What is it that the North (of Europe) can teach me, about what I am and my state of mind? How much will I see some of the human condition in nature’s indifference to our existence?

Perhaps someone can give me an idea of this… someone wise, and meditative.

Someone like Ilmari Issakainen, from Tenhi.

The clock is ticking before my journey, but not fast enough that I can’t ask him some questions about the North, as well as the Finnish neofolk maestros’ latest effort “Saivo”. But first things first, eh?

Looking back to the band’s name, ‘tenhi’  means “wise old sage” or “seer”. In what way does this reflect on how you all view the modern world?

In the beginning, we were angry teenagers with a lot of misanthropic feelings. I think that in those days, one meaning for the word was to somehow seek purity and find reason for everything from our own roots.

We felt like outsiders to the surrounding society – we needed a way out, and music was the ticket!

You’ve mentioned in past interviews, that you grew up with and were influenced by metal music. In what way does this actually translate over to the sound and atmosphere of Tenhi, which is signifcantly more subdued and less reliant on guitars by comparison, than the likes of Slayer and Metallica?

Well, I think that there is a certain weight and attitude that comes from our metal background. Some people even regard our music as acoustic doom!

To me, it is no surprise that we’re the most appreciated in the metal world, as compared to other music scenes.

At this point, I have to ask – what does ‘Saivo’ mean in the Finnish language, and how does it fit your new album?

“Saivo” is a kind of Finnish myth which is equivalent in someways to Hades or Elysion, and is located under a certain lake where the ancestors live in an inverted “upside down” world. To us, the title doesn’t necessarily mean the world of the undead – “Saivo” can also be seen as a portal to a different state of mind, or even a reflective counterpart to this existence.

One concrete meaning for me however, was that “Saivo” formed an idea where inspiration flowed like a current with the memories and heritage of our forefathers.

The past flows and echoes through us constantly, and our state of being is based on the choices and works of our forefathers. That is, the same water that flowed through our ancestors flows in us now.

It’s been mentioned that part of why you choose to write your lyrics in Finnish, is because the language has a melancholic intonation that works with the words.

For us, the language has always been a crucial part of our thing. It has never even been discussed whether we should sing in something other than Finnish! We could have never achieved the mood we want by using, for example, English. So many things are connected to the Finnish tongue: rhythm, mood, tone and character. Even the lyrical content is derived from this language.

So how else would you say that Tenhi is a characteristically Finnish band?

Our music reflects the landscape and mentality of Finland: slow, somber and no humour, hehe.

You often hear that melancholy is a key asset to understanding the Nordic mindset. In what way do you consider the music of Tenhi to be offering something different to this view?

Well, melancholy is usually mentioned when our music is been analyzed, which is an integral component to us as persons for sure.

About the Nordic mindset, I can’t answer – Finland actually has a unique blend of Nordic influences and Slavic ones.  Our mentality is perhaps connected to the ruthless seasonal cycles that we experience each year, which leave us with a degree of humility, silence and reverence for nature.

Listening to your newest release ‘Saivo‘, there seems to be more focus on the vocal performance here than on ‘Airut…’ where the piano was the main instrument.

This time, we focused very deeply on the vocals. All the people involved in the band has a good voice, so we thought to use more of them in general.

‘Airut: Aamujen‘ was part of the “Airut” saga which has a somewhat different approach to “normal” Tenhi releases in that it’s perhaps more experimental – it was piano-driven, it didn’t have huge arrangements, and so on.

In what way does Saivo connect to the themes of loneliness and rebirth that were present with ‘Airut…’ and ‘Maaäet’; your last albums?

Loneliness and rebirth have followed us thematically in every release. One of the main concepts about the myth of Saivo is continuing your life in the “hereafter” by entering a new state of existence. So in this respect, that same theme continues!

Though you don’t follow too much of a folk music formula, there is still a nature-based vibe throughout your work that sits close to a “neofolk” atmosphere.

