Interviews

Ok, here’s the deal, last year I had the pleasure to be swept away by “Spirits And August Light”, an album that gave a new twist to Death Metal with keyboards (I still like to call it Circus Metal hehe) by adding wintry atmospheres and insightful song writing ideas not on the “Circus Metal formula sheet”. The six guys of OMNIUM GATHERUM have now returned to tell a story of wasted youth on the second long player “Years In Waste” and this time they’ve gone beyond the aforementioned sound opting for a more Progressive Thrash Death Metal approach but not neglecting their cold Finnish trademarks. You might remember lead guitarist Markus Vanhala as the spokesman for the band on my article about this very genre. Our paths had already crossed when ”Spirits” was released but we agreed to get together for another interview, so read on won’t you?

 

Hello Markus, how are you doing man, ready for another round of dumbass questions with me hehe?

 

Hello Frodi! I’m doing great, thanks! Really busy here at the moment in O.G. crew – the new album “Years In Waste” was just released so lots of interviews and Finnish gigs coming now. We are also recording some bonus cover material just this week in the studio. Trying to cover MEGADETH, DEATH and AC/DC here. We’ll see when and where those songs are released IF they are released.

 

Let’s get the basics out of the way shall we? Your new album is out now and it’s called “Years In Waste”. How are the fans and various medias treating the album so far?

 

Album has received lots of good feedback from the fans and media so far - So far, so good, so what, looking good indeed, high rates coming! Of course there’s some reviews claiming that this isn’t a so fresh album as previous or that this is too progressive when comparing to our previous “Spirits And August Light” album and then there’s the third party claiming that this is “Spirits…” part 2.. blaahblaah, too bad for them. I think that this album is truly a best piece of work we have done yet, opinions of others don’t interest me so much. And this really is a much different kind of album than “Spirits”, also more difficult as this album takes more than one listening time to open up.

 

You recorded with Nino again, you must have good chemistry now that he has worked on almost every O.G. release right?

 

Yeah, this was the third time with O.G. in Sonic Pump Studio with Nino and I was also doing one album there year ago also with my other band MANITOU. We have done all the official O.G. releases there as things seem to work well and the atmosphere is great. This time we had also an external producer dude called Teemu Aalto with us in the studio sessions. He gave needed outside view and opinions to our stuff and he really pushed us hard to play better takes. It was shitty in some times as we thought that we were playing a good take and then Teemu just say "that was good, a good take, play that thing now better!". But in the end it was great that there are no any childish mistakes on the record now as there was some on "Spirits" album due to our laziness.

 

So how do you view “Y.I.W.” now that some time has passed since the recording of the album?

 

Surprisingly the album still sounds good to my own ear and that’s not usual in own recordings. It’s usually always the first listen after the studio at home when the nervous breakdown comes, “What’s this shit!? fuck!”. But however, “Years In Waste” is a cool album, I even like it, so go buy it! Hehe! =)

 

“S.A.A.L.” did so much for you guys, getting rave reviews almost everywhere (even Metal Hammer had to bow down) so I was wondering if you felt any pressure regarding the next album?

 

Not exactly any pressures about the “success” of “Spirits…” album, we just wanted to make a lot more better and individually versatile album and I think we managed to do that big time! At least that’s my opinion. “Spirits” album got indeed very, very good feedback all over the world and that surprised us all a lot. Although, some pressures were built during the studio sessions because our label at the time we started to record “Years…” album was Rage Of Achilles and they told us that they are quitting the label when we were already in the studio making this new album. So, there were some new label searching and promotion campaign going on also during the studio days. Gladly it didn’t take many days to get some new good offers from few good labels. Nuclear Blast made the best offer and that was about it!

 

You think you got it right this time? I remember you said something about “S.A.A.L” sounding different from what you had planned.

 

"Years In Waste" is sounding very much like what I wanted and thought that it should sound, so I’m pretty satisfied for it. In "Spirits…" sessions the album turned out to sound really different than I thought it should sound, but that album have also very own kind of raw and angry sound landscape in it which I think it’s cool and unique indeed and fits perfectly to the output of that album. And the sound of "Years…" album fits perfectly to this album’s sophisticated but aggressive atmosphere.

 

I personally think you’ve done an amazing piece of work! All the elements you had running on “S.A.A.L.” have been intensified, be it prog, atmosphere, melodies, technicality, I think you’ve done a very varied album.

 

Thanks a lot, I think so too and that was also the goal in one way – to extend and larger our musical style. We don’t want (anymore??) to be categorized only to be a “Melodic Death Metal” band, here’s a lot more to offer indeed! Progressive and Melodic Death Heavy Metal with a Rock`N`Roll spirit in it and not forgetting the brutal side of the music... or something, hehe! I’m really the wrong person to invent some words to describe the O.G.’s musical style!

 

Knowing that you’re not an enthusiast when it comes to major overdubs, I’d like to know if you’ve sold out completely on this one hehehe. No, seriously, did you use more pro tools with “Y.I.W.”?

