Swallow The Sun – ירח חדש מעל ישראל

Finnish doom metal band, Swallow The Sun, has been around for a decade. During those years, the band has released 4 highly appreciated studio albums, in which they tend to combine quiet sections with very heavy riffs. Since the forming of the band, its popularity has been on the rise, until it made a name for itself in the international metal community. Today, the band is doing better than ever: its new album, "New Moon", reaps success and praise, and the band goes on extensive tours worldwide (in Europe, the United States, Canada, and so forth). Before they arrive at Israel for their upcoming show, I sat down to talk to the band's keyboard players, Aleksi Munter, to find out some more about Swallow The Sun's growth over the years, their musical directions, and life during their many tours.

Hey there, nice to talk to you. Besides your show in Israel, which is scheduled to June 3, this has been a very busy year for the band, who released its new album and gone touring. How would you sum it up so far?

Yeah, it's been very busy. We had preformed about 86 shows in five months. We had the European tour, and than we had the North-American tour, and they all were very good so far. All the places we have been to were awesome. It has been a fun year. I think the best thing about this year was the European tour we did with Swedish band, Katatonia. We toured with them for about five weeks. I believe that they are one of my favorite bands. We are friends. We knew them for a while, and also toured with them before. We had a North-American tour with them three years ago.

During your worldwide gigs, you shared the stage with several bands, such as Katatonia, Long Distance Calling, Finntroll and Moonsorrow. Do you find it better performing alongside other bands or by your selves?

When you are touring, it's very fun to have other bands with you as well. But, for example, when we play in Finland, it's a bit nicer to play by ourselves, because it's less hassle, and just makes it a bit easier.

How do you think the audience feels about combining your show with other shows? I would imagine it to be like a mini-festival almost.

Yeah, it can be like that on some occasions, especially in North-America. Usually, there are a lot of local opening shows, the makes it very much like that. There would be like four local opening bands, and seven bands performing that night, and that's very much.

Speaking of which, it has been announced that in your North-American tour you will be touring with both Katatonia and Israelie band orphaned Land. How this collaboration came about?

We have been in contact with Katatonia's manager, who made that tour happen. We obviously already knew Katatonia, but we have not previously heard about the third band, Orphaned Land, and we are really looking forwards to it. Although I did not really have time to review their music yet, I went into their MySpace page and got to know some of their songs.

Let's face it, Swallow The Sun has been around for a while now. Are you still excited about the "band business", such as those upcoming tours?

Yeah, I am, especially about the North-American tours, where the culture is so different. Most European countries have a similar feeling to them, but the United States and Canada are so different, which makes it very exciting to visit and experience.

On your shows, you will be promoting your new album, which is called "New Moon". How would you describe the process of creating the album?

Well, depends. I don't know how many troubles Juha had, he is the main songwriter. I mean, he took some time writing the songs. For example, he had some songs that were almost finished, but we still had to work on them as a band. Usually we would like yell at each other, stuff like that (laughing). Then we learn the song like it should be, and everyone brings their own thing, their own part, into the songs. Then we learn the songs again and go record them.

This is your first album featuring new drummer, Kai Hahto (Formerly a member of Wintersun), after Pasi Pasanen quit the band back in 2009. How did Kai affect the making of "New Moon"?

As you said, this time around we had a new drummer. We actually did not have enough time to rehearse the songs. We had only five days. So we rehearsed the songs for five days, and then we had about three weeks to record in the studio. So basically, if you look back at it, it was kind of dreadful. Even so, it didn't actually affect the making of the album that much, but as a band, we had some tension with our old drummer, so I think now it's more fun to be on tour and work together. Musically speaking, I think we are doing great and "tighter" when we are playing live. Our new drummer is such an exact drummer. He's very professional, and actually makes his living just teaching and playing drums. He's one of the best drummers I have ever met. We played with him three years ago, on our North-American tour, so we knew him already, before he joined the band. Also, we are all friends in the band, and he fit in with us.

Swallow The Sun has been active for ten years now. Did you think you will be in your current position, touring around the world after the release of your forth studio album, when you first started out?

Well, we did not think that anything would happen. We did not have many expectations. The band started more as a project. We recorded some songs, put them out there, and began forming as a band, and than all of the other things happened really fast. We released our first album and played local shows, and then our second album, which allowed us to play even more shows. So we were excited in those years, things were happening, and we have been really lucky.

But it can't be only luck.

Yeah, it's not only luck, but you may say we met the right people, for example, our booking agent and our manager, at the right time. That's a large part of it. You can be a good band, but if no one hears about you, you won't get anywhere.

Is it easier to succeed in Finland? In Israel, for example, metal music is very far from the mainstream, but I heard it's different in Finland.

Yeah, metal it's pretty much mainstream. You can hear metal shows on the radio, that will play our songs, but most of the radio stations are just like in other places, playing Britney Spears songs and such thing. But there is one rock station that plays many rock and metal songs, including songs by our band. But we do not really depend on the radio. We have our record label and albums.

It is often said that Swallow The Sun has a much unified artistic vision, and that the band has always stayed true to itself. Which of The members can be said to be the visionary, or is your style a joined decision?

Juha, our guitar player, is our main song composer. He writes most of the song, almost all of them. But I would say that we really do have a common vision. We all know and agree on how the band should sound. We are all aiming for the same thing. I have done a few of the bands songs. I do one every now and then, but I'm a bit slow when it comes to composing, so I don't come up with that much material. Basically, almost everything is Juha's craft.

All the members in the band have a lot of previous experience. How do you think it has affected Swallow The Sun? Is it a good thing, which made the band more professional and seasoned, or a negative thing, that perhaps made it harder to create new music?

I would say that it has been an advantage. Because we have been able to avoid some of the mistakes that some bands who have just started tend to make. For example, in the making of our first album we knew pretty much what to do and what not to do, because of our previous work in other bands. Therefore, I would say that it has been a good thing, having those previous experiences. Also, we knew it better to always do what felt right as a band. We have never tried to make a radio-friendly song or something like that. We did what felt like the best thing to do.

Your current sound is heavy and includes growling vocals and a dark feeling to it. Is it something that at this point the band would like to preserve, or are you planning to explore other musical directions?

Well, I think we have explored some new influences on the album "New Moon". There is more clean singing on the album, not only growling. This comes from our will to widen our horizons musically. But we know what is the concept of Swallow The Sun, and how it should sound. Even so, we like to be more extreme, with like really mellow and quiet parts, and some really heavy. For example, on the new album there are many blast beats. We have been talking about it since the first album, but we are doing it just now. We really don't plan what we are going to do, but I don't think anyone in the band wants to go in a completely different musical direction. We just do what feels and sounds good, so we don't want to plan too much.

Speaking of which, what inspires you the most as a musician at this point in your career? Do you find composing music easier or harder than when you first begun?

For me, composing has always been very hard. Juha, for instance, is always complaining he is not getting something done, but then comes up with some excellent stuff. But it depends what situation you are in, what is going on in your life, these kinds of things. This affects your ability to make music and what kind of music you will make.

Nowadays, many bands, including your own, are choosing to include Israel in their tour destinations, unlike in the past. What made you want to visit Israel? How familiar are you with Israel's metal scene?

No, I really can't say I know much about the scene. It is something that our manager organized.

That was good production work, I guess.

Yeah, defiantly. I don't know what to expect, so it's going to be interesting. We hope it's going to be good, of course.

Is there anything you would like to say to your fans in Israel?

We will see you soon, and I'm looking forward to meeting you, and talking to people, because I have never been to Israel and it's a totally new scene and culture for me, so… see you soon!