Obviously, nature is a major theme for us and we do draw a lot of inspiration from it. When it comes to genres though. I think that I will leave the categorizations to journalists and critics!

Knowing that even the name of your previous compilation record was ‘Folk Aesthetic‘, what does folk music mean to you personally, and what values do you believe it has which most modern music genres (including rock) could learn from?

To me, folk as a term refers to a certain population with something in common that ties them together. This kind of binding root element is quite distinct in our music.

Of course, we have a lot of musical elements from our national background, but for me, the “folk aesthetic” refers to a group of people who agree with our musical principles.

When it comes to musical genres and their values, I don’t have an opinion – we tend to keep things on a intuitive level.

K. Ann Sulaiman would like to thank Tenhi and Prophecy Productions for this interview.

-Cirith Ungol re-issues! Huzzah!

-Grand Magus are coming back to the UK in March

-Atlantean Kodex and Barren Earth are making more material!.. er, not together, of course. That would be awkward, lest it be a side project that works

-More from Forbidden and Overkill

The Bad

-Me(n)tal-Meltdown is likely going to be on temporary hiatus until mid-February. Why? Because I’ve got some packing to do, before I head out for a month abroad. In the meantime, I’ve got a couple of posts queued up to air before the 14th. So stay tuned!

Love;

K. Ann Sulaiman

It’s only December 30th, yet this is my last ever post of 2011. Best to make it count then, right? I didn’t want to write at first; I wanted to record that final episode of the Me(n)tal-Meltdown show which I’ve been promising people, though the written word seems more apt for a moment like this.

A year ago, I looked back on the tidings of 2010 before concluding with what I, as a metalhead, was expecting from 2011.

Looking back at that list, I feel a mental tick going off against each item to confirm that yes, it’s been done but there is still much more to come in 2012.

Judas Priest started their Epitaph world tour as a farewell to the global live circuit, but they’re carrying on into the next year.

Cathedral have had their final live show ever, though they may record and release their last ever album later on.

Moonsorrow, Primordial and a few others have already pushed out new albums, but so will Asphyx, Fukpig, Nekromantheon and Pilgrim to name a few.

Also, how about that delayed Wintersun album, eh? He can’t kept at the game for long.

There were also a few miracles for the metal world, namely when soon after fans across backgrounds and religions got together to raise awareness of leukemia and organised bone marrow donations, Nergal eventually recovered from his own condition and returned to the metal world with fresh spirit and energy. Love or hate Behemoth, this alone is inspiration enough for anyone and everyone caught in the boughs of suffering.

Yet there were many downs as well, as what comes with each passing year. 2011 saw the end of depressive rockers Lifelover when their founder and guitarist B passed away; the black metal scene lost Jonas aus Slavia (real name: Jonas Raskolnikov Christiansen) amoung others to cancer; Woods of Ypres lost their founder, friend and frontman David Gold in a car accident just this month.

You can see who else we lost, over here. May they rest in peace.

Obviously Seth Putnam’s death has divided people in the grind scene, but this is an issue that’s best left aside for another place, another time.

Now, I can hear some of you out there reading this, saying to yourselves “Ah, c’mon! It wasn’t all death and gloom, Ann! Look at the Black Sabbath reunion for one!” To this, I add, “True, but–”

True, but while there is a reunion of the original line up, again, only time will tell how that will turn out. Bill, Geezer and Ozzy are hardly spring chickens (though Iommi’s said to be in good form), and that they’re not playing a show in the town that helped make them what they are today is rather disappointing.

To be fair, it could go either way.

Come on 2012, I think we’re ready for you already.

Hello, Minions.

Amidst unforeseen hiccups in schedule, such as family matters rendering a temporary setback in my proposal to do an online radio show each week in December (which I plan to amend), your Lord and Mistress of Light Darkness/Dark Light has decided to bestow her everlasting words of wisdom onto you.

In no order whatsoever, let us allocate these anecdotes of sage advice where they seem fit.

