Bright dancing lights like a dawn - Severnica Interview

Severnica is a Finnish symphonic and melodic metal band. 

"Long Lost Longing" is their debut EP released 26th of May 2014.

Their drummer Ville Vainio talks with us about this project.

LFdM: Hi Ville, thank you so much for this interview!

V: Thank you for this wonderful opportunity and for your important work in promoting independent bands such as ours!

LFdM: So your band is called Severnica and you are from Finland. Tell us something about the band: how and when Severnica was born?

V: Severnica took its first steps back in 2010. I was looking for a new project and answered an ad seeking a drummer for a symphonic metal band. Severnica had been founded by vocalist Maarit and keyboardist Teemu and they had already added guitarist Lauri to their lineup. We started out like most new bands playing covers mainly from Nightwish and Epica. Back then we had this horrible tiny room where we rehearsed. There was no heating and in the winter it was so cold that we had to wear heavy coats while playing. Sometimes upon arrival we found that someone had trashed the room and the drums. Good times!

Then later on we found a better place to rehearse and added my good friends guitarist Tuomo and bassist Timo to the roster. With this group we recorded the EP though Lauri left the band shortly after because of moving to another city.

LFdM: We love Finland and its music. There is an important symphonic and melodic metal scene. Where does the inspiration for this kind of sound come from?

V: Yes, the metal scene has always been very vibrant in Finland. I think it's because we need the extra power to get through the long and dark winters! In the symphonic and melodic metal genre there has been important Finnish bands like Nightwish, Apocalyptica and Sonata Arctica which have paved the way and provided great inspiration for new bands and also for us. I think that we Finns also have an unique relationship with nature and a passion for folklore which both are a great source for compositions as well as lyrics.

LFdM: What is the force of your band, in your opinion, something that makes the difference with other bands?

V: I think that Teemu is an absolutely fantastic songwriter and his compositions provide a rock solid backbone for our songs. Then there's Maarit whose high and clear cut vocals are of course an essential component in this kind of metal. Tuomo's and Timo's play has influences from a vast pool of music ranging from progressive metal to funk which brings a unique touch to the arrangements. By no means do these strengths give us an edge over the other bands since there's just so many amazing and talented bands out there. But hopefully there's an audience that is able to connect and relate to our music and we're able to find our place in the community.

LFdM: The EP is recorded, mixed, mastered and produced by you. Nowadays is very important to have a figure like this in a band, because it enables you to feel every single mistake or distortion and correct it. What do you think about it?

V: Well, regarding the making of this EP I feel like my role was kind of a double-edged sword. On the other hand it gave us the freedom to do everything in peace without having to be on the clock like in a studio. This enabled me to focus more on the details during the mixing phase though I don't think that it's absolutely necessary to correct every single detail. On the other hand we didn't have strict deadlines which made everything a lot slower than we had anticipated. Also the fact that this was my first serious project where I handled everything from recording to mastering, I had to learn a lot along the way, making it even slower. But I'm really happy with how the EP turned out and I hope that this experience will be useful for the band in the future with things like creating our live sound or making our pre-production more efficient.

LFdM: The EP consists of four songs. Can you describe us their own stilistic path?

V: The EP begins with Mirror And Me which is an energetic blast off where Maarit's vocals really get to shine. It's definitely the heaviest songs of the EP.

The second song is the titled track Long Lost Longing which cools things down a bit with a slower triple timed tempo. Timo's groovy bass lines are prominent in the verses and set up the more straight forward chorus nicely.

Third song is called My Journey which lyrics is written by Tuomo. Tuomo also provides a growl vocal part which opens up a dialogue with Maarit and brings a different kind of dynamic to the song.

Dream is the last track and begins with a delicate piano intro which erupts into a heavier verse. I think that the piano melodies play an important part in carrying the song through and also finish things in an epical outro which seemed like the perfect way to conclude our EP.

LFdM: Is there going to be a video from the album?

V: We didn't plan for a video for this release. It's definitely something we would like to do at some point, possibly alongside with our next release.

LFdM: Have you got any plans for this summer?

V: Bandwise we're going to work hard to get into a great gigging shape for the autumn! Personally I'm going to also try to find time to enjoy the awesome Finnish summer!

Thank you Ville and thanks to Severnica! 

