Hailing from the arctic nation of the north, Finland, Amberian Dawn have been wandering the icy landscape for the past decade and despite having parted ways with numerous musicians along the way including vocalist Heidi Parviainen (who now fronts Dark Sarah), guitarist Kasperi Heikkinen and sadly the late Tommi Kuri, Amberian Dawn are leading the Finnish Metal front-line with newfound renaissance and oomph in their stride. 

Celebrating their landmark achievement, the Neo-Classical Power Metal outfit fronted by Capri (Päivi Virkkunen) since 2012 have shown no signs of stopping and as they have recently completed their first ever headline tour, it was only right for them to be grilled by means of our interview interrogation. Tuomas Seppälä stood up to the task of giving the accounts of Amberian Dawn's past, present and future....

It's conceivable that the Finnish people are metal-music crazy, with a hole host of bands making names for themselves and achieving mainstream success. From Children of Bodom to Nightwish and HIM to Lordi (who won Eurovision 2006) and Apocalyptica who still to this day remain as the sole Cello Metal band. But gnawing at the latter's heels is the nonet Ravenia of whose self-styled Symphonic Metal sound takes on an epic dramatic twist, with the symphonies being engulfed by film-score/operatic elements that leave the listener entranced by this sensational outfit.

Having released their debut album "Beyond the Walls of Death" back at the end of April, it was about time GMA locked the group away in a Lapland cabin, waited till dark and under the night sky watched the Northern lights dance away whilst we interrogated Armi Päivinen, Ravenia's vocalist. It begins with the background story of Ravenia's past...

It's not uncommon for a metal band to fall into a sub-genre that is totally unique, not only in terms of lyrical content or sound, but by the sub-genre name itself. So when Finland's Whispered announced details for their forthcoming album "Metsutan - Songs Of The Void", the slight-head turn became imminent after the first word. Why is a Finnish Metal band using a Japanese word in their album title? Turns out they're a 'Samurai Metal' band, well musically they're Melodic Death / Power Metal tinged with Eastern 'Oriental' Folk music influences, but we prefer the new genre tag as a way to describe them.

They might be fashioning blades, experts at martial arts, or masters at kanji calligraphy, but they're not resistant to our interrogation methods. Sadly no sake came between us or the band....

Vocalist / guitarist Jouni Valjakka and guitarist Mikko Mattila entered the interrogation chamber.

At Ensiferum's gig at the 02 Islington on 25th March, GMA found a moment to talk to vocalist and bassist Sami Hinkka about their tremendous 20 year career, their latest album "One Man Army", thoughts about Bloodstock, the fabled Eurovision question and of course many other things. The tour was coming to a close on the 25th and so understandably it was going to be a fairly emotional night, the tour was with their friends Metsatöll from Estonia (who we also interview) and was supporting the new album. As Ensiferum have been going over 20 years (as said), Sami gave us an insight into what the high and low points of the band's career have been so far:-


"(laughs), I'd say every show has been a high point of the career, low point? Erm, I guess for Markus the founder of the band, back in 2004 where there were a lot of line-up changes - those were the moments that kind of tested his faith". Since then the line-up has been solid for 10 years, and who knows if it will or wont change again (bands are constantly evolving). Thankfully Sami admitted that "Everything's working better than ever", so the prospect of a line-up change? Virtually zero chance.


Given the fact that "One Man Army" did exceedingly well across Europe having nabbed the coveted top 40 spot in four countries (Finland #1, Germany #15, Austria #37 and Switzerland #24), I asked Sami for his thoughts on whether metal music is or is not being accepted by the mainstream more nowadays or on the other hand is metal breaking newer ground?:-


"I guess so, it's kind of hard to say as a Finnish person because you know, Finland is like a 'metal country', you know if you just go to a normal shopping mall you might hear Amorphis playing from the speakers and that's like "normal". But yes I think in general metal of course is reaching new people, on the other hand all the young metalheads are getting older and they are having kids, and of course you teach them to listen to good music (laughs happily)". So is metal in the Finnish blood? "Yes! For some weird reason, I wish there would be like a really good 'deep' answer why there are so many metal bands coming out from Finland but I still don't have.... I just blame the long winter, nobody has anything better to do than sit in the rehearsal room and make music (laughs)".


