Finntroll – A Tale Of Evil Trolls

More than 12 years ago, two friends from Finland formed Finntroll, a band which combines Black and Death Metal, with an emphasis on stories about Trolls and Folk music called "Humppa". The band's lyrics are written in Swedish, due to founder / vocalist Katla, who belongs to the Swedish minority in his country, and also because this language suits the band's "Trollish" style better. Along with some fellow Finnish bands, and after 2 successful albums, Finntroll spearhead, what later was called, the Folk Metal scene. But luck was not on the the Trolls' side – Katla was diagnosed with a throat tumor, and the other co-founder / guitarist, Somnium, fell off a bridge to his death. As a result, Katla was replaced by vocalist Tapio Wilska.

With Wilska, the Trolls released another album, but soon they realized it would not work, and instead decided to invite Vreth, a young Finnish lad, who also can speak Swedish quite well. Katla returned with him to write lyrics for band, and since then, you can say, the Trolls were back (to their nature), with a successful album and countless performances around the world. Admittedly, Finntroll's style has changed a bit over the years and became darker, but essentially, they are still the same old crazy Trolls, and they prove it once again with their new album, "Nifelvind", which will be released several days after their first concert in Israel. In preparation for the upcoming show and new album, lead singer Vreth shared a few words with us, while I shared some threats with him…

So let's begin with your new album "Nifelvind". How's the feeling about the upcoming release in the Finntroll camp?

It actually feels really good! I think we haven't had this much media attention on any other album. Everybody who listened to it liked it, so it's pretty good.

We heard numerous statements regarding the direction of the new album, but in your opinion, how is it different or similar to your previous releases?

I think it's the first time you can find some similarities from all our albums. On the last album we did, "Ur Jordens Djup", we focused on the first albums – it was more like going back to the roots. Now I think we have managed to mix in all our releases so far, we even have acoustic songs like on "Visor Om Slutet" (the acoustic album), and then there's quite a lot of "Nattfödd"-type songs – so I think we covered all the albums.

Though I haven't heard the whole album yet, the 2 songs you released, reminded me a bit of your second album, "Jaktens Tid", or maybe a bit of old Finntroll. Do you think it also has this vibe in it?

Yeah, I think it has that, and we also have one song that really fits on the first album, "Midnattens Widunder". So yeah, it's nice to cram all our albums into one.

Now, before we continue, I have a personal issue to deal with you. I was attending your DVD shooting in Amsterdam [September 2008], and I really want to know, what's going on with it right now? When can I see myself "banging head" in the first row?

[Laughs]… We haven't set a release date, but it will get out, I think maybe even this year. We're still adding more stuff, like from when we go to Europe now, so I don't actually know when it will get released exactly.

Ok, back to business. You have been with Finntroll for about 3-4 years. How's the relationship developed between you and the other band members? Is it different now than when you just joined?

It didn't take me too long to get into the band, to know the guys, and to feel comfortable around them. I think nowadays we know each other better, but I was feeling welcome right from the beginning.

One of your first concerts with the band was at the Wacken Open Air festival. What do you remember of that night?

I think Wacken was my 7th or 8th gig with Finntroll, and of course, it was the biggest concert Finntroll has ever done [Laughs]… I wasn't that nervous… I thought I would be, but still, it was a bit different from what I was used to [Laughs]… I used to play with smaller bands from Finland before that, with maximum 250 maybe 300 people in the audience, and then, all of a sudden, I was in front of 60,000 people!

Did the recording session of "Nifelvind" differ from your work on the previous album?

It was quite the same, but the only big issue was, that we had lot more stress this time. We recorded in about 3 weeks, but since we had more stuff to record, and we really wanted that every detail and everything sounded exactly as we wanted to, we were running out of time a little bit.

I heard that some of you guys recorded parts that belong to other members. What exactly happened?

That was because of last minute changes we did when we recorded. Sometimes we started changing the riffs, so we didn't want to waste time teaching another guitar player to play the riffs when someone else could play it straight away. It was just a matter of saving time.

The lyrics for the new record were written once again by founding member Katla. Were you involved in this as well? Did you work together?

We worked together, but he had a free hand to do whatever he wanted to. You know, we can give him guidance or a theme, but he is the artists. Of course when he gives the lyrics to me I have to fit them to the songs – so I had to change them sometimes. Basically we've been working both ways, but I don't give him any restrictions, he can write about anything.

