How are you guys doing?

Kride: Good, I'm fine, yeah.

Pete: Except for I didn't get my beer out [of the venue] as a take-away.

Kride: Take-away beer. (laughs)

Pete: Yeah, that sucks.

Your 4th album 'Till Death Unites Us' is out for a little while now, how was the response to this output so far?

Kride: It has been quite good, I guess.

Pete: Pretty good reaction.

Kride: We are on the charts in Finland. That is quite usual – heavy metal sells in Finland. It's cool, but I think we were also in the European and Japanese charts. And the people from the States, they have been also quite interested. So that's good!

Whereas your first three albums sounded pretty much alike, the new release is quite different, I'd say, rougher in sound but the songs are more melodic and catchy at the same time. How come?

Kride: Good question.

Pete: Yeah, that's a good question.

Kride: Natural evolvement, I don't know.

Pete: Yeah, natural evolvement. (grins)

Kride: You know, we just make songs and they just come out somehow. It's really hard to explain. We didn't try to do something really different, we just made a couple of songs and recorded them. And okay, working was different, we went to the studio in Sweden. So that's something different.

Pete: Yeah, that gave the album a different kind of sound when you compare it to the other ones. So that might be it why it sounds so different.

Which impact did the fact have that you recorded and produced the album in Sweden almost without any help from producers or anything?

Pete: We don't need that.

Kride: This time we wanted to have it like that. We wanted to do it all by ourselves.

Pete: (intones "I did it my way") (all laugh)

Kride: And before there have always been other producers who had been helping us with the sound and stuff like that. So this time we did it on our own.

Sometimes such a development leads to a loss of fans because they liked the sound on the first albums but can't cope with the new stuff – or the other way round, you get new fans because they like the sound more now. Did you experience something like that already?

Kride: I think we've gained more fans with the latest album.

Pete: Yeah.

Kride: Quite many people who didn't like the previous albums do like the new one.

Pete: Yeah!

Let's get a bit deeper into 'Till Death Unites Us'. Can you tell us anything about the cover artwork? Who did it?

Kride: Yeah, the idea came from... - we wanted to have something different, you know. Because the last album covers were kind of dull. On 'Death Unlimited' it was kinda like, you know, really basic. I think special. This time we wanted to have something more illustrated, like nicer pictures or anything like that.

Pete: Something like that, yeah.

Kride: And then we just found out this one guy, he is actually a German guy, killustration.com is his website. So we asked him if he had some cool work there which he had done for some other artists. And then he was interested and we gave him some ideas of some hell looking place. I don't know, it just turned out that way.

(At this point we got interrupted by a drunk dude, asking for the time)

Pete: Super!

Kride: Well, where were we? That's about the artwork. I don't know, nothing too special behind it but we wanted to have it look more descriptive or something. Not just like colour or a logo, something different, a picture.

On 'Till Death Unites Us' you also included clean vocals sung by Kride which stand out from Pete's screaming very much. Why did you hide your singing talent for so long?

Kride: (laughs) Well, actually we had the clean vocals already on...

Pete: 'Death Unlimited'.

Kride: Yeah, on 'Death Unlimited'. On two songs there are also clean vocals but only really in the background. And then on the EP which came out.

Pete: 'Solution 7'.

Kride: I don't know if it came out in Germany. I don't know, but at least it came out in Finland.

Pete: Who cares?

Kride: I think it was a five, errr... four song EP... (confused)

Pete: Five.

Kride: Errr, five song EP and those tracks had also clean vocals. So it's not too new to us but probably many people didn't hear it before.

But you hid it before?

Kride: (grins) Yeah. Before that quite well. I don't know, we were just trying to get some... I'm sorry we don't have any good explanation, we're just doing it like that.

How personal are the songs on the album? How much personal experience can be found in the lyrics of the songs?

(both laugh)

Kride: Well, that's a good question! Well, at least, do you wanna say something here? Maybe? (asks Petri)

Pete: Well, my lyrics are full of fiction and shit. I don't know, maybe the most personal lyrics are from our bassplayer, Jukkis. On two songs.

Kride: Yeah, and actually mine also. I did the lyrics on one song and stuff for my brother. That's because he died last summer so that was quite personal.

Pete: But the rest is like...

Kride: ...not too personal.