 

The main point on our songs is that they should be possible to play live and they should work 100% well also on the live situation, same way as on the record. So, there are some overdubs etc. etc. made with pro-tools of course on the record but we didn’t whored with the software. There aren’t even fixed drum tracks on the record which is rare nowadays, the original played drums and that’s it! You gotta check that we are also playing this stuff live and it really works and kicks ass. We have now played on gigs all the songs of the new album and every one of them is working greatly.

 

I enjoyed all the tracks you recorded for this album, but I’d like to go deeper into two of my absolute favourite songs, namely “Black Seas Cry” and “The Nolan’s Fati”. Can you tell me a bit about these two tracks please?

 

“Black Seas Cry” was the last song I made before going to studio to record this album, this arrived almost too late and we thought a few times to leave it out from the album, glad we didn’t do that! It’s very different from the other songs of the album as it’s a slow and emotional piece and there’s no hurry to anywhere in this song, including some OPETH and old KATATONIA feel. “The Nolan’s Fati” then is a Harris (Editor’s Note: you’re thinking Steve Harris aren’t you? Try Harri Pikka, O.G.’s second guitar player hehe) song which he composed in the countryside when he was visiting his grandparents, Rock’N’Roll indeed! Hehe! =)

 

I’ve said this before, O.G. stands out because of the intelligent song writing, you write on such a sophisticated level that I’ve yet to hear from another Finnish band. What were the inspirational sources when you started working on “Y.I.W.”?

 

One big inspirational source to make new stuff for me and Antti has always been the older stuff we have done in the earlier times, you can really get good kicks from the stuff you have made. So the thing is something old, something new, something borrowed (!) and something…hmmm, blue? That blue thing must be staring to the sky and get some inspiration there. Good music is always also the BIG factor to get inspiration to own writing. My approaching style and point of view to O.G.`s music is that it has to paint some atmospheres when you listen to it, so it must have emotional side beside the brutal side, there comes the balance.

 

And what about the album title, what kind of message can one in a title like “Years In Waste”?

 

It gives overall aspect to themes and stories of the lyrics of “Years In Waste”. That means something like you can spend and waste your days and years in different ways, in a garbage can, staring at the wall or in a bar. Antti says that these lyrics are a journey to the wasted youth and so on. I really don’t know much about the lyrics and themes, they are Antti’s lyrical masturbation... I’m then responsible of the guitar fret board onanism on the album, hehe! =)

 

Musically the album is heaven-sent (imo), but I feel you could reach new heights if Antti tried to alternate his vocal approach, what do you think?

 

Maybe so but Antti’s own opinion is that he would want to make more clear vocals but we, the others in the band want to swear more in the name of growling and Death Metal. But yeah, I think that in the future there will be more colours on the vocal-side also, you can see that there’s few parts also in “Years…” album where there are some “cleaner” vocals.

 

Something I noticed when looking at the band picture inside the booklet is that someone is missing, care to comment on this observation?

 

That means that basically O.G. is a five-man squad, the keyboardists have been more like session dudes, that’s why.

 

Ok, so here we go with a few personal q’s: what albums currently spinning on your stereo?

 

Recent music I’ve bought were the STRAPPING YOUNG LAD’s live DVD, IRON MAIDEN’s “Early Years DVD”, ANTHRAX’s “Greater Of Two Evils” CD and MESHUGGAH`s “I” EP. Here’s some music that have been spinning on my stereo lately more than others: MEGADETH re-issues and “The System Has Failed” album, SCARVE`s “Irradiant” album, TYPE O NEGATIVE’s “Life Is Killing Me” and “October Rust” albums, EMPEROR stuff, OPETH`s “Lamentations DVD”, ANATHEMA’s “Natural Disaster”, MASSIVE ATTACK’s “100th Window” (great album to get my girlfriend hot, hehe!), WINTERSUN album, KIUAS “Winter In June” EP and “The Spirit Of Ukko Promo”, 80’s Pussy Rock in the form of EUROPE and WHITESNAKE bands and Jazz Rock guitarist Eric Johnson - insanely great guitar sound!

 

What else keeps you occupied these days, I remember you studied something and you do still practise extreme mountain biking hehe?

 

I’m still a “student” also but very shitty and lazy of that kind. I really hadn’t much time anymore to go there as I’m playing beside O.G. also in MANITOU actively and I have a part-day job also… and I should also have some time to give to my girlfriend, hehe! =) That biking thing is kinda summer hobby only and I’m not very active on that side also. If I’m doing some sports nowadays I go to swim or to play badminton, usual boring stuff…

 

I’d like to get your opinions on the following Finnish and Swedish Metal releases:

 

NORTHER – “Death Unlimited”

I haven’t heard this NORTHER album but however I didn’t like the previous ones at all… boring stuff without anything interesting.

 

ELENIUM – “For-Giving, For-Getting”

Great album, great band, great dudes! All the best for ELENIUM. Especially the last song of this record ”To Aim And Miss” is truly a killer track! Cheers!

 

THE HAUNTED – ”rEVOLVEr”

The basic HAUNTED high-quality! However, this is a lot better album than the previous one, great that Dolving is back on board as he is THE real HAUNTED singer.

