Interviews

I think the best way to start would be a short trip back to the beginning of Eternal Tears of Sorrow. Could you give a brief summary of the events that happened until you decided to split up in January 2003?

It all goes five or six years back in time, to the time when we got a new line-up and we started writing material for our third album, 'Chaotic Beauty'. We got the album out and had a European tour.

It was a lot of fun to write material for the album as well as have gigs around Europe, and throughout the two years, all of us spent most of our free-time with things related to the band and the album. We had the attitude "the band is the most important thing in our lives and anything else is just secondary".

As a whole, that kind of attitude is usually a very good attitude for any band. However, it can also result in a situation in which there is no time to relax. If the band is the both a hobby and a job, how can you relax? And we felt like that after the tour in November 2000. Playing in a band just didn't feel good at that time. Not for me, anyway. I wasn't the only one in the band to think: "Is it really true that we must think the band is the most important thing in our lives?" In addition, I thought we couldn't come up with anything new and inspiring anymore.

Anyway, we started writing material for the fourth album right after the tour; we only had two weeks to relax. At that moment, we realized we needed a long break after the song-writing and recording process. So we had one gig before the release date of the album and then started our well-deserved break.

Nowadays it happens every now and then that bands split up and reunite afterwards. How did you feel about it back then and what was the crucial reason for the band to separate in 2003?

In early 2002, we decided it was only fair to tell people we're having a break. And in early 2003, getting back together was still not a good idea in our opinion. We thought our passion for the band was gone forever, so we decided to tell people what we felt like. We just couldn't even think of getting back to the rehearsal place to write new EToS songs.

Did you already think back then that the decision would be a final one or was it just a 'break' that was maybe necessary?

Yes, definitely. In early 2003, we had already spent two years thinking of whether we should put the band on hold forever or just keep on having the "holiday". So, we decided to quit, and it felt like the only sensible decision back then. In short, at that time we just couldn't think of coming back. Ever.

What were finally the reasons for you to put the band together again?

Well, I accidentally bumped into Altti in the downtown of Oulu one day in summer 2004. We hadn't seen each other for a while, so we started talking about our lives. But as always, we started talking about music and the music business and suddenly both of us came up with an idea: "Why not trying to write some new EToS songs at our home studios, just to see if we still could do it?" It just felt like a nice idea. We had some excellent ideas by the autumn, so we decided to make a comeback.

So it was only a matter of time. Basically, it took three whole years for us to understand EToS is still a big part of our lives, and it always will. However, this time we wanted to take it more easily. We didn't want to burn out anymore by making the band the most important thing of our lives. Basically, the most important thing in being a band is writing new and exciting songs and that's the only thing that should count in the end. Writing new songs and playing them should be fun, and that feeling shouldn't be ruined by hurry, pressures or anyone (or anything) outside the band.

You also have a slightly modified line-up - how easy was it to find the new members and how did you choose them?

First of all, we obviously wanted Pasi and Antti to go on with us. However, they were busy with their other bands (Antti plays in Kalmah and Pasi plays in a progressive rock band called Scenery Channel), so we started thinking of good replacements.

We had known Risto for a long time and we knew he would fit the band perfectly. He had played in many local bands and is a great guitarist in many ways.

We hadn't known Janne, our new keyboard player, before but we had heard a lot of great albums he had played on, such as many Tarot albums and the debut album of Virtuocity. We asked him if he wanted to join us and he said yes. It didn't take much time to realize that he was the best replacement for Pasi, our former keyboard player.

Both of the new members have given us a lot of new influences and a lot of energy, and it's been a pleasure and a lot of fun to play with them.

So far you have released 4 albums. Would you say that they are a closed section and there is a new start with the 5th album or will you continue like before?

It's going to be both. I mean we always start from the scratch without any intentions of making carbon copies of something we've done before. So the song-writing method will be the same but the outcome (the music) will be different. It would be a total sell-out thing even to try to write another 'Chaotic Beauty' or another 'A Virgin and a Whore'.

However, if you take a look at our current song-writing process, it's like taking the best of both methods we've used so far. During the first two albums, we wrote all of our material at home with our computers. During the next albums, we wrote most of the stuff together at our rehearsal place. Now, the technology is advanced enough for us to send demos to each other via email, so we can write songs together – but still at home :). Of course, we still need to rehearse together to add the final touch to the songs. Anyway, this is the most optimal song-writing method for us.

On your two previous albums you had Kimberly Goss and Juha Kylmänen as guest vocalists which made an interesting contrast to Altti's vocals. Now I read that there will be a guest again on the upcoming album. Can you reveal anything about this and how it affects the songs? And was the idea of a guest vocalist already there before you started with the album?