Interview by Michela

Official Link: severnica.bandcamp.com

Video: "Long Lost Longing"

SadDoLLs - Interview

One month ago, I had the opportunity to meet in person this new reality of the Greek dark-wave scene. The occasion was the release party of their latest album, “Grave Party”.

A month later, we wanted to have a chat with the lead vocalist George Downloved, to ask him how all of this was born.

Hi my boy!

First of all, I wanna thank you again for the great experience in Athens last April, for me it was fantastic to know you and breath the sound around your world.

Well, let’s start?

-"Grave Party"came out last month. What do you expect now?

George Downloved: Hello to you too and thank you for this interview.

This album is a major change in our musical and lyrical direction, we made this album in a way that many different “ears” will appreciate it. There are goth rock songs 80’s style, many industrial metal songs, some black metal vocals from time to time, a cover song and a ballad, and of course there’s Skinny Disco from Deathstars doing some vocals for the track “Terminate Me”. We are planning some shows in Europe and the feedback we are getting is really positive so let’s see what happens.

-What’s the concept behind this album and its emotional impact?

George Downloved: Well the album was originally to be called “Valentine’s Breakup” and the story behind this title was the series of bad relationships and breakups had happened to some band mates during 2012-2013 :P Even one member broke up on Valentine’s day. After the composing though we thought that the title did not suited the songs decently, so we decided to change it to “Grave Party”. Anyway it is an album driven by rage and anger, but made with love and unity.

-What are the main differences between this album and your past ones?

George Downloved: As many out there already know, we were and still are HIM fans and fans of the Finnish so called “Love Metal” bands. This was our influence too. An influence that one could tell by listening to “About Darkness” or “Happy Deathday” (especially the latter). The songs were more melodic, more goth-pop rock in the style of Join Me In Death by HIM or Hollow Heart by To/Die/For and some of them even more poppier  than that :P Grave Party has it all. It has our previous two albums combined but with many more new stuff added. The songs are darker, heavier and danceable. It is also a synth-driven album. This is our own little goth party and we invite everyone to join!

-You have lost a little bit of 'love metal' sound like HIM, I mean, I'm happy for you, because It's very important for a band born as a cover band like you, to find own personal  path  … Could you tell us something about  the lyrics of this album, is there a general concept running through everysong?

George Downloved: Just like i said in the previous question, the tag  “Love Metal” or  “they sound like HIM” or “they sound like...” was something that got us tired through the reviews from the previous albums. This is why we decided to: quit the band OR do something entirely different. So we sat down and wrote the songs. The deal was 50 – 50. If the songs came out well and got us satisfied we would make the album, if not, we would just break up. So when “Lady Cry” was born we just said that not only the album was going to happen but this abomination would be the first clip too :P I Also tried to do the lyrics in a more dark and twisted way and so I presented my perverted nature from within the lyrics. Some of them are extremely pessimistic, some of them are sleazy, some of them are just crazy. For example the song “Suicide Girl” is dedicated to all the suicide girls out there that love to paint their sins on their bodies in the form of tattooes. ”Lady Cry” is kinda ironic about the cry babies that finds their way out from bad situations simply by crying to gain some pity, ”The Last Valentine” talks about that breakup I mentioned above, ”Sexy and Undead”  talks about a zombie girl and “On The Road 66” talks about a car crash and the Devil that came and took the girl to Hell.

-Why this radical change compared to the last ones?

George Downloved: The main reason was that we wanted to create our own sound and we are really proud of the outcome, so we are continuing in this direction from now on.

-How do you feel after 'Grave party' release? Would you change something?

George Downloved: No, just some minor details, but nothing major.

-Is there in your mind a song that isn't come out yet?

George Downloved: There was this song that our drummer Gus wrote back when we were making the pre-production called “Cold Blooded Sacrifice”. I think it was the greatest ballad along with “On the road 66” we ever composed. But when he left the band the song left the band with him too so it never made it to the final tracklist, but it’s lovely and now that Gus is back we could use it for the next album, but I don’t know yet, we’ll see.

-What are your greatest not musical influences in your life?

George Downloved: My mom, my band and her…

-Do you have played some gigs around Europe, what is your relationship with fan?

