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29 Sept 2013

Somnium interview from ??

Author: Jon Henning Orten
Date: May 10th 2000

Finnish symphonic Black Metal act. Answered by guitarist Somnium right after a little Finland-tour with Impaled Nazarene.


Are you happy with the way people have received "Midnattens Widunder"?


Oh yes, we sure are. We've had very good reviews in numerous magazines and web'zines and we've got ton's of mail from people who praise it to be one of the best albums they've ever heard. Many thanks to all of them.
   
How have the sales of "Midnattens Widunder" been compared to your expectations?

Well, when the album came out, we really didn't know what to expect. But then it started to sell pretty well. Only thing that bothers me is that people are mailing us and telling that it's a damn hard to find it from any record shops. So I guess it would have sold more if it were to be distributed more.
   
What inspires you?

A bitch of a question this one... Almost everything around inspires me. It's impossible to trace down a single source of inspiration. Musically everything from early Slayer albums to folk music affect me, heh.
   
When will you start work on your next album?

We have four new songs and one cool cover. We will probably enter the studio in the end of this summer. It's going to be a killer album, just wait for it...
   
Will you go touring?

We certainly will, as soon as someone offers us one. We made a small tour with Impaled Nazarene here in Finland, but we are hoping to get a tour abroad. So all you gig managers out there, get in touch with us right away.
   
Can you explain the concept of Finntroll?

Simple, heathenism.
   
What do you want to express throught your lyrics?

Lyrics are written in a form of old folk tales, but they have a message of new arrival of old pagan ways and fall of this plaque called christianity.
   
Is Finntroll a Swedish or Finnish band?

Finnish, we just use swedish in our lyrics.
   
Why did you choose to have the lyrics in Swedish?

It started out as a small joke, but then we noticed it fitted into our music perfectly. Katla, our vocalist, belongs to a swedish speaking minority here in Finland, se he had a change to write lyrics in his mother-tongue.
   
Who write the material?

In "Midnattens Widunder" I and Trollhorn wrote all the material, but now we are working on a song made by our bass player Tundra. So I hope that in the future other members will write songs too.
   
Can you describe the writing process?

Heh, lot's of pain, sweat and alcohol.
   
Are there any active sideprojects, and what genre are theese in?

There are some, but I guess they are better left unmentioned. They varie in many different genres.
   
How will your future work sound compared to "Midnattens Widunder"?

I'd say that new material has the same feeling in it, but now we have had more time to compose it. I dare to say it will sound better.
   
Are you happy with your current situation on Spikefarm?

Hmm, things could be better but no use in complaining.

How would you describe your music yourselves?

Trollish Howdown Metal.
   
What are your personal favourites from Midnattens Widunder?

Hmm, hard to say, probably "Bastuvisan", heh!
   
How's your musical background?

I started to play guitar about ten years ago. After that I played in a black metal band called Utuk-Xul for sometime, but it broke up sometime after I joined Thy Serpent. After I left it, there were a long period of silence for me. I was struggling with numerous of unproductive projects. Then after some years I met Katla and we started Finntroll.
   
What's the story of how all you guys in Finntroll came together and started the band?

Heh, I and Katla were drinking at our rehersal place and recording some stuff for our other project, and in the late hours of that night we started to "fool" around and came up with our first song, "Midnattens Widunder". So we started this as a two man band, me writing the music and playing all the instruments and Katla writing all the lyrics and taking care of vocals. After we recorded our demo "Rivfader" we got a deal from SpikeFarm and started to look for session musicians for a studio. After we had found all of the suitable musicians we needed, we decided to keep'em as a permanent members. We thought that we could make better material this way.
   
Are all the songs on Midnattens Widunder new, or have they been written over a longer period?

Some of them are new and some of them are taken from our demo.
   
Are you able to live of your music or do you have to work as well?

Hell no, we have to work our asses off in order to get enough money to sustain our beer demands.
   
I understand your lyrics at the end as the trolls have defeated the tribe of Christ, -then you'll have to find a new consept or something else to base your lyrics on you next album?

This was just a single battle, but the war goes on... We'll continue kicking that christian butt in the future too.