Pete: Yeah, not too personal or nothing personal at all.

Kride: Quite a lot of fiction. But I think it has always been like that. We always have some songs which have maybe some meaning behind them and then there are other songs which are fictive.

How does it feel having four albums released and still no 'remarkable' success outside (or even inside) Finland ? I mean there are a couple of bands from Finland which are known in other countries but Norther always seemed to be something like the “black sheep”…

Kride: I don't know. I guess we had good times anyway.

Pete: We like to stay in the shadows. And one day we will pop out, like gays from the closet!

Kride: I haven't been thinking that much on that from that direction. I think we have had good times so we're not bitter or anything.

Talking about your new band member Heikki, how does he fit into the band? After over six months that he's in the band now...

Kride: Is it that long already?

Yeah… would you already say that there is or will be a change in the style of Norther?

Kride: Well, at least he's a different kind of drummer.

Pete: Yeah, when it comes to drum playing it is gonna change. But not too much.

Kride: Heikki is a good guy. I think he's now really a good member of the band. And he doesn't feel like an outsider anymore.

Pete: He's becoming a good drinker also!

Kride: Yeah... (laughs)

Pete: He's learning.

Who teaches him?

both: We all! (all laugh)

What are your inspirations for new songs? Where do you get that from?

Kride: If I answer on my behalf, it depends a lot. Sometimes it comes out of a weird feeling when I'm hung over. And sometimes melodies just pop up in my mind.
That's always a good question because that stuff is really hard to explain. In many interviews we're asked “how do you create songs?” and stuff like that. They just come out somehow. I don't know. And then we jam and then we fix them together. There is no rational explanation.

Pete: Yeah, we're mental.

When I look through the booklets it seems that everybody is involved into the song writing. How can we imagine your work on new songs?

Kride: Yeah, I think everyone is... We always had the thing, if anyone wants to do something he can contribute. You know, like if Heikki wants to play a flute – nah, maybe he doesn't want to...

Pete: (laughs)

Kride: Well, anyway... if he wants to compose a song and if it's good enough, we'll accept it. We are all writing songs.

Pete: Almost always.

Kride: I think doing the first albums it was only like me and you basically.

Pete: Yeah, at that time we did all the songs together from beginning to the end.

Kride: Yeah, that's true.

Pete: But nowadays we're in this fucking computer time. So you do the demo versions at home and bring it to the rehearsals. (pretends a situation) "Here's my song – learn it. Learn it or die! Do you like it guys? No, it's total crap. Okay, I'll make another version. I'll be back tomorrow." Yeah, but I don't know if it kind of works.

Kride: I think it's quite okay. In the end we can always work with them together. But for example when Petri does a new song, he brings a CD with the guitar tracks and stuff like that, maybe drums and stuff, and then we can think about it. It's always easier to hear his ideas when he's got the whole thing on CD already.

Pete: You don't have to explain the whole fucking song to everyone, saying "you have to play it like this (imagines to play on the guitar) and not like that".

Kride: So that's it, I guess.

How important is it for you to be close to the fans and get the direct feedback, as for example on your message board?

Kride: I think it's cool to chat with people who like our music.

Pete: Yeah.

Kride: And it's always nice to meet people. You know, if there's someone who really likes our music that's cool. If someone gets something out of it we should be happy because I think that's what we're doing, making music and having fun, but also for people, not only for us, I think.

Pete: We do what we fucking want to do.

What actually surprises me: You haven't been played real tours in Europe yet but were booked now for a gig in Japan. What's behind this?

Pete: Actually it's like a local Spinefarm happening, that night over there. I did that same thing last year with Ensiferum. Spinefarm has organized that with the local distributor anywhere in Tokio. So that's behind that.

Kride: And we're flying over there.

You did quite a few festival gigs for example last year Summer Breeze but are also playing a couple of club gigs in Finland around the year. Which shows do you prefer yourselves?

Pete: Everything.

Kride: Yeah. (grins) Clubs are cool but the festivals are cool as well. I think it's good to have that change – sometimes clubs, sometimes festivals. That sounds cool.

Pete: In the winter time it's pretty cold to play outside.

Kride: (laughs) Yeah, that's true. At least in Finland.

Pete: In the summer time we don't do any indoor shows. Nowhere. It's only festivals.