George Downloved: We had the chance to appear at the Dark Storm Festival in Chemnitz,Germany in 2013 along with VNV Nation,Blutengel,Solarfake,Gothminister and Mono Inc. And through this gig we introduced our sound to the German audience and we gained some more popularity from that show and recently we opened for the 69 Eyes in Tallinn, Estonia at the Rock Cafe, and it was a great show and we gained some new “fans” from there too. Our relasionship with the “fans” is like pure and simple, we do not consider them as “fans” but more like people that enjoy our stuff and sometimes we go out and drink beers with them :P We are no rockstars, we are people with lives just like everyone else.

-In which country, or perhaps even more specifically, what city, do you enjoy playing the most, and why?

George Downloved: I Personally just LOVE Prague, although we had never so far the chance to do a gig there, I really adore this city and I would go to live there in a heartbeat.It’s the No.1 gothic city in the world!

-Could you describe every single members of the band through your musical or personal experience with them?

George Downloved: Well ok, let me see...Right!

Paul Evilrose: He is the boss :P He is our manager and booker and promoter and he writes most of the songs and sometimes he writes lyrics too. He is my bro, and I love him but I want to punch him sometimes cause he is a pain in the ass :P

J.Vitu: He is the calm guy and the most emotional of us all. We all love him cause he is always so kind and helpful and he is great to hang out with. The only bad about him is that he is joining the Greek army in a few days for 8 months :/

G.B: He is a crazy motherfucker! He is a sound engineer, a video editor and film maker (he is going to shoot our next video too) he is also a pervert and he is half American :P The only bad thing about him is that he has so many things running in his life that sometimes he has zero time, and we can’t even get him on his phone.

St.Gus: Well Gus left the band back in 2013 cause we had a disagreement on the musical direction we would take for the next album, and the main reason was that he likes to play metalcore music, a genre that differs a lot from the SadDoLLs style. Now he is back with us, he likes the outcome of the new album and he still likes and plays metalcore with his other band :P He is a hipster and a redneck :P

Thank you so much George and...much LOVE guys!

Interview by Michela

Official Link: www.saddolls.net

Original Interview for Ondalternativa HERE

Anathema - Distant Satellites

There are albums that keep you company for a little time, and then there’s Anathema, with ten songs that definitely are here to stay. Tenth studio album of the Liverpool based band, “Distant Satellites” is the album that better summarize their musical growth. A dreamy, melancholic and sometimes dark atmosphere permeate the whole album,  and the final result is emotionally overwhelming. 

The highlights of the album are the three part of “Lost song”, in which Vincent Cavanagh and Lee Douglas sing  the same story by two points of view, reminding a bit of “Untouchable”.

And, if your heart is still whole in your chest,  there come “Dusk (dark is descending)” and “Ariel” to finish the job.  “Anathema” is an anthem, sort of a link between past and future, a song that reminds of Alternative 4 but with the mood of the latest albums.

The last three songs leave more space to some experiments with electronic sounds. The result? Is magic. Anathema tear my heart in pieces once again, ’cause Distant Satellites it’s me, it’s us, it’s a way to remind everyone that love’s the only thing that matters, in the end.

Tracklist:

      1.       "The Lost Song, Part 1"

2.       "The Lost Song, Part 2"

3.       "Dusk (Dark Is Descending)"

4.       "Ariel"

5.       "The Lost Song, Part 3"

6.       "Anathema"

7.       "You're Not Alone"

8.       "Firelight"

9.       "Distant Satellites"

10.   "Take Shelter" 

http://www.anathema.ws/

"Wall of Sound" Ewian Interview

Ewian is a emerged band from Germany and LFdM had the pleasure to talk with Ewian Christensen (Vocals and Piano) about his world.
Ladies and gentlemen, Ewian...

LFdM: Could you describe your sound for those who never have heard you before with three of your songs?

EC: I think the following three songs best represent the characteristic sound of Ewian: Don´t stand by me, Voices in your head, Take your meds.

Significant elements are bittersweet melodies, noisy guitars, distorted piano and solemnly string passages.

However more important than the characteristic sound of Ewian is in my view the meaning of every single song.

Portraying an issue musically in a coherent way is one of the biggest challenges of songwriting.

LFdM: Which album or artist awakened your interest in production and songwriting?

EC: Radiohead - OK Computer

       VAST - Visual Audio Sensory Theater

       Muse - Showbiz

LFdM: What kind of atmosphere do you want to catch before entering in the studio?

