– Hello Mathias, thanks for answering to our questions. What are you guys currently up to?

Well, we just released our first full length and we are about to play some summer shows. We are gonna try to fix us some more gigs and then probably start working on some new material.

– First off, if you don’t mind (and as you are a quite young band) I would like you to start with some history of THE INIQUITY DESCENT

This band actually started as a small project with Mikael and his computer. He contacted me and wanted me to listen to the stuff he had done and I was amazed. This stuff was very different from what we had done before (we have had many bands together during the last 15 years) and immediately I started to get ideas for the vocals and lyrics. We did some really good songs and started to think about this as a “real” band, so we decided to contact some of our friends from our other bands to see if they were interested. It was an easy choice since we knew the guys well from before and knew what they were capable of doing. We rehearsed and released “Trust the Serpent” in 2010. We got asked to play some shows in Russia and said yes to that. There we discovered how much fun it was to play live with this band and decided to go on as a full time band. Here we are now a couple of years later with our first album out through Massacre Records.

 

– You have just released your debut album, “The Human Apheresis”. How is its feedback being so far? And do you feel personally satisfied with the final outcome?

The feedback has been great! And thank you for being one of them to like it. I’ve seen a bunch of reviews so far and 95% have been good. We are also as a band very satisfied with the result of the album. The sounds is just like we wanted it and the songs turned out great.

 

– I guess most people will know you as the FINNTROLL’s vocalist, so I imagino most of your other band’s fans may be surprised when listening to THE INQUITY DESCENT. Due to this I would like you to tell us what are we going to find on this “The Human Apheresis”.

I really hope that fans will be surprised also. This band describes my music taste more than any other band I’m in or have been in. “The Human Apheresis” is firstly a Black Metal album, but as you listen to it you may also find other elements from the Metal and Rock scene. I think that the label “Avantagarde Black Metal” we have got is a bit misguiding and refers more to the lyrical side of the album.

 

– Talking about such; what does THE INIQUITY DESCENT provide you that FINNTROLL can’t and vice versa?

The Iniquity Descent is, as stated above, really close to what I listen to and also it’s an output for my own ideas as far as lyrics and imagery goes. Finntroll stands for more “creative freedom”, a channel for all the wacky ideas that you can’t use elsewhere in Metal.

 

– I guess some people may be wondering about the future of THE INIQUITY DESCENT; is it just a project or a steady band with future plans?

It used to be just a project, a band that would make some songs for their own sake and maybe play a show or two. Nowadays this is my second band in line and a full time commitment.

 

– Your music is obviously based upon Black Metal, but I also noticed certain elements from Death or even Rock music. What could you say have been the most influential bands/music styles to build up the band’s sound?

I guess that we have lots of bands to thank for this. Most of us were teenagers in the 90s and started quite early to listen to Black Metal, so I guess we have lots of old school bands to thank for our sound. Nowadays we don’t focus on to sound like a certain band. We make that kind of music we wanna hear and that’s it.

 

– This being said, you don’t focus at all on speed for speed’s sake, as we can find several mid-tempos throughout this record. Was this how you envisioned the CD since the beginning? Did you have clear how did you want this “The Human Apheresis” to sound like?

Speed for speed’s sake is just stupid. Our drummer would easily play faster and has done so in many other bands we have had together thoughout the years. This band is based upon groove and rawness more than anything and that is what we have been focusing on, not technical and super fast tempos.

 

– It has also caught my attention the really “raw” sound yet updated to these current days, I mean it has a clear yet brutal sound, it doesn’t seem to be an album stuck on the 90’s with a demo sound. Is important for you to keep your sound updated and take advantage on the current technological improvements?

Same thing goes with the sound as with the tempos. The race to make the worst sounding album is just ridiculous. But also we want the sound to be natural, not use triggers and digital effects to make it clear.

 

– In fact if I’m not mistaken yourself and Jarno took mastering duties, and you also recorded the album. What are the pros and cons of this? As I guess no one like the own band knows how you are supposed to sound, but it may be extra work and maybe more pressure as well?

Of course it creates a lot of more stress and shitloads of work that makes you repeat your own song until the point where you want to puke, but that also gives you the opportunity to make the songs sound exactly the want them to sound. This process also saves you lots of money that you can spend on other things instead.

 

– On the other hand, “The Human Apheresis” was mixed in Estonia by Keijo Koppel. Would you mind to shed some light on this process?

Keijo is guy that I have known for a while though touring with other bands. I have heard Keijo’s live sounds many times and really dig what he is doing. He started an own studio in Tallinn a while ago and he gave me an offer I could not refuse. He is a very sympathetic and professional guy to work with. I ,Mikael and Kenna spent three days in Tallinn supervising the mixing process and the result is pretty awesome. Raw and brutal, but still clear and natural.

 

– I haven’t been able to find your lyrics so, could you please tell us what are some of the ideas covered on this offering?

I tend to write lyrics in a very personal way. I write about what I see, have seen and experienced. Some of it has references to religion, some to soul search, some about how people around you act and things they do. I grew up in a very religious area of Finland where there are lots of different churches and “cults”, if you may, which has given me lots of material for writing what I write today.

 

– And what does the artwork represent?

The front cover is our designers idea of “the human apheresis”, the catharsis process that involves spirit, mind and body. A concept I developed and have been though myself.

 

– All this about “The Human Apheresis” being said; how could you describe this release in just 3 words?

Groovy, somber, raw.

 

– I’ve read you will be filming a video for this album, how is this work going so far? Do you already have a release date? And of course, which song will this clip be for?

We will actually release atleast two for this album. The first one is just a refitting of the song “An Empty Temple”. We wanted to have at least one video out prior to the release and this one is it. We also filmed a video for the song “Collector vs Protector” that will be out in a couple of weeks. We are also talking about making one more if we have the money for it.

 

– Finally, what are the near-future plans for the band? Will be possible a tour in support of your album?

Would love to have a small European tour for the album. We were talking about it with some people, but it seems like it won’t happen after all. If you know anyone who would like to have us over please contact us. We are up for it!

 

– That’s all from my side, thanks again for taking your time to answer our questions. If you now want to add some final words; feel free to do it.

Thanks you for having us! Hope to see you on the road some day.

 

Tania Giménez

tania@queensofsteel.com

Deja una respuesta

Tu dirección de correo electrónico no será publicada.

Highslide for Wordpress Plugin