Formerly known as Moravia, Tracedawn is a young and promising band from Finland, whose self titled debut album recently released by new label Redhouse FMP has already been greeted with a storm of positive reactions in their home country, including a very honorable entry at 29th on the Finnish Top 40 albums.
Scratch the Surface had the opportunity to learn more about Tracedawn’s history and future endeavours from guitarists Tuomas Yli-Jaskari and Jeremy Qvick and bassist Henkka Vahtere. Read on…

Over the years Finland has produced a vast array of impressive Metal bands set out for world-wide domination like Amorphis, Sentenced, Stratovarius, Nightwish, Children of Bodom and etc, etc, etc...
While some have found success with a mixture of aggressive and morose Death-Metal inspired by the bleakness and darkness of their native landscape, others have drawn influences from slightly more joyful and melodic sources like German Power Metal.
Tracedawn a stunning young band from Helsinki falls somewhere between the two fractions as evidenced on their self titled debut album recently released. It displays a mature and well-measured blend of Children of Bodom-styled Death-Metal harshness and Stratovarius sense of melody.
Tracedawn is a relatively young band that started out in late 2005 so there're still a lot people out there that don't know much about you, so could you tell us a bit about the band and its history?

Tuomas: The roots of Tracedawn go back to late 2005 when the band was founded. The first line-up consisting of guitarists Tuomas and Jeremy, bassist Henkka and drummer Perttu was soon formed. The band now had a chance to arrange the songs I’d already composed.
Finally, in late 2006 after several trials the band found the lead singer Antti Lappalainen and we all knew that the final tune for Tracedawn was there!

Jeremy: Our metal band with 6 guys is coming from Helsinki capital area, Finland. We’ve played some one and a half years now together with the same team. Our profound message is to play good music and have fun together. Good chemistry and having fun can also be heard from our music. That’s the point in music life in general.

Henkka: Tracedawn plays melodic metal, and music is a mixture of different styles and elements among metal genre and other music. The band was formed by Tuomas Yli-Jaskari, who through internet found other members to the band to carry out his vision. Every member brought their own musical experience to Tracedawn. During first 6 months the players came to know each other and band found their Tracedawn tune. After that everything has happened really fast. Now the album is ready, and thanks to our record company Redhouse FMP for pushing us forward and this far in such a short time! This is just the beginning!

Tracedawn have recently released their self titled debut album through the newly created label Redhouse FMP, which already charted on the Finnish official Top 40 album at the incredible and surprising position of 29th. Are you surprised by the reactions your debut album have garnered so far in your native Finland?

Henkka: It was really absurd to hear that we are on the Finnish top 40 album list and number 29! We were really surprised and though our expectations are high, we want to keep our feet on the ground. This was a nice surprise for us!

Vili: Of course we are surprised. It’s unbelievable that we got so much publicity in Finland right after the album release as were are an unknown and young band. We hope this success is not only related to our first album but would be seen as a growing trend in future as well.

Jeremy: I must say I was surprised, as we were really not thinking any sales figures when releasing the album. However, we want neither any sales number nor age to give a stamp to our music.

And what type of reactions is your debut work getting outside Finland?

Vili: We’ve not heard much from abroad, but the feedback so far has been mainly positive.

Henkka: We have not heard much from abroad – yet!

"Tracedawn", their first work is a remarkable collection of eight songs that could be described as well-measured blend of shimmering and memorable melodies nodding towards Power Metal acts like Stratovarius and Sonata Artica with the rabid aggression of a Death Metal unit like Children of Bodom. Was this a purpose the band had in mind when these songs were being written, to balance the melodic leanings with a harder, raspier edge close to bands like Children of Bodom, Norther and so on?

Vili: We’ve never had plans for making exactly certain type of music. However, we try to keep some consistency in our production and currently it’s been a mixture of power, death metal and some progressive here and there. Maybe our own sound is mostly coming through our vocalist Antti who has two voices: growl and clean. In latest songs also keyboards have an important role in dynamics.

Henkka: From the very beginning the idea has been to mix different styles and elements of metal music. After Antti Lappalainen, our vocalist joined the band this idea got final confirmation. Antti has great talent in clean singing but he also has an angry growl, so why not use them both? Our music is very guitar oriented and our guitarists are very talented with melodic guitar solos: You give them a guitar and you’ll soon find yourself listening to a half an hour fierce solo. Our style includes also growl with telling death metal guitar riffs and also these riffs Tumppi just picks from his back pocket whenever he feels like, and all elements for a great chaos are there! Tracedawn!

Which bands could be stated as a source of inspiration for Tracedawn?

Vili: We all have our own source of inspiration. All of us listen to different type of music, and therefore it’s not really a point to start listing them all here. Let’s save your column space!

Henkka: Difficult to say, though everyone listens to different type of music - and because of that we all have thrown our mixtures and spices to the soup. Personally I would point out names like Children of Bodom, Stratovarius, Norther … etc. etc.

Jeremy: Well, to start with I would like to mention the whole Finnish metal scene itself…

What would you say was the most difficult part of putting this album out, did the recordings went smoothly?

Vili: I would say recordings were the most difficult part as we could have spent more time with fine-tuning some of the songs but time was limited. However, we are pleased with the outcome.

Henkka: We really had a hectic schedule at Sonic Pump Studios, and that made it difficult from time to time to all of us. However, the recording session was a constructive process. And we had fun!

The album also displays a maturity rarely seen on a young fledging band such as Tracedawn, even more surprising is the fact that all of band members have yet to celebrate their 21st birthday, some are even in their eighteens, which in some countries are not allowed to drink. Do you get people picking on you, or treating you differently due to your ages?

Vili: Unfortunately so, but we cannot really avoid it. It’s a pity though that some cannot take our music seriously enough due to age. You should just take our music as such and leave other things aside. I think age is just a number and should not be seen as a restriction to the band.

Henkka: Sure we hear all kinds of comments due to age, but so what? It’s great to be young! I can assure you, we know how to answer to this type of comments! However, I think also Children of Bodom guys were young at the time of releasing their debut “Something Wild”. Or how about Stone? Or Sonata Arctica? It seems that nowadays age just gets the focus.

