Anthriel is a Finnish band that’s been around for more than a decade. Recently the band released its second full-length album “Transcendence”, nearly 7 years after their debut album. Grande Rock had a chat with guitarist & songwriter Timo Niemistö about the new album, the band’s future plans and several other interesting things… read below for more.
Hi Timo – it’s good to have you on Grande Rock. Congrats on your new album “Transcendence”, which is a step forward for the band in every part.
T: Thank you. I am honored to be on Grande Rock. We are getting a lot of positive feedback of “Transcendence”, so we are very pleased with the outcome.
Do tell us… why did it take you almost 7 years to come up with a new studio album? What happened in the meantime?
T: To make a long story short, life happened to us with highs and lows. We started to record a new material soon after releasing “The Pathway”, but some time after we had to let go of our prolonged rehearsal studio. It was a huge setback for the band as a lot of Anthriel history was written within those walls. At that time, band’s ways departed with Jari and Klaus. We were kind of drifting some time to find and build a new environment and fresh start to continue recording of “Transcendence”. Since the debut album “The Pathway”, the Anthriel family has seen couple marriages and some kids born. I’ve been busy of building a home studio.
Do you think that 7-year absence from the scene was crucial for the band in a way?
T: No. There is many layers and lot of digging in Anthriel music, so it stands the test of time. We all know the fact that eventually world is drowning on shit politically, ecologically and also musically. I like to control my musical “carbon footprint” by thinking “quality over quantity”. I make music simply out of passion and I don’t like to think I have to publish new music just to compete on publicity. I don’t mean we will publish an album only every 6 year for now on, but I believe the world is a lot of better place for everyone if you speak only when you have something to say you know…
You also have two new members on the band, Antti Horttana (Enthring, ex-Scythe Of Orion) on bass and Henrikki Markkula on drums. How easy or not was to find two new members to fit the band and communicate musically and not only with the rest of the band?
T: Henrikki Markkula is a long term friend of us and was a whole band obvious choice as a new drummer. Simo and “Henkka” have been friends since kids so they have long term chemistry musically and also as a personal level. Finding a bass player took a while but gladly Mr. Horttana contacted us and turned out to be a multi-talented studio musician and a great personality as well.
So, how did you come up with the album title “Transcendence” and what does it declare?
T: During the making process of an album there was so much frustration and those “highs and lows” going on but at the same time, as a band, we managed to push our limits musically and also as a personal level, so we thought “Transcendence” is the perfect title to describe that period of time in our lives.
Do give us a hint about each track…
T: “The Calling”: I wanted to start the album with a singer-songwriter feeling combined “Space-western”- atmosphere. Basically “The Calling” introduces the main themes of the album and the end of the track blends into the theme of “Under Burning Skies” – riff in a half time tempo.
“Under Burning Skies”: This track was under construction already at the time we recorded our debut “The Pathway”, but I am glad we left it out and worked it for the “Transcendence”. Funny detail is that when the song was sent to the mix, the drum tracks were lost and gone for some reason. So we rented a studio and Mr. Markkula re-recorded drums. Little setback among the others...
“Oath of Darkness”: Thematically one of the key songs of the album. Most of our lyrics tell about balancing between light and dark as there are both sides in each and every one of us. The story of the song is about letting go of resistance and surrender to the darkness as exhausted and beaten. Little bit more complex song with a big scenes and solos. Like most of our songs, the deeper you dig, the more you find.
“Siren’s Song”: Groovy 6/8 beat melodic song. Definitely one of the liveset songs.
“Painted Shadows”: Straight-forward neo-classical power metal. Hell yeah!
“Rhapsody of Fire”: OK, at the recording state, this song was the “black sheep” of the album. The guitar riff is Klasu’s (former bassist) handwriting and Simo came up with a verse. In some point I thought there was too much of everything but what a hell, “too much of everything” is our trademark!
“My Dark Morning Star”: This is song is what Anthriel music is about. There is dynamic nuances, big scenes, rhythm changes, orchestration, and catchy chorus. Solos etc. This is the song I would recommend for someone who is interested in our music.