First, avoid yon schmuck who recalls your face from a gig one year back, and will not cease staring at you throughout the entirety of the show.

Second, refrain from socking the rabble who attempt to slam dance into one another at a doom show. This, I have gleaned from a trusty companion who previously parted many a tidbit of sage advice onto me for open air festivals. I am merely saving up enough in the kitty for those.

Third – and you must be aware of this already – never, ever jump up and down, on the occasion that you would be expected to jump up and down, after consuming a beverage in the moshpit. The stitches you shall receive will be a bitch.

Alas, I must end my words for now and endue onto you a final list… I pray tell you shan’t forget what I have taught you, about love, art and music this passing year–

okay, here’s the top 20 albums list I mentioned before in the fifth episode of the Me(n)tal-Meltdown show. It was a tricky one to write, and I ended up leaving a lot of fine contenders out of it. Feel inclined to agree or disagree, however you wish. Anyone who wishes to send Molotov cocktails, my address is

42 Bakers Wood

Jane Doe Drive

Incognito

The Top 20 albums of 2011, that I picked for Invisible Oranges

1. Dornenreich ‘Flammentriebe’

2. Cruachan ‘Blood On The Black Robe’

3. Exhumed – ‘All Guts, No Glory’

4. Nekromantheon ‘Divinity of Death’

5. Isole ‘Born From Shadows’

6. Septicflesh ‘The Great Mass’

7. Darkest Era – ‘The Last Caress of Light’

8. Moonsorrow ‘Varjoina Kuliemme Kuolleiden Maasa’

9. White Wizzard ‘Flying Tigers’

10. The Rotted ‘Ad Naseum’

11. Crucified Mortals ‘Crucified Mortals’

12. De Profundis ‘A Bleak Reflection’

13. Dalriada ‘Ígéret’

14. Motörhead ‘The World Is Ours’

15. Primordial ‘Redemption At The Puritan’s Hand’

16. Wolf ‘Legions of Bastards

17. Kampfar ‘Mare’

18. ChthoniC ‘Takasago Army’

19. Sólstafir ‘Svartir Sandar’

20. Saxon – ‘Call To Arms’

If you want to read and contest the site’s official top 50 list (as well as look at what I’ve written for Moonsorrow and Septicflesh), go here, here, here, here and .

Toodles!

–K. Ann Sulaiman

While I didn’t grow up with Christmas, here at Me(n)tal-Meltdown we strive to recognise the importance of spreading goodwill and festive cheer to each and everyone of you. Christmas – or Yule, as it’s known in parts of Europe – is a time to reflect upon ourselves and what we can do to make the people around us a key part of our lives.

Just was is it about this time of the year, that makes us so inspired to reach out to others? At the end of the day, what does Christmas mean to all of us?

Well, perhaps that is true… though one has to ask – must our actual perception of the Holiday season really be so cynical? Is it not said that Christmas is a time to be think on not just ourselves, but our fellow man?

We must remember, that the physical, material world is merely a shadow of the true wealth behind this holiday; it is a time to take that step we all hesitate to follow through with each year – the step towards reconnecting to our spiritual paths.

I ask of you now – does anyone in the audience not recall the Meaning of Christmas? The importance of sacrifice, love and compassion? The warmth of kindness, the mirth of hope?

Or could it be that all along, in this modern day and age, we have just become jaded to remembering what is sacred and pure?

…I give up.

Happy Holidays anyway.

Love;

K. Ann Sulaiman

(Enough, already.)

The Me(n)tal-Meltdown show – Round SIX!

Though she’s running late, host K. Ann Sulaiman is back for another round of the Me(n)tal-Meltdown show!

Bringing an episode each week of December until 2012, she’s looking to hear what YOU think was the best (or worst) of 2011 in metal! Or grindcore, or hardcore, etc. While she’s at it, she’s bringing along some friends into this episode – who are they? Were are they from? Tune in to find out!

