremacy]

Digest of the latest releases (19.08.22)

Dilemma – Lapsi (Single)

Genre: Rap

For fans of: JVG, costee, Cheek

Check it out on Spotify

________________________________________

Happoradio – Ihmisen mittainen (Single) 

Genre: Suomirock

For fans of: Haloo Helsinki!, Uniklubi, Parisiin Kevät

Check it out on Spotify

[finnishsupremacy]

Today his birthday celebrates Jaani Peuhu!

You might know him as a vocalist, producer and songwriter of Mercury Circle, Iconcrash, IANAI and many more. Also he is the member of Swallow The Sun band and frequent guest-producer of Lord of the Lost. Also he has his solo project.

Finnish Supremacy wishes the best to this talanted and open-minded artist! Take care <3

[finnishsupremacy]

Northern Rock Religion. Interview with the indie rock band The Holy (29.09.18)

Another interview, which was taken back in 2018 by Northern Rock Religion portal. Indie band The Holy talks about themselves and their first album Daughter.

In the summer of 2014 two guys were watching the FIFA World Cup final drunk. During the match they came up with the idea to put together a band. Two hours later there were five members in the band, and the first demo was ready. That is how The Holy came to be. The band was founded on desire to make humongous, noisy songs and to create magnificently large soundscapes with the help of two drummers and a whole lot of roaring guitars. On September 21, the band released their debut full-length album Daughter. Northern Rock Religion talked with Pyry and Eero about how this album was created, the relationship between the group members and about the possible arrival of the band to Russia.

NRR: Hello guys! Thank you very much for agreeing to talk with Northern Rock Religion. We congratulate you on the release of the debut full-length album! What do you think about the work done?

Pyry and Eero: Hello and thank you, the pleasure is all ours! At the moment we are mostly feeling relieved because the album has been finished, mixed and mastered for a really long time so the wait until release day has been really long for us. But now we are just super happy that it’s out and we can’t wait to play the songs live.

NRR: Why did you choose the title “Daughter” for your first album?

Pyry and Eero: When we wrote the song ”Triumph of Love” where Eetu sings the lyrics “I wanna be somebody's daughter” it felt immediately like the album title. The title summarises the whole lyrical concept of the album and also we feel that the album itself is our daughter so the name came in a way very naturally.

NRR: You released a great music video for the song "Land Before Time" with Juho Länsiharju. Are you planning to make another video? Which song would you choose for this?

Pyry and Eero: Let’s see what the future brings, at the moment we are mainly focused on getting ready to play really good live shows on tour. We actually do have a couple of names that we would like to work with, so there is always something cooking.

NRR: How long did you work on the album? What problems did you face?

Pyry and Eero: Oh bummer, that’s a hard one. Some of the songs have been with us since the very beginning and some of them were written during our time in the studio. We mainly worked in an old wooden school in the town of Tyrväntö which is near to some of our childhood home town Hämeenlinna. We stayed and lived in the house, set up our own studio and worked on the album so mostly we worked away from everything else by ourselves. Of course it was hard to be apart from our personal lives for several weeks but we think that was a price worth paying in the end.

NRR: Your music is changing with the time. New album has an amazing sound. Refined, harmonious and northerly. What does influence your music and the mood in general?

Pyry and Eero: I think every member of our group has influences that are a bit different in comparison, but maybe our sound and style is a summary of all of them. That’s the way we like to think at least. Finland is also a very dark place with only a few hours of sun during autumn and winter so our songs tend to have a bit of melancholy because of that. Also we think that all forms of art are somehow influenced by how the world stands at the time. 

NRR: What song from the new album is your favourite and why?

Pyry: There Is a House, because I think it is the most perfectly written story in the album, everything happening in the song supports the progress and the melodies in the end create a perfect ending to the lyrical first part. Also I love how Eetu goes to the high notes in the backround in the end.

Eero: 20xx Tomorrow, I remember when Eetu was recording the vocals for this song in the giant dark room of the school where we were recording at the time and he was almost whispering the first chorus, ’’Where do you want me to stand when you open fire?’’ That moment was just pure magic for me. I’m sure that’s the reason why this song is the most precious for me. 

NRR: What is created first: music or lyrics?

