How did the sleeve come about?

Ville Valo: “I think if you use different tattoo artists to do a sleeve it just ends up looking crap. My idea came after I met this dude and we were drinking a lot. He told me he was a tattooist, as well as guitar player – he actually played in HIM for a while. We got completely wasted and I told him to do this little heart, here on my right wrist, that was my first one. I got it to see how it felt.”

“We got drunk again a week later and we got the idea to do the sleeve, it just came to us. The ornaments were designed by the friend, and all of my tattoos are done by him but he’s moved to Amsterdam. When I get a couple of days off I’ll go and see him ’cos I want a few more things done.”

“What I wanted to do was one thing with the whole arm. Originally we planned to do both sleeves and the back but it took such a long time and we were doing our first tour around Europe.”

“I used to be a heavy drinker when I was a bit younger, as did the guy, so we’d drink a lot, listen to Motörhead full volume, do a couple of hours and then end up in the local pub. It took a fucking long time! It was all freehand ’cos around the whole thing you can’t draw it out, you just have to do it as it happens. There’s a couple of things which we drew and then we just started. I still have to finish it properly but we just haven’t had the time. Maybe one day.”

What else have you got?

Ville: “The heart on my right wrist, some stuff on my legs, a heartagram on my neck and a letter ‘s’ on my chest. I did it as a birthday present for my girlfriend Suzanna but when we fall out of love, as we do every now and then, I claim it’s for Satan or whatever starts with an ‘s’. I got the heart first and then this thing on my stomach above my tiny little pecker. Bam’s [Margera] got the same. Then after that I got the sleeve, then my neck, then legs.”

Where does the inspiration come from for your tattoos?

Ville: “Basically the sleeve and the heart are separate things, but the rest of the stuff has something to do with our album sleeves. On the back of ‘Love Metal’ there’s a thing with two snakes and another heartagram at the top of it and I’m thinking of doing that on my whole back but it takes a long time so I’m trying to sort out my schedule to get to Amsterdam. Then I want to do one more on my stomach saying ‘In Vino Veritas’ which is Latin for ‘In Wine, There’s The Truth’. It’s a great place to get one too because as I’m drinking it’ll get bigger! I’ll have this big big beer belly with ‘In Wine, There’s The Truth’ written on it. That’s my next plan. Bam’s got a really good new one too actually, on his side. It’s heartagrams again with ornaments going up all the way from his hip to nearly his armpit. It’s pretty cool. He copied the stomach one from me so it might be that I’m going to copy that one. We’ll swap tattoos until the end!”

How old were you when you got your first one?

Ville: “I must have been 18 or 19. I never wanted to just go to a tattoo parlour and pick something off the wall. I always wanted to get to know the guy so he knows who I am and I know who he is. Almost a family thing, I think it’s better like that, rather than giving the cash to someone you don’t know. You never know what you’re going to end up with and it’s going to be there a very long time – however good that laser technology is! Maybe if you have a car accident… it can be done.”

“My dad has a little tiny one on his arm and he always said, ‘don’t ever get pictures of cookies,’ as he calls them. In Finland especially the convicts and sailors used to have that stuff and back in the 60s it was really hard to get a job if you had a tattoo. I think it’s the same everywhere in the world now, it’s more respected. You used to not be able to get a loan from a bank if you had a tattoo. Imagine what the retirement home’s going to look like with all of us lot in there!”

What advice would you give to a tattoo virgin?
Ville: “Get to know the artist and then make sure you always use the same one – well, I guess it depends what you want. If you want a Japanese sleeve on one arm and then something completely different on the other, then that’s OK to use different ones. But if you want simple things in black then use the same guy ’cos everyone does it differently and you can always tell.”

“Your tattoos are supposed to be some connection to your personality. That’s a lot more important than going in and just picking one off a wall. I’ve never understood why people get butterflies tattooed on their bottoms or whatever. That’s really weird.”

The influences of each individual member’s previous bands can be clearly heard throughout the EP. The vocals on “Our Twilight” immediately bring to mind Swallow the Sun, which should come as no surprise as it features Swallow the Sun front man Mikko Kotomaki handling growling duties. Former Amorphis members Olli-Pekka Laine on bass and Kasper Mårtenson on keyboards give the clean and melodic aspects of the music the trademark vibe of their previous band. The line-up is rounded out by members of Moonsorrow and Kreator.