Always on top form with their brand of crushing, doom metal with majestically reaching vocals, Isole’s newest effort ‘Born from Shadows’ delivers more of the same quality that fans have come to expect from them, yet with a few differences here and there.

Though tired from his work as a forklift driver, frontman and guitarist Crister Olsson was kind enough to talk to me about what it was like to create this album, as well as how the commitments between fatherhood and musicianship may intervene with one another.

So what was the rehearsal like for ‘Born from Shadows’?

Actually, we recorded this album twice! We did a pre-recording for the first time together as a band, after rehearsing for it a little bit, so that we could do better the second time since it’s a lot of work.

It’s been mentioned that this album features the conclusion to the “Moonstone trilogy”…

Yes, indeed. When we wrote the first song ‘Moonstone‘ on a demo tape in 1994, it was just a song inspired by an old computer game. Later on though, our bassist Henrik Lindenmo and I decided to write a follow-up with the opposite to the Moonstone – the Shadowstone.

I read that for you, the Moonstone and Shadowstone are actually rather symbolic rather than literal fantasy things in the lyrics.

Yes, they aren’t actually “stones” – the idea is that from the beginning, we were influenced by a series of books by the Russian author Nick Perumov. The stories had swords which helped to uphold the symbolism of good meeting evil, which we have as well but with stones!

Symbolism is often found in our songs, and ‘Born from Shadows‘ even has it on the cover art which makes it even more mystical. Personally, I like to write like this because you put it down in a way for everyone else to make their own interpretations, and well, I don’t want it to be direct! Heh heh heh.

The new album is perhaps the most symbolic work for Isole, and we’ve continued this tradition because that’s just the way we approach the lyrics.

One of the arguments in metal’s favour is that it’s a music for “smart people”, since it draws on literature, politics and philosophy. With this in mind, how do you feel that doom metal as a subgenre is ideal for what Isole do?

Well, I think that this isn’t anything special for doom metal, though in the metal scene it’s perhaps more used in this style than others. I listen to other kinds of music, and melancholic music often uses metaphors which I guess suits the mood.

I don’t know if doom metal is for “smart people” as I don’t consider this to be the case. You can certainly use metaphors in angry music as well, but I don’t know if that’s what happens because I don’t listen to that much of it. For us though, metaphors work fine!

I should point out though, that the “Moonstone trilogy” that we talk about doesn’t run through the albums, but just consists of  individual songs that are tied together.

I was wondering about that! Also because Isole have mentioned ‘Silent Ruins’ to be a concept album about redemption.

Yes, that one’s definitely a concept album! There is actually one story which goes through the whole record, and I hope that there’ll be a follow-up on this theme in the future. Henrik wanted to do a long story which continues on two albums, but now he’s not really an active member of Isole anymore. We don’t know what the future will hold for us when it comes to his work, though I hope that he’ll finish up this story for us.

Where is Henrik?

He has some personal reasons for why he won’t be sharing the stage with the rest of Isole, although he did record the album with us. I think he won’t be in the band again, albeit he still wants to hang out with us and maybe write something! I hope that he’ll continue to do that.

Henrik has been away from the band’s performances for one and a half years; he wrote half of the lyrics for the new album, and every lyric on ‘Silent Ruins‘. He’s pretty much the main lyricalist in Isole (despite his absence).

As for the other half of ‘Born from Shadows’, I did three songs (‘The Lake‘, ‘My Angel‘ and ‘Condemned‘) and the other guitarist Daniel contributed one. If Henrik had been a full-time member, then he would have likely done everything himself.

I’d like to ask about ‘My Angel‘ – religious motifs are usually a common theme for doom metal, yet this time around, the angle is rather different…

That one is actually about my first born, when my wife and I were expecting a child! It’s not an angel in the Bible, but a personal one that tips my own world aside as my life changed when I became a father.

How has fatherhood put a strain on your other life as a musician?