Jeremy: That’s a fact and a pity. On the otherhand we don’t really let it bother us.

What are the plans for Tracedawn now that your debut album is already available for purchase?

Vili: Now we are having gigs as much as possible. And as usual, we are also writing and practicing new material at the same time.

Henkka: Next album is already in our minds. However, we now want to be seen on tour as much as possible.

Jeremy: To play and have fun!

More info about Tracedawn’s remarkable self titled debut album at: http://www.redhouse.fi or at http://www.tracedawn.com

With an all-star cast that includes prominent names from well known Dutch Death Metal bands like Asphyx, Gorefest and Thanatos, Hail of Bullets have been reloading their guns in the studio, assembling a sonic arsenal in order to engage in a relentless, blasting war of old-school Death Metal.
Guitarist Stephan Gebédi disclosed some of the strategies planned for the launching of their second fierce attack, code name: "...Of Frost And War”, their first full-length album that is on the imminence of being released worldwide by Metal Blade Records. Take cover!

HAIL OF BULLETS, the new band featuring former Pestilence/Asphyx-singer Martin van Drunen, ex-Houwitser bass player Theo van Eekelen, Gorefest-drummer Ed Warby and both Thanatos-guitarists Paul Baayens and Stephan Gebédi was born during one of those heavily drunken nights these veterans used to engage every once in a while to talk about the god old days of Death Metal. So is it an excuse for you guys to reunite and crank some serious heavy Death Metal riffs and pack a few beers along the way?

“Exactly, hehe! First we needed to find out if we all got along with each other, if there wouldn't be any clashing egos and then we simply wanted to come up with some damn fine death metal. Death Metal the way it's supposed to be, at least as we think it's supposed to sound like.”

At which point did it all become serious and the band planned to record some songs to fetch a record deal?

“Well, right from the start actually. We never had the idea to get together every week and jam together without going anywhere... as a matter of fact, we only rehearsed as a band a couple of times before we recorded our 4-track promo album. The plan was to get a record deal in the first year of our existence and we succeeded...”

All Hail of Bullets members are seasoned musicians, having played in bulky-sized bands over the last 20 years, an obvious advantage that have put them on a spotlight position since news of their formation have been circulating. Was this fact beneficial for you when to come down to sign a record deal? Did some record labels approached the band solely on the basis of your résumé?

“I would be lying if I said that it didn't gain us some extra interest, but in the end it's the music that counts. If we would have sucked musically then we wouldn't have a deal right now… it's as simple as that! There was a lot of label interest after we released our promo CD and in the end Metal Blade seemed the best choice...”

Hail Of Bullets genesis is founded on the basis of the bands members common fondness for old school Death Metal, where exactly these tastes converge? Which names do you think have influenced the band?

“I think we all love stuff like Massacre, Autopsy, Bolt Thrower, old Death and Celtic Frost. I think it's safe to say these bands have been an influence on our sound...”

Do you miss the old-school flavour of today’s Death Metal bands, whose works have a certain pristine, clean approach obviously the result of today’s digital recording technologies?

“Definitely! But we also use today's digital recording technologies. So the problem is not the fact THAT you use these technologies, but HOW you use them. There's a big risk in using triggers on drums and stuff like that, but working with a program like Pro-Tools also has its advantages. Use the technology, but don't let it take over. And that's what the big problem is with a lot of today's bands; they all sound the same, they all use the same kick drum-triggers and they all have this overproduced fat, compressed sound and that's the problem I guess..."

On the other hand, the last years has also seen an incredible resurgence of old school death metal bands like Bloodbath, Facebreaker, Death Breath, Murder Squad, etc. which most of them surprisingly features some personalities that were vital or had an important role in shaping the style in its embryonic stage. What do you think of it and the fact the genre is rising in popularity again?

“A lot of these guys have been doing other stuff, or there main bands have left the death metal-path some time ago. I guess this music is still running in their blood, so every now and then these guys get together to let off steam and return to their roots.
I love bands like Bloodbath and Death Breath, so I'm not complaining!”

The promo the band recorded last year displayed an old school Death Metal sound that bears some characteristics of past glories, like Autopsy’s catchiness, Asphyx doomy riffs and Bolt Thrower blasting-power. Will the new record entitled “…Of Frost And War” display a similar style? What can we expect from “…Of Frost And War”?

"…Of Frost And War" is a concept album about the battles at the Eastern Front during WWII. The 4 tracks on the promo were basically the first songs we wrote for this concept so they have been re-recorded for the album as well, ‘cause they are the heart of the lyrical concept. The first pressing of the album will contain a bonus track which makes the album last for 57 minutes! So besides the 4 songs from the promo you get a full album of new songs. The style of the new songs is pretty similar, although there are a few surprises like the song 'Stalingrad" which is a bit more technical riff wise and the all out doom of the final track of the album...which is one my favourites at the moment."

With regards to creating music, how do you usually approach the writing of the songs? Does any member take the lead role over another with ideas, riffs and then other members make their contributions on top of that?

“For this album Ed (Warby-drums) came up with most of the guitar riffs and even full songs; he's been very productive. Paul and I also squeezed in a couple of songs of our own and obviously we all had a say about the way the songs were structured and the way they came out in the end.”
Our songs did not come from lengthy jams, but from creating riffs and songs at home and sending them to the other guys as MP3-files. So the way we work is pretty new school, compared to our old school sound, but what the fuck... we all live quite far from each other, so this is what works best for us...”

After the release of the album, what is lined-up for the band? Will there be other records?

“Sure, there will be more albums, but first we want to concentrate on live shows now; we have a handful of great summer festivals lined up in Holland and Germany. In the fall we'll start doing club shows all over Europe, so there won't be any dull moments for us, since we're all still involved with other bands as well."

After so many years playing metal… what aspect of this type of music hasn’t stop surprising you?

“Everything about metal is still great as far as I'm concerned; when I get my hands on a nice Hellhammer box set I basically get the same feeling as when I first opened the gatefold sleeve of KISS' Alive II double-LP (well almost!). The sheer dedication of a lot of people in this scene also still surprises me. It's good to be metal!”