 

IN FLAMES – ”Soundtrack To Your Escape”

I have always been a big IN FLAMES fan since the “Subterranean” EP but this new one was a little disappointment. Few good songs but “Reroute To Remain” was a lot better and this is just a cheap copy of that album. One of the best live bands still though!

 

You have another band called MANITOU, how does that differ from writing for O.G.?

 

Yeah, MANITOU’s debut album “The Mad Moon Rising” was released this year also. It differs from O.G. in the way that it’s really different Metal stuff. MANITOU is basic Traditional Heavy Metal with some progressive elements as a spice. It’s like a mix of IRON MAIDEN, QUEENSRYCHE, OZZY and DREAM THEATER or something. We were just in Finnish tour with MANITOU supporting ex-IRON MAIDEN vocalist Paul Di’Anno. Everyone should check out this MANITOU band… if a little advertising here is acceptable. =)

 

I know this is not really related but do you have an opinion on the recent U.S. presidential election?

 

I really don’t have much opinion about this, except fuck Bush!

 

Ok. So now you’re signed to Nuclear Blast, how does that feel, must be the chance of a lifetime right?

 

We’ll see, so far things have gone fine and of course the resources are now bigger than ever.

 

Were there other interesting offers for the talents of six young Finnish Metal heads, how hard was it to decide to go with NB?

 

We got something like six offers from labels and few of them were very interesting ones and from good labels. Quite nicely as we send the new promo about to ten companies, so the green light reply percent was quite positive. Nuclear Blast made the best sounding offer to our ear and it was the biggest label so the decision was quite easy for us to go with them. And since from the early 90’s many albums of my favourite bands have got a Nuclear Blast mark on their booklet so it was amazing to get to that same legendary label with bands like ANTHRAX, MESHUGGAH, SOILWORK, IN FLAMES, DISSECTION and many others! That’s like we can say to some stranger after twenty years when all of us are poor sick old-alcoholics on a local pub that we were on same label with ANTHRAX and MANOWAR in our good ol’ days hehe! =)

 

How are they promoting you so far? You have a bigger PR campaign than Rage Of Achilles could ever do for you or is it too early to bet on O.G. hehe?

 

We have done tons of interviews etc., of course the promotional campaign of N.B. is at least 10 times bigger than Rage of Achilles ever, even if they wouldn’t bet on O.G. on ten…

 

You did a video for “The Fall Went Right Through Here”, how does it look if compared to the one you did for “Writhen”?

 

It’s very different I could say, the first difference what comes to mind is that the new video isn’t black’n’white – it has even colours in it, wow! Things going bigger or something, hehe! Dutch “LowLifeMedia” made the video and it was shot in an old abandoned sawmill industrial area island and the shoots were done there in an old industrial hall, in old power plant and Antti, our vocalist, was raging in an old big mansion watching the old TV where the band is playing. The whole area of Halla Island is very scary and gloomy place and there has been even found some murdered corpses during the years, so the atmosphere and milieu was really scary to shoot a video in the middle of the night practising aggressive behaviour and boozing in the middle of nowhere…

 

I think it’s important for you guys to get out and play for the crowds now that you’ve established yourselves. Are there any confirmed shows so far in support of the new album?

 

Finnish shows coming a lot and we have yet done many Finnish shows promoting this new album. There has been also some talk about few abroad festivals in Central-Europe this summer but we’ll see. Some international tour would be very important to get now to support this new album but nothing confirmed yet on that level also.

 

There was the “Dead Achilles” trek, how did you experience that tour?

 

It was a great experience, it was only three shows with old Rage Of Achilles band team with O.G., MANITOU, AMORAL, ELENIUM and KIUAS. Very nice band line-up indeed as all bands are very good friends so the atmosphere on gigs and backstage parties were very amazing. I had to play two shows in the evenings as I had sets with O.G. and MANITOU at same places, it was quite hard and sweaty! The mini tour was confirmed in spring ‘04 so it wasn’t supposed to be “DEAD Achilles tour” but as things progressed this way then we renamed the tour to Achilles funeral events. Though, it became a real funeral tour as there were two death accidents on families of two bands at the time of the gigs... so it became tragic! Hopefully we are able to make few more gigs with this great band line-up!

 

Well, I think I’ve run out of questions… what else will happen in the near future in the O.G. camp?

 

Japan and USA release for “Years In Waste” is set to early year 2005, so waiting to get feedback also there. Many Finnish gigs also in sight for the spring, a few summer festival gigs to Europe almost confirmed, promoting etc. Our biggest hope at the moment would be to get our asses to some supporting tour abroad for a bigger artist. And of course we are starting to compose new heavy stuff for album #3, yet we have done some new song skeletons…

 

Ok, thanks a million Markus for doing another interview with me, you have the last words!

 

Cheers about this interview to “The Metal Observer” and Frodi! Everybody have a nice x-mass holiday - eat flesh, drink beer and relaaax! …and buy O.G.’s “Years in Waste” album for a Christmas present to your every friend, hehe! Over and out!