Hm, okay, an ice festival would be an excitement! (grins)

Kride: That would be cool but the instruments...

Pete: It would be kind of hard to play... with the fingers and the guitars... (laughs)

There have been some discussions about Norther playing at Wacken Open Air this year and there must have been a real flood of e-mails for the Wacken organizers to book Norther for the festival already. Any news about that?

Kride: Well, we can't talk about that yet, it hasn't been confirmed.

Are there already plans for a European tour after the No Mercy tour was cancelled?

Kride: Yeah, we have some plans for fall but I don't actually know what's going on with that.

Pete: We're trying to get a European tour for this autumn. After the summer festivals and stuff like that.

Kride: But nothing too certain yet.

Recently there has been a broadcast from your gig in Turku on the internet. Will you repeat something like that in the future?

Pete: It depends on if it's possible to do it. We got a notice from them about an hour before the show that “hey, we can put this online on the internet”. So we said “Oh, okay, let's do it!”

Kride: I luckily had my laptop with me so I added it to the page. Well, yeah, in Turku they have the gear to do that, so they have the cameras and stuff for broadcasting it.

Pete: There are not so many places which have those equipments to do that. So maybe next time we're in Turku, Finland's asshole, for another show.

Kride: Turku is called the Finnish asshole... don't know why but... well.

Norther was founded in 1996 so that's 10 years ago now. Are you planning something like an anniversary like for example Ensiferum did last year?

Kride: I think we have always counted that Norther was formed in 2000.

Pete: But the whole shit started in 1996.

Kride: Yeah. We actually could have a "the whole shit started" party here!

Pete: The whole shit started ten years ago.

Kride: Yeah, that's actually true! Let's have a party.

Pete: Yeah, like tonight.

Kride: Yeah.

Pete: Okay, cool.

Kride: Let's contribute this evening to the whole shit started in '96.

Could you tell us your favourite song from every album and why you like them musically or lyrically?
Let's start with 'Dreams Of Endless War'!

(both think)

Pete (whispers to Kride): I don't even remember the songs...

Kride: (laughs)

Pete: Hm, that's a pretty fucking bad one.

(both go on whispering to each other)

Pete: Maybe "Victorious one" could be it because that song was actually written by our ex-guitarist when we started in '96, and we did the lyrics with Kristian in the studio recorder's house, drinking beer in the candlelight and just got that piece out... that sounds good, yeah, let's write this down!

Kride: (laughs)

Pete: That's musically and lyrically my favourite.

Kride: I might say that maybe "Endless War" is my favourite. It's cool, it's from the old days. It's good.

Pete: Yeah, I think those lyrics were your first ones.

Kride: Oh, are they my first? Okay, I didn't remember. (laughs) Anyway, I like the song musically.

'Mirror of Madness'?

(silence... finally both laugh)

Kride: I don't remember. Say something!

(a looooong silence)

Pete: Mmmh, it would help if I could see the track list...

Wait a minute… (hands tracklist to Pete)

Pete: Cool. Oh yeah, definitely "Of Darkness And Light"! That is one of my favourites. Lyrically, and musically also.

Kride: (thinks) Hm, a good question. Maybe I'd say "Dead". That's a really good song.

'Death Unlimited'?

Pete: Of course "Death Unlimited" because it's whole mine!

(everyone laughs)

Kride: (thinks) Maybe I say "Chasm". I think that Jukka made really cool lyrics. It's kind of crazy, crazy lyrics. In a way they're really cool. And then the song is kind of different, I think. It's kinda cool.

And of course the last one, 'Till Death Unites Us'.

(again a loooong silence)

Kride: It's really hard to pick the favourites.

Pete: Yeah. Because you love all songs in a different way. (thinks) Damn. I would say "Evil Ladies". That might be my favourite of them all, maybe.

Kride: (speaks to himself) What do I like? I like more than one. (thinks)

Pete: Come on!

Kride: That's a good question... I think I like "Everything" a lot. That might be my answer. It's cool and it has a good mood.

So the next task is to describe your band mates in five words. First tell us about Tuomas.

Pete: Tuomas? In five words?

Yeah.

Kride: Five words, okay... that's a hard one.

Pete: Drunk. That's the first one. Tall.

Kride: Tall, yes. Wizard.

