Intervista Moonsorrow (Mitja Harvilahti)

Interview with Mitja Harvilahti of Moonsorrow, on the evening of the band show in Prague (29/10/2016)

Hello, welcome to TrueMetal.it. What can we expect from your tour this tour of yours and what relationship came to be among Moonsorrow, Skálmöld and Korpiklaani?

This tour is essentially a continuation of the one we did in spring, so there will be a lot of place dedicated to our new record, Jumalten Aika. With Korpiklaani the relationship is fantastic. It’s a bit ‘like coming home, because the spring tour was right with them, the formula is already tried and tested. On the other hand I do not know Skálmöld very well, apart from what you can hear too (at the beginning of the interview the Icelandic band were finishing the sound check, r.n.).

Are there cities or countries in which you prefer to play or where you are happy to go back?

Obviously, there are differences between playing in the north or in the south of Europe, but do not believe that they are so clear. Indeed, often the most  surprising differences are between cities of the same country. In Germany, for example, public has different reactions from city to city. I can tell you that for us is stimulating to play in countries and cities where we know that the public is traditionally cold, we feel the challenge and the need to involve them to turn the show into a success.

Now I have a question that is a bit unusual, still about your live activity: Have you ever thought of a dedicated show, for example, playing the entire Viides Luuku – Hävitetty or perhaps a show with an orchestra?

Actually we think about it quite often, but for one reason or another we haven’t done it yet.  Especially the live with the orchestra is a theme that recurs cyclically, also for the fact that many bands do it. The truth is, though, that we do not feel the need of something as such … you know … “Live is rock’n’roll”! (Quote) Basically we are very pleased to provide genuine and immediate sets that express the most of our essence.

In terms of being direct, I got the feeling that Jumalten Aika is a kind of return to the origins, while listening often it came in my mind an album as Voimasta ja Kunniasta.

That’s it. After all, being an artist means to evolve, and in our case we found ourselves bored with the sound developed through the years. Substantially pompous orchestrations did not amused us anymore and we felt a need to return to the black metal roots, we wanted to go back over the years and be direct.

Sometimes on Truemetal we noticed that Finnish groups have a strong feeling for simple melodies compared to the Swedish and Norwegian colleagues. Do you agree?

Not really. Actually, I disagree. There are many bands from the two other countries that have an ability to create frightening impact with their riffs. But it is a bit the essence of black metal, which began as a simple and striking music. Referring back to the previous question, I would say that in Jumalten Aika it has become more marked because of the need of simplicity we felt. Be direct, in music as in the lyrics, that’s all!

Before speaking about the texts, I’d like to know whether the tree on the cover symbolizes Yggdrasil.

It can be, but it’s not necessary. The tree of life is present in many cultures, even in the Finnish, although it is a bit different from Yggdrasil. The tree is simply a universal figure.

Coming to the texts, your mythology is very different from the Norse one. Therefore, who are these “Jumalten” (gods)?

There is nothing like a concrete reference to these gods or those ones. Jumalten Aika is not a mythological album, if we can say it like that. We talk about the creation process of the ancient gods and their fallout in the modern times. Thus, the need for ancient men to believe in a being higher than them, a being that, nowadays, has been subsequently replaced by money.

Are there some aspects or elements of Finnish mythology that survived in nowadays Finland? For example, I am fascinated by the perception of death (Tuonela), which in the Kalevala is described as a farm …

Well, of course not. We, alike all Scandinavians, got heavily Christianized centuries ago. So now there is no one who believes in something that is narrated in the Kalevala indeed. Those texts are part of our culture, but I find it difficult for them to actually influence it in practice.

How do you see bands, for example from South America, playing viking metal and dealing with Norse mythology? Is it strange? And yet, how do you see bands that adapt the Viking concept to their tradition, such as Arkona or, in general, Slavic metal?

I prefer the latter. I’m nobody to judge, but it would be much more interesting if bands from South America, or even the Italian ones, spoke about their cultures, which are so very rich. On the other end, I find myself to admit that our mythology and the Norse are very fascinating, so I am not surprised that many are inspired by Edda and Kalevala, texts which will still give massive inspirations to many bands through the years.

Have you ever toured in South America?

It would be great, and we got close to it a few times, but, same as for the above mentioned “special lives”, in the end we never managed to do a South American tour. Hopefully it will happen soon!

Back to the Viking topic, what do you think of the drift out from the traditional, classic Viking style by legendary bands like Ensiferum or Turisas? Do you feel as the last great Viking band in business?

Absolutely not, and once again, I disagree with this view. In fact, we drifted out from traditional viking style as well, at least on a thematic level. Regarding Turisas and Ensiferum, honestly I do not know what direction they will take (this sentence did not contain any judgment, he actually and simply meant he does not know where the artistic evolution will lead this bands, Ed.) But look at Enslaved, for instance: they were one of the milestones of the sub-genre. Yet they have changed, in terms of sound as lyrics, but that’s part of the artistic evolution of each band. At the beginning, when the bands are young, it’s all black and white, then everybody captures some nuances and musical style evolves. The same goes for us. Still, like I said , the lyrics of Jumalten Aika are not exactly Viking. They are somehow deeper. Okay, they are in Finnish and they are obscure because of the language, but you can find traditions on the internet. Simply, everyone creates his artistic career, that’s all!