Of course after making music, bands generally speaking go on tours and or play festivals to showcase their new stuff on the live half, so with Ensiferum having played Bloodstock last year, Sami shared his thoughts on the festival, question is would they ever contemplate going into Eurovision?


"Well we've played Bloodstock quite a few times already, it's honestly one of the best festivals in Europe, it's always a lot of fun and we have a lot of friends in the UK so it's always cool to see them. It's a professional festival where everything works and some of my friends have been there you know as guests. I've never been there myself, I've always been there just as a musician, but from my festival guests perspectives I've heard that everything works really well so, so keep up the good work!"


Sami gladly shared some tips for those unsigned bands or those new to the festival experience:-

• DON'T get drunk before the show, just do your best and remember when it's your time to get on stage, get THERE on time.

• Do your thing with 110%, because then it's your stage, do not apologise for anything.
• When it's your time to start the show or get off the stage, find the stage manager and respect all people.  Those who talk about your band, buy your CD's, respect those people.

"To be honest I don't really have an opinion about Eurovision (laughs), I haven't really followed anything what goes on in the pop culture in a way. It's OK if you like it, but I can't see Ensiferum doing it, we're.... nah, we trust in our own music so we don't need that kind of exposure"

As said the show that night is the last on the tour, so naturally Sami was happy to reflect on the past few weeks and share his thoughts. Additionally when speaking earlier about their landmark achievement of 20 years activity, has Ensiferum ever contemplated making a band documentary?


"We go home for around a week and then we go to a festival in Sweden, and a few weeks later we're going to hit the road with Fleshgod Apocalypse (IT) to do a European tour which is going to be fantastic! Then it's summer festival season, and for autumn and winter we have some special things coming up sorry I can't reveal anything yet, you know 'politics' about releasing dates and so on (hint there dropped?). All the time we try and work on new songs, we're hoping we can make the studio early next year and start the 'circle of life' again so, release the new album and do some touring around the world.

It looks pretty busy because we also did a few acoustic shows in Finland and they work out really well and is a lot of fun for us and for also fans, some people even said that they were the best shows they've ever seen from Ensiferum; they're like hardcore fans who have seen us like seven times, so maybe we also record some, there will be a lot of stuff that are like acoustic material so maybe we record acoustic things some day and it would be cool to do an acoustic tour actually. Metal Blade also kinda showed the green light for the new DVD's, so we also have to start working with that, so we're pretty busy for the next 20 years (laughs)!


Regarding the documentary:-

"Yes! At one point that was the plan, we actually started working with the new DVD already in 2010 and we shot some material and Markus the frontman of the band, he has LOTS of material of the early days, even from the very first show of Ensiferum when the guys were like 15 years old (chuckles), 'teenagers'. But yeah that would be so cool to do a good package with all kinds of history stuff, interviews with old members, stuff like that you know good material from all the 20 years, and then also have a really good show, some big venue with pyro's well you know a good show. But Spinefarm actually said that these days nobody actually buys DVD's, so let's put that on hold.

Now we changed the label to Metal Blade and I think it was around last Summer we were drinking with the guys, they were actually the ones to ask have you thought about a new DVD? We said yeah but nobody buys DVD's, they were like no no no no! So we talked about it a little bit and they are into making new DVD's so maybe some day, I'm absolutely sure that it's not going to come out this year but maybe when we turn 25 or something like that, but that's something we're working on. It's not the highest priority at the moment and the album will be.... (Sami gets lost in thought)... ah it's lost, I really like Metsatöll (basically Metsatöll were sound-checking downstairs and you could hear it through the double doors separating the stairwell (where we standing) and the auditorium)".

So we changed our conversation to Metsatöll, is it the first time they've played here?


"No they've been here (UK) before and I'm really happy that we got them on board, I can't really remember where we met the guys.... err no we did a few shows in Poland and just talking shit and drinking after the show, where we was telling them 'Oh we're going to the UK' and they were like 'Arrrr we really want to go there also and we're planning to go there, so we were like 'hey come on, let's unite forces' and so here we are. We're old friends and it's so cool to share a bus with them because they're old geezers like we are and then it's really mellow in the bus, most of the time, old men can party (chuckles) also but it's been a really nice tour", and so are Metsatöll realistically the best well-known band from Estonia? "Yes they probably are, well we always called them the 'Metallica of Estonia' (laughs)".

