1. Hey Mikko, pleasure to have you on Rotten Pages ´zine. How are you doing today? Let us set the scene first. Where do we find you right now? Please describe your surroundings.
Majestic greetings from Helsinki! I’m sitting in my home office (slash studio), surrounded by an ever-growing hoard of synthesizers, guitars, basses, amps, effects and other electronics that I employ to create various types of noise. The pale autumn sun is creeping over the horizon, flooding the room with its light, while “Disintegration” by The Cure is spinning on the turntable. (In truth I should probably be working right now, as it is Monday morning as we speak, but answering these questions seems way more fascinating so let’s put off “the grind” for a few moments at least)
2. As you are from Finland I must ask how proud are you of your country's metal inheritance, especially of legendary bands like Amorphis, who were true originators of the style? Have you ever followed those bands?
Speaking of Amorphis, “Tales from the Thousand Lakes” is one of the best metal albums of all time on a global scale, perfect in every sense. Not to forget other unique masterpieces, such as “Drawing Down the Moon” by Beherit. I really want to take this opportunity to also praise “Totuus palaa” by legendary Mana Mana - while their music defies and quite successfully evades genre definition, I would argue that they sound infinitely heavier, more sinister and twisted than ~99,99% of so-called metal bands out there (unfortunately I do not have an exact percentage available, but you get the idea). When it comes to sinister and heavy things, hearing Reverend Bizarre for the first time a couple of decades ago pretty much changed my life and carried me where I am in the world right now, on more than one level. So I guess there’s indeed a lot to be proud of, and these examples are just scratching the surface.
3. To become a musician in Finland where almost everybody plays some musical instrument and has three bands at least – it’s a challenge, or is it something you Finns are predisposed to at birth?
Heh, that is actually a quite accurate description of how things appear within my own "bubble" so to speak, where indeed almost everyone around seems to be inclined to create or at least play some style of music. Then again, with music being the main passion in my life, I might be mostly drawn to like-minded people who also have taken these matters similarly to heart, so this view might be a bit biased. Anyhow, when it comes to taking up an instrument… If I got your question right, I really don’t see any competition or “challenge” in that. You don’t need to be “better” than anyone else or try to outshine someone, just do whatever you really feel like doing and it will fill your days with joy. Or at the very least, make life somewhat more tolerable than usual, if you’re like me and carry the weight of the world on your shoulders all the time.
4. “Face Of God” is pretty well produced – in which studio did you record it? And as fas I know, Mikko took care of the mixing process. How difficult was the process to reach desired sound?
Firstly, I must thank you for the compliment! I think we’re quite happy with how the overall sound turned out given all the circumstances. There was no professional studio involved – apart from the basic bass tracks and some vocal parts everything was recorded either in the depths of our rehearsal dungeon, or in this very room which I’m sitting in right now. Although I’m not a professional sound engineer by any possible standards, I did indeed decide to take up the mixing duties myself whereas someone else might very well have ended up employing external help in a similar situation. After all, the goal was not to settle for anything sub-standard even though we ourselves classify “Face of God” as a demo tape. My approach to music in general is to consider it as a journey without rules and limitations, and frankly speaking I can also be very indisposed to verbally describing whatever is going inside my head, or what I would like to be done, to anybody else. This combination of quirks pretty much dictates the need to have ample time and room for experimentation. Both of which could in turn have cost a significant fortune, had you decided to bring professional help on board instead. I’ve never seen any issues with wasting my own time doing things that I enjoy doing, so there you have it – D.I.Y. all the way. Regarding sounds, everything on this record was done “by ear” without any specific reference tracks or albums in mind – that doesn’t mean that there wouldn’t be detectable and quite audible influences, on some subliminal level at least. The process was painstaking at times, but quite rewarding in the end. Sound-wise, I really like it when records appear as though they’d be hard to put a specific date on, when the overall soundscape is warm and lush, and “archaic” in a sense. I already mentioned my affection for Amorphis’ second album, which I also happen to consider as a hallmark of metal sound engineering. “First and Last and Always” by Sisters of Mercy also comes to mind as an example of flawless sounds and another of my all-time favorites is “The Man-Machine” by Kraftwerk, which is pure audial bliss.
5. There are many other elements used in your songs beside the usual gothic/doom, there’s a touch of heavy metal and some epic, even rock elements. Is this a consequence of your varied musical tastes or a try to make the things more dynamic?
For my part there usually isn’t any conscious effort to steer a song to any distinct direction. I mainly put my trust in intuition and believe that variety will find its way to the music when it is being freely allowed to. I already mentioned my dislike for rules in music, and genre definitions mostly appear to me as such. Thus, I will only respect them to the degree that suits my own goals. I think it also needs to be said that with this kind of “power”, or rather the decision to not adhere to any sets of rules, comes its own responsibility too - when you start crossing borders you subject yourself to a lot of pitfalls. Taste, or the lack of it, is of course a highly subjective matter but it is the only guide that I have when creating music. If a riff/part/song sounds sensible and striking after repeated listens (usually in the tens to hundreds) – chances are it really is a keeper, and apart from other people in this particular band I really don’t need anyone else to tell me otherwise. I mainly think in terms like “dark”, “light”, “slow”, “fast” – not really exclusive to a single style of music or another, or are they. One thing that also contributes to the variety of our material are the arrangements, which for the most part are made together as a group.