"...Of Frost And War" is available through Metal Blade Records.
More information about Hail of Bullets can be found at:
www.hailofbullets.com or www.myspace.com/hailoffuckenbullets.

Heavenwood once threatened to become a serious phenomenon of popularity when the Portuguese band signed a multiple record deal with German label Massacre Records following hot on the heels of Moonspell successful partnership with Century Media. Following an auspicious start with the release of two highly acclaimed albums, “Diva” from 1996 and “Shallow” from 1998 and well projected tours with the likes of Theatre of Tragedy, In Flames and Atrocity the band entered a downwards spiral of inner turbulence that culminated in Heavenwood’s dissolution in 2001.
Thankfully, the band sorted out the problems that hindered their evolution and reunited two years later, assembling new songs for a comeback album that will finally see the light at the tunnel later this year. Guitarist Ricardo Dias was gentle enough to enlighten us with details of “Redemption”, Heavenwood’s long awaited third full-length album.

In a period of clear ascension of Heavenwood, following the release of their successful second album entitled "Swallow" in 1998 and tours in support of bulky names like Atrocity and Solitude Aeturnus, the band entered a turbulent period that culminated in their dissolution in 2001. At the time predominated a certain feeling of consternation, considering it was a group that could have done far more and perhaps achieve the success Moonspell have conquered throughout these long years with lots of blood, sweat and tears. Is this something Heavewood members have also experienced at the time, a feeling of an arduous unfinished business?

"Yes, overall after spending countless hours of our lives dedicated to a dream and to a musical style it reached a point where the rational side collided with the emotional side. I’m sorry for the HEAVENWOOD fans for this hiatus, but if they had been in our place, they would certainly make the same thing. There were many justifications for us to put HEAVENWOOD on hold, justifications that in my opinion are anti-art.
Currently we’ve reduced the group to a strong nucleus of three people where I, Ernesto Guerra and the Bruno Silva took the reins of the universe of HEAVENWOOD and after nearly a year of extra-human devotion channelled into the pre-production of our new album that will come out in September we saw the light at the end of the tunnel... we even wrote this in our first demo and our first theme "See the light and follow it"... see the irony of our destiny!"

And the current feeling is that Heavenwood are here to stay?

"I believe in free will hence I believe that what we must make, feel and construct or destroy only belongs to us. We ended up making the best option by freezing HEAVENWOOD during these years instead of launching one or two albums to be in the drawer, a fact proven by innumerable recognized bands in the musical panorama when they understand that they want to evolve or should I say... when they want to express themselves through other musical channels. In this in case, we would be sticking a long knife in the backs of HEAVENWOOD fans. We’ve made the best option for sure, we have kept ourselves actives in the musical universe either at level of producing either in participating in other musical projects... music was born with us (of blood and soul)."

During the absence of Heavenwood, its elements had never moved away from the world of music and had developed some projects with more or less notoriety. Could you describe your course in particular during these years where you have been away from the group?

“I had fantastic experiences in concern to projects and participations.
I produced some themes with bands that I appreciate outside of the spectre of Metal: The Fury, Dynamo, Quing of Qong, etc. I was involved with Plasma (Well known Portuguese band in the vein of Suede-editor) exploring my old passion for Pop music. I’ve supported the legendary The Melancholic Youth Jesus where recently I participated with the mentor Carlos Saints in a 2008 theme called "Detroit" that has an Indie-Rock vibe.
Currently my heart and soul are focused on HEAVENWOOD and only this way the group will rise from the ashes like a Phoenix."

Both albums "Diva" and "Swallow" had placed the sound of the band close to a Metal-Gothic style, a musical genre that enjoyed an enormous success at the end of the 90’s. Currently, the scenery is somehow different and where names like Theatre of Tragedy, Tiamat and The Gathering were once at the forefront of the Metal scene, nowadays they lurk in the shadows of the underground. The Heavenwood of today consider themselves part of that movement or they would rather avoid any labels?

“I believe that the old and new fans of HEAVENWOOD will have a fantastic surprise with this new "Redemption".
All our feeling, melody, melancholy and aggressiveness are well carved in this register, the anger of Rock, the fury of Metal, the melancholy of Goth, in the end we managed to recreate a formula or musical salad with a unique flavour which is actual and nothing that could be easily labelled or called clichéd. To prove these descriptions we had in the past weekend a listening session with members of the press and we had some very positive commentaries, with the looks and expressions of a breath of fresh air in the national and international scenes."

And how does this Heavenwood differs from the Heavenwood of the past?

"We’ve lowered in tone, we increased the emotion, we press harder in the accelerator and at this moment we are a locomotive of feelings going full steam ahead."

Heavenwood are now a trio, a strong nucleus formed by guitarists Ricardo Dias and Bruno Silva and by vocalist Ernesto Guerra, a structure that has resulted in full and that the group already revealed publicly they want to preserve. Do you think the inclusion of a new member can modify in some ways the chemistry and diplomacy that exists between you three?

"There are no plans to integrate more elements for this band, there will be however some experienced musicians invited to work as session members as it was case with the recordings of drums on the new album by the charismatic “man of the seven instruments" that is Daniel Cardoso. At the same time he helped the band in the production process of "Redemption", revealing to be a pragmatic, creative and incisive individual and he also managed to catch up that locomotive at full steam ahead getting tune in to the well defined objectives of HEAVENWOOD for this new album."

It is precisely this strong nucleus that has been preparing along with producer Daniel Cardoso a new work entitled "Redemption". Considering that its gestation period, which included rehearsals, pre-recordings and recording sessions, lasted for more than three years it’s obvious that the band places a strong belief in this record since all details must duly refined. Do Heavenwood see this record as a new chapter for the band and nothing must be left randomly?