As with a handful bands in the past, I asked Sami a question that has pretty much become a stable household question within the GMA repertoire. Would you say that Metal lyrics (in Ensiferum's case folkloric) can be educational? Could metal lyrics generally demand a certain amount of intellect?


"In a way yes, when I write the lyrics of course I want there to be a point actually in the lyrics, so educational? Yes I hope so but on the other hand I never want to explain my lyrics too much, because like art in general there is no right or wrong and I think it would be really wrong to kind of tell the fans 'this song is about this, this and this', I want everyone to have the freedom of interpretation and if its just like a 'grab a beer and yeaaaaah into battle and just kill your f*cking enemies', but you can also find a deeper level if you want.

However the second part really stumped Sami:

"That's a really tough question because, I don't think art should be an elitist thing, that only this kind of music is for people who like jazz or something like this, it's just for people who really understand the music and all the theory, I have many friends who don't understand anything about music theory but they really like jazz, this was the first thing that came to mind. Even for me when I first heard this stuff I was like 'ah its so like.. artificial', something they're trying to be, something very artistic. But I am really happy that I went the whole circle and I really love the art nowadays, it just took some time for me to open my eyes and find some really good music. There shouldn't be IQ tests to be able to enjoy music, no matter what genre it is".


So how did Sami get into metal music, become a musician and keep himself active outside of playing music?


"I have to blame my big brothers, I grew up with AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath... that was just... those were my lullabies when I was a baby (laughs) and my other big brother he was an excellent guitar player oh when I was like 10 or something, and I just wanted to jam with him because it was so cool seeing him play "Stairway To Heaven", I was like 'awwwh that's so cool' and I really loved Iron Maiden already back then and Steve Harris was my god so, I thought 'hey' maybe I should start playing bass and he (Sami's brother) helped me to pick my first bass, taught me the first songs including 'Iron Man' (Black Sabbath), 'Comfortably Numb' (Pink Floyd) and of course 'Stairway To Heaven', those were the first songs.

Yeah from there on it was really natural to go to Metallica (he also got into some melodic band - could not quite catch the name), later on I got into much more, but also I think it's really good to have a wide horizon and keep your eyes (and ears) open, because the world is full of good music and nobody can be angry all the time you need all the scale, and as a musician it's really good to play different stuff and I think that's one of my strongest points as a musician, as a bass player that I played with so many different peoples, different kinds of music. Even when I started playing metal in my home town, the best musicians of all the guys were older than me and had a metal band. I hadn't heard any of the stuff that they listened to at that time but they were just the best musicians, it was so cool to play like them, it was challenging for me and I got into metal much later."


Sami had this parting message for various peoples:-


"I'd like to thank all the fans who came to the shows and in case you haven't heard the new album, check it out 'One Man Army' and hope to see you all soon and 'vittu perkele saatan' (is assumed what is said), it's cursing in Finnish" - make of it what you wish.

http://www.facebook.com/Ensiferum

Our latest interrogation focuses on the Neo-Classical Power Metal outfit from Finland, Amberian Dawn. Having released their latest music video 'Fame & Gloria' (featured above), it was about time we caught up with the quintet as they celebrate their tenth anniversary this year (happy birthday guys!)

We talk about Eurovision and their thoughts about it, insinuating a possible future participation - if they could win it for Finland like Lordi did, then lightning would have struck twice. Their latest album "Innuendo" also receives a cooking as we find out what simmers underneath the latest effort, we ask how the change of vocal duties have affected the band as a whole and how they cope with the stress of touring.

Tuomas Seppälä (below second from right) gave us the lowdown.

_BAND: SONATA ARCTICA
MUSICIAN: HENRIK KLINGENBERG
COUNTRY: FINLAND
GENRE: POWER / PROG METAL

SONATA ARCTICA INTERVIEW WITH HENRIK KLINGENBERG (Vocals / Keyboard)

I spoke to Henrik Klingenberg of Finnish Power / Prog Metallers Sonata Arctica, to catch up on goings on and some past topics, read and enjoy:

1. How did you guys form and could you explain how the band name cameabout?

Well, I wasn't there but I guess it's pretty much the same with every band, you want to play, find some guys and start hammering it out. No idea about the original name either, sorry. I think the story can be found in our bio on our homepage or something...

2. In Finland is there any encouragement for people to learn an instrument whatever the instrument is?

No I wouldn't say there's any special enouragement to get into music or sports or anything else for that matter. Of course if you want to do something in particular there is usually some help available.

