{"id":6614,"date":"2012-08-14T00:00:07","date_gmt":"2012-08-14T00:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=6614"},"modified":"2013-07-20T11:57:45","modified_gmt":"2013-07-20T11:57:45","slug":"feature-korpiklaani-08-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-korpiklaani-08-12\/","title":{"rendered":"KORPIKLAANI – Predator\u2019s Saliva (August 2012) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

KORPIKLAANI – Predator\u2019s Saliva<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nAugust 2012<\/span><\/p>\n

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Korpiklaani (l-r): Matti Johansson, Juho Kauppinen, Tuomas Rounakari, Jonne
J\u00e4rvel\u00e4, Jarkko Aaltonen and Kalle Savij\u00e4rvi<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Lahti, Finland-based folk metal outfit Korpiklaani participated in the qualifying stages of the Eurovision Song Contest during 2011, hoping to emulate the success of fellow metal countrymen Lordi who won the event in 2006 with the track \u2018Hard Rock Hallelujah\u2019 (from March 2006\u2019s The Arockalypse<\/em>). Their resultant entry \u2013 a demo version of the composition \u2018Mets\u00e4lle\u2019 sadly proved unsuccessful. However, the Finnish broadcasters of Eurovision wished to use the track to promote the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wanted us to record \u2018Mets\u00e4lle\u2019,\u201d remembers bassist Jarkko Aaltonen. \u201cThis was in roughly September 2011, but we had studio time booked for January 2012 I think. We suddenly had to change the whole schedule to record \u2018Mets\u00e4lle\u2019 in September. We entered the studio in September, and ended up recording drums for the entire album. We recorded all of the drums and one entire song in September, and then continued work in January. I think this is the longest time we\u2019ve ever spent working on one album. Not that we worked the whole time, but the time from the beginning and end of recording was quite long. Other than that, it\u2019s just a standard album for us; writing wise it was the same as usual. Jonne (J\u00e4rvel\u00e4, vocals) writes most of the stuff, and then the other people write whatever they manage to create together. I think the only thing that changed was the actual recording.\u201d<\/p>\n

That very September in 2011 (on the 13th, to be precise), it was publicly announced that Korpiklaani had parted ways with longtime violinist Jaakko \u2018Hittavainen\u2019 Lemmetty. \u201cEverything was becoming more and more difficult for him,\u201d the musician reckons. \u201cHe didn\u2019t really get into rehearsals anymore, and then when we were doing live shows he was playing less and less. He became less and less interested in doing anything, and then he started to miss shows. We felt that it would be better if he departed. When you\u2019ve been together with someone for so long, it\u2019s not a marriage but it\u2019s close. It was quite difficult to bring up this subject, to say words that no-one wants to hear. \u2018We have to part.\u2019 I think everybody though, including him, was quite relieved that the issue was addressed. It was nothing personal; we had to do what we do. If you cannot do what you\u2019re supposed to do or if you don\u2019t want to do that, then you should stop being a musician.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teemu Eerola was initially revealed to have fulfilled the vacancy, but his tenure was ultimately brief. \u201cThere are certain bands in the world who if you read their biographies, you realise that it\u2019s hell of a job to figure out who the hell was in the band at a certain time,\u201d Jarkko muses. \u201cIf you think about Black Sabbath<\/a> in the mid-80s, it\u2019s hell of a job to figure out who the hell was in the band and who wasn\u2019t. I\u2019ve realised that we have been having the same situation during the last year \u2013 we\u2019ve had five different violin players in the last year (laughs). The bigger audience only knows about three of those, which of course are Hittavainen, Teemu who was the permanent replacement after Hittavainen left, and then Tuomas (Rounakari) who\u2019s now with us. Between these guys though we\u2019ve done shows with other guys as well, friends of ours. It turned out that touring live was way too much for Teemu, so we finally found ourselves a permanent violin player though who was Tuomas. So far, it\u2019s going quite nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n

The appointment of Tuomas Rounakari came to light on February 21st, 2012. \u201cNot many people know this, but Hittavainen who was credited on the last two albums (February 2011\u2019s Ukon Wacka<\/em> and June 2009\u2019s Karkelo<\/em>) didn\u2019t actually play,\u201d the four-stringer divulges. \u201cIt was so difficult for him. He wasn\u2019t feeling well, and he wasn\u2019t interested. He was always on and off as a person. When he\u2019s having a bad day, he can\u2019t do anything. We\u2019re not Def Leppard who can spend three years in the studio recording an album. We have a schedule, and we have to stick to that. We can only afford having a violin player in the studio for two weeks, so we need someone who we can actually trust.<\/p>\n