"Interesting question and very well applied. Yes, the fact we have been working hard on the pre-production of the album (which I judge to be the great Achilles’ heel of national bands or else hastiness was not to be considered the great enemy of the success) served to polish all the edges of the themes that we decide to record and produce in the ULTRASOUND Studios with Daniel Cardoso. Notice that it was our decision since we believe that Portugal nowadays has many capacities in musical terms so we didn’t felt the necessity to completely record this new album with a foreign producer and studio. At the time of "Diva" and "Swallow" yes, in fact it would be unthinkable given the quality of the works that were being produced here (with all the respect for the people in question) but Massacre Records knew that our songs or our "green years" would easily be shaped by an experienced producer that was Gerard Maghin. The option of getting the renowned JENS BOGREN on board doesn’t need more words or presentations and in this chapter JENS, who curiously knows the band and have followed the releases of both "Diva" and "Swallow" offered to mix and master "Redemption" according to our necessities in terms of timings. In the end he heard our production and felt something special in collaborating with us and with this sonority that all will have the chance to hear briefly. We needed something that I would categorize of a "musical mist" or a colder, darker colour to contrast with our Lusitanian melodies in order to join the useful with the pleasant."

And what about the songs that will appear in the new album, do they coexist with the band for how long? Are you afraid that it might lose some freshness and some enthusiasm in it comes to promote them live?

"Of all the themes enclosed in the album we only recovered two songs, adapting them to the image and overall sonority of "Redemption".

How does the band knows when they have written a good song, is it a purely intuitive process that finishes in the rehearsal room or do you leave some details to be refined and developed in the studio?

"Supposedly the theme "Obsolete" in which the vocalist Tijs Vanneste of OCEANS of SADNESS participates was not sounding like "a good song", but currently it’s one of the favourites for the band and for the studio team. Making your words mine, "Blood, Sweat and Tears" or committing yourself in musical terms and open your horizons since with his vocal contributions and common musical tastes we were able to create a fantastic song! Beyond Tijs contribution we already have confirmed a fantastic guitar solo from GUS G of FIREWIND, female vocalizations in some themes where Fado will be fused with our Arabian influences thanks to two talented voices from Braga that curiously are both called Ana. We still have a very special guest for disclosing in the song "Bridge the Neverland".

"Redemption" was recorded in Ultrasound studios in Braga with the production work in charge of Daniel Cardoso, who also assisted the band by playing the drum parts. How did the opportunity to work with the mentor of the defunct Sirius happened?

"I’ve found his vision and the "breath of fresh air" that he has imprinted in the recordings of some national projects interesting. I always liked his work in some of his most varied projects, feeling that inside him runs something that also runs inside of us... an unconditional love for music as Art. Daniel Cardoso always followed HEAVENWOOD, accepting with good will our challenge to make an album that has at the very least the same longevity that still characterizes to this day, "Diva" and "Swallow"."

The mixing of the new album however will be handled by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios in Sweden. How did the opportunity to work with a producer that has recorded names like Opeth and Katatonia among others took place?

"I’ve already answered this question previously, but however I can still add that it deals with an extra necessity in terms of technical conditions since FASCINATION STREET STUDIOS is currently one of the best European studios for Rock and Metal. At the same time it’s also a “quality guarantee” for those who haven’t heard the album yet since producers of this level don’t work with any kind of band and that also makes us proud. I must mention that until now it exits a vast group of people involved in this "Redemption" where only their devotion, passion and hope in this comeback made it possible to offer to all the necessary conditions for HEAVENWOOD to launch a special album.
Recital Records was one of them, against the proposals of international record companies that only offered to place a stamp in the back of the CD and distribute this album worldwide. We know very well what we want."

And what can fans expect of "Redemption", musically and lyrically?

"Love"

Following the release of the new album in September, what are the plans of Heavenwood?

"Promote it through events, signing sessions and concerts. There will be lots of activities, like summer festivals and lots of promotion related with press, in a way that I believe it might also be helpful for our national panorama and who knows opens more doors to our Lusitanian warriors."

Visit HEAVENWOOD’s official website at www.myspace.com/heavenwood for more information on the upcoming “Redemption”, which is scheduled for release on September this year.

Having moved labels for the first time in their notorious and continuously growing career, Finland’s Norther have finally produced an album that sees them outgrowing the “Children of Bodom devotees” tag clung to them ever since their debut album “Dreams of Endless War” came out in 2002.
Simply entitled “N”, their fifth full-length album and first for Century Media doesn’t belong to any standard category or genre as it showcases a splendid and mesmerising concoction of all the best elements of Metal.
Scratch the Surface caught up with a confident Jukka Koskinen, the band’s bassist for an insight into the foundations behind “N”.

Two years on from their critically acclaimed “Till Death Unite Us”, Finnish quintet Norther are back with an impressive new album that will surely delight anyone who has enjoyed them in the past, but one that will also put them in a spotlight position in new, different fields than the ones the band commonly trod on since their inception twelve years ago under the moniker Requiem. Their fifth and finest album “N”, could be described as a more diverse, melodic album with the band further exploring new levels of melody and different textures just its predecessor “Till Death Unites Us” somehow hinted, it showcases the next step in the ever-growing development of the band.
When questioned if the diversity exhibited throughout “N” has been the result of a natural progression or if Norther collectively decided to focus on those diverse areas more actively, bassist Jukka is a bit uncertain…

“The whole album was born thru a natural progression. It was more or less a somehow subconscious thing since we listen to a lot of different styles of music so you really can hear that there’s a diverse world in the album although working as a perfect pack (laughs). There’s five different guys in the band so of course every one has their own desires in a way, but at the same time everyone do know what Norther is about, going always on and trying something new than just standing still.
Our older albums have been more straightforward than “N”. We’ve unleashed the hidden force!”

Another progression is the clean singing of Kristian Ranta, his voice sounds a lot stronger and shows more confidence. Did the rest of the band encourage him to try out new things or it was the different textures of the new songs that demanded more from him?

“Well this time we had Anssi Kippo as our producer. An old friend who also has been recording our earlier albums, so he really knows our needs and thru that he was involved a lot with the clean vocals, melodies, etc.
Kristian was more aware of the vocal parts this time too so we didn’t do anything in a hurry way like before.
In “N” we thought to add more growling… like black metallish double growling but at the same time add more poppish cleans that made a great twisted vocals world for the album.”

A lot of bands like Amorphis, Paradise Lost and Katatonia for example, have at a certain stage of their careers ditch the Death-Metal singing altogether. Do you imagine Norther having a similar impulse in the future?

