Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Annihilatus Interview


1. Can you give us a brief history of the band?

Annihilatus was founded in summer 1999 as a two-man band (me, guitar &vocs; TH drums & bass) and we did our first demo just before the new millennium. Later on the band got third member, Sotakone (bass) and with that line-up we did our first mLP "Annihilation".
Months passed and we got vocalist Centurion, so I focused on guitar only.As this 4-man band we did our only full-length album this far, entitledBlood and War.
Since TH quit the band a few years ago and without a rehearsal room, I have not been so much interested in doing Annihilatus for the time being.So, theoretically speaking, we have a new line-up, but currently the band is frozen in time, so to speak.>

2. How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before?
Raw, simple and minimal black metal with a Finnish touch.>

3. What is the meaning behind the band's name?

The name comes from, as can be read from our band biography, a latin wordmeaning "annihilation". Thus said, if Annihilator or Annihilationmonickers would not have been in use already, we'd probably have either ofthose.>

4. Are there any plans for new material, I have not heard anything since Bood And Honour?

Sort of. I've been thinking of various ideas during last few years, but I have kinda lost my interest to play guitar and put effort learning to play again, not that I never was a good player in the first place.At the moment, I'm more interested in writing, physical exercise and development in those areas.>

5. Have you played any live shows and if so how would you describe your live shows?

Only one live show thus far, so there's not much to describe. It wasn't anything special, but I guess in a way it was great to play live. I have never visioned Annihilatus as a live band, though, so it's highly unlikely we'll play live again.>

6. What releases have you put out so far?

"Unholy Mass Destruction" demo, "Annihilation" 10" mlp and "Blood and War"CD/LP.>

7. What are your main influences music wise or non music wise?

Music-wise I think I got inspired a lot by Ildjarn and Burzum in BM sense,but also Bolt Thrower when it comes to bands that deal with war. I wanted to do simple and minimal black metal without too much bullshit in the music. Besides I couldn't do anything technical in the first place.I guess subconsciously there are hundreds of different bands and composers which influence me without realizing it myself.Non-music wise... well, themes like war, violence, retribution, hate towards religions (especially Christianity) and that sort of issues. Ialways liked to keep things very simple in Annihilatus and low on metaphoric side when it comes to lyrics.>

8. What are you listening to nowadays and what are some bands or releases that you would recommend?

Being a music reviewer in black and death metal fields, I get to listen to hundreds of new albums every year without buying stuff, but that differs quite a bit from the stuff I have in my cd shelves. So, mostly I listen to black metal and death metal of all kinds, from raw and primitive stuff to more symphonic and/or technical stuff, but I also listen to some hard-rock and heavy (like WASP, Manowar, Mötley Crüe, Skid Row etc.) every now and then and also dark ambient, and of course, Pink Floyd.Latest relases, which I could recommend from 2009, are Deströyer 666"Defiance", Arckanum "ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ", Absu "Absu" and Torture Killer"Sewers". I'm also really looking for new albums by Slayer and WASP this year.>

9. Does Satanism or Occultism play a role in the music or life?

No, not at least occultism in anyway. I'm more into barbaric life style without any kind of mystical stuff in my life. Satanism, as a concept, is a bit so-so, because its definition varies a lot depending who you ask it about. I consider myself more of a simple irreligious person with simple values in life, even though nihilism and philosophy play a big part in my life.>

10. Are there any good books or films that you would recommend?

I don't read much books, really not my thing. I write more than I read,really.About movies... well any movie that makes one think and question things,is good, especially movies like Fight Club and generally all war movieswhich are not action-oriented. My all-time favourite movie would beApocalypse Now.>

11. How would you describe the metal scene in Finland, alot of Americans> think there is a good scene out there, would you say that's true?

I guess Finnish scene is quite alright. We have lots of idiots here too,but I guess it is the same shit everywhere. Maybe we have less trendy emo kids and that kind of bullshit posers. The bm scene here is quite good,especially between bands, but I don't think it's anything spectacular. I stick to individualism, really.>

12. Any final words?Adapt. Adjust. Conquer.Aim for self-development.

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