Pyry and Eero: The music comes first, at least on this album it did. We don’t honestly have a one certain way of writing music though, so maybe in the future there will be lyrics first. The main thing is to keep evolving and creating new stuff in different ways.

NRR: Do you have any rituals that you conduct before going on stage, for example, to overcome fear or to feel unity? Do you have a fear of performing on stage?

Pyry and Eero: We always gather the group into a circle with hands together right before going on stage but mainly we are five different kind of people before shows. Eetu and Pyry usually change strings to guitars (sweaty hands ruin strings REALLY quickly), Eero and Mikko warm up with drum sticks banging into a chair and Laura wrestles with the drummers. But the main thing is that the connection between us is on immediately when the first note is played which is really unique and cool. We don’t fear anything when we are together.

NRR: How do you maintain good relations between the band members?

Pyry and Eero: We’ve been friends for a long time and we can talk about anything within the group. We also know our personalities very well, the good sides and bad sides (Laura gets really grumpy when she is hungry and Pyry and Eero are assholes when they are tired for example). Since the band was founded there has been much happening in our personal lives and the group has always been there if anyone has wanted to talk about anything. So the base foundation of everything is a really just friendship and the respect we feel for each other.

NRR: In one of his recent interviews, Eetu talked about dystopia. The new album was a way to get rid of heavy thoughts or help reconcile with them?

Pyry and Eero: I think the album was a way for Eetu to handle the stuff he felt and saw during his childhood. There was a great depression going on at the time in Finland and I think writing about the stuff he witnessed during that time was a way to handle the past experiences and let go of them.

NRR: Do you think musical education is important?

Pyry and Eero: I think that depends on what you want to do in the musical scene. Studying music gives you time to focus on just music without anything else going on in your life so that is a powerful tool for pursuing musical career. But we do not think that you necessarily need a school to teach you how to make music, if you are ambitious and decide to do the amount of work needed to make it in the music scene, eventually you will. We like to think that hard work and dedication pays off in the end.

NRR: What makes The Holy so unique?

Pyry and Eero: Laura, Eetu, Mikko, Eero and Pyry. Period.

NRR: Is it hard to find your own place on the music scene in Finland?

Pyry and Eero: At the moment we feel that the music scene in Finland mostly consists of artists singing in our native language. We like to think that we have found our place in the music scene and we can fill up the venues that we like to fill in Finland.

photo: Jenni Laaksonen

NRR: What are your plans for the near future?

Pyry and Eero: We are going to tour a lot in the near future and also we have already started to write new material for our second album. Let’s see what the future brings, we also want to enjoy the moment right now.

NRR: Do you plan to ever come to Russia?

Pyry and Eero: Anytime! We will come as soon as the right opportunity pops up, hopefully sooner than later.

NRR: Thank you for the interview! Good luck on the tour! Will you say something to your listeners in Russia?

Pyry and Eero: Greetings to everyone listening our music in Russia, hopefully we will meet soon! Thank you for listening the album and sending kind words to us.

Interviwed by Tuuli Talvinen

Русскую версию интервью вы можете найти здесь.

[finnishsupremacy]

Digest of the latest releases (12.08.22)

Ranka Kustannus — True Friends (Bring Me The Horizon tribute) [10.08.2022]

Genre: Alternative, Heavy Metal, Metal, Tribute Covers

For fans of: As I Lay Dying, Bring Me The Horizon, Beast In Black

Check it out on Spotify

________________________________________

Shiraz Lane — Forgotten Shades of Live (Album) [12.08.2022]

Genre: Hard Rock

For fans of: Reckless Love, Santa Cruz

Check it out on Spotify

________________________________________

Balboa Son – A Mighty Warrior (Single) [12.08.2022]

Genre: Modern metal/rock

For fans of: Blame Me!, NICHOLAS X

Check it out on Spotify

[finnishsupremacy]

100 most significant and famous songs in Finland in just 10 minutes? Easily!

In 2017, as Finland celebrated 100 years of independence, a group of enthusiasts called Suomirokkikoulu had a simple goal. Previously, while teaching the history of Finnish rock music to the younger generation, musicians faced the problem of being unable to embrace all the significant compositions of their native country.