“No definitely not! We’ve always been working as a unit and using everyone’s different skills in our music. We’ve always extended our vocals after every album so who knows if in the future any of us will sing cleans n’ growls (laughs)… but we will never ditch something totally.”

“If You Go” is a song that grabbed my attention as it reminds me somehow of Amorphis, do you see them as an influence?

“Well that’s how I felt too (laughs)… when I first heard the ready version of the song.
Well we’ve known their music and the guys for a long time and been listening to it more in the past so probably there’s some Amorphis cells in our brains.” (Laughs)

The band have been compared to Children of Bodom in the past, however I believe “N” will surely dissipate such comparisons once and for all. Do you agree? Does it trouble you when people continuously associate Norther with Children of Bodom?

“Well naah, since it’s gone too far the whole comparison (laughs)…
Well in the beginning we did have more similar factors in our music but then, after the first two albums we started to change a lot musically so maybe people have stuck to this comparison thing because of our early stuff. Sometimes when someone makes an opinion it’s hard to get out from it although you wouldn’t have anything to do with it, similar sounds what so ever.
We started to change our own music a lot when we did the EP “Solution 7”. Kristian’s clean vocals came along and we started to mix pop and death metal together. Forming a great “pervert soup” in a way (laughs).
But surely “N” puts us far away from our previous records. It’s just this great feeling that you just have… like we have finally opened for ourselves and fully trust what we do…just a great feeling about this album!”

Seeing that you’re close friends with them, do talk about it?

“We’ve known them for years but we haven’t seen the guys that much anymore since they’re on tour all the time. (Laughs)
But yes we talked about that many years ago and wondered about it… funny story. I dunno why we were so close musically…
In the end we really don’t care what people think or say about this comparison thing that haven’t existed in years. We do our own thing and that’s it.”

“N” was once again produced by long time partner Anssi Kippo, who had previously worked with the band on the “Mirror of Madness” and “Death Unlimited” full-length albums, do you see him as the sixth element of the band? Would you consider trusting the production duties to anyone else again?

“It’s was the first time actually that Anssi had produced us for real.
He has been helping and giving great ideas but this time he came to our rehearsals many times and we really, really produced the album together.
He has been there for us for years now and really knows what we’re looking for so it would be hard imagining someone else to produce us… but time will tell.”

However, this time Norther have chosen to mix the new album at Fredman Studios in Sweden with famous producer Fredrik Nordström, whose credits include In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, At The Gates between many others. The Finns are no strangers to the recording facilities of Studio Fredman either as “Till Death Unites Us” also bears the trademark Fredman sound. So what was it like working with Fredrik Nordström once again and did he bring anything new to the table for this record?

“Yes definitely! Him and Henrik Udd, a co-worker really tuned our sounds to a better direction and made the whole pack better. They’re really great guys etc.
One morning we’re just cutting the studio chairs with Fredrik with a chainsaw (laughs)!!! Don’t ask me why! We needed some exercise you know.”

There’s a certain common thread running through all of Fredrik Nordström past experiences as a producer, which is the clarity of sound and melodies, was that something Norther was aiming at, do you think it made a difference to how your CD turned out?

“Well sound wise of course it made a difference. Fredrik has his own special style to do things and mainly the guitars sounds he made were brilliant… so we thought that it’s going to sound a shaped Norther, in a good way and it goddamn did!! Fredrik and Henrik did a good job mixing the album.

It seems like the songs have been chosen and arranged in order to illustrate a certain contrast between them, was it intentionally?

“Well yes and no. We wanted to put the songs in an order that the listener will have a good feeling until the end of the album. That’s why the tracklist is in a dynamic way … something different after another so that you have this fresh feel.”

Let’s turn to the somewhat odd choice of the album title, a simple “N”. Is the title as obvious as it sounds or is there some enigmatic meaning behind it?

“N has been our symbol for a long time. It stands for north, northern, where we come from … and off course Norther.
That what’s this thing is all about so a powerful symbol was a perfect idea. We really have kind of a fresh start music wise and record label wise so the album name has a debut, self-titled feel if you know what I mean.”

With a notorious career made entirely on Spinefarm Records, the Finnish quintet have moved labels and secured a deal with Century Media for the release of “N”. What made you decide for such record label?

“They’ve been interested in us for a long time. Those guys who work in that company are great and since the first meeting to this date we just had this feeling that they’re exactly the sort of people we want to work with.
A great label and now finally Norther has good people who believe in the band!”

Norther will embark on a European tour in March with label mates Turisas, what can we expect from these concerts?

“It’s going to be an absolutely great and diverse tour! Two Finnish bands can’t be bad, huh!? (Laughs)
There’s going to be huge head-banging and Finnish insanity from two different styles of bands. It’s a great and diverse package!”

With a fresh deal with a big independent record label, a new and strong album that will definitely boost their popularity even further and an upcoming European tour, what expectations does Norther have for the future?

“We’re more than happy that things are finally going well. We basically dig ourselves out from the crap-hole and have been waiting for an opportunity for so long.
Hopefully we’ll tour as many countries as possible in the near future! We’re truly reborn!!”

More info at: www.norther.net

Since 1995, Germany’s Dark Age have been labouring in the shadows of the underground scene, grasping for a chance to reach a wider audience with their brand of Melodic Death Metal forged in the finest Swedish industries. A recognition that has yet failed to match the expectations generated by the four albums the band have released to date.
Things may well seem about to change with the recently released “Minus Exitus” that had a gestation period that rolled over four years during which the Hamburg quintet honed up their eclectic and memorable sound to rival with the highly demanding standards of today’s music.
Confident of Dark Age’s abilities, keyboard player Martin is extremely enthusiastic about their fifth work “Minus Exitus” and the exciting prospects that lies ahead, as he reveals during this small interview done by e-mail.

Dark Age have recently released their fifth full-length album “Minus Exitus”, in what ways do you feel it stands against your past releases?

“It’s better! :) I think that we combined all our strengths in the songs and mixed it up to various tracks that do not bore you for 50 minutes and hopefully make you enjoy our music.”

“Minus Exitus” was once again produced by vocalist/guitarist Eike Freese at his newly built Eikey Studio, is this process something the band feels comfortable with or would rather have some external help from someone who isn’t so attached to the songs?

