Interviews

Hello, how are you doing?
Hello, I`m doing just fine...enjoying the short summer here in Oulu. Great to drink beer outside with friends and talk issues from different things!

It has soon been two months since the release of your latest album "Eskhata", are you happy with the response so far?
Yeah, the feedback and response of the new album “Eskhata” has been just great. Fans and press worldwide has really noticed the quality of the new album. It will be great to have the portfolio within a year. Also Massacre Records has reported great feedback and I discovered it throughout the interviews I`ve done so many. Maybe finally we have entered the circle of big Black Metal bands.

First of all I must say that I admire the beautiful album cover, who was responsible for the concept and artwork of it?
The coverart was done by Thomas Ewerhard who also did our album covers for “Halls of Frozen North” and “Eternal Winter`s Prophecy”. We decided to go with Thomas cause we have always been very satisfied with his work. I don`t know have you noticed that the picture on the cover is exactly same as on Moonspell`s Wolfheart. When we noticed this it was too late to change the cover cause the cover and album was already in the pressing phase. But to say our cover way better and beautiful than Moonspell`s. But still I respect Moonspell as a band and this has only been an accident and coincidence. And it was relief to find out that it was taken from picture databank and it was coryright free material!

What are your favorite songs on the album? I really like "Landscape" myself.
This is hard question cause I really like all the songs in the “Eskhata”...but sure I can say the favourites. I like the songs like `Rain of Blood`, `Storm`, `Landscape`, `Time in my Hands` and `Eskhata`. But it depends lot of the atmosphere and the feeling at the moment when you are listening to those. So there has been times that every song has been my favourite.

What does Eskhata mean? The only thing I have managed to find out was that Alexander the Great founded a city called Alexandria Eskhata in Tajikistan which is today known as Khojend...
“Eskhata” is Greek and mean `last events`. It is taken from the bible of the writings of Revelation. We thought that the English or Finnish version of the meaning was quite dull. In Finnish it would have been `Viimeiset Hetket`. And then we found this Greek statement of it, and best, it was straight from the bible. I tell you more about it on the next question cause it is related on that issue.

Do you all write the music together or is someone the "boss" when it comes to song writing?
Responsibility of Catamenia`s music is mainly on me...I do almost all the songs for Catamenia. When I have written a song, I take the song with me to the rehearsal room and together with the band we start to `fine-tune` the songs. By that I mean that if there is some parts or riffs do not work, we try to replace it with different styled riff. But it is really rare that the song changes in the rehearsals. Sometimes our bassist Timo gives me single riff, wherefrom I start to build a whole song. We have founded that it is better that I do the songs cause I have always made the Catamenia´s songs. And there is kind of trademark on those.

Catamenia has gone through a couple of line-up changes lately, can you tell us something about this?
Yes, we have had quite many line-up changements in our history. Let`s start from the “Morning Crimson”. After that album our rhythm guitarist Sampo Ukkola was replaced by Ari Nissilä. We had to replace Sampo cause he didn`t have the attitude towards Nordic Black Metal music we play. On the same issue, our drummer Toni Tervo went to the army, and the army took the juices from him and was replaced by Sir Kimmo Luttinen ( The Black League ). Sorry for Toni cause he was a really idea-rich guy on the drums. After “Eternal Winter`s Prophecy” our keyboardist Heidi Riihinen left the band cause she wanted to concentrate on her studies and on the same time her companion Sir Kimmo Luttinen left the band cause he felt he was too old for Catamenia`s `all the time faster` music J On this new album drums were played by session drummer Janne Kusmin from Kalmah. Keybords was done by me and Mika Pohjola ( engineer / co-producer ). Nowadays we have found a new drummer called Pietu from Helsinki. For the fans of Heidi we have great news. Heidi is back on the business cause her studies ended and she wanted rejoin the band. After we thought this issue, we took Heidi back to the game!