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INDEX
INTERVIEWS
GUESTBOOK
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DEATH METAL FROM FINLAND
1. It's the time for introductions, the coffin is opened, the dead is attentive; feel free to unlock the aural chest, since no words of doom shall be wasted in this infraworld of underground vibrations.
Hello and please dive into the realm of LIE IN RUINS. If you enjoy that older and more raw Death metal from the beginning of the 90's, preferably from the old continent, you should hesitate no more and read further. The aural chest has now been opened, you have been warned!
2. LIE IN RUINS was formed in 1993, but your website gives few infos about what happened between 1993 and 2002, when the band came back from the ashes. What actually did you do in the first years of the band, did you play gigs, maybe record some rehearsals under (possibly) another moniker, and was the band serious at the time? Why did you exactly split up few years later?
RONI S: In the early years we pretty much just tried to copy Swedish death metal and compose some own songs. We actually have few rehearsal tapes from the days and on those tapes we have few songs that end up on our demos. We haven’t done any gigs by the date with Lie in Ruins but this is going to change soon. It was serious back then even though we had great time doing it. We never split up for real but it was left behind for years. All these years between we played together with Tuomas in different rock/punk bands.
First we called our band DISSECTED but we thought it was too close to DISSECTION so we changed the name to LIE IN RUINS.
3. What are your current goals and motivations? Did the band change a lot since the early days?
RONI S: We sound still the same but we can handle our instruments better than back then. Our goal is doing Death metal how we enjoy it because today’s death metal is kinda sucky.
4. I guess you feel lucky to have been into metal during the 90's, when many Death metal bands released killer albums and the underground actually meant something very emotional and obscure for many metallers... Tell us more about those day, were you in touch with many metallers, bands and fanzine editors? Maybe you even released a fanzine yourself? Do you miss the long snail mail letters packed with a crushing amount of flyers, the fanzines procreated on real occult paper, the tape trading days during which it was (Paradoxically) easier to discover totally obscure and unknown Death metal bands (Many peoples do not answer emails anymore... And almost every webzines give a fuck about the biggest bands only, so where could we underground dig??)
TUOMAS: We do feel kind of lucky to been into Death metal in the beginning of the 90’s. We got to know many bands when they and their classic albums were “fresh”. However, we weren’t in the tape trading scene basically because we were so young back then, only 13 or something. We didn’t have any contacts. We just tried to get into as many bands as we could on our own.
5. Eventhough you're Finnish, and the influences of old doomy finnish Death metal can be found in your riffs, I also feel quite a lot of old Swedish Death metal influences (Some GRAVE, some old DISMEMBER, some CARNAGE, but especially some old ENTOMBED!)... So I guess you don't define your metal of death as typically FINNISH DEATH METAL, right? How do you usually define your music, and give us tips about your influential points, so that those who are lost and banned from the light could get a closer idea of what kind of obscurity they can expect.
TUOMAS: This is our view of music what we like to call Death metal. Maybe you could call it old school today, because the actual definition of death metal has become wider.
RONI S: We see our music as basic death metal. Our soup contains lots of BOLT THROWER, AUTOPSY and those Swedish gods you mentioned.
6. Many current "Death metal" bands seem to be very interested in extreme sports... They play so fat, technical, complex, whatever... But they're always so fast most of them have problems to currently write songs... I appreciate the fact LIE IN RUINS isn't always fast, and didn't forget to plunge into some doomier feels of mystery the way ENTOMBED did it so well in their early days! I'm not sure, but I think you even didn't use a single blast beat on your demo! Are you totally retro, anti modern (Even if I doubt so, because your music doesn't seem to asleep and you demo was released on CDr...) and against any kind of newer Death metal? Or maybe it's simply the way you feel, and the newer trends of extremity has no place in your soul?
TUOMAS: We are a bit retro when it comes to playing death metal but we’re not anti modern. It’s just that these “extreme sports bands” don’t have too much to offer for us. We think Death metal should have lots of dark atmosphere, which is created using those twisted melodies and the doomier parts. We haven’t had the need to use blast beats on our song yet. Let the others do that for now, haha!
7. I feel there's also a little "Rocking" touch from here and there, it could sound like some ENTOMBED ("Wolverine blues") or something... Was it volunteer or not, maybe it's due to my fucked brain?
TUOMAS: There are definitely some rocking parts here and there, but it’s only natural for us. We’ve listened ENTOMBED’s Wolverine Blues and PUNGENT STENCH a lot, so it has affected our music.
8. I have to ask few questions about your lyrics. Song titles such as "Crawling towards the end" or "End of human era" are clear concerning what kind of putrid content it brings, but a song like "Autopsychopath" asks a bit more efforts to my brain: Does it stand for the self metal dissection of a psychopath who would drown in himself to solve some horrid mysteries, or would it stand for the carceral autopsy of a psychopath? What about the content of other lyrics?
RONI S: Autopsychopath tells a story of a coroner who has lost his sense of reality. The actual title of the song is kind of a “wordplay” regarding the song lyrics. The actual song defined the lyrics, I just got a strong AUTOPSY-feeling out of it.
