– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What are you currently up to? How is everything doing right now with SONS OF AEON?

Hi! Right now we’re looking forward to seeing our debut album in flesh and blood. Then we’re going to celebrate it and play some record release shows in Finland. We’ve only played a few shows this year because we didn’t have anything out yet (besides a few demo songs), so we’re really excited to get in the van and get things rolling.

– First of all, as you are about to release your debut album and I guess most people won’t know about you yet; could you please make some history of the band?

Wille and I had been talking for a few years that we should start a band together some day. I didn’t expect it to happen anytime soon because Wille was busy with his band Ghost Brigade. However, in 2009 it turned out that we had both done some demo recordings at home and we found the courage to send them to each other. After this we both felt that we needed to start a band immediately. Pasi had just quit Swallow The Sun and he was dreaming of starting a death metal band so soon there were three of us. Tommi from Ghost Brigade heard of our band and he immediately signed in for bass, he’d been missing the 4-string after playing only guitar for years. Finding a singer that we would accept to our group seemed more difficult and we started rehearsing instrumentally. We decided to wait until we found someone who we thought was 100% the right guy and I was prepared that we’d be seeking for this guy for months, maybe even years. But soon Tony moved to our home town and Pasi suggested we should try him so we invited him to our rehearsal. We were immediately on the same page and Sons Of Aeon was born.

 

– And what’s the meaning behind the band’s name? As I guess «aeon» won’t make reference just to a time measurement.

We all may have our own intepretation of the name but for me it means that although there’s a lot of ”death” in our music, we’re on the side of life (=Aeon). Music is something that makes us feel alive. It’s a channel for all emotions, the ones that come from the darkest corners of our minds but also pure joy and passion. I think the name of our band represents the music and lyrics we create well.

 

– As I said earlier, you will soon release your first record, «Sons of Aeon». Considering it will be your first album and you don’t know how will the reaction from the fans and press be; what are your expectations on this record?

I don’t know if we have many expectations, at least we haven’t been discussing things like ”what will people think about our record?”, honestly. We’re happy it’s finally coming out and we’re excited to show people what we have created. We’re proud of the record and of course we wish other people will like it too, but we haven’t planned things that much. What we want to do next is get in the van and start moshing!

 

– Starting to dig a bit deeper into it, would you mind to tell us what do some of the lyrics on the record deal with? As I personally think they are really well-cared and fit perfectly the emotional vibe the album has.

Thanks! I’m glad there are still people who pay attention to metal lyrics these days. On our record there are lyrics from Tony, Wille and myself, so themes vary. Still, there’s something that ties these lyrics together that I can’t quite explain yet. I mean, there’s a certain vibe as if we had sat down and made a deal of what/how we would write about, although we didn’t. We were writing seperately and had no idea what others we writing or if they were writing at all. Actually, I was a little bit sceptical how it would work if someone else would sing my lyrics since they are quite personal but I decided to give it a try. It turned out that Tony understood what I meant and how these feelings should be ”vocalised” and it didn’t feel like someone else was screaming my words. As for the actual themes: there are some lyrics that deal with personal growth, destroying the monsters and believing in yourself, some more social views and of course some ”fuck the world” attitude since we all have punk roots, haha.

 

– An emotional vibe that expresses some kind of melancholy and sadness through a really dark general atmosphere. In fact the other bands where some members are playing or have played in (as SWALLOW THE SUN or GHOST BRIGADE) also share this kind of feeling so, what inspires you so much to create that kind of feeling? Or what does attract you about it?

We all like melancholic music but with this band we actually didn’t want to make it the main focus because some of us were already doing it with other bands as you mentioned. We wanted to have more of a ”in your face” feeling. But somehow the melancholy found its way to our music too and we didn’t want to force it to any other direction. Music needs to come naturally and it can’t be planned too much to keep the flow, at least that’s how it works for us. What attracts me about melancholic and sad music, it’s difficult to tell. Some parts of me resonate well with those sad tunes and it makes me a happier and more relieved person when I’m able to feel those feelings.

 

– Anyway I think this serves as channeler of emotions into your music which, by the way, seems to be really honest and guided by feelings but, is this actually like that? Because I’ve read you wanted to do a project like this for several years now so, do you just follow your heart or do you plan how everything should sound like to fit with the overall idea of SONS OF AEON?

Like I said, we don’t plan too much. If 6 months have passed and we haven’t managed to write any new songs, we don’t sit down and write something. We wait until we feel like writing something, it has to come from a certain NEED of writing a song. Then suddenly there may be 3 new songs in a short period of time. I guess if we didn’t have other bands we’d be more productive, but this band has a special place for us all. We’re excited to play this kind of music with old-school metal feeling but we’re also excited to be in a band with this group of people, these individuals. The chemistry of this gang is very important to us.