6. How do you guys inside the band divide the compositional work? Where is your favorite place to write your songs? And from what symbols, feelings, stories or environments do you get inspiration?
Most of the music is written by me, with Jussi having contributed “As Life Fades” for this release. Chances are we’ll hear more of him on records to come! As for places to write, I wish I could give you a more romantic setting but the mundane truth of it is that it all pretty much happens where I’m sitting right now, in the comfort of my own home. The nature of my work is very intuitive and to me, writing songs is more about channeling feelings than trying to tell stories. The world we live in is generally not a happy or an especially forgiving place, and it would be a travesty to pretend otherwise. The way I see it, you only need to take a look outside to get inspired enough to write a song – not that I would have anything against dwelling in fantasy worlds either, it just isn’t my style.
7. Musically one can hear similarities to UK doom metal bands like Anathema, Paradise Lost and the like. Do these bands inspire you? Or what kind of music are you in general listening to?
You got that right! A whole lot of our sound is definitely being owed to the Peaceville legends you mentioned (not to forget My Dying Bride!). As we started out back in early 2020, Paradise Lost was indeed heavily featured as a sort of talking point, when initial ideas and rough demos for some of the songs were exchanged. Mostly because in my experience any band or collective musical effort really needs one, in order to get going and to really engage people doing things. This is not to say that they (Paradise Lost) wouldn’t also have been a huge inspiration musically. To this day, when trying to form a picture of what this band represents to me, all that comes to my mind is basically just a hazy vision of “metal” without prefixes. The intent has never been to replicate or emulate any specific band or artist. Even any distinct genre of music, for that matter, even though I really couldn’t argue against most of the ones that we are currently being associated with.
Influences for This Dying Age include, but are not limited to, musical movements and periods such as these (not in any particular order): 80’s and 90’s heavy/doom/death/gothic metal, gothic rock, darkwave and post-punk. While it might raise some hairs or not, whether in a bad or in a good way, electronic music in general also has a lot to do with several aspects of the material. From songwriting techniques to utilizing effects and transitions in mixing and producing etc.
8. I’d like to say that the melodious clean vocals are fantastic. Is that a way to create a dramatic aura in the band’s songs?
Jussi really outdid himself with the vocals and I couldn’t be happier with his performance. In my opinion, the vocal delivery is one of the most defining things about the whole record and something to be proud of. There’s such a spectrum of emotion, both in the clean and more guttural parts, unlike anything that the majority of the bands in a similar vein are able to offer.
Jussi: First of all, thank you for the kind words, both Edu and Mikko! A major motivation for me to join the band was the chance to do clean vocals. I've been doing death metal vocals for twenty years now and I think the other guys in the band would've been happy with me just doing that with This Dying Age as well. I'm glad they trusted me and gave me this chance to challenge myself. As for your question, I've always thought that it's important for vocals to convey emotion. I tried to bring the despair and sadness present in the lyrics to the vocal performance. I guess that resulted in the "dramatic aura" that you refer to, although it may be more a case of different elements of the music clicking together, than something that we deliberately planned.
9. The demo is out there since April 2023. After these months, could you advance something regarding new compositions?
There actually is an abundance of great new material in the oven, with a couple of songs already rehearsed as a group and a whole lot more sitting dormant in the “bedroom demo” stage. However, we’ve recently been quite busy going on with our daily lives, being fathers to one or more children, all working demanding full-time jobs and just as you quite fittingly described earlier – also playing in 2-3 other bands besides this one, heheh (It’s quite true though!)
10. How do you see the character of energies you transfer through This Dying Age’s songs? Is it positive or negative, or neutral?
I’m very much drawn to darkness, within which a certain majesty and tranquil beauty with bittersweet overtones can be found when you have the nerve to look deep and long enough. The feelings that end up in our songs are often left unnamed and unclassified at the time of making, but they are always there - very real and very concrete. If any piece of music, had it originated from my own hands or just heard from somewhere else, doesn’t stir up emotions it is worthless and does not deserve another listen. Simple as that.
11. Do you see any reason why doom has become more popular in the past few years?
I would argue that at least here in Finland, doom metal already had its greater resurgence and “heyday” 10-15 years ago, mostly in the wake of Reverend Bizarre obviously. This question might however be better answered by someone who actually follows that particular scene more closely than I…
Tuomo: Yes, it's true that Teutonic Witch by Reverend Bizarre was the first and last true doom metal record to top the Finnish singles charts and that was already more than 15 years ago. While some bands spawned in that era have called it quits, Cardinals Folly is still going strong, Samuel from Wandering Midget has a new band called Gargantuan Blade with an epic debut out last year, Caskets Open has a brand new line-up featuring a new drummer and of our beloved mastermind Mikko taking care of the second guitar - and I don't think anything will ever kill Spiritus Mortis. They were there in the beginning and will surely see the end as well! Too bad Albert Witchfinder was replaced by some swedish black metal dude in Friends of Hell. I would have enjoyed a second serving of that stuff.