— It started when we went to schools, presenting the history of Finnish rock during the playing and we did a little medley. There were only ten songs in it, and then it occurred to me that it is always so difficult to choose a small number of significant songs, but when Finland turns 100, then we will make a medley of a hundred songs, — says the band's drummer Aapo Niininen.

In addition to Niininen, the band consists of Kimmo Numminen (vocals), Esa Pottonen (guitar, bass guitar and vocals) and Oskari Halsti (bass, keyboards and vocals), as well as session member Samuli Sirviö.

Suomirokkikoulu was able to make their dream come true and in 2017 they actually released a video featuring a medley of 100 significant songs showing the evolution of Finnish rock.

In this playlist there are available only 96/100 of the songs.

[finnishsupremacy]

Rubric "Finnish kevät and its melancholy": when a shadow is forced into the light (11.03.22)

A review written back in this year's March by Tuuli Talvinen for Finnish Supremacy (ex-initium). The article is based on Swallow the Sun's When a Shadow Is Forced into the Light.

Loss is a very capacious word and for many it carries a much deeper meaning than just the inability to return to something of the past.

Aleah Stanbridge, a doom and gothic metal singer and songwriter, left this world in 2016. A few years before this tragic event, Trees of Eternity was founded, which included Juha Raivio from Swallow The Sun and Aleah herself, who already was famous in the rock and metal genre by that time. Aleah was the songwriter and performed vocals, and Juha accompanied the compositions with guitar playing. Aleah also collaborated with Swallow The Sun: she recorded several vocals for their singles, appeared in their MV, and also acted as a photographer who took photos for one of their albums. Amid frequent collaborations, Aleah and Juha's relationship went from friendly to romantic back in 2009.

On April 18, 2016, Aleah left this world, leaving her beloved Juha Raivio to experience this grief alone with her voice. Before Aleah's death, Juha planned to release a full-length Trees of Eternity's album, but did not have time to do it, however, all the developments for it and other demo materials were already recorded anyway.

“I lost the love of my life, my life companion for 7 years and also my musical companion and inspiration. Life finally took away everything. There is nothing I can write to describe this pain, but at the end it is my journey.

But the reason why I write this is to tell what life can not take away from me, or anyone of us. That is Aleah's music and lyrics that will live forever on. She was already a followed shining star amongst her fans, now she will be an icon.

...

Godspeed my love, you were too sensitive and beautiful for this world. But your music will live forever on. Thank you for everything, was an honour to be there until the last breath”, — Juha’s official address after Aleah's death.

Grieving for his beloved, Juha Raivio put in a lot of effort to cope with his pain. In this review, I will not talk about the work of Trees of Eternity and Hallatar, which was created in memory of Aleah. I want to talk about the bewitching and painful release of the "shadow into the light" , namely, a kind of requiem for Aleah, which was released by Swallow the Sun in 2019.

Swallow The Sun has always been distinguished by rather tragic and painful lyrics, heavy music and extreme vocals, but the album "When a Shadow Is Forced into the Light" announced after Aleah's death was not at all similar to their past work. Much lighter, impregnated with real pain, this album really "pushed" the shadow into the light - it helped Juha to get out of the darkness into which he plunged after his loss.

This album can be called truly conceptual, because it is based on only one single theme. It is wonderful in what it is.

Shortly before the release of this album, Swallow The Sun released an EP called "Lumina Aurea", containing a 14-minute epic single and its instrumental version. The release took place on December, 21, during the winter solstice and the longest night of the outgoing 2018. Despite the fact that "Lumina Aurea" was never included in the tracklist of this album, it is not possible to fully analyze it without this EP.

Despite the gloom and depressiveness of this video, the song itself is a kind of purification, relaxation and a kind of rebirth.

“'Lumina Aurea' is a song I would never want to write in my life. It is an open, bleeding black wound from the last two and half years of my life. But I had to write it out. I could not back down from it. The way I wrote and recorded 'Lumina Aurea' was so rough emotionally and physically that I think I will never talk about it public. I know this road will go on forever as a part of me, but I have also made a peace with it — that I will never have peace with it. And that the life and the journey here must still go on for a while for those of us remaining. I knew that if I would go any deeper on that road with the album as I did with 'Lumina Aurea', the path would not end well. So, I quickly realized that instead I will write an album that will manifest loud and clear that after all, 'Love is always stronger than death.' I wanted to find that angle for 'When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light'. This album is like a weapon for myself. A burning light, a burning torch. Victorious and proud”, — Juha Raivio about these releases for Blabbermouth.net.