“We feel very comfortable with this way of working on an album. As Eike composes nearly all of the music together with Jörn he knows exactly how we have to sound like and he really succeeded in letting our sound come to live.
For us it would make no sense to let somebody apart from the band produce our sound. Nevertheless a co-production with another producer could be something possible for the next album to get a little bit of other thoughts.”

The production work from Eike Freese is great and powerful it must be stated, will he try to make a career for himself recording other bands?

“He already does. He lives from producing other bands.”

If you envisage the possibility of working with someone else on future recordings, who would like to work with?

“As mentioned above a co-production with another producer could be possible. But then it has to be a bigger name, such as Jacob Hansen, or Andy Wallace or Collin Richardson. But these are just dreams for now.”

The album have been receiving rave reviews, including an Album of the Month distinction on the German version of Metal Hammer, are you happy with the end results?

“Of course! Now we know that all the work we have put into “Minus Exitus” was really worth it.”

The band has been compared to acts like Soilwork and Dark Tranquillity in recent times? Do you take these comparisons as a compliment, or does it become a bit stressful seeing fans and press pigeonholing the band in such a way?

“Mainly it is a compliment, because this means that Dark Age has finally arrived in the big league. And as long as the people do not call us copies and clones of the mentioned bands it’s all right for us. Because I think the style, approach to write songs and creativeness of all the bands is a bit similar. But yet I think we have our very own note and sound.”

What about some criticisms that “Minus Exitus” sounds too mainstream and polished, which puzzles me a bit because it’s not like we’re talking about D.A.D. or Scorpions? How do you react to such remarks?

“As soon as you are in the spotlight you get both: Positive and negative reactions. If somebody has the opinion that we sound too mainstream then it’s his opinion. We cannot do something about it and maybe he is even right in the end. I do not know, I do not have the distance and have always problems to judge our work on an objective level. As long as there are a lot of people who like the album we have done something right. :)

Do you have a favourite track from the new album, and if so, why?

“At the moment I really like “The Echoes Discipline”, because it is so complex and you can find a lot of details in it. But of course I think every track is worth listening.”

There’s a track that have particularly grabbed my attention since it starts with a sample from one of my favourite movies, “Seven”.
“Seven” the track, begins with Morgan Freeman reciting a phrase from American novelist Ernest Hemmingway, “the world is a fine place and worth fight for”. Is that overall theme or message of “Minus Exitus”, the world is a place worth fighting for?

“I think so, you can use this theme for the album. The world is not a fine place, but for sure things can be made correctly and better if you show the will to do so. Eike tells stories in his lyrics which are worth to think about and even though they have a negative character you can also read glimpses of hope and the will to fight out of them.”

And that particular song deals with the seven deadly sins concept?

“Yes. We appreciate if the listener makes up his mind about the lyrics so I will just give you a sum up. Religions, Christians in this particular case, tell you what to do and not to do. Come on, you cannot let an institution dictate your life. And who says that it is correct what the church says? The best way to live is to find your own way in this world, to have your own rules of life but yet respect others.”

So, what’s stored for Dark Age in the future? Do you already have some gigs lined up to promote the new album?

"At the moment we are planning on some tours through Germany and France and also plan to visit Japan."

“Minus Exitus” is available at Remedy Records.
More info at: www.dark-age.de

You can call The Arcane Order what ever you want, Death-Metal, Black-Metal or Thrash-Metal, just don’t call them Metalcore because they don’t like it! And honestly, such interpretation really would do the band an unforgiving injustice as their second full-length album “In the Wake of Collisions” sees the Danish band setting a new course for themselves into a richly textured Metal mayhem that has hardly anything in common with a genre prostistuted far too freely these days. Guitarist and band founder Flemming C. Lund was nice enough to take his time and answer to our deviant questions regarding the band’s working ethics, ambitions and fondness for Spanish football team Real Madrid. Read on…

Danish metallers The Arcane Order have produced one of the year’s most exhilarating moments of extreme metal mayhem with their new work “In the Wake of Collisions”, which represents something of a remarkable contrast for the fashionable ways of merging Death Metal with Hardcore elements of recent times. Their 2006 Metal Blade debut “The Machinery of Oblivion” already showed a promising start with a band willing to crave a niche of their own, but it’s with its successor that The Arcane Order truly blossomed into an exemplar, technical and precise Extreme Metal machine that defies easy categorisation.
“In The Wake Of Collisions” is in many aspects more demanding, diverse and heavier than your debut album “The Machinery of Oblivion”, did you already planned this change before writing the new songs or was it something that developed naturally during the writing process?

“It was part wise something that we wanted to change and part wise something that happened naturally. You must remember that some of the songs on our debut album, which was released in 2006, were written way back in 1999/2000 and therefore they weren’t that “up to date” when they were released. I still think they are very good though, but I guess you can say they didn’t represent us 100% when they were released. So we wanted to change our sound a bit, become more extreme and try to find our own sound. And that’s how “In the wake…” ended up sounding like it did. When I started to do riffs for the album I discarded all old riffs. We only wanted new stuff. And when I started to write the new riffs I found a new approach to doing harmonies and riffs in general, and that more or less was the key element to the change in our sound.”

Is that the style you'll be leaning towards in the future? Do you think you’ve nailed The Arcane Order sound?

“Oh yeah, definitely! We certainly have found our own sound now and a sound from which we can evolve. We were aiming at finding our own special sound and a sound that we would love to play as well, and we really have!”

In my opinion, “In The Wake Of Collisions” shares some similarities with bands like Strapping Young Lad and I've already seen some comments reinforcing my opinion, does it piss you of when someone says that you sound like x or y band, or do you take it as compliment?

“It doesn’t really matter to me as long as people don’t think that we rip off other bands 100%. Today it’s more or less impossible to create music that doesn’t sound like other bands, because there are so many bands out there playing different kind of stuff. And I mean sure, we are influenced from SYL, but we are influenced from other bands as well like Scarve, Voivod, Red Harvest, Decapitated, Disbelief, Cult of Luna, The Amenta and others.”

So let’s say, who would you mind getting tagged with?

