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 First
of all, let’s talk about the coolest Fall of the Idols news since quite a
long time!! You’ve been signed to Sweden’s cult label I hate Records!! How
has that signing happened, what does it mean to you and what do you expect
from the cooperation?
Vesa: Well, it went
by the traditional route by sending a demo. When we released Agonies Be
Thy Children-demo and sent it to I Hate, Ola contacted us and expressed
interest towards us wanting to hear new material and then when we got The
Pathway done I sent it to him and a couple of days later he sent e-mail
offering us a deal, which we of course accepted! Of course a chance to do
a proper album is thing most bands dream of, and we were very pleased of
that offer. It seems that I Hate Records is becoming to be one of the most
respected labels in the Doom scene and we're truly grateful to Ola &
company for having faith in us. They have an excellent reputation and when
they've released such legendary acts like Stillborn and Pagan Altar, so
it's truly an honour. It really motivates us to try to do our best with
our album when we know it will be in good hands!
 Your
first release on I hate will be a you fulllenght debut... can you already
tell us anything about it? What will it be titled, what songs will be on
there and when will it be released?
Vesa: We haven't
decided the album title yet, but all the songs are written and we will
start to record in mid-December. The album will have 8 songs, lasting
about an hour. There will be a couple songs from Agonies-demo and some
brand new ones. Hopefully it will be ready in the end February so it could
be released during the spring 2006.
OK, let’s put the future aside for a while and talk about the present
now... you’ve just released your fifth demo CDR entitled “The pathway”...
Again it proves Fall of the Idols to be one of the most unique sounding
doom bands of these days... so please tell us, who are your biggest
influences and what do you add to them to make the FOTI sound that special?
Vesa: Our biggest
influences are without a doubt Black Sabbath and Mana Mana - when this
band started the initial idea was to combine the doomed heaviness to Black
Sabbath to the depressive wall of sound of Mana Mana - I don't know have
we succeeded in that, but I guess that idea is audible in some places. Of
course we've also drawn influeces from such band as Candlemass, Pentagram,
Pagan Altar and other Doom legends. When I'm listening our music I can
easily spot some Candlemass- or Cathedral-bits from here 'n there but
perhaps we've just mixed those elements so it has it's own sound.
Hannu: Well, like
Vesa said, as a band our main influences are in doom metal. My personal
influences differs a lot from the other dudes. I listen all kinds of music,
from to metal to jazz. What makes FOTI sound so special? I think that
there isn’t just one answer, but as a group and as individuals we’re so
different. We all have different backgrounds and influences in music and
the combination of them is what makes the orginal sound of Fall of the
Idols.
 One
thing that makes Fall of the Idols definitly different from almost all of
the other Doom bands around is the fact, that you’ve got three guitar
players among your rows!! At least I don’t know another Doom band with
that many axemen in their lineup... so what’s the reason behind this
special lineup of yours and what consequences has this for your music??
Vesa: We've always
admired the guitar wall Mana Mana had, and wanted to achieve similar sound
so that's the reason behind it. With 3 guitars it's easy to create a rich
and full sound. In practice it means that me and Jouni take care of basic
riffing while Rami and Tommi play harmonies and melodies on top of it and
together it creates a harmonic sound without compromising the heaviness.
And it works, methinks!
Hannu: With three
guitars there is so many possibilities in melodic and harmonic way = more
options in music. Bigger band, bigger sound.
Your current demo is not officially availible, but only send out for
promotion... the reason behind this, as you told me, is that the demo
songs will also be featured on the upcoming CD... have there nevertheless
been fans complaining about the fact that they can’t get to hear the new
killer tracks by now or have they all been rather understanding??
Vesa: Well, some
people have expressed their disappointment but they've also been really
understanding and supportive. We're going to re-record some of the
instruments and fix a few things here and there so those songs will (hopefully)
be even better on the album!
And what about those who have already had the chance to listen to your
new songs... did they like them or were they quite critical?? How many
reviews have you got so far and what was the overall opinion?
 Vesa:
The reviews and feedback The Pathway has got has been phenomenal - not a
single bad review which amazes us. I guess we sent about 20 copies of The
Pathway before we got signed so there isn't too many copies floating
around...
One thing that I like alot about the new demo – besides the music – is
the cover artwork... where have you found that pic and why have you chosen
it?
Vesa: I found it from
the internet when I was browsing through medieval images of witchcraft. It
represents the mortality of man - even the rich and the righteous die, and
I thought that it fits the overall theme of The Pathway so I decided to
use it as the cover artwork. And of course it's very Doomy!
And don’t you think, that artwork would look just wonderfull on a
T-Shirt?? As far as I know, there is no FOTI merchandise availible so far,
so don’t you think it is about time for some cool clothing with the FOTI
logo??
Vesa: We've talked of
making some shirts, but we haven't decided what kind of design we'd use.
Maybe if our plan of a spring tour happens we will have some merchandise
for sale!
Your homecountry, Finland, seems to be a rich soil for Doom Metal...
next to your band, I’ve also got names like Reverend Bizarre, Minotauri,
Spiritus Mortis, Garden of Worm or Oak in my head, when I hear the
keywords “Finland” and “Doom Metal”... what do you think, why are there so
many awesome Doom bands from that country and can you probably even name
some more, which I’ve either forgotten or not even heard about yet??
Vesa: The climate
might have something to do with it... Metal music in general has always
been really popular in Finland. And it seems that there's lot of new Doom
acts crawling from basements and garages, like The Coven and Funeral
Planet, which is great. Perhaps the success of Reverend Bizarre has
inspired some of this NWOFDM (new wave of finnish doom metal), heh heh!
But every single finnish Doom band I've heard seem to have their own
identity and they seem honest, which cannot be said of millions of these
so-called melodic death metal-bands which have plagued the finnish metal
scene for a long long time...
And what’s the situation among all the bands... is it supportive and
friendship-like, or are there also situations of competion and rivalry??
Or is it rather anonymous and everybody’s doing their own thing...
 Vesa:
Well, even when I've been in contact with some of those bands you
mentioned I think that we're quite segregated from most of Finlands
Doom-related scene, because of the distance. It seems that most of the
activity like gigs, etc. take place in Southern Finland so there isn't
really much socializing between us and other finnish Doom bands/scene. I
guess that relations between bands are generally very supportive and warm.
We're all in the same boat so there's no point in rivalry or jealousy.
We've been asked to come down to the south to play, and hopefully when we
get the album out we'll get down there and show what we're all about!
What other plans – aside from the recording of the new album – are
currently on top of the Fall of the Idols agenda?? What can the fans
expect from you next?
Vesa: We're planning
to do some kind of tour in Europe (there's been talk of playing in Belgium,
Holland, France and Germany) with our label mates Centurions Ghost in
April/May 2006, so we're planning to do some gigs since doing gigs are the
best possible way to promote the band and the album. So if you see us
coming to your town do yourself a favour and come over to be crushed by
the power of frostbitten nordic DOOM!
And as for other plans I'd say that we wouldn't certainly refuse if
someone would offer a chance to do a split-7" with some cool band for
instance!
Hannu: Hopefully we
can make as many gigs as possible to promote our band and our forthcoming
new album. And of course, like Vesa said, our eyes are open to all kind of
co-operations with other bands.
We’re through... thanks alot for your answers... is there anything you
still wanna say to all the FOTI fans and Doom maniacs out there??
Vesa: Check out the
album when it's released and stay DOOMed!
Hannu: Yeah, check
out the album and stay heavy. Visit our website www.falloftheidols.com and
leave your mark!
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