When a CD from Verjnuarmu called Ruatokansan Uamunkoetto turned up it was evident that I was not dealing with an album that was going to be particularly easy to translate. Luckily metal is a universal language that we all love and the music kind of spoke for itself. I must admit that when I was asked to do an interview I found myself slightly stumped. The group’s website is in Finnish and there is only one paragraph of English text on their MySpace page. I have a feeling this could be quite a surreal interview but let’s see what happens.
PW: Greetings and congratulations on the new album. The first thing I wanted to ask was about your name Verjnuarmu; I believe that if it was in ‘proper’ Finnish it would mean Bloodscratch which is rather strange in itself. Can you elaborate on this and how would a non Finnish speaker pronounce the group’s name?
Viitakemies: Hello and thanks! Well, Verjnuarmu is something that just sounds good (or weird). I have to admit that if you translate it, it sounds pretty stupid. Or to be more poetic, I could also say that it is an ancient Savonian curse that summons (if pronounced "tarpeeks levveesti") Satan from the depths of Hell and makes beer flood from the skies... Choose yourself, I like the last one better :) The pronunciation thing might be bit tricky to explain here, but when I said it once to an American interviewer he repeated it perfectly. So I guess you'll have to hear it to learn it.
PW: When I mentioned ‘proper’ Finnish you actually sing and write in Savo a certain dialect from East Finland can you tell us a bit more about this?
Viitakemies: Savo is wide province in East Finland that has quite loveable dialect that Finns outside Savo find somehow funny. And because we live in Savo and it is our native dialect it's natural for us to use it in music.
PW: Are you unique, I believe you were the first band singing Savo metal but are there any others and are there perhaps any groups that play Savo music that are not metal?
Viitakemies: We're still the only band that plays Savo metal, so in that sense we're unique. But since the dawn of mankind Savonians have used their dialect in music and I think that Paradise Lost even named one of their albums "Savonian times" to pay homage to Savo :)
PW: I find the whole theme of bands singing in their traditional verse really interesting. In fact as far as metal is concerned it is the one sort of music that I think fans will embrace whatever language it is written in. However I do think that most groups do eventually find that singing in a language other than English can hamper their progress in the long run. Is this something you consider and do you intend to always be a Savo singing band or perhaps will you adopt English lyrics in the future?
Viitakemies: Absolutely no, we'll never discard Savo. It might be harder to succeed this way but the dialect is essential part of this band and we'll rather make it the hard way than lose the dialect and make tons of money :)
PW: With this in mind, I certainly have never heard of your band and others who I know here who keep a very close eye on Finnish metal had not either. How well known would you say you are internationally?
Viitakemies: We're not very well known outside Finland but we are getting more and more international listeners every day via MySpace and YouTube etc. Some might say we're the best kept secret in Finnish metal but still people all over the world seem to find us, which is nice.
PW: How would you describe your actual music? For me I hear lots of different elements within it, pagan, heathen, death, black and even that dreaded battle tag with some elements of traditional folk music?
Viitakemies: For us it's just metal. It's hard to pinpoint every single influence that we have and labelling music for us is totally unnecessary. Some people have tagged us melodic death metal which I think we're not, at least in a way it's nowadays taken. You could say we're more like death metal band with melodies and influences from traditional heavy metal and folk music with a pinch of blackness. (As always, this turned out to be the hardest question to answer)
PW: The title to your new album is obviously lost on me can you tell us the meaning of ‘Ruatokansan Uamunkoetto’
Viitakemies: Ruatokansan Uamunkoetto means Dawn of the Dead or Dawn of the Corpse Folk.
PW: Is there a theme or concept for the album I notice that apparently you sing about misery of life, cruelness of war and blissfulness of death?
Viitakemies: As the title might suggest, the album deals with the subjects of wandering dead, lost souls and death itself. It's not a real theme album though all the songs fit well under the album title. The lyrics are mostly inspired by Finnish and Savonian folklore and especially old ghost stories.
PW: This is actually your second album the debut Muanpiällinen Helevetti was released in 2006 on Universal. How would you say you have progressed musically between the two albums and is the debut still available to buy?
Viitakemies: We're more guitar-oriented and brutal on "Ruatokansan Uamunkoetto" and the songs have more hooks as well as they're better arranged. "Muanpiällinen Helevetti" wasn't that focused as an album; it had its hits and misses and more keyboards. It's still a great album and it is still available, at least in Finland.
PW: Although I use that word unique again I would try and describe your music as being particularly accessible for lovers of bands like Kampfar and Loits, would you say this was a fair assessment and what bands outside of Finland would you think would make ideal touring partners?
Viitakemies: It's pretty hard to say because I haven't heard any of their songs though I know the bands. It would be nice to tour with any folk/pagan/heathen or other band that has something similar with us, musically or otherwise. Though touring with some old school death metal band (Dismember would be nice) would be dream come true.
PW: The other thing that makes you stand out is your costumes. In the album review I described these as resembling Terry Pratchett’s death meets the Wizard Of Oz with some monkish Pungent Stench worship thrown in for good measure. I am sure there is more of a deep rooted ideology perhaps tying in with Savo folklore?
Viitakemies: Hahaa, good old Pungent Stench! Well, there's actually no deeper ideology with the costumes, it's more like good theatre or something like that. We wrote some background stories to our characters and figured out what they would look like. And I've always liked metal bands that give something extra to the audience by dressing up like Twisted Sister, W.A.S.P., Kiss or some black metal bands.
PW: What can one expect from the group live, I take it you wear the costumes on stage?
Viitakemies: Hell yeah we do! Our live shows are pretty good and we're planning to add more theatrical stuff to the shows. You know, like the things that King Diamond does, maybe some actors and dancers. It might just take a while when we play in bigger venues and have enough money to realize our fantasies...or more like nightmares.
PW: What are the chances of you touring abroad; personally I think you would be a really interesting addition supporting someone such as Turisas, Moonsorrow or Children Of Bodom on tour. Do you think this could ever be a possibility?
Viitakemies: At the moment we're still too unknown to tour abroad but maybe in a few years we'll have a chance to tour in Europe and especially in England. So never say never, though it might seem quite distant today.
Well that’s about all I have for you, anything you would like to add for our readers?
Viitakemies: Keep it metal and have a sober summer...NOT! :) Check out what Verjnuarmu sounds like [below]
For more on the band check out http://www.myspace.com/verjnuarmu
http://www.verjnuarmu.net
http://www.dynamicartsrecords.com/
Interviewed by Pete Woods
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