Welcome and kippis to this interview for the Rising Darkness Magazine! I was really impressed when I became your actual album "Since The Day It all Came Down". In my eyes a great combination between melodies and Deatmetal elements! Congratulations! As long as I am much more interested about the band and everything surrounding it you won't find many standard questions which answers everybody had to read so many times I am bored about all those standard interviews and really hope that you will enjoy this little different interview!

Niilo:
Kippis Martin and thank you very much! Nice to answer some different kind of questions once in a while.


As mentioned I am the opinion that Insomnium is a great combination between melodies, melancholie and Deathmetal Elements. All those elements really fit very well together but if I start thinking about it there are only very little bands playing comparable music. What do you think is the reason for this?

Niilo:
Well, we are trying to make music in our own way. We use familiar elements but try to arrange them in a new and fresh way. I think that our new album is hard to compare to any other band. Of course some songs may bring some names to your mind but the overall feeling is something quite unique. And that is exactly what we are trying to accomplish.


I am every time ardent if I see an album cover which is different from all those typical skull, bones, blood, death covers which are used so very often. If I look at the cover of your actual album "Since The Day It all Came Down" and think about the album title I really can think about the "Day It All Came Down", the grey and pale world at it's end. If you look around in this world full of war and hate all this is not so very far fetched. What is your interpretation behind the cover and the album title?

Niilo:
The global situation is gloomy indeed but that is not where the album name refers to. The lyrics on this album form a single story and the opening track (after the intro) "The Day It All Came Down" is the beginning of the story. The rest of the album tells what happened after the tragic beginning; what happened since the day it all came down. I donīt want to reveal everything so the listeners can find out themselves what "came down". We used nature theme in the artwork of our first album so it was quite obvious that we would continue on the same way. Personally I find the blood & skulls -covers hilarious, thatīs not really our thing. Our lyrics take place in the middle of Finnish nature so the artwork should reflect that.


Sadness and melancholy is a very often used element in your songs. What do you think could you ever imagine a life without sadness and melancholy?

Niilo:
Joy and sorrow are both needed in life. You learn to appreciate the happy moments in life when you have seen the darker side too. Eternal happiness would no doubt become very monotonous and boring after a while. I think we all in this band are quite happy with our lives at the moment, but we have seen difficult times too. Playing sorrowful music helps us to forget the daily worries and deal with the painful things in life.


I read that you like writing very much! Did you manage it to finish a whole story and bring it out on the book market yet?

Niilo:
I'm afraid I'm still working with my books for a long time:) At the moment music takes so much time that I'm not even trying to write anything seriously. I've thought of taking part in one Finnish scifi/fantasy short story competition, because something like a 10-15 page story I would have time to finish. When I retire from playing death metal then I will concentrate on writing!


There are several legends which entwine around Finland and it's mythology. Would you just pick out one which you really prefer and tell it to us?

Niilo:
The story of Kullervo in Kalevala is a very sad and gloomy one. For example J. R. R. Tolkien used it in Silmarillion as a story of Turin Turambar. As a young boy Kullervo becomes a slave to a wicked master. He can't do properly any tasks that are given to him and finally Ilmarinen the smith takes the young man to his service. Ilmarinen's wife is mean towards Kullervo and puts a stone inside his bread. Then Kullervo breaks his knife when cutting the bread. As a revenge Kullervo leads the cattle of Ilmarinen in the swamp where they all drown. He also uses magic to make a great bear look like a cow and then when Ilmarinen's wife is trying to milk the cow the bear kills her. Then Kullervo flees. I donīt remember the whole story but it ends so that Kullervo falls in love with a strange girl he encounters. But soon he will realize that the girl is really his sister, who he hasn't seen since early childhood. After this the sister drowns herself in the river and Kullervo kills himself with a sword. So it's a very happy story indeed.

If I would go on holiday in Finland which place would I have to visit in your opinion and why especially this one?

Niilo:
I canīt name only one place. Suomenlinna fortress in Helsinki, the old castles in Turku, Savonlinna and Hämeenlinna are all nice historical sites. I have some German friends who visited me last year and we were in Suomenlinna and Turku castle. Still I think that you Germans really would appreciate the Finnish nature, so you should go to see some forests and lakes in the eastern Finland. Punkaharju area near Savonlinna is for example very nice. And Lapland you should see also. Many places really…


One thing I would really enjoy when on a visit in Finland is to take a ride in a dog sled into the white nature with a big layer of snow on everything and enjoy the feeling of pure nature and everything so calm because of the snow. Have you ever done this?

Niilo:
As a child I was in a sledge which was pulled by reindeer but never have I been in a dog sledge. You should go to Lapland in winter and you would definetely get a dog sledge ride!


On festivals I was able to learn some "very important" words in Finnish like for example: kippis, haista vittu, perkele. Which words would I have to know in your opinion?

Niilo:
When you remember those three you will be having nice time in Finland:) If you will ever meet us I would be very impressed if you could remember the line: "Kärähdystä ei voi välttää, sitä pitää vain oppia kestämään!" Itīs a some kind of motto of our band. You could also try to pronounce "alavilla mailla hallan vaara" [danger of frost on the lowlands] or "kokkoo koko kokko" [gather the whole pyre]…


If you would have to choose between mountains or the sea, what would you choose?

Niilo:
We don't really have big mountains in Finland, only some fjelds or hills. And I have spent my childhood in eastern Finland far from the sea. So actually they both are a bit scary elements in my opinion… I like forests and lakes the most.

If I think about Finland there is every time the picture of a land full of lakes with a great loneliness surrounding, a small house out of wood with a boat on a small island on a lake, somebody sitting in front of it fishing or going into the sauna. What do you think, will there be such a place in Finland to find or is this all just what we get to see in booklets of travel agencies

Niilo:
Finland is full of little summer cottages and saunas by the lakes. During the summer holidays everybody who have a chance will go to a summer cottage. I have three such places where I can visit in the summer, and that's not even unusual. The best place I know is on a small island in the middle of a quiet lake, there I go as often as I can to sauna and swimming, to eat barbeque food and have a few beers, read a book in the silence under a tree. There you can really forget your daily cares and worries and just relax.


Alright! ? If there are such places existing I really will have to think about moving to Finland! This would be the place I am dreaming of!
Thank you very much for the time you took for this interview! All the best for Imsomnium, I really hope to see you on tour here in Germany, soon! Stay Metal!
If there are any last words it's up to you of course!

Kippis!

martin

Niilo:
Friends of melodic and yet furious metal, check out our albums! Visit the website www.insomnium.net to download songs and other stuff. See ya!


Thank you very much for this interview Martin! Hope to see you if we can soon come to Germany! Kippis and Prost!