EC: I fully try to empathize with the issue of a song before i make recordings, especially vocal recordings.

I heard that Korn Frontman Jonathan Davis cried while vocal recordings.

Well, this is what I'm talking about.

Watch this: (Jonathan Davis: KoRn)

LFdM: What are you doing currently? Projects?

EC: I´m absolutely focused on the the production of the new Ewian album. I can say that we are not far away from finishing

the record. Beside that? Nothing much :)

I´m just looking forward to all the things and uncertainties wich might come.

Members: 

Ewian Christensen, Benjamin Lachance

Discography: 

- March 2013: We will never grow old (EP) 

- October 2013: Voices in your head (Single)

Link

Quiet and Dark Spirit... Who's Anton Yeroma?

Songwriter, illustrator, musician Anton Yeroma comes from Minsk and we wanna introduce you his world and solo project called Difleger.    
                                                                 
LFdM: First of all I wanna thank you for your disponibility.

I got to listen your music and I was fascinated . 

It seems the images (like the images that you made) become music, could you tell us something about that?

AY: I found  tranquillity in songwriting, it is a kind meditation,it helps me concentrate on something deeper and more important to me.

LFdM: Can you talk about " Dreamcatcher " ?

AY: Dreamcatcher - Catch your dreams in a sleep and try to remember and turn them into reality.

LFdM: I think your music is very related to the creation of extreme contrast situations: you suddenly change from a quiet part into a blasting black-like sequence and back into a softer part. 

Your music is not accessible, it's not melodic but it's certainly creative and unique

What kind of role does religion play for you and for your art? 

AY: I believe in something above us and majority of different worlds.

LFdM: Have you ever thought to get in your hands the secret for the perfect melodies ?

AY: My melodies come to my mind from another reality.

LFdM: Are you a perfectionist?

AY: Just a little bit..

LFdM: What composers drew your attention?

AY: Ludwig van Beethoven , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Mathieu van de kerckhove , Eric Quach, Treha Sektori and other…

LFdM: What other projects are you currently working on or plan to be working on?

AY: I play in sludge band from Minsk Roddone (internet project) with ex-members Anna Coralie, since 2012.

I am planning to release an album (Difleger) in the end of this year.

Thank you very much .

Interview by Michela

Link: 

http://difleger.bandcamp.com/

The Ragged Saints - Interview

They come from Helsinki (Finland) and they are a pure finnish hardrock band!
Tomi Julkunen gives us a funny interview!

Hi man! Thank you so much for this little chat. As I told you, we want to share new music in our country or we try... 

So, you come from Finland, land of music, lakes and...beautiful people!

RS: Yes, we do come from Helsinki, Finland, the land of hard and heavy music.  There sure are loads of beautiful women around here. Can’t really complain, especially in the spring and summer. 

LFdM: Well "The Ragged Saints" an unusual name for a band, how did you come up with it?

RS: Me and Toni (the other guitarist and founding member) were trying to come up with something cool and of course somewhat original, meaning that no one else had used that name before. We both liked the word Saint. I came up with the name The Ragged Saints, it just hit me while I was in the shower one morning. Out of all places of course, shower is where all the best ideas come up hah. I checked right away if someone else was using it but nope, no one had so that’s how we decided the name the band. It turned out that there used to be this hobo long time ago and they called him The Ragged Saint after he died or something like that. He’s the saint for homeless, rejects and so on.

LFdM: Your band comes from '80s Melodic Hard Rock. What do you think about the modern Melodic hard Rock scene? 

RS: There seem to be a lot of 80’s influenced hard rock bands at the moment, and even more AOR band with lot of keyboards. Some of the bands are really good, but most are just copying 80’s band without even trying to come up with something original. It great to have those cool influences but every band should still have something else too, not just cheap copies of past hits.

LFdM: The music in "The Sound Of Breaking Free" created a good mixing between modern and old school sound. Could you tell me something about this album?

RS: It really wasn’t even supposed to be full album. We just wanted to record couple of songs for fun and put it in the internet as free streams. The music just kept coming so eventually we decided to record whole album. No pressure or anything like that. It’s cool that now people seem to think that it’s a bit of a breath of fresh air. It’s definitely not over produced in any way. We’re really happy how it turned out, and that’s what matters the most.