Whether Barren Earth is actually a “super group” depends on how much any particular fan loves Finnish death metal. Amorphis and Swallow the Sun fans should be salivating at the prospect of another high quality band in the same vein as those groups that is prepared to consistently put out new material. Death metal icon Dan Swano also makes an appearance on the album, providing keyboards for the track “The Flame of Serenity.”

Mikko Kotomaki's growls occasionally make the EP sound a bit too much like Swallow the Sun, but it’s a minor gripe. Despite the strong influences from previous work, the members of Barren Earth work together cooperatively to make a sound that is startlingly unique while still retaining a vestige of familiarity. “Our Twilight” can best be described as a dream “what if” project showing what happens when big name musicians come together to form a new project and try to create their own path.

Much like the latest Amorphis album “Skyforger,” there is a heavy emphasis on progressive and rocky elements and less care for how standard metal songs are supposed to be structured. Unlike that album Barren Earth is more consistently heavy, however, which makes the EP a must-have for fans who like progressive experimentation that doesn’t lose its brutal edge. Every now and again a few folk elements pop in the music as well, giving the disc a very well rounded feel. One of the most non-traditional moments occurs towards the end of the second track “Jewel,” as the psychedelic guitar work makes it clear why the band lists Pink Floyd as one of their influences.

The four songs on “Our Twilight” are really teasers to show what these musicians can do together. Several of the tracks will be included on the upcoming full-length album, which is expected to be released sometime in 2010. Fans of Finnish death metal who like progressive elements and an undercurrent of doom simply have no excuse not to check out Barren Earth.

Highs: Combines the trademark finnish death metal sound with elements of folk, prog, and doom.

Lows: Some parts are too much like Swallow the Sun.

Bottom line: Fans of Amorphis or Swallow the Sun need to hear this. Anyone who likes death metal with a progressive edge should make a point of checking it out as well.

Unfortunately the full version of this interview isnt in English, at least not that I could find. If anyone finds this in English please send me the send so I can post it for everyone to enjoy!






Russia's Darkside has issued an interview with CHILDREN OF BODOM bassist Henkka T. Blacksmith. The following is an excerpt:

Q: How and when did you come up with an idea to release a compilation of cover versions? And why did you release it only now?

A: "The idea itself goes back to six years ago maybe. Fans were all the time asking us when it would be possible to get all the covers in one piece, one package. Because some of the covers we’d done earlier are very difficult or maybe impossible at all to find nowadays, because they were released as b-sides, or on some singles. And now we finally decided to release all of them together, we recorded two more tracks and made a special release of all our old covers with two more songs."

Check out the full interview at this location.

As previously reported, SIX FEET UNDER, METALLICA, SLAYER, NAPALM DEATH, ICED EARTH, GUNS N’ ROSES, L.A. GUNS, POISON, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE – they’ve all released cover albums. Initially these albums are – for the most part – well received. But then they ultimately fade into obscurity. Now Children Of Bodom has joined those tribute-paying ranks with their very own covers album, Skeletons In The Closet.

Bassist Henkka Blacksmith spoke exclusively with BraveWords.com scribe Aaron Small and revealed that he’s “not trying to stop” Skeletons from experiencing the same fateful outcome. “It wasn’t supposed to be a big deal, but it somehow became that. The point was just to make something special for die-hard fans to have all the cover songs in one package. It wasn’t meant to be an album as part of our catalogue. It goes as far as 12 years back. There’s a lot of different stuff; it’s kind of a weird album.”

As Henkka pointed out, the 17 covers on Skeletons In The Closet were recorded in various studios from 1998 to 2009. With the exception of PAT BENATAR’s ‘Hell Is For Children’, TRUST/ANTHRAX’s ‘Antisocial’ and SUICIDAL TENDENCIES’ ‘War Inside My Head’, the rest of these songs are previously available, yet difficult to find as they initially appeared as a Japanese bonus track or the b-side to a single. So now it’s easy for everybody to get it all in one place. “That was the point.”

Children Of Bodom filmed a video for their cover of CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL’s ‘Lookin’ Out My Back Door’. The locale was their rehearsal spot in Finland. “It’s the same building,” concedes Henkka. “It’s a complex with a lot of rehearsal spaces, but ours was too small, so we shot it in another band’s. We actually had a lot of fun. It’s made to be similar to CCR’s original one, they’re also having a lot of fun in it. We figured we’d do the same.” Both videos can be seen below.

