Interview - WORTHLESS - Death Metal means to doing good music with good friends. ~ DEADLY STORM zine

Interview with death metal band from FINLAND - WORTHLESS.

Answered Toni, thank you!

Translated Duzl, thank you!

Questions prepared Jakub Asphyx.

Ave WORTHLESS! Greetings to the Finnish underground. I hope everything is fine with you. It should be because this year you have released a third full-length album in your band's career. I have to admit it has literally blown my mind. It is dark, energic and as if it cuts by the sharp edge of the knife. I can hear from the record you did a really good job and you added a big portion of the talent, too. How do you perceive the new album in comparison to the previous one? Where did you want to move and in what are these two records different?

Hello! And thanks for these brilliant words. We are very satisfied to the new album. The new album include a little bit faster songs than the previous Grim Catharsis album. We think there is enough variation on the album between the songs but it also have the familiar “ Worthless stamp“ on it. There was also situation that we wanted additional vocals to the album because we had only one vocalist in the band this time. Saara Kujansuu fulfilled the sound perfectly.

„Melancholic Rites“ includes all attributes of good death metal. For me personally, it represents the record, which I really like to listen to. How did you produce it? How look the writing process of new material in the case of WORTHLESS?

The album was produced by the band and Panu Raatikainen. The writing process took about one year. We had almost all the material ready for the new album in the spring 2018, but we had changes in the line up and so we had to start the process all over again by us (Toni Pekkala, Petri Hartikainen) as a duo. It had a lot of work but we think we made it successfully.

I found out that recording & mixing Panu Raatikainen and Jaakko Viitalähde mastering of the new record. I have to confirm that the sound is literally killing. It still makes me add volume to the player. Panu has created a sound that is cruel, raw and at the same time dark and organic. How went the work with him and why did you choose him? In which studio did you record it? How did the recording process look like?

Panu was in the band as a lead guitarist earlier so we knew him well and his skills to be a producer/recorder and mixer so the choice was easy for us. Everything went very smoothly as we predicted.The album was recorded at Studio Rantajätkät ry. We have recorded all our albums there.

An important part and a kind of extra bonus for fans today is the physical CD. You released the new album at CD through themselves, and it has a corpsy cover art. Who is the author? Do I explain well the picture when I would think it is a body in a considerable state of decay? How did you choose the motif and how does it relate to the music at the record?

Markus “Kotta“ Kotiranta was the author and he has done all the cover-arts for our full albums. It depence by the perspective of the viewer how you see the picture, but we see it like a“ Father of Misery“ kind of thing. Hah. If you listen to the album you may see the connection between the music and the cover-art. Melancholy theme felt right for this album.

I have been wandering the underground for over thirty years and I still go to Finland for music with certainty. I think we have a similar nature and taste when it comes to metal. I like your bands a lot and I monitor your scene carefully. Maybe I envy you a little, because we only have a few death metal bands that are worth it. How do you explain that death metal are doing so well in your country? How do you perceive your scene, fans, labels?

Maybe it´s in our blood. We live mostly in darkness and coldness so it possibly have something to do with it. It´s going quite well in finnish metal scene today. Actually it has been so from early 90´s or so. However most of the finnish death metal bands have a deal with labels outside of Finland how we see it.

You play melencholic death metal influenced by, among other things, the Swedish school. Today, the band can't avoid comparisons, but I would like to know how the idea to start WORTHLESS was born, who was and is your metal idol? Where do you want to move your band? Are you attracted to large foreign festivals, for example, are you willing to go on tour with a more famous band?

We had a Celtic Frost tribute band before Worthless and after playing several shows with that band still we had an urge to do our own music. We starded Worthless in 2009. Metal idols a few to mention: Dismember, Wolfbrigade, Entombed, Bathory, Carcass etc. It would be nice to perform at festivals abroad some day. Of course it would be nice to do some tour.

When I started my blog five years ago, I had a vision that I would try to support bands that are not so much popular, or they are lost in underground. To let the world knows about them. I think I'm doing quite well, at least according to the responses. How do you approach the promotion of your music? Do you rely upon the label or do you send the CDs for various reviews by yourself? For example, I buy albums that I really enjoy. What about you? Are you also fans who often support your colleagues? Do you go to concerts?

We have a promoter Miika“Mega“ Kuusinen here in Finland who help us with promotion. We have sent our music to various labels worldwide trying to find a deal for the album but this time we didn´t got any co-operation with any label. This album is self-published. Of course we support our colleagues by buying their records and t-shirts and go to concert when it´s possible.

On the one hand, today the new band has a lot of opportunities to make themselves more known, but on the other hand, there are a huge number of groups and the fans are getting lost in this big metal sea. A lot of people just download mp3s from the internet and instead of to visit the concert they prefer to spit poisonous saliva on Facebook. How do modern technologies affect you as WORTHLESS? What do you think about downloading music, google metalists, streaming music, etc.?

It is easier to spread your music to fans all over the world these days and we think it´s a positive thing. Small band like ours it´s probably good thing that downloading, streaming etc.is possible.

I like to ask the musicians what death metal means to them. How would they define it, whether it is more the philosophy and lifestyle thing for them or "just" relaxation? What does it mean for you? How do you perceive and experience it?

Death Metal means to doing good music with good friends. Music and playing with guys means relaxation, friends, good times in life in comparison with everyday life.

Finally, a classic but important question. What is WORTHLESS planning in the upcoming months? Where can we see you at the stage and when will you visit the Czech and Slovak Republics?

We are going live on december in Tampere Finland with our new line-up and new songs are written while we speak. It would be nice to do shows in Czech and Slovak Republics.

Thank you so much for the interview. I wish a lot of success to the new album and let the number of your fans expand as much as possible. I will look forward to seeing you somewhere live. I wish you a lot of success both musically and personally. I'm going to push „Melancholic Rites“ into my head again!

https://worthless1.bandcamp.com/album/melancholic-rites-2020

https://www.facebook.com/Worthlessofficial
https://soundcloud.com/worthlessband
https://www.youtube.com/user/WorthlessFin