“Metalcore! I really keep wondering why, WHY, someone could mistake our music for being Metalcore! It may sound silly, but to me that’s an insult! We all come from a metal background and I have personally been listening to metal since the late 80’s so I can assure you there are no core-inspirations in our music. But luckily with the new album and very few still think we are Metalcore. :)”

Seeing that The Arcane Order is comprised of musicians involved in other bands and that you write all the music, do you think people will be tempted to perceive it as your band or project and not an actual concept of a full-band?

“I think so… at least I often get the question if we’re a project or a band. Or actually people did that more with our debut album. I think today people look at us as a real band, just as they should. We are a real band today, even though the idea of the band started as a project, but that was around 2000-2001.”

And being the main composer for The Arcane Order with a clear vision of how the band should sound like, I must ask you how much input are you willing to take from the other band members? I mean there are bands like Megadeth, whose main leader calls all the shots in order to not deviate from the course he thinks is best for the band?

“I do write all the music, but all the other guys always come with their input and ideas, and I always welcome them. The band is by no means a dictatorship or anything. I guess in the end I do call the shots, if we can’t decide in which direction to go, but I always ask the other guys for their opinion and if there’s something they want to do, that’s what we do. And Kasper does exactly the lyrics he wants or Morten does exactly the drumming he wants, etc... So everyone is happy about their role in the band. I do have an overall vision with the band and which direction I would like the music to take though.”

How would you compare your goals with the band nowadays against to when you started?

“Our goal has always been to just be able to release some records, play some shows, and just have fun and enjoy each others company in the band. And that hasn’t changed. We are not in the band to make money or be the biggest band there is out there. We take everything day by day.”

Enshrined with the preservation of Metal and its most remarkable characteristics, one of the greatest aspects of “in the Wake Of Collisions” is its proficient technical twists, with incredible old-schooled flavoured guitar solos, fast and complex drumming with great rolls thrown in, do the think these are characteristics metal music is losing with the current trend of fusing Death Metal with Hardcore?

“Yeah, definitely! And that’s a damn shame! Solos in metal are things that can take a song to a whole new level and make the song sound even more interesting. And the solos are one of the things we insist upon, and they will always be a part of The Arcane Order. I love playing guitar and I love playing leads as well, and for the next record there will be even more shredding! We try to push our musical abilities on every record, and our drummer wants to make his playing as colourful and interesting as he possibly can. Today it seems like most records are getting more and more mechanic sounding, which is a shame I think, and a lead can therefore add so much spice to a song.”

When you were starting up as musician, which guitarists did you look up to and would be called as inspirational?

“Great question! There was one guy in particular that I really looked up to, and that was George Lynch. Back then he was playing in the hard rock band Dokken. I have always had a soft spot for hard rock, I guess also due to the fact that most of these bands had great guitarists and ripping, bluesy leads. So George Lynch was definitely one of the most important guitarists for me, and today I still love his work. Other guitarists that were really important to me were Satriani and Malmsteen. Later on I have drawn inspiration from players like Jeff Loomis (Nevermore), Peter Lake (back when he was doing Theory in Practice and Mutant), Mike Wead (Memento Mori/King Diamond), Reb Beach (Whitesnake/Winger/Dokken) and others. I love shred, but not just for the sake of shred. You have to be able to put emotion and melody in the solos as well, and these guys really do that.”

From the information on your homepage, I know that you’re a very busy man, with a day-job and a number of other projects, besides being the main composer for The Arcane Order. How do you manage to do everything?

“Well, it’s not always easy, I’ll tell you. It’s actually very hard to find the time to do everything. And on top of that I would really love to play in 1-2 more bands, but time is just against me. It’s hard to allocate all your time in just one project and I love being busy, but I often wish the day had 48 hours instead of just 24 :)”

What role does music play in your life?

"It means everything to me… as do metal. Having the chance to play metal and actually have it released is an indescribable feeling. And when you have a full time job next to the music it’s really great to go home and write or play music, because you use your brain in a completely different way. I love being creative and the music is a great way to channel out all your feelings, both good and bad.”

Lyrically, what are these collisions you’re referring to on the new record? The human collisions of daily life perhaps, as men tend to be very conflictual?

“In the Wake of Collisions” is the title of a concept, which basically deals with various aspects of the main theme collisions. It is not a concept album in terms of having a thoroughly, ongoing story with the same main character, but more a concept album that portray the main theme in different scenarios, which are all open for interpretations. The collision theme is to be understood metaphorically. However the lyrics deal with identifiable human experiences situated or based on concrete clashes between ideas and pragmatism, values and moral standards, democracy and tyranny, wars and prosperity, love and hate, life and death, religions and secularism, culture and nature, etc.”

I understand the band haven’t been playing a lot outside their native Denmark, is that a scenario The Arcane Order is willing to change? With all the obligations of its members do you think it’s possible for the band to embark on a European tour?

“Oh yeah, we so much want to go out there and play. We are currently trying to set up a tour and festival gigs in the summer of 2008. We can’t wait to get out there and play for all our fans. We get tons of requests all the time, so it has to happen soon!”

Do you have any ideal partners in mind?

“We don’t have any ideal partners, but someone playing the same style we do, would of course be great. I guess playing with bands like Behemoth, Job for a Cowboy, Black Dahlia Murder, Decapitated, Scarve could be great. But also we would love to tour with other Danish bands like Hatesphere, Mnemic, Raunchy, The Burning, Dawn of Demise, Mercenary and Urkraft. We are all great mates!”

What do you think of Metal Blade releasing the album only on digital format on North America? I guess that you have experienced the tape trading phase seeing that you’re in your thirties, how do the see the evolution and easiness in each people can trade off music and bands can get their songs to be heard?

“Oh yeah… the good old days of tape trading. :) Well of course it’s not 100% satisfactory to neither us nor the fans that they can’t get the whole CD. We really get a lot of requests from people from the US who want to whole CD. But I guess you can see the digital release as an experiment to see how big the demand for the record is. If it goes really well, the CD WILL be released in its physical form over there. And also you most remember that a lot of people today, especially the younger, prefer to just download songs from iTunes or wherever. So the idea is okay, but hopefully it’ll end with the release of the physical CD as well.”