Our lyrics normally deal with different horror stories or just how this world of shit is going down the drain. I'd like to thank Jussi Venäläinen from SUPREME COURT for lending his hand to write a couple of lyrics for us. If my own pencil would be as sharp as his, I could see us doing some kind of a concept album in the future.
9. I have your second demo "...Statues" that was released recently. It's 19:30 long, not so lenghty, but that's alright for a demo, so I would like to hear a bit more and feel curious about what kinds of subterranean atrocities your "...Monuments" demo could contain! Is it the same kind of old Death metal, or are there some differences that could surprise the expectations of a coffin addict?
TUOMAS: “…Monuments” has a raw feeling where “…Statues” is more atmospheric. Both of them still sound 100% LIE IN RUINS. “…Monuments” can be downloaded from our website because it is out of print. You could try contacting some Finnish distro’s and see if they still have it.
10. Do some of these demo songs come from the early days of the band, or is it all new and recently composed?
TUOMAS: “Pathways of the Dead” is almost 100% from 1993. Other songs have some riffs from the early days. Actually all of our songs have riffs from different times, they have taken quite a while to get in the form they now are in. Only exception is “Skinstripper” from our first demo, which I wrote during one day.
11. Did you think about releasing an album? In my opinion it would be too soon, as you need to develop the compositions and gain more burning artifacts of obscure damnation and evil vibration through the years of rehearsals... And after all, we feel quite well in the remains of the underground obscurity: There remains some underground Death metal supporters who will dig their death as long as the cadavers will rise, there will always be some banished from the lights of the web paper zines to dig only the most obscure putridity, and no greedy or stressing promofessional label of shit will dare to enter our poor houses of pain because of how it's so devoid of money and interest for the modern crap... How do you feel about the web masquerade? Of course it has its positive points (It's easier to communicate, spread your music...) but I also see a lot of negativity and fucking boring sterility that can only destroy what remains of the underground feeling... THE (No especially monetary) GREED KEEPS ON TURNING!
TUOMAS: We would like to release an album. We've had a couple of offers already. However, I agree that we'll have to write more songs and spend a lot of time at the rehearsal place to get it done the best way. I think it would take about a year to get an album done properly. So no hurrying for that!
About the web, I think it is easier to communicate today than back in the day, like you said. I see that as a good thing. The negative thing is that because everyone has access to Internet, quantity has exceeded quality over and over again. You have to dig very deep to find something worthwhile.
12. I like your leads, it's quite chaotic and crazy, as it could remind of some CARNAGE, or eventually early ENTOMBED/ NIHILIST... Is it improvised, or is there actually something real you play during each rehearsals?
TUOMAS: Thank you for saying that! The leads are improvised at first during rehearsals, but I tend to find some “hooks” here and there which I'll take into the actual lead. So I would say part of them are kind of written and the other part 100% improvised.
13. Do you often play gigs, and how does it generally occur? Are you a part of those who think "The fewer, the most occult and underground" concerning gigs... I do not totally disagree with them, since too much of a band's music and presence definitely kills the underground aura, but not enough motivation also leads to nothing else than vanishing dreams... What other bands did you play with, and did you play cover songs (Maybe of some old Finnish cult abominations from the past?)?
TUOMAS: Actually, we haven't played any gigs yet, but only because we haven't had a full lineup ready. We will start rehearsing with a new drummer soon and Roni S. will take care of the bass & vocal duties. So we are looking forward to do some well targeted live attacks. I don't believe in that “fewer, the better” -mentality, but overdoing gigs is not good either.
14. What kind of good things currently occur in Finland on a matter of Death metallic morbidity? I know few names such as NERLICH, SLUGATHOR... But what else? Are there other livid phenomenons of sarcastic tremendousness? Don't tell me all is dead on the sour Finnish grounds and you kinda feel as the last ones on earth to defend the essence of real Death metal! We can't surrender!
TUOMAS: We are not the only defenders of Death metal in Finland, fortunately. There are good bands still, some a bit older and some newer. You mentioned SLUGATHOR and NERLICH already, but I'd like to add for example STENCH OF DECAY, SKULLFUCK, VIOLENT HAMMER, PANZERIUM and BLOODSOUL just to name a few bands. I believe DEMIGOD has a new album coming up too. So it's not too bad in here.
15. This interview is finished, thanx for the answers. Do not forget to lock the aural chest, otherwise the souls of the dead might get lost, and burnt to overdriven madness by the ambient corrosion... Hailz DEATH METAL!
TUOMAS: G, thank you very much for this interview. Let the chest be locked again, for now.
If you have an Internet connection (and you obviously do because you are reading this, HAHA) you should see into http://lieinruins.deathmetal.fi and download our older demo called “...Monuments”. Contact us for getting our “...Statues” -demo as well. We still have a few pieces of it. I'm sure you will here from us again! HAIL DEATH METAL!
Site web: http://lieinruins.deathmetal.fi