“Fallen Souls”: Finally, last but not least indeed the “Fallen Souls” gathers the pieces of “Transcendence” together with hints from our previous album “The Pathway”. There is a four partitions and each one of them tells its own musical story.
Which are those parts on the new album that might overshadow your debut?
T: Well, in metal genre, especially “Symphonic metal genre” there is a big scenes and themes with a big orchestration. And sometimes quantity goes over quality without a reasonable content. What I try to reach as a composer, is to transmit a feeling for the audience. And what we tried to do different on “Transcendence” was simply to transmit that feeling more minimalistic way than before. I feel we did a great job there. And other thing is of course the band; due the member changes, the strong musical personalities can be heard more clearly thru the mix.
Once again, you were responsible for the recordings and you also produced the album. You cooperated again with Jussi Kulomaa (Dreamtale, Forces United, etc.) for the mixing, while the mastering (this time) was done by Jaakko Viitalähde (Sons Of Aeon, Ghost Brigade, Dark Buddha Rising, etc.). What are the things you’ve changed in comparison to your debut and are you totally satisfied with the final outcome?
T: Not any major changes in a production there.
Once more, your album was released by Lion Music. Are you satisfied with your cooperation so far?
T: Yes, we are totally happy with Lars and Lion Music as we share a pretty similar philosophy what comes in music and in music business. For us is more important to have collaborators whom do their job purely from the heart and love for the music.
What are your touring plans?
T: We will make only some gigs in Finland, because we want to get our hands soon on the next album.
Do you think that the band’s music style is too complex for the average rock/metal listener?
T: Well it depends. Our music is not so complex comparing to many other bands but of course people concentrate on music differently. I think keeping your music on the “safe zone” would be underestimating the audience. In our music there are just more layers and more to find as average rock/metal. Anthriel music is pretty easy to listen due the effort we put to the arrangement but if you examine rhythm section for example, there is pretty much going on.
Which are your main influences as a songwriter?
T: Tony MacAlpine, Mike Terrana, Dave Weckl, Eric Johnson, Michael Romeo, Vangelis, Devin Townsend, Trevor Rabin, David Gilmour, Arjen Anthony Lucassen, Symphony X, Within Temptation, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Yes, Kansas, Dream Theater, J.S. Bach etc…
How would you describe your music style to someone that hasn’t heard of you before?
T: To describe our music I always use a term “melodic metal”. We concentrate on melodic vocal lines and interesting rhythm section. In Anthriel’s music there is many layers so if you are willing to dig deeper, you definitely get more.
Which are your expectations from “Transcendence” and what do you wish to achieve with Anthriel over the next years?
T: I hope “Transcendence” will find its way to the hearts of Anthriel fans and hopefully brings some new metalheads to the Anthriel family. What I try to achieve with my music, is simply to give that same magical musical experience that I have had from music.
It’s time for our “weird questions”!!! How did you come up with the name Anthriel, initially?
T: Anthriel is the Archangel of balance and harmony. Those are the principles I aim in my music and also in my personal life. I think the life itself is a learning process from cradle to grave and I personally work hard to keep life in balance. So “Keep calm and Anthriel”.
If you could “erase” one thing from modern music, what would it be?
T: Verses! I think artists and producers focus too much on choruses, there’s plenty of song around the chorus. We have much to learn from the 80s on this one. I know that melodic verses have been out from the pop/rock music for a while now but again, I think it is underestimating an audience to publish a song if you put only effort on chorus and verses are only necessary evil to give maximum gain for catchy chorus.
Which is that band that you’d like to be part of (any time & era)?
T: Jethro Tull 70s era would be a great experience and as a huge Kiss fan, a late 70s era.
Which are the best 3 prog metal albums according to you?
T: I don’t listen much to prog metal but some albums that have really touched or somehow given direction in music would be “October Rust” by Type O Negative, “Talk” by Yes and “V” by Symphony X.
Top 3 epic movies of any era?
T: I am a Star Wars freak so “New Hope”, “Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of a Jedi” for starters!
Which do you consider to be the best female & male vocalist in metal history?
T: Sharon den Adel from Within Temptation and Russell Allen from Symphony X.
Imagine that your girlfriend is selling your whole album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself. How would you react? J
T: Heh! To get the weddings we wanted with my wife, I had to sell half of my guitar collection to cover the expenses!!