– With «doing a project like this» I mean forming a more Death Metal oriented band so, why did you feel the need of playing this kind of music?

I can think of two reasons. First of all, this kind of music is fun, we’re inspired by it and it makes our heads bang. Secondly, there was this element of challenging ourselves. 15 years ago we listened to all these great death metal bands but there was no way we could play that kind of music back then. With all this playing experience, would we be able to do it now? I’m telling you, we really did have to practice to make it work. I will always remember our first rehearsal. We were laughing at ourselves trying to make through the few songs we had prepared. Then we drank some beer and it got even more difficult. But we knew we wanted to do this and make it happen, we didn’t want to wait another 15 years!

 

– Anyway, after giving the album some spins, I’d dare say you mix different DM subgenres and DM from different periods and scenes, there are really heavy tunes that could be influenced y Swedish Death Metal of the early 90’s, while certain more melodic songs can recall us to Gotehmburg Melodeath, or there are even certain more modern sounds that also seem to be rooted on Hardcore. Was this the vision you had since the beginning of the band? Is something important for you to have such a diverse sound?

When we started, we thought our music would be loyal to early 90’s death metal but as we wrote more songs we realized that our different backgrounds are pushing through. We realised that it’s actually a good thing and that’s when we stopped planning too strictly what we should sound like and let it all come out. For example, I have been into American hardcore and punk since I was 15 and when I’m writing music, it’s always back there. But obviously we’re a metal band and we’re not on a huge cross-over crusade here. They are just spices and it’s interesting when people recognize them, sometimes before we have even recognized them ourselves.

 

– And due to this I would like you to tell us what have been some of the most influential bands when it came to build up the SONS OF AEON’s sound.

There are so many. The ones we often listen to when we drink beer are Bolt Thrower, Napalm Death, Tragedy, At The Gates, Entombed and Carcass so I guess at least those bands have been influential. Oh yeah, and Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Thin Lizzy too.

 

– «Sons of Aeon» is an album full of twists, with unusual structures full of unexpected changes that mange to keep the listener interested from start to end so, could you tell us how was the songwriting process for this opus?

Wille and myself were the main song writers for this record. Tommi wrote some riffs too and also Pasi and Tony have an important role in shaping the songs to their final versions. Tony takes care of the vocal rhythms and ”melodies”. We usually record demos at home and send them to each other. These demos may be complete songs or just ideas and riffs that we feel might have potential. For example, I may have a few parts to a song but don’t seem to get any further with them, so I send them to Wille and he’ll get back to me with more parts and we’ll see what comes out of it. This method works well to us because we do look at music in a similiar way. On the other hand, Wille often sends us complete songs with a ready structure.

 

– It also seems you have focused quite a lot on instrumentation and what you can guys provide with it (the aforementioned intense atmosphere for instance), instead that focusing on vocals all the time. Proof of it can be the last track, an instrumental one, or the several instrumental moments we can find on some songs on the record. Was this something you were really looking for or is it just a personal interpretation?

I think vocals are really important but at the same time we’re all fans of riff-orientated songs so I guess that shines through in our music. We don’t have any clean vocals and that maybe affects too, it kinda lets us go riff-first. But vocals are an essential instrument in our music and I’m sure vocals are what many people concentrate on when they’re listening to our songs.

 

– On my review I said, despite «Sons of Aeon» being an album firmly rooted on Death Metal, isn’t just a Death Metal album but, what could you say you are bringing new to the scene? What do you think are your trademarks than can make the difference compared to other bands similar to your style?

With this band we never set out to invent something totally new, we just want to create good heavy metal with the knowledge and experience we have. Like you, many listeners have mentioned our way of mixing different moods and styles into one entity so maybe that’s our trademark. But it’s diffucult for us to say how unique it is, we’ll leave that to the listeners to decide.

 

– And, all this about the full-length being said; how could you describe it in just 3 words?

Sons Of Aeon, there’s three words for you!

 

– Finally, what does the future have in store for you? Is SONS OF AEON a steady band with future plans?

When we started many people asked us if we’re just a project band because we have other active bands too. If it was only a project, we wouldn’t put all this energy into it. We’re too busy to start any projects! So yeah, we’re doing this with full hearts and we’re looking forward to playing a lot of shows and creating more music.

 

– That has been everything from my side, thank you once more for your time. If you want to add some final words; last lines are all yours.

Thanks for the interest and good questions! Hope to play in Spain soon!

 

Tania Giménez

tania@queensofsteel.com

 

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