The selection of covers on Skeletons In The Closet is incredibly diverse. Who would expect songs from BRITNEY SPEARS and KING DIAMOND on the same album? “True, now that I think about it,” admits Henkka. “It’s always really difficult to choose them. Usually a month before going into the studio, we come up with two or three cover songs to do. Everybody has a couple of suggestions and brings CDs with them. We listen to them and see what we could do… usually nobody comes up with any ideas. It’s hard to figure out the kind of stuff that fits us and isn’t too obvious. We want to surprise people all the time. I suggested KRAFTWERK on the last session but they figured it was impossible to do, which is probably true.”

Regarding the cover of SLAYER’s ‘Silent Scream’, Children Of Bodom frontman Alexi Laiho has said, “I’m cool with Kerry King… and he’s cool with me… really… but he better not come near us with a bazooka!” Henkka sheds some light on this rather peculiar statement. “That was an old one. Back in the day, Slayer was a big band that we were fans of. We were asked to do this European Slayer tribute and we chose ‘Silent Scream’. Metal songs are hard to do because they’re so full of stuff. There’s not much space for arrangements. It’s pretty strict to the original, except it’s got the keyboards in it. So it’s kind of like… raped! But I heard that Kerry King actually heard the song and he hasn’t shot us yet, so I think we’re safe now.” As for Henkka’s favourite cover song by another artist… “THE ATARIS doing ‘Boys Of Summer’ (by DON HENLEY). That’s one of the best I’ve heard.”

The last date of CoB’s Blooddrunk tour is October 24th in Moscow. After that, Henkka will enjoy “holidays for the rest of the year” while Alexi goes out on tour across North America with HYPOCRISY. “Then we’ll start concentrating on new stuff… we have until June when we hit the studio.”

REFLEXION has issued the following update:

"As the result of many discussions, tears and beers, we have come to the decision that we need a new drummer for Reflexion. This was the biggest and hardest decision in our band’s history, but it was made in good spirit and without bad blood.

The root cause of all of this dates back to a year and a half ago. Since then, our long-term drummer and dear friend Ari-Matti “Reiska” Pohjola has been suffering from a still undiagnosed injury in his back and right hand.

About one year ago we decided that we would start to record our third album on summer 2009. At that point everything seemed to be fine. During the year, we played a couple of gigs and we already got signs that Reiska’s hand was not working properly, although it still didn’t prevent him from playing. In the spring, when we started to rehearse new songs and record demos, Reiska’s hand still wasn’t right.

We moved the studio session ahead for three weeks but during that time Reiska’s hand only got worse and we had to find another solution. We discussed possible solutions and came to a decision to use a session drummer for the studio and try to put Reiska back on the line one way or another. Juha suggested that maybe we should contact his friend and old colleague Tonmi Lillman. We had very good luck in that we managed to get Tonmi to play the drums for the album.

After the album recordings, Reiska’s hand and back were still in a bad shape. We had already had some gigs confirmed for next year and we should start to rehearse soon. It was quite a confusing situation and we thought about every possible solution. As an outcome, we came to a decision that we cannot continue in such an uncertain state and all agreed that the best thing for the future of the band is to find a new drummer for Reflexion.

This didn’t come easily but we are very happy that we still remain friends. We’re all looking forward to see Reiska’s hand in a shape that he could continue to play the drums and as well do the other things that are important to him.

Yours sincerely,
Juha, Juhani, Ilkka, Reiska and Mikko"

Since being signed to Femme Metal Records in late 2008, Soulgrind have gone from strength to strength and are just a few months away from playing the Femme Metal Fest in Southend-On-Sea. Soulgrind Guitarist Lord Heikkinen talks about touring, performing and their upcoming album.

AvernaX: What are you most looking forward to about playing the Femme Metal Fest?

AvernaX: Have you ever played in the UK before?

AvernaX: Where do you most enjoy playing gigs?

AvernaX: What has been your best live show to date?

AvernaX: Your 9th album is out soon- what can fans expect from the latest Soulgrind offering?

AvernaX: Any tours coming up?

AvernaX: What plans do Soulgrind have for the year ahead?