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\u201cStylistically I don\u2019t see a big difference between Hittavainen and our old session player, but Tuomas has bit of a different style. All these people are really nice violin players, but still I think Tuomas has more to his playing. I\u2019m not sure if listeners \u2013 people who buy the album \u2013 can hear it the same way, but I feel that live it\u2019s quite obvious that he has more to his playing, more than the others had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Korpiklaani\u2019s eighth studio full-length \u2013 August 2012\u2019s Manala<\/em> \u2013 marks Tuomas Rounakari\u2019s recording debut with the assortment. \u201cThe original idea that we had a long time ago was that we\u2019d actually create an entire lyrical concept album based on the Kalevala<\/em>, but then we sort of realised that it wasn\u2019t going to be about Kalevala<\/em> really,\u201d Jarkko explains. \u201cMost of the song lyrics are written by Tuomas Keskim\u00e4ki. We shelved the idea of the concept album, but then a bit later on we realised that \u2013 especially when we dropped two of the songs that we had done for the album \u2013 \u2018ey, wait a minute. Most of these songs are about the underworld, death, and all this \u2013 the mythological world of the dead.\u2019 Most of the songs are about these common themes, but they\u2019re not connected musically or lyrically. That\u2019s why we decided to name the album Manala<\/em>, but now everybody thinks that we decided to create a concept album about the world of the dead. That isn\u2019t true, but anyway, this is how it is now. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe album is named after Manala \u2013 also known as Tuonela \u2013 which is the Finnish world of the dead. It\u2019s a place for the dead in Finnish mythology. There wasn\u2019t the whole concept of Heaven and Hell \u2013 there was no Heaven or Hell. Everybody who died went to Manala; regardless of how they lived their life, everybody ended up in the same place. Those who did commit crimes or whatever they were called at the time possibly had some evil spirit following them all of the time, but that\u2019s all it was. Finnish mythological stories say that it was possible to travel between the underworld and the regular world. For example, there\u2019s a song on the album about how at a certain time of the day you can actually see the Bringer Of Death on Earth and that kind of thing. It\u2019s a bit of a gloomy album in that sense lyrically, I think. It\u2019s an interesting concept, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manala isn\u2019t a common lyrical thread throughout the outing. \u201cWith \u2018Kunnia\u2019 for example, it\u2019s quite clear that it\u2019s not about Manala,\u201d the rhythmist clarifies. \u201cIt\u2019s not about Manala but it is about death, so… Actually now that I think about it, I think the most interesting of those that are not about Manala is a song called \u2018Ruuminmultaa\u2019 which in English translates to \u2018Soil Of The Corpse\u2019. Again, that story is about death and dying. It\u2019s not actually from Finnish mythology, but from Sami mythology from Lapland. It\u2019s basically a story about when you make a deal with the Devil or whatever. Not the biblical Devil, but whoever it was. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou go to the graveyard and get soil, and mix it with spirits or coffee. The person who drinks actually dies or goes insane, but you become wealthier. The problem is you have to keep doing that to people all of the time, otherwise you will end up the same way. It is a traditional story about making a deal with the Devil, and then of course there\u2019s the next song \u2018Petoel\u00e4imen Kuola\u2019 which translates as \u2018Predator\u2019s Saliva\u2019. The album doesn\u2019t have any clear drinking songs this time. Everybody always expects us to have funny drinking songs, but this time we don\u2019t. I think \u2018Petoel\u00e4imen Kuola\u2019 is the closest to a drinking song since it tells the story of the birth of beer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Popular numbers within Korpiklaani\u2019s back catalogue include \u2018Vodka\u2019 (from Karkelo<\/em>), and other tracks related to the subject of alcohol. The prospect of the group being consequently viewed as merely a comedy ensemble is a concern for Korpiklaani, however. \u201cI\u2019m surprised that you noticed,\u201d Jarkko comments. \u201cIt is annoying, but there are so many people who judge the band by the song \u2018Vodka\u2019 or whatever. It annoys me and it annoys us, but then again we wrote those songs. We released those songs, so who the hell are we to complain? It will be interesting to see how this album is received since, as I said, there are no drinking songs on the album. The songs are way more serious, doomier, heavier, thrashier, so it will be sort of interesting to see if this will be more of a doom album because it has no drinking songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Korpiklaani (l-r): Kalle Savij\u00e4rvi, Matti Johansson, Jonne J\u00e4rvel\u00e4, Tuomas
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That isn\u2019t to say future Korpiklaani albums will not include alcohol-related compositions, though. \u201cYou never know,\u201d the performer stresses. \u201cAs I said earlier, we never think about these things beforehand. When we have enough songs that we think will make a good album, then we make an album. Maybe the next album will only have drinking songs. You never know what kinds of songs you\u2019ll write.\u201d<\/p>\n