The song "Lumina Aurea" is performed by Wardruna vocalist Einar Selvik and The Foreshadowing vocalist Marco Benevento. The song itself is somewhat reminiscent of a prayer; it is not for nothing that its lyrics are written in Latin.

Te per illud flumen nigrum secutus sum Quod fluit usque ad fines terrae, sulcos aquae aureos sequens Qui e primis digitis tuis effundunt Canite mihi, daemones, nam vos non timeo Gladios vestros cepi et vos mihi submittitis, et luci eius Etiam redis ad meos amores, sidus aureum

The slogan of the new release was the Latin phrase "Mors fortior quam vita est, amor fortior quam mors est", which means "Death is stronger than life, but love is stronger than death".

After the announcement of the new album, it also became known that there were changes in the line-up of Swallow the Sun. Two new members joined Swallow the Sun - guitarist Juho Räihä (Before The Dawn, Gloria Morti) and Jaani Peuhu (ex-Chaoslord, Iconcrash), who took the place of keyboardist and second vocalist. Peuhu has previously been involved with Swallow the Sun, from providing backing vocals on Hope album to producing the concept for Songs from the North I, II & III. This time his appearance was also marked by the appearance of clean vocals in the album "When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light".

This album is perceived as a rebirth, the conversion of darkness into something stronger and brighter than it is.

The first track that opens the album is the song of the same name "When a Shadow Is Forced into the Light", the music of which is very different from "Lumina Aurea", and from everything that Swallow the Sun did before. Mikko Kotamäki's soft vocals in the chorus eventually turn into extreme, thereby partially balancing even the solemn light melody on the background. In fact, this song, or rather its musical component, creates a deceptive representation of ​​how the whole album will look like as a whole, but it is also the best totality of everything that album is trying to convey.

The clouds apart and new stars alight Between the worlds In the sea of the sky The sun and moon shines from your eyes Lead me home through the map of skies From the edge of the night

The next track, "The Crimson Crown", really fits in well with spring. Since the album was released at the end of January, it itself is able to convey this feeling of the painful approach of spring with all the stages that nature goes through in order to turn the already familiar winter darkness into something new, blinding eyes, feverishly alive and never stopping in place, like streams of melted ice.

"The Crimson Crown" is a dark song, but with bright light notes. It is like cracked ice on the surface of the lake, which does not seem to bode well, but marks the changes that have already begun.

The forest sleeps so quiet like the flowers in your arms As the white Swans of the night fly by the Bridge of the Stars And I bow before the moon and I pray to the skies When mist falls on your garden, bless your temple of the star And the night falls like silence. And the night, like velvet silence...

It is no coincidence that this Bridge of the Stars is highlighted in the song. Aleah Stanbridge sometimes signed herself as Aleah Starbridge. She has always been and will be that very night bird for Juha - a nightingale, therefore, such words can also be found in the lyrics.

In this temple of the Golden Nightingale These flowers still weep so silent Dance around the gentle moonlight with the touch of the summer wind And the lake glimmers sliver, like the tears from your eyes But there are no goodbyes, just Light between the Stars

This song really stands out for its peculiar tenderness of both music and vocals. There are no extreme techniques here, but a lot of clean vocals, some parts of which were performed by Jaani (together with Mikko) who has a surprisingly piercing and peculiar voice.

And if "The Crimson Crown", as mentioned above, has become a kind of pensive and placatory lullaby, then the next track "Firelights" brings us back to the main idea of the album, namely, loss.

The band made a big bet on this song, even releasing a video. Dark, to match the album. Here, extreme vocals reappear, and the guitar parts become much heavier, and the drums beat out an almost funeral rhythm.

Drown me down to your abyss Blind my eyes with your blades I drag you with me into these flames And all that remains Are ashes Of phantoms Of fears

The logical continuation of "Firelights" is the song "Upon the Water".