LFdM: Where does the inspiration to write your music come from?

RS: I don’t know as it’s really hard to explain. I just pick up my guitar and start to play. Sometimes something new just pops out. I’m trying to record most of the ideas, then listen to those riffs and ideas after couple of weeks and then decide if there’s something we could use.

LFdM: What albums inspired your interest in production and songwriting?

RS: Just to mention few I’d say Whitesnake’s 1987 and Good To Be Bad, Def Lepperd’s Pyromania and Hysteria, Ratt’s Reach For The Sky. Those were influential in song writing but not really sound wise as most of those albums tend to sound really 80’s with huge drum sounds and effected guitars. We were not trying to have that certain 80’s sound on”The Sound Of Breaking Free”. We also didn’t want to sound like any modern band with wall of guitars and all that.

LFdM: There is also a good deal of variation vocally on this effort. Who write the lyrics and music inside the band?

RS: Music was mostly written by me, Toni and Markku (the singer). Me and Toni basically came up with the music and then Markku came up with the melodies. Both me and Markku wrote the lyrics.

LFdM: Are Whitesnakes a real guide and influence for your approach in music?

RS: I wouldn’t exactly call them a guide but yes, Whitesnake is one of the biggest influences definitely. The idea for The Ragged Saints was kind of born after my other band The Milestones was supporting Whitesnake in Helsinki and Toni was our guitar tech for that show. 

LFdM: Though you are at the beginning, what has been your best concert experience at the moment?

RS: It’s really hard to pick just one as it seems that with every show we’re getting better and more comfortable with everything that happens on a live situation and how we come across live. Supporting Reckless Love was cool in a sense that the venue was packed. Personally I prefer bigger places and bigger audiences to smaller venues. I’d say other guys agree with me on that. Of course we enjoy every show we play but if I had to choose I would choose large venues with shitload of people.

Thanks a lot,
LFdM
Interview by Michela



Official Site

"The Sound Of Breaking Free"

Tracklist:

1. The Sound Of Breaking Free
2. A Place Where I Belong
3. Don't Let Me Go
4. I'll Never Give Up On Love
5. Love Won't Fade Away
6. We Are The Same
7. While The World Is Burning
8. New Beginnings
9. Never Walk Away
10. Before Time Goes By
11. The End

SadDolls - Grave Party

Track List:

01. Rave To The Grave (Intro)

02. Lady Cry

03. Terminate Me

04. Dancing Shadows

05. Bleed Sister Bleed

06. Creeping Skies

07. Sexy And Undead

08. The Last Valentine

09. Angels (Making Love In The Dark)

10. My Suicide Girl

11. You Make Me Feel Like Nothing

12. On The Road 66

The Perversion of Dionysus

Always been considered as the one who brought fruits to maturity , Dionysus is also the god of intoxication, ecstasy and urge . With this third album, the Greek SadDoLLs have finally reached their natural musical metamorphosis .

Grave Party is the development of nearly a decade of music, which undoubtedly makes homage to their idols  while strengthening its artistic identity .

The balancing act between darkwave and industrial electronics is imposed with force and violence on almost all of the twelve tracks without ever losing intensity , reaching in some cases vertiginous peaks . The considerable use of synths intersect with harsh guitar riffs and the powerful punch of the battery.

In pure techno style , the opener " Rave To The Grave" immediately leave the place to the first single "Lady Cry" , that live is truly captivating , almost as the aesthetic impact of the video.

In a crescendo of sounds "Terminate Me," " Bleed Sister Bleed" and " Suicide Girl " combinate the most romantic aura of the band with the most carnal and earthly one . The album continues with the wonderful "Last Valentine" where the persuasive voice of the leader George echoes the sighs of Joanna David .

The atmosphere get back to dark and the angels of "Angels" unfold their wings towards eternity and then fall to the ground in an ecstasy without end  with"Sexy And Undead ."

If Happy Deathday (2012) has kept you company in the lonely nights making you pay even a few tears , Grave Party will have the ability to creep inside you,  freeing the most sacrilegious parts of your soul.

Rating: 8.5

Review by Michela
Italian review for Ondalternativa webmagazine

Official Websites: http://www.saddolls.net 

https://www.facebook.com/saddolls