A slower affair compared to its fellow tunes, \u2018Synkk\u00e4\u2019 occupies track six. \u201cIt\u2019s sort of interesting that people keep asking about that song in interviews, how we ended up doing that kind of a song on the album since we don\u2019t usually do those,\u201d Jarkko notes. \u201cIt is strange because as far as I can remember, we\u2019ve always had songs like that. There have always been slower, moodier songs on every album, usually being the last track on the album. Maybe they only listen to the first half of the album. We\u2019ve always had those, and I never felt there was anything strange in that song when we were recording that song. We\u2019ve more or less always had these songs. One of the ideas is to sort of have this rhythm thing going, but we\u2019ve used that before. It\u2019s a track with simple lines, but together they all make the track quite nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Synkk\u00e4\u2019 provides Manala<\/em> with a nice change of tempo. \u201cYou always have to think about the running order of the album,\u201d the bassist observes. \u201cIf you want to point out for example that one song is really fast, then you put a slow, mellow song before that. We have five and a half minutes of slow paced, moody stuff, and then suddenly you have a faster track after that (\u2018Ievan Polkka\u2019) which fits in quite nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instrumental passages occupy tracks eight and nine in the shapes of \u2018Husky Sledge\u2019 and \u2018Dolorous\u2019. \u201c\u2018Husky Sledge\u2019 is based on this…,\u201d Jarkko begins. \u201cI never remember this… It is about some nation that disappeared somewhere in Siberia. While Tuomas was travelling he picked up this song, and then he arranged that there be a violin solo. I\u2019m not sure if that song should be credited to him or the original singer (a Koryak shaman), because as far as I understand there\u2019s not that much left of the original version. When writing the following track \u2018Dolorous\u2019 there was only one idea, and that was to create several melodies that would be the best, most beautiful melodies ever in the world of music. That is quite a task (laughs). I\u2019m not sure if we managed to do that, but it\u2019s still full of quite nice melodies.\u201d<\/p>\n

In authoring numbers, Korpiklaani have no premeditated intentions. \u201cWe write the songs, and then in the end we see what kind of an album we get from those songs,\u201d the musician shares. \u201cWe have the demos, and then we start recording. Quite often during the recording, we get the feel of the album. Once you\u2019re done with whatever album you\u2019ve made… You can\u2019t really say before the recording is done how the album is gonna sound. Before recording you feel \u2018This is the best track. This is gonna be the killer track on the album,\u2019 or \u2018Okay, this is not going to be the best song but it\u2019s a fucking good song.\u2019 Then when you\u2019ve finished the recordings you realise that things are the complete opposite, so you never know beforehand. We don\u2019t even try to think of what we want to do beforehand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critiquing Manala<\/em> against predecessor Ukon Wacka<\/em>, Jarkko hears musical variations. \u201cWhen I heard the rough version of Ukon Wacka<\/em>, I listened to the songs in the correct order and everything,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI got this sort of rock \u2019n\u2019 roll feel from that, and that it defined what the hell this thing is called rock \u2019n\u2019 roll. I feel that it had the same kind of… Like Mot\u00f6rhead albums. It doesn\u2019t matter if the album\u2019s from 1980 or 2010, because they always have this rock \u2019n\u2019 roll feel to them. I had that same feeling about the previous album, and now with this new album I get this really, really thrash metal feel \u2013 totally different than the previous one. The previous one felt more relaxed, more rolling \u2013 as I said, rock \u2019n\u2019 roll \u2013 and this one feels a lot thrashier. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s anything much different than the previous one, but that\u2019s what I feel. It\u2019s always different though for others who haven\u2019t been playing or rehearsing those songs; they always hear them with fresh ears.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A limited edition version of Manala<\/em> includes a bonus disc entitled Underworld<\/em>, wholly consisting of English language renditions of Manala<\/em>\u2019s tracks. \u201cThe original idea came from the fact that everybody kept asking us,\u201d the four-stringer discloses. \u201cNot everybody, but mostly Americans. They kept bugging us about that, so we had the original idea to make a test. To release two albums the same day, the English version and the Finnish version, and see which sold more so we could tell the Americans to shut the fuck up. Then we realised that it was a shit idea, because that would basically force the people who wanted to buy our album to buy two albums. We decided to do it the way it is now. We recorded the Finnish version originally, and then we recorded the entire album in English and added those tracks as bonus tracks on the standard release. This way, everybody gets what they want. Some people get the Finnish version as well as a really, really cheap bonus album. That\u2019s what we ended up doing. If we had known how much work it would take to actually translate the lyrics and make them singable, then we probably wouldn\u2019t have done it. That was a shitload of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Korpiklaani hasn\u2019t set a precedent then? \u201cI\u2019m fairly sure that we haven\u2019t,\u201d Jarkko confirms. \u201cI cannot say that I\u2019m a 100% sure, but I\u2019m fairly sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