Cast all the demons in the sea Into the abyss of the Earth To the sleep of the whales songs I want you to bury me, bury me Upon the water, song of the birds still echoes silent Low tide is gone forever Forever

And now it no longer hides despair, denouncing it with razor-sharp words. It seems that a person who had the ground knocked out from under his feet could not feel anything else. It is like falling into this freshly dug hole with your own hands, a painful attempt to follow. The current has disappeared. Time has stopped. Nothing changes.

The April skies, singing songs of goodbye Farewell tonight, leaving with the tide And the fire burns at the edge of the dawn And the nightingale shines upon the water

Perhaps it is this song with its whisper, similar to obsessive thoughts that haunt a person, that best reflects some kind of anger, rage and a sense of injustice because of what happened.

The album also allows the listener to feel the onset of spring, the riot of feelings and moods. Despair, anger, painful attempts at acceptance, hopelessness and detachment are only a small part of what it conveys.

"Stone Wings", in turn, is a logical continuation of "The Crimson Crown".

Speak through the silence Lay down your crown Lay down your fight

This song is reminiscent of acceptance and the first attempts to come to terms with what is happening. "Lay down your fight" sounds like an appeal to oneself. This battle has been lost for a long time, but if you continue it, there is a probabitity to suffer greater losses in this absolutely unfair and unequal battle.

And when you speak You speak with silence, and I Carve each word you sing On my stone wings And the light will pour in

"Stone wings" is an amazing expression if you dig a little deeper than the usual visual component. Wings - the ability to fly away. The stone they are made of is chained to the ground. There is a choice, but it is not realizable.

Awareness of one’s complete powerlessness and the need for humility, but not yet humility itself.

In this shrine of silver light On the edge of the moon, you sing to me The river flows so deep Through my heart and through my eyes As you turn into the light The dust of silver stars

The next song is "Clouds on Your Side", an amazing tangle of one's own suffering with the suffering of a loved one, with attempts to realize, what is the impression, exactly what was going on in the head of someone who was doomed. Comparison of physical death and one's own mental death.

Struggling through the night With only clouds on your side It's not true though It's not true

At the end of the song there are lines in French - a poem read out by a female voice. Surprisingly, this fragment really looks appropriate in this song.

The penultimate song of the album becomes one of the most painful and desperate in it - this is "Here on the Black Earth".

Death tore out the flesh from my bones Left my soul so pale and hollow My hands reach into the void Where you used to be

A really piercing song, built on the harmony of voices, melodies and lines that penetrate to the depths of the soul.

You're the island On the broken sky I will keep my sacred vows Under the moonlit skies Here on the black earth In the fragments of an empty heart Where you used to be

And, despite the fact that it sounds at times more painful than all the previous songs, it is this song that gives full awareness that what happened really becomes conscious. The effect of Mikko's almost funeral vocals in this song is only enhanced by the sound of violins, the march of drums and really amazing guitar riffs.

Riding on the edge of the world Now free like the racing clouds Circling around the halo of the moon Like the birds of the night when touched by the sun

And now it's the turn of the last song which was in the tracklist of the album - "Never Left". Guitar notes in it sound especially good in combination with fragile keyboard parts and the shrill melody of violins.

The bridge I built from these empty arms No life or death will tear these hearts apart Echoes over aeons of time Upon the stars

Quoting the lyrics helps to reveal important aspects of this album. Its entire component is an individual experience that does not even try to adapt to the generality of similar situations, but empathy for this tragedy does not allow you to stay away. This album, every song and line in it are a genuine revelation, the sincerity of which is simply amazing.

Empty rooms But you never left Empty house But you never left Empty heart But you never left Empty arms But you never left 

An amazing component is its lightness in sound, but heaviness in the sense of songs and the story itself. Swallow the Sun did not turn into a band "in memory of Aleah Stanbridge", but never before have they avoided topics that could touch a nerve. They have always given a special place to tragedy in their lyrics. This time they told a real story that was so far from the melancholic illusion that their songs were previously based on. This experience, invested in the album, forever sealed here all the most honest words and feelings, which makes it so difficult, but also truly magnificent. Despite the fact that it really stands out from the background of all the full-length albums of the band, its existence is real gold.

Even if it did not receive an award at Emma Gaala as the best metal album, connoisseurs still cannot pass by this story put into music.

