A Thank you for the interest. After Marras was released, I had some new material that for some reason worked a lot better in a harsher form than in the acoustic approach used on the first two releases. So basically, after some thoughts, I decided that it would be useless to force every new song into the acoustic format, if the material would actually work better with a harsher approach, so I decided to split the path into two. I still felt that the overall atmosphere between them was so close to each other, that I didn’t want to form another band for the harsher approach, so I decided to have a different logo for the harsher material and use the old logo and Finnish titles for the acoustic releases. Although the last two full-lengths have been metal-oriented material, the acoustic material is not abandoned and there will also be acoustic releases in the future.

Q Over the course of your work, I get the sense of heightened anguish. On “Marras” I felt there was something heroic, a noble warrior perhaps working in harmony with nature. By “A Collapse of Faith”, I have the impression of hopeless isolation and despair as man is overcome by the power and majesty of nature. Is this an overly pessimistic view?

A For me it’s not that clear, I feel that “A Collapse of Faith” is more about the fighting and surviving through all these cultural changes, so it’s not a fully pessimistic album, although some melancholy is definitely a part of the atmosphere on it. It’s not as nature oriented as some of the earlier albums, the influence is still there, but it’s more about the mankind’s evolution and decadence than the nature itself. So in some ways “Marras” was a quite peaceful soundscape of nature and “A Collapse of Faith” is more about the mankind’s struggle against each others and foreign elements, their natural need to survive.

Q Man’s relationship with nature is something which features in the literature and philosophy of countries like France and Germany, particularly in the 18th century. I know very little of Finland but know it has a tradition of folk tales and mythology. Do you consider that you are following any such tradition?

A In some ways yes, I’m quite influenced by the Finnish mythology and old traditional stories, but in a way the influence is more visible on the acoustic albums. They don’t have lyrics on them, but the atmosphere on them is highly influenced by the older Finnish traditions. I’m very influenced by our heritage overall and have a pride towards our land and in some ways it’s also visible on the albums, but in some ways without a direct message.

Q Referring to the title of your album, I guess this a reference to religion. What is the faith which has collapsed?

A It’s not really about religion, but more about the current disrespect towards out heritage, when new plastic influences take the place of the older habits. Youth of today has a very little respect towards the work their ancestors did and their work and the fight and wars they went through, so we can live here freely. Still, the title is not that one dimensional, it also bears some of my personal views and thoughts from the time when the album was recorded. I injured myself just before the recordings and that also made a mark on the music and lyrics and for a while it was even unclear whether I was going to record the album or not. We ended up recording it and now that I’m looking back, it certainly was the right choice to make.

Q I’m amazed at the sweeping, melancholic passages that I hear on “The Womb of Melancholic Nature” and “A Collapse of Faith”. There’s no way that such sadness and majesty could be manufactured. I can only imagine this comes from the inside. What inspires you create the power that you generate in your musical work?

A I have no real idea really, but my process of creation, if that’s how to call it, is a bit unstable. There might be months and months when I have no interest to play at all or even think about the future musical endeavours, but then one day I just get the inspiration and might write a huge part of the album within one or two weeks. I have no explanation for it, sometimes the ideas just come and I have to write and record them, but they just come randomly. Often I just take the guitar and play something and if it seems to be good in my ears, I’ll improvise something on top of it and when it feels fitting I record it so I can remember it later. For me the key seems to be having a clear and stable mind. Some people say that when you’re depressed or for example highly intoxicated you reach something beyond anything normal, but I don’t believe in that. Maybe it works for some, but for me the musical focus gets lost in such conditions, so basically I only write something when I’m completely focused on it.

Q How does it work within the band? Is October Falls a collective of like-minded people or is there a dominant force? Or do you all bring ideas to the recording studio and between you decide on the best idea?