To end the interview, let’s talk about football as Flemming is fan of the sport just like I am. The guitarist has a soft spot for Real Madrid while I favour Barcelona instead, do you think Real Madrid will win the Spanish championship?

“Yes I still think so, although there only 2 points now (as I type this) separating the teams. We have had some problems with injuries with Robinho, Sneijder and Pepe being out for quite some time while Ruud Van Nistelrooy is in a bit of a scoring crisis, so we have lost some ground. But we will come back for sure… and of course beat Barcelona in the 3rd last game on Bernabeu! :)”

The strategy of Bernd Schuster and its model of playing is highly criticised by supporters for not having the fantasy of yore, do you think that’s important against winning matches?

“Winning matches if of course most important, but yeah, we love to see beautiful, creative football as well. But there are still a lot of young players on the team, and I definitely think that Schuster is the right man for the job. After all he has made the best results in a very long time. But I hope we can get some reinforcements in the summer break and get a new striker and midfielder.”

Find out more about a band destined to play the champions league of extreme music at: www.thearcaneorder.net

It appears that the year of 2008 is going to be one of the busiest and most hectic of Finland’s Omnium Gatherum career to date. The Melodic Death-Metal sextet is currently on the final process of writing the follow-up to their successful and critically acclaimed "Stuck Here On Snakes Way" album, which is scheduled for release this spring through UK’s Candlelight Records.
Meanwhile, the band will support Sweden’s Dark Tranquillity on their UK tour this month, before heading for studio to register their new as-yet-untitled record. Scratch the Surface caught up with guitarist Markus Vanhala to learn more about Omnium Gatherum upcoming studio release and the support slot for one of their main influences.

It takes a simple click at your internet browser to discover that Omnium Gatherum roughly means a miscellaneous collection, all gathered. Well, Melodic Death Metallers Omnium Gatherum couldn’t have picked a better name for themselves as its significance perfectly reflects the band’s posture towards music since the Finnish sextet is a band that places great value on dynamics.
After two well received full-length albums 2003’s “Spirits In August Light” and 2004’s “Years In Waste” released on Rage Of Achilles and Nuclear Blast respectively, with both blending a diverse range of influences and textures in a surprising and innovative manner it was only last year that Omnium Gatherum truly blossomed into a unique and grandiose musical entity with the release of their third record. Issued by Candlelight Records, “Stuck Here On Snakes Way" is where the likes of Iron Maiden, Rush, Dark Tranquillity, Opeth and Amorphis converge in equal measures and the sextet consolidated their position as a band poised to make the big jump from the underground to the forefront of the Metal scene. 2008 promises to be a great year for Omnium Gatherum as the band is currently finishing writing the greatly expected follow-up to “Stuck Here On Snakes Way".

When asked about the musical orientation of the new songs, guitarist Markus Vanhala suggests a return to the more metallic, harder inclinations of the band’s early period.

“The stuff is sounding little bit like a return to the roots of Omnium Gatherum, lots of melodies, easier song structures, but still really heavy stuff with some beautiful progressive atmospheres.
I think the songs are a lot more easily approachable than on “Snakes Way”, though it still isn’t any disposable one-hit-wonder stuff, hehe.”

What can you tell us about the writing process of your new album? How are the new songs developing?

“It’s been maybe the easiest record composing project so far, it seems that the songs have composed itself within a very short period. We have over 10 songs ready and waiting some hard arrangement process, though we have very busy schedule as the recordings are starting already in March and we have a tour to play before that and lots of work to do... But, I’m still very enthusiastic about the coming release as it’s really having the strongest potential yet!”

Have you already settled for a title for the new album?

“No, we haven’t got yet any title, so the working title is “a big 4th”.

What about the recordings, have you already chosen a studio and a producer to work with?

“Yeah, we have just booked all the studios. It’s going to be done in three different studios; drums will be recorded in Sound Supreme by Janne Saksa (Rotten Sound, Amoral, Manitou etc.), other recordings will be done at the same place as “Snakes Way”, which is our local SouthEastSounds studio in Karhula, Finland. The mixing and mastering will take place in Örebro, Sweden at the legendary UNISOUND studio by the legendary Swedish metal master Dan Swanö, who has done albums for Edge Of Sanity, Opeth, Katatonia, Dissection, Bloodbath, Nightingale etc. I surely am really eager about this as I’m a big Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, Moontower fan!"

Any guest appearances profiled to appear on the new album?

“We haven’t decided yet anything on that case, so it remains to be seen.”

The new album will once again be released by Candlelight Records; do you think they're the perfect partner for Omnium Gatherum?

“Things have worked nicely with Candlelight. The label got a nice staff, they have cool individual bands and we have total artistic freedom on our music. It’s a good sized label for us, as for example our previous label Nuclear Blast was way too big for a band like Omnium Gatherum.”

The upcoming album will mark the debut of new bass player Eerik Purdon who replaced Janne Markkanen last year, did he contributed to the writing of the new album?

“Eerik haven’t done any composing for the album, but he have been a great influence factor for writing new stuff and have helped with arrangements and stuff like that. He really is one hell of a bass player, so I can guarantee that there’s infernal low-end pulse and groove on our next chapter that have not seen at the Omnium Gatherum stuff yet!!!

Omnium Gatherum will be touring with Dark Tranquillity on February through the UK, seeing that they had a big influence on the band in the beginning, what are your feelings regarding the tour?

“Well, Dark Tranquillity’s “The Gallery” album was one of the main influences why we ever formed this band in ´95/96. So, it’s totally amazing to tour with that band and I couldn’t invent better band style wise to tour with. We’ll be also sharing the nightliner bus with Dark Tranquillity so it’s going to be a nice ride for all of us, Sweden vs. Finland! Last time we did a headlining tour in UK at 2006 and it was a success, so also because of this we’ll be looking forward to head back to UK stages.”

What can we expect from Omnium Gatherum on these shows? Will you be playing some new songs?

“Highly energetic sweaty show with tight playing and rock´n’roll movements, hehe!! Yeah, we’ll be testing some new stuff on these gigs for sure.”