3. Would you consider your music to be part of the genre 'Winter Metal' along with Wintersun?

Hmm, that's a bit confusing, no I don't consider us Winter Metal, I didn't even know there was a genre called that.

4. Your currently working on your seventh album, what details can you give? I.e. album title, release date?

The name is still a secret but the album will be released in April-May 2012. I don't want to try to describe the music too much but it's once again something new for us as a band.

5. Out of all the cover songs you have done, which is your most and least favourite, why is this?

We did a cover of Roy Orbison, you got it with one of my other bands, Silent Voices, like 10years ago and that was pretty horrible. The best cover would probably be the Gary Moore one we did with SA, called 'Out In The Fields'....that song is so good, even we couldn't mess it up and I got to learn Gary Moores guitar solo note for note which was fun.

6. Sonata Artica is now 15 years old, quite an achievement isn't it? What is your highlights (both best and worst) of the band's existence?

Probably the worst time was during the recording of Unia when all these issues with Jani started to unfold, it was a very disturbing time in the history of the band. Whenever we're on tour or recording , those are the highlights for me. There's so much other things we have to do, like business stuff etc. so when we finally get to actually focus on the music, that's the best part and the only reason to keep on doing this.

7. Tony Kakko, what is the best advice can you give to those wishing to sing in the Power Metal style of vocals?

Sorry, can't help you there....actually to be able to sing well, one really important thing is to take good care of your body because that's your instrument, meaning, no smoking (unless you're David Coverdale or Lemmy) and take it easy with the booze. Any sport will also help.

8. Tommy, Elias, Marko, Henrik, what advice can you give to musicians wishing to improve their skills on bass, guitar, keyboard / keytar and drums?

There's a lot of stuff online to help you out with your playing skill no matter what your instrument is, however nothing can beat a good teacher, so find someone who plays the way you want to play and ask them to teach you....and of course practise your ass off.....and while doing this remember that it's supposed to be fun, if it's not fun when you're starting out, I'll tell you, it won't be fun later on either.

9. Out of all of the releases, which is your favourite and why and what song of all time in Sonata Arctica is your favourite?

This changes every day and it's impossible to answer while we're working on a new album because of course that's your favourite (if it isn't then maybe we should rewrite some stuff, right?)...of the previous ones I really like Reckoning Night since it was my first album with the band and the recording experience was really interesting. 'Don't Say A Word' is probably our best song, somehow we found a balance with that one.

10. Have you ever considered recording a cover for a Christmas song?

Personally speaking no, I don't know if Tony ever thought about it....but I hope we don't do that, rather write our own christmas song.

11. Do you plan to tour the UK sometime in 2012, if not what festivals are you looking to play at in Europe?

We'll be touring all over Europe in the fall so I'm sure we'll hit UK at some point if not already during the festival season. I have no idea about the festivals yet, I think a couple of ones are online now on our site but apart from that I have no clue.

12. As Metal is very popular in Finland, would you consider it a major export, before and after Lordi's famous Eurovision win?

Metal is probably the most exported music style from Finland but there's no way to compete when compared to other branches of exports (outside of the music industry).... I don't think the Eurovision thing had too much to do with this, after all metal people don't need to watch that kind of TV crap to find out about new music.

I guess Lordi got new fans but for other bands it didn't make make that much of an impact, and why should it?

13. Over the 15 years, how has the band's sound changed and what differences can you notably hear?

We've become more progressive to some extent and more mature I guess, I think the sound has changed on every album, sometimes more and sometimes less. What the changes are, is something everyone has to figure out themselves, if I tell you how my keyboard sounds changed from album to album that's not gonna be really helpful now is it? We will continue to change and explore new things with every album, I think that's the only way to do it for us, and I'm sure you all will hear the difference when the new album comes out; or not, who knows?

14. What can we expect from Sonata Arctica in 2012 and in the future?

We just released our 2nd DVD 'Live in Finland' which basically tells the story of the 'Days of Grays world tour', and right now we're in the studio recording our next album. It will be out in spring and then it's time to tour for 1 and a half to 2 years again. Right now that's all we have planned...so if we make it alive through this cycle we'll be back in the studio after that making more music, let's cross our fingers :)

Cheers, beers & thanks,

Henrik/Sonata Arctica

RHYS STEVENSON