>Hi ! To begin this interview, could you introduce your band with a kind of history ? Where, who, when, why ?Insomnium is a melodic death-metal band from Finland. Band consists of four members : Niilo Sevänen: bass, vocals Ville Friman: guitars Ville Vänni: guitars Markus Hirvonen: drums We have been playing metal since year 1997. We started out as a cover-band playing songs from bands like Entombed and Amorphis. It didnt take long till we realised that playing and creating our own songs was far more fun and useful. Ville Vänni joined the band early in the year 2001 and the line-up has remained the same for over five years and hopefully will last also the next five. Our music may be best described with terms like : melodic, epic, atmospheric, dynamic, even a bit progressive, melancholic Make your own descriptions after hearing our material.
>You come from Finland but you play a rather swedish-inspired melodic death-metal. Bands like In Flames at their beginning & Opeth seem to have influenced your sound. But you also add some sad melodies & a darker atmosphere which remind me a band like Katatonia for instance. What are your fave bands ?
We all grew up in Metallica-era so Metallica is definitely in all ours list of fave bands. We all have a bit different taste of music but still there are lot of bands that we all like a lot. Heres a short list : Killswitch Engage, The Haunted, Katatonia, Opeth, Type O Negative, Rapture, Gunsn Roses List could go on and on, but you get the picture. I personally enjoy listening to bands like : Soilwork, Gojira, Isis, Rapture, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Textures, Alkaline Trio, Alice in Chains, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Amoral, Callisto, Coldplay, Kashmir, Death, Diablo. There are so many good bands out there that this list would be ridiculously long, so I better end it here, but you might get the picture.
>Tell us about your 3rd & brand new album 'Above The Weeping World'. Where did you record it ?
'Above The Weeping World' is our best album to date and we all are really happy with the end-result. 'Above The Weeping World' introduces a more aggressive, dynamic and tighter Insomnium compared to the previous two releases. ATWW was recorded and mixed in the F
antom studios, Tampere, Finland in the spring of 2006. Whole recording process was much easier this time around compared to the older albums. We were better prepared in every way and I think it can be sensed on the record. There were no nerve wrecking last moment changes to the song arrangements and even the studio equipment worked flawlessly. We had a smile on our face when we walked out the studio door for the last time, great session indeed. >I already appreciated your previous album 'Since The Day It All Came Down' but your new one is definitely stronger. Did you try to achieve something different on this new album ?
What was different this time is that we really focused on arranging the songs more carefully. This basically means that the new songs are arranged to be a bit tighter and variable than their predecessors. Ville Friman created riffs that are a bit faster and a bit more rhythm oriented than before, but still retaining strong and tasty melodies. Niilos song writing has also changed a bit and his new riffs were a bit more rhythmic and compact with less guitar multiharmonies. So nothing major change hasnt happen in a way we create music. I see it more as a natural progression in a bands lifespan.
>How do you compose inside the band ? Do you have regular jobs ? Is it easy to rehearse regularly for Insomnium ?
Basically Ville Friman or Niilo comes up with few riffs that we start to play together and see which part fits with one another. Sometimes songs are more ready when they are first time played on the rehearsing place and sometimes it takes really great amount of time to get the song feel just right. We trade mp3s of new riffs via email to save some time at rehearsing place so that we are familiar with the riffs before playing them. Since we all live in different cities across Finland, the internet has really been beneficial tool for us to trade riffs and to keep in touch with one another. Rehearsing is quite difficult to organise since we all live in different cities across Finland, so we are basically able to rehearse only on weekends that we have booked on our calendar several months in advance. There is also a positive side to this kind of arrangement. We are able to rehearse much efficiently because the whole weekend is dedicate
d for the band. Rehearsing weekends can be very exhausting but they are the only way we can get together and play music that we love. Both Villes and Niilo have jobs and I am still studying, but working occasionally to finance my hobbies and my studies. >What do you write about in your texts ? Where do you take your inspiration ? 'Above The Weeping World' is a really sad & pessimistic title. Are you depressed persons or only melancholic ?
Niilo takes lots of inspiration from literature and its quite natural choice for him as he studies cultural history in the university of Turku. Ville F, and Ville V takes inspiration basically from everywhere, movies, books and life in general. We are in no way depressed nor particularly melancholic persons. Its just that we like to do lyrics and melodies that are a bit down-hearted. Basically most of the lyrics in this album deal with facing the challenges set by this world we are living in.
>You will tour soon with great bands like Enslaved, Zyklon, 1349 & Satyricon, Keep of Kalessin. Are you excited to share stages with such great names ? Any chance to see you in France ?
We would be excited to tour with any band, but to tour with these kinds of bands is dreams come true. Upcoming European tour is our first tour of this size and to be honest, I am a bit afraid will I or other bandmates be up to the task. Im pretty sure well make it home alive both mentally and physically. We have two gigs in France on our upcoming European tour : 26.09 Paris, Locomotive and 30.09 Lyon, CCO
>Why did you call your band Insomnium ? It sounds like a medical-drug for insomny, haha.
We had few names that we thought were good names for a metal band. Insomnium just somehow rose above the others. There might be some elements in our music that has the same effect that sleeping pill
>Thanx for your time, last words are yours.
Make sure to pick up a copy of 'Above The Weeping World' from your nearest record store or visit www.insomnium.net to order your copy online. Come to our gigs in Paris and Lyon and well show you what Finnish metal is all about! Thank you. www.insomnium.net www.candlelightrecords.co.uk
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Interview done by DJ In Extremis
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