A Basically, October Falls has always been my personal view, on acoustic releases I’ve done everything by myself, but on the harsher material I’ve used session players. Still, things have changed a bit, as with the exception of a session grand pianist on “A Collapse of Faith”. “The Womb of Primordial Nature” and “A Collapse of Faith” had an identical line-up on both albums. That was the first time the line-up had stayed the same between two releases and I think it also made a huge difference to the sound and the overall atmosphere of the album. Basically both of them brought a lot to the new album, V. Metsola composed most of the basslines for it and M. Tarvonen also brought his ideas and changed the arrangements on the album. Basically, I always make demos from the material I’ve composed and they then listen to them and bring their vision and ideas, and I see if that’s the path I want to go down.

Q I would say that “Collapse of Faith” is richer in sound than its predecessors. Flowing eloquence merges with grandiose sounds, despair, delicacy and the sinister sound of birds overhead. Did you have a vision of the range of atmospheres you wanted to create before you recorded it, or did you develop your ideas during the recording process?

A When I composed the material, I didn’t really know how it would evolve, but when the demos were done, the vision of the whole album was already quite clear. At that point my aim was to create an epic and conceptual piece of music, something that the listener would either love or hate, not just something that stands in the middle. Music-wise a lot of things changed through the recordings, but the original atmosphere of the demos is still there, only more focused.

Q Whereas “Marras” is strongly reminiscent of the ambient works of your fellow countrymen Tenhi and Nest, your more recent works strike me as more individually crafted. A dark Opeth perhaps? Do you take notice of what other bands are creating in Finland and elsewhere?

A Honestly, I listen to a lot of music myself, but I have near zero interest in following how the other groups have evolved. I can listen to them and enjoy it, but in some ways I’m not that interested in how their style or sound will change or how things on the scene have evolved, I always write what I personally feel, not how others do it. For example Tenhi has been a big influence for my acoustic works and I’m really curious to hear their new album, but no matter what they sound like, it wouldn’t change my musical approach. They’re basically perfect in what they do, so I couldn’t top it anyway, and so there’s no point in directly following their footsteps.

Q What music do you like to listen to?

A I could name few obvious bands like Drudkh and Primordial, but I also enjoy some funeral doom, like Mournful Congregation, Worship and Stabat Mater and black metal like Behexen, Baptism and Watain. I also enjoy some folk groups like Tenhi and singer/songwriters like Nick Drake a lot. They both have in part an atmosphere of hopelessness in their music. Overall, I listen to a lot of music, so it’s a bit hard to drop a lot of names.

Q What’s happening at the moment in the world of October Falls?

A Most likely nothing new will occur this year, but the next year should bring some new material and hopefully also the re-releases of older acoustic releases, with some unreleased material included. If the plans go ahead, there’s also a change that a new acoustic full-length will be out in 2011 along with some kind of a harsher release, maybe not a full-length, but something at least.

Q Do you think your next album will take a new direction or have you not determined your path yet?

A I think that the next harsher release will contain more songs that are shorter, as I feel that “A Collapse of Faith” was kind of an end of an era in terms of the song length for October Falls. Still, I can’t say for sure if there will be an acoustic or harsher release next, at this point both directions are in the works, so only time will tell what shall be recorded next.

Q Going beyond your immediate projects, do you have a vision of what you would like to achieve in the future?

A Not really, I hope that “A Collapse of Faith” will sell enough, so it would be possible to record another album after this, but the times are what they are, so who knows what happens? My only vision is to stay true to myself.

Q And is it possible that we may get to see you here in the UK?

A So far October Falls has never performed live and it’s not likely that it would happen in the near future either. Basically the reasons are many; it would require session players to happen, a lot of additional time to get it to work as needed and overall, personally I’m not too keen on performing live. I think it’s useless to do a bad performance just for the sake of performing, but I’m not saying it will never happen. Maybe when the right time and place meet, but it’s not very likely to happen.

Q I hope we do get to see you. I’d like to finish by asking you if there’s anything you would like to say to our readers.

A I think this has already covered everything I can think of, so I will just say thank you, kiitos!

Thanks very much for the inspiring music, and good luck for the future!

For more on the band check out http://www.metalteamuk.net

Interviewed by Andrew Doherty

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