Gibletface: Doing just great. Enjoying the last nice and warm weeks of the terribly short Finnish summer. Ron Tomb: We need more alcohol to survive the dark autumn and cold winter.

ES: Seeing as some of our readers might not have heard of you, please could you tell us the history of how the band came together? Why did you choose Mystic Grave as your name? G. The band came together in 2006.

A.P Pagan and Ron Tomb managed to create one song that caught my attention. It was a piece of sickening groove with some disharmonic riffing. I started to create new tunes and here we are! One kick-ass EP under our belts. Instead of going through the basic anatomy books to find a weird name for this band we decided to stick with Mystic Grave. It just fits the vibe of the whole band. Old school simplicity and of course a taste of twisted humour.

ES: On the subject, where on earth does the name Gibletface come from? It's possibly the best metal name I've ever heard.

G. Well thank you! It’s just an idea that popped into my head when we were talking all things about Mystic Grave. It’s a gut feeling and I decided to stick with it. It still feels kinda weird to put that name into e-mails but fuck it. Hahah!

ES: Trust me, it feels infinitely weirder to GET an email from such a person!

ES: I recently reviewed "Doom, Death Darkness", your 2007 EP, here on Metal Team. How was that release received by the world? Did you get positive responses from the press and the fans?

G. Response has been mainly positive. You can read the reviews on our homepage and on our Myspace. There’s some comments about us sounding too much like Autopsy but I guess they didn’t give enough time for our release to sink in. But I know they will become our slaves sooner or later! RT: Feedback has been better than I dared to imagine and yeah it’s great to know that someone likes this filth somewhere on this globe as much as we do.

A.P. Pagan: I guess that people who are only into technical death metal and stuff like that, hate it. It's good to see that the majority of reviewers understand what we are about.

ES: I saw that you have announced the new album is being recorded right now. How is the recording process going? How will the new songs differ from the EP? G. Drums, Bass and guitars have been recorded. Next comes the vocal duties and we’re going to put our full attention to them. We’ve got some twisted ideas how to bring you the growls and grunts of the deceased in audio form! New songs are extremely heavy and versatile. There’s all kinds of stuff happening. On one of our new tracks your hearing Six Feet Under and suddenly it turns into Black Sabbath/Electric Wizard. Sounds extreme but it really works!

AP: I'm really excited about the new album. This time we recorded the guitar, bass and drums live to capture the band's natural vibe. This one is also going to be an EP release, 5 kick-ass songs with absolutely no fillers in the middle.

ES: Are you recording in the same studio as before? What kind of sound do you try to create on your records?

G. Yes we are using the same studio and the same dude behind the buttons Janne Satokangas. The sound of the record is going to have more balls! D.D.D has razorblades if you know what I mean. RT: When we recorded D.D.D we were pretty sauced up but this time we first recorded and the rock’n roll partying started afterwards. Good to try things this way around.

A.P: With Mystic Grave, the atmosphere is always an important factor. We're trying to keep the sound raw and filthy, with a kind of a putrid stench of an open grave.

ES: Mystic Grave seem to enjoy exploring sick and twisted subjects in their songs! What are the main themes you write about? Do you think lyrics are a serious element of music? G. I think vocals are mainly a rhythm instrument in Mystic Grave. Lyrics deal about all the things in a twisted mind. I think straight forward gore is boring. When you think about all the things in a human mind that lead to horrible acts then stuff becomes interesting. So yeah we try to put that kind of vibe into it.

AP: When you play death metal, there aren't that many options on what to write about. Let's face it; it's going to be some sort of morbid, twisted, death -related stuff. Of course, the lyrics have to be fitting to the songs. None of us are native English-speakers, so it's pretty challenging to try to paint convincing visual images through the lyrics, but this is pretty much what we're trying to do. We really do put our minds to it, when writing lyrics - tongue-in-cheek or not.

ES: Where do you get your inspiration- musical and lyrical- from?

G. I just listen to the notes in my head and do what I got to do to make them listenable for everyone. I listen to all kinds of music and I guess somehow I get inspired by those different songs. It’s pretty hard to explain. Sometimes I wake at night with a great riff in my head and I just run to my ridiculously old cassette player and record the idea on that! I get inspired when my mind is tired. The creativity starts to operate when I don’t have the strength to analyze things to death. I think many artists can relate to this.

ES: Which bands have had the most influence on you? If you could go on tour with any band in the world, who would you choose?! G. I would definitely tour with NECROPHAGIA! Did you get that? NECROPHAGIA!!! I think they are fucking fantastic! Incredibly catchy songs and a great live performance. Go buy all their albums!!! Six Feet Under, Obituary, Autopsy, Celtic Frost, Black Sabbath and Eyehategod have definitely had some influence on Mystic Grave. Fuck the technical stuff and soulless vibes!

RT: I’ve been listening to all kinds of music but I think Necrophagia would fit well with Mystic Grave.

ES: Is playing live something you aim to do a lot of with Mystic Grave? Do you have any shows lined up yet?

G. No shows yet but we’re going to make it happen after this next EP is out. Maybe we’ll get some stuff going with the labels and get some support with all the arrangements of touring.

RT: Our shows will have a sick and twisted vibe and a show worthy of seeing. So Kiss attitude is among us.

ES: Are you looking for a label home at the moment? What kind of label would you consider signing with?

G. Any label that is ready to do some work with us. No bullshit deals! It has to work and stuff has to be done. I’ve heard some stories about bands in Finland signing with these stupid little labels and then everything crashes and nothing gets done properly to get those records for the buying fans.

ES: Everyone knows Finland is a great place to find metal bands.... are you involved with a scene in your local area? Are there any less well known Finnish bands that you would recommend to our readers?

G. Well there are good bands in the underground in Finland but the well known Finnish bands are in my opinion really lame. It’s all about the gay lead melodies and dudes looking like chicks. It lacks attitude and there is no really slimy grooves. But yeah I won’t buy that shit. I have other projects. Frontlines and Napoleon Skullfukk and I suggest you check them out. And to support my friends bands here’s a few: Downstone, Seith, Feastem, Chromatic Dark, Point-Blank.

RT: There are few good bands. Like Napoleon Skullfukk is a fucking great live band. Most Finnish band suffer from lack of imagination and everything being taken too seriously. Rock stars like Gene Simmons will not be found from Finland and never will be.

ES: Do you think your geographical location affects your music in any way? In your inspirations or just the way you sound?

G. I don’t know would I write this kind of music if I lived in a shack in a rainforest. Maybe I would find other ways to express myself. I guess long winters have something to do with the slower parts of Mystic Grave.

ES: What are your goals for Mystic Grave over the next couple of years? Are there any milestones that you have set for yourself?

G. Goal is to get the next EP done in a way that we are all fully satisfied with it. We do things step by step. Of course we want to be the biggest band in the universe! We will not limit ourselves or this band in any way

Thanks again for the chance to do this interview; if you have any last messages for the world, please go ahead!:

G. Thank you really much for this great interview! Really great that you got some kicks and vibes out of “Doom, Death Darkness”. Really cool! I hope every music fanatic in England and in the world checks out our stuff and shares their views about everything. Like the metal mastermind Chuck Schuldiner said: LET THE METAL FLOW!!!

RT: Thank you for the cool interview.

For more on the band check out http://www.mysticgrave.com
http://www.myspace.com/mysticgrave

Interviewed by Ellen Simpson

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