Author of the article: Tuuli Talvinen

Translator: Diana "Di" Chekanova

Original: vk.com/@finnishsupremacy-rubrika-finskaya-kevt-i-ee-melanholiya-kogda-ten-vynuzhdena

[finnishsupremacy]

On August 9, 2019, the Cyan Kicks' single "Mistake" was released.

"Mistake" was the final single before the release of their first debut album, "I Don't Love You", on which it peaked at number 11.

You thought you knew me well It was only a shell, I was only a shell You're watching me run, pointing the gun I think we're done (I think you're done) I won't hold you in reserve Maybe I'll get what I deserve And if I ever come back crying on your doorstep It will be my one last mistake Maybe I'll get what I deserve I'll keep you away from the dark side Build my shelter, leave you untied Bite the bullet, I'll close the closet Sick with my thoughts, head first to a downfall I won't hold you in reserve Maybe I'll get what I deserve And if I ever come back crying on your doorstep It will be my one last mistake Maybe I'll get what I deserve Let's be clear about it, we had nothing to talk We had nothing at all Let's be clear about it, you'll be safe and sound If I'm not around hurting you anymore I won't hold you in reserve Maybe I'll get what I deserve And if I ever come back crying on your doorstep It will be my one last mistake Maybe I'll get what I deserve And if I ever come back crying on your doorstep It will be my one last mistake Maybe I'll get what I deserve Get what I deserve Get what I deserve

Check this single out on Spotify.

[finnishsupremacy]

Jussi Hakulinen, the voice of the cult classic Finnish band Yö, has died.

Jussi Hakulinen was supposed to give a big concert this November in Tampere. He was fighting cancer over the past years. The same disease took away many of his relatives, but despite the difficult events, Jussi did not fence himself off from those around him. He planned to play several shows back in 2020, but the constant postponement due to covid restrictions led to the fact that all the planned shows merged into the big one, which was never destined to take place in the end.

Recall, the Yö band found its peak of popularity in the eighties. Four years after its founding, Jussi left the band due to irreconcilable conflicts with the rest of the band members and returned to it in the nineties, when the situation was resolved and he was apologized.

[finnishsupremacy]

Northern Rock Religion. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ROCK BAND CYAN KICKS (31.10.18)

Interview, which was taken back in 2018 by Northern Rock Religion portal. This one is about how the band came to their style, symbols and how to find yourself in the music scene.

Cyan Kicks is a young alternative Finnish rock band from Helsinki. Since its founding, the band has released just four singles, but they are already known outside the country. Cyan Kicks are not afraid to experiment with music, sound and video. They are boldly moving forward and are preparing to submit to the public a debut album in a few months. Northern Rock Religion was lucky to talk with the band members. We managed to find out how the work on the new material is going on and how the style of the band was created.

NRR: Hello guys! Thank you very much for agreeing to talk with Northern Rock Religion!

CYAN KICKS: It’s a pleasure! Thank you for having us!

NRR: Tell us about your upcoming album. How is your work going? What part of the material is already recorded? When will the album be released?

CYAN KICKS: The recording process is ready! We’ve worked on it for two years non stop and we are very excited about how it came together. The plan is to release it early 2019, just few tweaks and it’s ready for mixing.

NRR: Do you plan to release new single in the near future?

CYAN KICKS: Yes, we have couple of singles in mind! We’ll let you know!

NRR: You have a very interesting sound. Why did you choose this style?

CYAN KICKS: We can’t say we chose our style. We make music that we would love to hear ourselves. We listen to all kinds of music, from country music to pop to deathcore and we think one can hear it in our songs, our sound comes together very naturally, it’s something you hear in your head even before anything is recorded. Vision is everything.

NRR: Your video for the song “Satellite” turned out just awesome! Susanna, do you dance professionally?

CYAN KICKS: Thank you so much. I don’t dance professionally, it just happened to come out very naturally thanks to my dance partner, professional dancer Oksana Lommi. She was a great teacher and made the whole choreography for the video.

NRR: Is it hard to create new videos?

CYAN KICKS: Every song has its own story, and we are committed to tell that story in our videos as well. We discuss the overall feel we want to emit, and find likeminded directors who then take over and tell the story through their own vision. This way we always end up with something new and exciting.

NRR: How is a new song usually created? Who writes lyrics and music?