A track\u2019s chosen language somewhat dictates the mood of the number. \u201cIt changes it a lot,\u201d the rhythmist agrees. \u201cThe English versions are completely different to my ears. The songs are meant to be sung in Finnish \u2013 that\u2019s how they\u2019re supposed to be. There\u2019s so much more power in the vocals in the Finnish language versions. You don\u2019t even have to understand the language, because you can still hear the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finnish artist Jan Yrlund designed Manala<\/em>\u2019s cover artwork. \u201cIt is basically a depiction of Manala, the world of the dead,\u201d Jarkko informs. \u201cThere\u2019s burning rock and lava, fire and brimstone. You have \u2013 as you said \u2013 the Grandfather, who is one of the main characters in Kalevala<\/em>. The Swan Of Tuonela is swimming in the river of Tuoni. It was a mythological bird that for example in Kalevala<\/em> Lemmink\u00e4inen was instructed to kill. Honestly, I don\u2019t remember why, but Lemmink\u00e4inen drowns.\u201d<\/p>\n

A mere 18-month gap separated the releases of Ukon Wacka<\/em> and Manala<\/em>, not exactly an uncommon occurrence for Korpiklaani. Whether a greater length of time will lapse between future releases is uncertain. \u201cOf course I can see that happening, but I\u2019m not sure if it will happen,\u201d the performer reasons. \u201cWe\u2019ve never had any tight schedule saying \u2018We have to do this\u2019 or \u2018We have to do that.\u2019 We\u2019ve been recording albums when we\u2019ve had songs for an album. So far, we\u2019ve had this productive period of ten years. Maybe it will slow down, maybe it will not \u2013 you never know. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t think that we have to make an album every year, but so far it\u2019s pretty much been like that anyway. I think there was also one year where we weren\u2019t making an album a couple of years ago, but that didn\u2019t matter. I think the previous year we released two, so that covered it. We\u2019ve had times where we\u2019ve released two albums in a year, and the only reason for that was we were changing record labels. The previous record label was postponing the release of the last album, so they released the album roughly a year after we had delivered the master to them. Then we had already recorded the next album and they still hadn\u2019t released our previous album, but these things happen to other bands as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manala<\/em> was released on August 3rd, 2012 in Europe and on the 14th in North America, all through Nuclear Blast Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in August 2012. All promotional photographs by Harri Hinkka.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KORPIKLAANI – Predator\u2019s Saliva Anthony Morgan August 2012 Korpiklaani (l-r): Matti Johansson, Juho Kauppinen, Tuomas Rounakari, Jonne J\u00e4rvel\u00e4, Jarkko Aaltonen and Kalle Savij\u00e4rvi Lahti, Finland-based folk metal outfit Korpiklaani participated in the qualifying stages of the Eurovision Song Contest during 2011, hoping to emulate the success of fellow metal countrymen Lordi who won the event […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-korpiklaani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6614"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7136,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6614\/revisions\/7136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}