In the Finnish underground new bands pop up every now and then, the 2021 demo by Aurora being one of my personal favorites, and Ciminero released a sophomore effort last year even exceeding the expectations set by their debut. Although you rarely see doom metal in the charts anymore the genre seems to be popular enough that we have the opportunity to enjoy for example two sold out shows by The Obsessed and Eyehategod in Helsinki the coming weekend. Really looking forward to that!
12. Finland is considered the elite, in Europe, in the educational system as well as having one of the most peaceful places on Earth, to live. How is it living there and what was it like growing up for you in Finland?
Even with my gloomy and apocalyptic outlook on life in general, I couldn’t honestly say that Finland would have been an especially hostile place to grow up in, in comparison to various other corners of the world and even ones within Europe. I consider my childhood to have been a relatively safe one, with all basic needs taken care of. However, the current state of affairs here leaves much to be desired, with far-right ideologies on the rise and a conservative, repressive, government set out to make life miserable for the weak and the poor. Certain members of Finnish parliament have openly admitted to having xenophobic and fascist tendencies, and yet business therein seems to continue as usual. Capitalism is the cancer of humanity, and it will eventually lead to our death and the destruction of our planet if left unchecked. Capitalism kills, and fascism is eager to help.
13. Could you give us a little insight into the metal-scene in Helsinki? Are there many bands that play metal, and especially doom metal? And how are gig-possibilities et cetera?
Yes, there definitely is a whole lot going on in that department and I would say that the scene is very much alive, even if I’m not too sure how much I’m a part of it myself. I think I have the tendency to habit the fringes of several different subcultures, mainly just looking in from the outside, metal being only one of them. Speaking of doom metal bands specifically, I might recommend Asphodelus and Gargantuan Blade, even though both of them kind of stretch the definition a bit. Gigs are quite plentiful, too, at least within metropolitan Helsinki.
14. What’s your view on the value of music today? In what way does the abundance of music change our perception of it?
Sometimes it does feel a bit of a chore to try to stay on top of any given subculture or genre, due to the sheer volume of new bands popping up and frankly that is indeed something I feel quite sorry to have given up on, at least in a broader sense. I have had to limit the simultaneous avenues of research so to say, currently I’m very enthusiastic about modern darkwave/coldwave/EBM stuff that seems to be happening everywhere all at once. Fortunately, I have friends with excellent taste in music, through whom I often get to hear the exciting newcomers should I fail to dig them up myself. It also helps to force yourself out from the confines of your home and see a gig or two, at least every once in a while.
15. Maybe you can help by passing on some wisdom. What is the main conclusion you have learned during these years about life and music being two inseparable things?
Well… this is mostly summarizing a bit from all the previous questions and maybe adding some points on top. Just do whatever you really feel like doing, let out your emotions and pour them into your creations – if you don’t, you risk inauthenticity and irrelevance. Always be yourself and let your influences show, in fact I would even say that you should wear them like a badge of honor - take that how literally you like. Listen to a wide variety of music and challenge yourself from time to time, revisit old favorites and on the other hand give another chance to something you might have previously dismissed for one reason or another.
16. What do you love to do in your free time when you are not busy with any of your music projects these days?
Well, nothing much, actually! If I’m not trying to create new music, then I’m most likely rehearsing or going through something old instead. Simply listening to music has also always been one of my favorite pastimes, ideally with a beverage of choice nearby. I do also have a penchant for video games, though, but nowadays I try to avoid anything too nerve-wracking. Life in itself is hard enough to get through, apart from that I really don’t need any additional, artificial, challenges to be had in my free time.
17. Why do you think that the vinyl become so popular again? Do you have any interest in trying to do any vinyl at some point?
The only way I honestly see vinyl superior or more attractive compared to other formats out there is the sheer physical size of it, which makes up a brilliant vehicle to convey cover art and attachments like lyric sheets, printed inner sleeves etc. Audio-wise, during the decades that I’ve spent listening to music, only rarely have I genuinely felt that a vinyl edition would have brought up some character of the album in question that a CD would have failed to deliver. That said, the bulk of my collection is made up of vinyl instead of CD’s and I regularly haul new additions to the shelves – there is a certain nostalgic satisfaction related to the routine of putting an LP on, switching sides, fondling the album cover etc. which I really do enjoy. We would of course love to see “Face of God” on vinyl, too, for the reasons mentioned above if nothing else. So far, we’ve had no luck in doing that though, if someone who is still reading this happens to like the idea - please contact us, hehe!
18. Many thanks again for your valuable time and your effort! I wish you only the best! The last words to our readers are of course yours!
Thank you Edu for the opportunity and for all the interesting questions you had prepared. By now, morning has turned into evening, the sun is long gone and fittingly enough I’m listening to “Night People” by brilliant British new-wavers Classix Nouveaux. To any readers out there: if you’re heavy, stay that way. If, by any chance, you happen to be morbid as well – may God and/or Tom Gabriel Warrior have mercy on your souls! I encourage you to listen to “Face of God” like it was going out of fashion (which it never was in the first place!)
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