Thank you very much Timo for taking the time to do this interview. Say anything you feel like saying before we close. Take care dude!
T: Thank you Thanos...
T: Thank you. I am honored to be on Grande Rock. We are getting a lot of positive feedback of “Transcendence”, so we are very pleased with the outcome.
Do tell us… why did it take you almost 7 years to come up with a new studio album? What happened in the meantime?
T: To make a long story short, life happened to us with highs and lows. We started to record a new material soon after releasing “The Pathway”, but some time after we had to let go of our prolonged rehearsal studio. It was a huge setback for the band as a lot of Anthriel history was written within those walls. At that time, band’s ways departed with Jari and Klaus. We were kind of drifting some time to find and build a new environment and fresh start to continue recording of “Transcendence”. Since the debut album “The Pathway”, the Anthriel family has seen couple marriages and some kids born. I’ve been busy of building a home studio.
Do you think that 7-year absence from the scene was crucial for the band in a way?
T: No. There is many layers and lot of digging in Anthriel music, so it stands the test of time. We all know the fact that eventually world is drowning on shit politically, ecologically and also musically. I like to control my musical “carbon footprint” by thinking “quality over quantity”. I make music simply out of passion and I don’t like to think I have to publish new music just to compete on publicity. I don’t mean we will publish an album only every 6 year for now on, but I believe the world is a lot of better place for everyone if you speak only when you have something to say you know…
You also have two new members on the band, Antti Horttana (Enthring, ex-Scythe Of Orion) on bass and Henrikki Markkula on drums. How easy or not was to find two new members to fit the band and communicate musically and not only with the rest of the band?
T: Henrikki Markkula is a long term friend of us and was a whole band obvious choice as a new drummer. Simo and “Henkka” have been friends since kids so they have long term chemistry musically and also as a personal level. Finding a bass player took a while but gladly Mr. Horttana contacted us and turned out to be a multi-talented studio musician and a great personality as well.
So, how did you come up with the album title “Transcendence” and what does it declare?
T: During the making process of an album there was so much frustration and those “highs and lows” going on but at the same time, as a band, we managed to push our limits musically and also as a personal level, so we thought “Transcendence” is the perfect title to describe that period of time in our lives.
Do give us a hint about each track…
T: “The Calling”: I wanted to start the album with a singer-songwriter feeling combined “Space-western”- atmosphere. Basically “The Calling” introduces the main themes of the album and the end of the track blends into the theme of “Under Burning Skies” – riff in a half time tempo.
“Under Burning Skies”: This track was under construction already at the time we recorded our debut “The Pathway”, but I am glad we left it out and worked it for the “Transcendence”. Funny detail is that when the song was sent to the mix, the drum tracks were lost and gone for some reason. So we rented a studio and Mr. Markkula re-recorded drums. Little setback among the others...
“Oath of Darkness”: Thematically one of the key songs of the album. Most of our lyrics tell about balancing between light and dark as there are both sides in each and every one of us. The story of the song is about letting go of resistance and surrender to the darkness as exhausted and beaten. Little bit more complex song with a big scenes and solos. Like most of our songs, the deeper you dig, the more you find.
“Siren’s Song”: Groovy 6/8 beat melodic song. Definitely one of the liveset songs.
“Painted Shadows”: Straight-forward neo-classical power metal. Hell yeah!
“Rhapsody of Fire”: OK, at the recording state, this song was the “black sheep” of the album. The guitar riff is Klasu’s (former bassist) handwriting and Simo came up with a verse. In some point I thought there was too much of everything but what a hell, “too much of everything” is our trademark!
“My Dark Morning Star”: This is song is what Anthriel music is about. There is dynamic nuances, big scenes, rhythm changes, orchestration, and catchy chorus. Solos etc. This is the song I would recommend for someone who is interested in our music.
“Fallen Souls”: Finally, last but not least indeed the “Fallen Souls” gathers the pieces of “Transcendence” together with hints from our previous album “The Pathway”. There is a four partitions and each one of them tells its own musical story.
Which are those parts on the new album that might overshadow your debut?