You mentioned somewhere, that Katla was responsible for you joining Finntroll, can you tell the story?

I was at the right place at the right time. When the guys fired Wilska, they wanted a new singer, that could actually speak Swedish. Katla and Me were in a Swedish school at that time, so they called him and asked, if he knew someone that could sing over there, and he knew me, so the guys decided to try me out…

What bands / people inspire you as a vocalist and what do you think is the difference between your voice and that of the previous vocalists?

I think that Katla, for example, has more Black Metal voice, he has more of this Finnish style that was in the 90's. I think I'm a bit more of a Modern Black / Death Metal singer in that sense, maybe there's little bit of Hardcore vibe in my vocals. As for inspiration, there lots of different people, but a really huge inspiration was Nergal from Behemoth, for many, many years.

Recently you and Skrymer [guitar] launched a Death Metal project called Decomposter – what's that all about? Where did you find the time to work on it with all the Finntroll business?

That's actually a band that we planned for many years with this guy that we use as backup guitarist (if someone get sick or something, and we need to play a festival). So it's me, him and Skrymer in the band, and we actually do something that we wanted to do for ages. One of our friends booked the studio for us and said: "Yeah, next weekend you got the studio for 3 days, so go and record some songs!". So we went [Laughs]… and did this oldschool Death Metal project. It's more nostalgic than, you know… It's never going to be a main band, it's more of something sentimental, going back to old oldschool Death Metal roots.

Now let's talk about Israel! Are you excited to play here? Have you heard anything about our metal scene so far? What do you expect?

I don't really know that much about the Israeli metal scene. Of course I know some bands like Orphaned Land and Melechesh – I really love Melechesh – but actually I know nothing more. I have no idea of what to expect of the crowd.

You should ask the guys from Korpiklaani, they had a sold out show few months ago… But anyway, can we expect any new material on your show or maybe songs you haven't played for a while?

I think there will be songs from every album. I don't know how many songs we'll do from the new album, but there's going be a couple of new ones as well – it will be stupid to play too much new stuff since the album won't be out then.

Will Trollhorn [original keyboardist Henri Sorvali] join you for this show?

He doesn't go anywhere… In Amsterdam he was with us, but usually he plays only in Finland.

Right after your visit to Israel, you'll embark on a massive touring schedule. First one is "Paganfest" along with Eluveitie. What do you think of this package and such bands as Arkona and Varg?

I have never heard Arkona or Varg, so I can't really say, but it's always nice to be with Eluveitie because we've been friends with them for a couple of years now. It's going to be really cool to tour with them again.

Your second tour will take you to America, along with your fellow countrymen Moonsorrow, Swallow The Sun and Survivors Zero. Do you think there's a change in the Americans taste, regarding European acts such as Finntroll? Do you see some kind of Pagan / Folk emergence there?

I think there are so many "Paganfest" packages around, or Folk packages all over the world, that people are getting tired of it. I've seen reviews and concert reports on the internet, and it seems that people get little bit bored, because it's always the same bands. So I think it's cool that we actually go on a Finnish tour – Yes, its bands from Finland, but there's everything from Black or Melodic Death Metal, to our band Finntroll and then we have a Doom Metal band, so you have this variation that people don't get to see that often.

Recently you released a video clip for the song "Solsagan". What can you tell us about the concept and story of this video?

It's a bit hard to explain, but in short: It's actually a classic fight between good and evil, light and darkness… We're destroying the light, creating a new world – that's the main point.

What's coming up next for Finntroll besides touring? I heard that you guys think of recording some of your songs acoustically…

We haven't planned anything yet. We actually did an acoustic song on the new album and also some remixing with no electric guitars, but nothing is really planned for acoustic album. Though you never know… with Finntroll, anything can happen.

Do you have any last words for the Israeli crowd, regarding the new album, your upcoming show, or just in general?

I don't really know if the new album is coming out in Israel, I hope it will come out there… but yeah, it's our first time Israel, I want everybody to show up, and I hope everyone will have a killer time!

Ok, thank you, and see you at the concert – hopefully without the Axes I had planned to bring, because of this whole DVD situation…

[Laughs]… Yeah, I hope we're going to get the DVD out, so you can see it!