CYAN KICKS: Main writing is by Niila and Susanna. It almost always starts with a piano, a hook and a melody. Lyrical themes comes from real life, but we use a lot of metaphors to make it more relatable for the listener. We start production phase immediately after the melodies and lyrics are in form, it’s crucial for us to start building the soundscape right from the start, drive it towards our vision.

NRR: Why did the fox become the symbol of the group?

CYAN KICKS: We wanted our visual presence to look and feel like our music, and the fox was the first thing that came to mind. Somehow it seemed to work perfectly for us, so we have stuck with it ever since!

NRR: Question for Susanna: is it hard to be a girl singing in a rock band?

CYAN KICKS: No harder than being a boy singing in a rock band!

NRR: How do you maintain good relations between the band members?

CYAN KICKS: It’s been easy after finding a good group. We think none of us have a larger than life ego or anything and as humans, we just get along very well. Everyone knows their role.

NRR: Do you have any rituals that you conduct before going on stage, for example, to overcome fear or to feel unity? Do you have a fear of performing on stage?

CYAN KICKS: Not really, we just relax together and enjoy eachothers company. On stage we are one as a team, and with eachothers support we are confident.

NRR: Have you had any funny events during the gigs?

CYAN KICKS: There’s aways something, for example once we played ”Feathers” and ”Gasoline” twice as an encore cause the crowd wouldn’t have let us go otherwise. Our live set is pretty elaborate with time sync and everything, so there is no room for tech issues, we’re lucky we haven’t had any major ones so far!

NRR: What is your main achievement at the moment?

CYAN KICKS: First of all, making this happen and finding our own style. It’s often overlooked how hard it is to get a band going. When our label, Ranka Kustannus signed us in 2017, we knew we got it right. Since then, we’ve worked hard every day and we are sure the real big things are ahead of us.

NRR: What makes Cyan Kicks so unique?

CYAN KICKS: We think we bring something new to the rock scene. We can write a metal song, or an electro pop song and it still sounds like us, and it’s more than the music. We try to emphasize it with visuals, the videos and everything.

NRR: Is it hard to find your own place on the music scene in Finland?

CYAN KICKS: Finland is a small country but we are glad that only after 4 singles we have built ourselves a decent fanbase, we have some radio airplay and so on. It’s awesome to see crowd singing along the songs at shows and we get great feedback pretty much everyday, not only from Finland but across the globe. We are grateful for that. Going abroad is the ultimate goal, of course.

NRR: How do you see the future of Cyan Kicks?

CYAN KICKS: After the album, we will tour as much as possible, and start working on the second album. We already have some songs, and a theme ready for it. We hope the album reaches as many listeners as possible, cause we really think it’s something special and we’ve worked so hard for it.

NRR: Thank you for the interview! Good luck with your debut album!

CYAN KICKS: Thank you! We hope to tour there some day!

Interviwed by Tuuli Talvinen

Русскую версию интервью вы можете найти здесь.

[finnishsupremacy]

Digest of the latest releases (07.08.22)

BERTH BENEATH – In The Midst Of Chaos (EP) [06.08.22]

Genre: Metal For fans of: As I Lay Dying, August Burns Red, Trivium

Check it out on Spotify

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Lost Society – What Have I Done (Single) [05.08.22]

Genre: Metalcore/Nu-Metal For fans of: Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine

Check it out on Spotify

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Setis I – Kiavo Ja Kukkia (Album) [05.08.22]

Genre: Sumirock/Pop-Rock

For fans of: Eppu Normaali, Dingo, Leevi And The Leavings

Check it out on Spotify

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Defiled Serenity – Voices From The Void (Single) [22.07.22]

Genre: Melodic Death Metal For fans of: Norther, Kalmah, Omnium Gatherum

Check it out on Spotify

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Wolfheart, Jesse Leach – Ancestor (Single) [20.07.22] 

Genre: Melodic Death Metal For fans of: Before The Dawn, Dawn Of Solace, Scar Symmetry

Check it out on Spotify

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Vermilia – Tuonen Joki (Single) [29.07.22]

Genre: Atmospheric Pagan/Black Metal For fans of: Arkona, Myrkur, Vetrar Draugurinn

Check it out on Spotify