Well, I’m being restrained yet I’ve also become more active when it comes to making compositions and such; you also get more inspiration when you become a parent. The time issue, however, is the hardest one, in that while you do get more inspiration you have to skip something else in order to handle it. In my case, I’ve been skipping my sleep because I had to go out to the rehearsal room and studio at nighttime. Then I had to go to work, afterwards! Ha ha ha!

Often it’s assumed that when a musician becomes a parent, their work changes -  their focus becomes more about positivity and happiness no matter what style of music they work with. How do you feel about such an assumption?

Everything has two sides – it would be ridiculous for me to write joyful lyrics to sad and melancholic music. When I write, I think about my own fears and experiences from life. I still have to search my dark side in some way, as yes; you are full of happiness when you become a parent.

Our drummer Jonas had a newborn a couple of months ago, so I’m not the only one in the band who has kids. He’s been experiencing the same issues with time that I have, so it’s kind of nice! (chuckles) It’s good to have someone else who understands that it’s not that simple to go to rehearsal, as you have other things to deal with. But I believe he’s having very hard time of it, since he’s also our sound engineer.

So how do you manage to balance time between Isole and not just your family, but your day job?

Again, I have no free time at all! It’s kind of hard, as I now have two kids and work forty hours a week, not to mention that I’m also involved in Ereb Altor, with whom I’m recording the eighth album at the moment. I get no free time at all, though I guess I find my sanctuary in the studio’s rehearsal room, because then I can be alone for a while to ponder (about things).

You learn after a while how to spend your time wisely, so that you can do everything, but in the beginning it’s difficult.

At this point, I want to return to the music and songwriting on ‘Born from Shadows‘. Listening to the album, it’s clear that it carries on with the crushing heaviness from ‘Silent Ruins‘ which isn’t sacrificed for melodic hooks.

How does Isole view heaviness?

It’s not important at all! It’s just the way it comes out. You never know how the music will turn out when you’re composing. Myself, I don’t say that “I will do a crushingly heavy album”. I’m not even trying to do any particular style, except for the melodies that I like.

Since Isole was born, heaviness has always been at our foundation, yet it’s not something we’ve been consciously trying to do. On this record, you can even hear some other elements that have never featured before for us. Nothing’s planned ever, and we will continue to do music for ourselves. I’m not making music to be famous or make money, as it’s ridiculous to play doom metal if you have such ambitions! I only do it to please my own needs.

With that in mind, how would you say that the new album meets your own needs?

I’m very pleased with the outcome of this album… it’s darker than ever, and I’ve been listening to a lot of dark music lately where I’ve learned new things when it comes to music. It gets tiring to play really slow music all the time, so you want to put something different into it to get some variation. I need my music to make something happen all the time – while I like very heavy sounds, it can’t always be so. You need a lot of things inside a song to make it more interesting, which is what you have to work on if you have a track that’s about ten minutes long or more.

I’d say that I’m satisfied with the new release – it’s not very often that I am! Maybe one year after, you see the flaws and your mindset is different from what it was back then, but I find it really hard to please myself with what I make. Right now I’m proud of ‘Born from Shadows‘; it has the small variations here and there which keeps it from being boring.

I don’t know what I’ll be saying one year from now, but now the small things are there that do it for me.

K. Ann would like to thank Crister Olsson and Napalm Records for this interview.

Get ready for an hour of quality metal from Hail of Bullets, Nightlord, Alunah and more, plus the host has a task for you all! Listen in to find out!

The Me(n)tal-Meltdown show – Round FIVE!

I’m saving my own personal list for later, but I’m sure the rest of you can get talking. Expect a reminder for this on Friday, when the Me(n)tal-Meltdown show returns!

What was the best album/news/gig/festival of 2011 for you? What was the worst? Surely it can’t all have been great (here’s a secret, I was actually let down by the new Amon Ama — whoops)!

Get commenting – and for extra measure, answers to either of the above which include “Black Sabbath’s reunion” don’t count! That one’s enough of a mixed bag as it is, and not that many of you were surprised with the announcement on 11/11/11.

Looking forward to reading from you!