Pete: Yeah, wizard. Keyboard player and errr... good drinking company.

Kride: Yeah!!! (laughs)

Jukkis.

Pete: Bass player.

Kride: Yeah, well... if that counts.

(both laugh)

Pete: VERY GOOD drinking buddy. In one word. And...

Kride: ...a beard guy.

Pete: Yeah.

Kride: (thinks) What else? That's also really hard to tell...

Pete: Yeah... I would say sloppy.

Kride: (laughs)

Because?

Pete: Well... he just forgets things which he should do. And then he's just “oh, damn, I forgot it!” And if you ask him a week after that “did you do it?” - “Nooo, damn, I forgot it again!” That's why he's a sloppy one.

Kride: (laughs) He's like a bohemian, if that's the right word. A little like Lauri Porra. He's like going around and... he's just not always from this world.

Heikki.

Kride: Heikki is the kiddo. He's younger. And he's the ecstasy pill, he's like (starts to shout hectically) all the time.

Pete: (laughs) Always drinking battery and Red Bull.

Kride: Yeah.

Cool…

Pete: No... you don't have to stay with him all night long... Cool guy, I would say...

Kride: But all the others are also good guys. (grins) Otherwise we wouldn't be here still.

Pete: Yeah.

Kride: Terrible, I would say.

Pete: Terrible, yeah.

Kride: He's really fast at the drums and he's really fast with everything else, too. Yeah, I guess that is Heikki.

Pete: Also "monkey". He gets weird when he's drunk.

Kride: Everyone knows the monkey but the monkey doesn't know anyone. Yeah, I guess that's the description.

(looks at Kride) And what would you say about him (points to Pete)?

Kride: Errr... Pete is a good drinking company (everyone laughs). Definitely. Then I'd say "Thrash Death". He always got these really cool thrash riffs and death riffs (interprets a guitar riff). And then "beer" because he always drinks beer. And then... what else? That's three words now... (thinks) This is really hard to find a describing word. Oh yeah, and then he's the moose. But I won't tell what's behind that. He's the moose.

Pete: (laughs)

Kride: (thinks) What else, what else? That's four now, isn't it?

Yeah.

Kride: Hell of a good guy. That's a good fifth, I guess.

Pete: And finally me about that guy (looks to Kride)... he's also very good drinking company, for the first, and he's also known as 'the ball'.

Kride: Yeah, my nickname is 'the ball'.

Why is that?

Kride: I don't even know.

Pete: I don't remember that one but... he came out first as a gothic ball.

Kride: Ah yes, Toni invented that back in the days but that has been really a long time ago.

Pete: And that's why now he's called the beach ball, bowling ball... just whatever you can combine with the word 'ball'. He is the one. So there are many words now.

Kride: (grins) Yeah, that's true.

As we are a webzine dedicated to Finnish metal there is always a question at the end of the interview dealing with metal coming from Finland in general. Metal seems to be pretty big in this country, at least more normal as in other countries, where it's rather underground music. Have you any idea what is the reason for that?

Pete: I don't know. Maybe we have too many metal bands in a too little country.

Kride: That's a good question, but I think it's the Finns' mentality. That's the reason, I think. It's like these people like sad melodies, I don't know. You know, Finnish people like these movies also which kind of like...

Pete: We're always down.

Kride: Yeah, everyone is down and like, you know...

Pete: ...depressed.

Kride: Drinking like hell all the time.

Pete: Drowning in their own self-pity and watching sad movies and listening to melancholic music.

Kride: Yeah, I think that's actually the reason. Or it's not the sole reason but that's where it comes from. From the mentality of the people, of the whole nation.

Pete: Maybe.

Kride: Yeah, maybe.

How does Norther fit in there?

Pete: Very well.

Kride: I think very well, yeah. And then also these Finnish bands... There's one really popular band called Eppu Normaali, they always sing about how everything goes wrong and how everything is fucked up and how your girlfriend leaves you and...

Pete: ...because I drink too much. And stuff like that. So I don't know... self-pity sells.

Kride: Yeah... I guess we fit into the same category quite well.

Pete: Yeah.

Usually we ask the bands if there's anything left to say or something for our readers. Click HERE to download the video message from the band.

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Norther Official Website

Spinefarm Records

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Live pictures taken by Grave Sista & Socke.