T: Well, in metal genre, especially “Symphonic metal genre” there is a big scenes and themes with a big orchestration. And sometimes quantity goes over quality without a reasonable content. What I try to reach as a composer, is to transmit a feeling for the audience. And what we tried to do different on “Transcendence” was simply to transmit that feeling more minimalistic way than before. I feel we did a great job there. And other thing is of course the band; due the member changes, the strong musical personalities can be heard more clearly thru the mix.
Once again, you were responsible for the recordings and you also produced the album. You cooperated again with Jussi Kulomaa (Dreamtale, Forces United, etc.) for the mixing, while the mastering (this time) was done by Jaakko Viitalähde (Sons Of Aeon, Ghost Brigade, Dark Buddha Rising, etc.). What are the things you’ve changed in comparison to your debut and are you totally satisfied with the final outcome?
T: Not any major changes in a production there.
Once more, your album was released by Lion Music. Are you satisfied with your cooperation so far?
T: Yes, we are totally happy with Lars and Lion Music as we share a pretty similar philosophy what comes in music and in music business. For us is more important to have collaborators whom do their job purely from the heart and love for the music.
What are your touring plans?
T: We will make only some gigs in Finland, because we want to get our hands soon on the next album.
Do you think that the band’s music style is too complex for the average rock/metal listener?
T: Well it depends. Our music is not so complex comparing to many other bands but of course people concentrate on music differently. I think keeping your music on the “safe zone” would be underestimating the audience. In our music there are just more layers and more to find as average rock/metal. Anthriel music is pretty easy to listen due the effort we put to the arrangement but if you examine rhythm section for example, there is pretty much going on.
Which are your main influences as a songwriter?
T: Tony MacAlpine, Mike Terrana, Dave Weckl, Eric Johnson, Michael Romeo, Vangelis, Devin Townsend, Trevor Rabin, David Gilmour, Arjen Anthony Lucassen, Symphony X, Within Temptation, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Yes, Kansas, Dream Theater, J.S. Bach etc…
How would you describe your music style to someone that hasn’t heard of you before?
T: To describe our music I always use a term “melodic metal”. We concentrate on melodic vocal lines and interesting rhythm section. In Anthriel’s music there is many layers so if you are willing to dig deeper, you definitely get more.
Which are your expectations from “Transcendence” and what do you wish to achieve with Anthriel over the next years?
T: I hope “Transcendence” will find its way to the hearts of Anthriel fans and hopefully brings some new metalheads to the Anthriel family. What I try to achieve with my music, is simply to give that same magical musical experience that I have had from music.
It’s time for our “weird questions”!!! How did you come up with the name Anthriel, initially?
T: Anthriel is the Archangel of balance and harmony. Those are the principles I aim in my music and also in my personal life. I think the life itself is a learning process from cradle to grave and I personally work hard to keep life in balance. So “Keep calm and Anthriel”.
If you could “erase” one thing from modern music, what would it be?
T: Verses! I think artists and producers focus too much on choruses, there’s plenty of song around the chorus. We have much to learn from the 80s on this one. I know that melodic verses have been out from the pop/rock music for a while now but again, I think it is underestimating an audience to publish a song if you put only effort on chorus and verses are only necessary evil to give maximum gain for catchy chorus.
Which is that band that you’d like to be part of (any time & era)?
T: Jethro Tull 70s era would be a great experience and as a huge Kiss fan, a late 70s era.
Which are the best 3 prog metal albums according to you?
T: I don’t listen much to prog metal but some albums that have really touched or somehow given direction in music would be “October Rust” by Type O Negative, “Talk” by Yes and “V” by Symphony X.
Top 3 epic movies of any era?
T: I am a Star Wars freak so “New Hope”, “Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of a Jedi” for starters!
Which do you consider to be the best female & male vocalist in metal history?
T: Sharon den Adel from Within Temptation and Russell Allen from Symphony X.
Imagine that your girlfriend is selling your whole album-collection just to buy an expensive ring for herself. How would you react? J
T: Heh! To get the weddings we wanted with my wife, I had to sell half of my guitar collection to cover the expenses!!
Thank you very much Timo for taking the time to do this interview. Say anything you feel like saying before we close. Take care dude!
T: Thank you Thanos...