Unfortunately, this is one of the things I can't reveal yet. This is partly because some of the guest vocal parts are still unrecorded and partly because we don't want to give out any names yet. Let's just say there will be guest vocals on three, maybe four songs, and the guest vocals will be performed by a very talented vocalist – or very talented vocalists! :)

The new album in general: You had a two-year break now and some of your band members have been involved in other bands/projects and there are also two new members in the band. Did this have any effect on the sound of the new album?


Yes, all of those things have affected the songs we've written. It's true we had a two-year break as a band, but we also had a four-year break from song-writing, during which all of us had different projects. And they certainly have influenced us. In addition, as you said, there are new members in our song-writing team who have influenced our music a lot. So the forthcoming album will definitely sound a bit different... Fresher, I would dare to say. But it's still going to sound like us, that's for sure.

Who is responsible for the song-writing this time?

As usual, there are four people that are responsible for writing the skeletons of the songs. In addition, there are two people writing lyrics. And all of us arrange the material.

We are a unit, so arranging the songs is the most important process for us in the end. No matter who writes the skeleton of a song, we process it until everyone is satisfied with it. Working and completing a song as a group is the most satisfying thing in the world in my opinion. It's not like "this is my song and this is your song". All of them are our songs.

And as you're in the middle of making the album right now - were there any special influences?

Oh, well, this is a difficult question :). But in the end, I don't think we had any special influences during these four years. Recently, I've been listening a lot to Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, Porcupine Tree, Tool, King Crimson and Opeth (to mention just a few bands), but that doesn't mean we're heading into stoner rock, progressive rock or starting to write epical 12-minute progressive death metal songs. We had our influences in the early 90s and they are still there, deep down in our music, I think...?

Anyway, if you want to know what the forthcoming album will sound like, I don't have much to say. Let's just say it'll be a bit heavier than AVAAW and still a bit more melodic. It'll be quite a surprising album, I think.

What kind of reactions did you get from your fans towards the announcement of the reunion and the upcoming album? How important are these reactions for you?

Of course it was nice to see so many people still remembered us. We got a great bunch of very positive feedback from all four corners of the world. Well, after all we hadn't been away for such a long time, but it was still a surprise in the end.

What are your future plans with Eternal Tears of Sorrow? Are there already any touring plans? Is there any place you'd like to visit?

We had only one goal when Altti and I started thinking about reunion: we wanted to make the best EToS album ever. We didn't have any other goals in our minds, or any plans either. So we still haven't given much thought on planning live shows or touring. We know there will be gigs when the album comes out. We just don't know when and where. And tours are seldom up to bands, it's the record companies and managements who decide those sorts of things.

And yes, there are a lot of countries and cities we'd like to play in :).

Your last three albums have been released through Spinefarm Records and the new one will be released via them as well. How is it working with them? Are you satisfied?

Yes, we are satisfied with them and the things they've done for us so far. It is very important for us to work with a Finnish record company and Spinefarm is the biggest metal label in Finland. In addition, they have many enthusiastic people working there. At the moment, we just can't think of our band having signed to any other label.

If you think back when you formed the band - did you have any goals in becoming a famous musician?

Well, back in the early 90s when Altti and I started dreaming of having a band of our own, we didn't have any dreams of getting famous and travelling around the world playing our music. We just had a nice dream: "It would be nice if we could get a record deal some day". It took five years to make the dream come true but it was worth it.

Ever since, we've never had any big dreams, just some small goals or small steps, so to say. We've never wanted to be a big and successful band; we've just wanted to be known as a band who writes good and exciting music.

In addition, we only set one goal when we started writing material for this album: this one should be the best EToS album ever. So far, we've done a pretty good job in my opinion.

What bands do you personally listen to? As we are a Finnish Metal webzine we are of course interested which Finnish bands you like :)

Yeah, well, there are some very exciting Finnish metal bands with new albums out: Charon, Machete, Thyrane, Wintersun and Waltari, just to mention a few. All of those bands are different from each other, which is definitely a nice thing.

It's very nice to see more and more new Finnish metal bands coming up nowadays. You know, things were very different ten years ago, or even more different in the early 90s. It's damn interesting how things change so quickly.

There are quite a couple of famous bands coming from the Oulu-area. As you are located there as well I think it would be interesting to know what you think about the local scene. Are there any bands or undiscovered talents you can recommend?

The local scene is quite strong but smaller than you might think. After all, there are only about 200 000 people in this area, which is really not that much. But we still have a lot of interesting bands, like Aarni, Reflexion, Amplifire, Ruotomieli, Embraze and Poisonblack. Some of those bands are new and the rest of them are yet undiscovered by the "mainstream metal audiences".

Is there anything left unmentioned you would like to say to our readers?

Well, expect the new album to hit the stores in early 2006! And meanwhile check out our website at eternaltears.info!

Well, then thanks for the interview and good luck for the future!

Thanks, and good luck with the Finnish Metal webzine!