A few questions - interview with death metal band from Finland - ASHEN TOMB.
Answered Roni and Jone, thank you!
Ave, can you introduce your band to our readers? – When was it founded and what style of music do you play etc.?
Hello, we are Roni and Jone, the two guitarists from Ashen Tomb. The band is based in Helsinki, Finland and we play old school death metal with our own twist. The band was founded in summer of 2021 by Ilkka (vocals), Valtteri (drums) and Roni (guitar) and after the first rehearsals also Jone (guitar) and Karhu (bass) joined the band.
Where and under what conditions were you recording the new album? Who was in charge of sound, production and mastering?
Roni: The first EP was recorded last summer. We recorded the drums and lead guitars for the album at studio Kolotila in Helsinki. Guitars, bass and vocals we recorded at home / in our rehearsal place. However, the guitars and bass were still at least re-amped at the studio for a more “authentic" sound. The mixing and mastering was done at Studio Kolotila by Olli Nokkala, a renowned guitarist in the Finnish grindcore scene with his band Feastem.
How many copies were released and which medium was used for this new edition (CD, digital, vinyl, cassette)?
Jone: Our self-titled EP is now available digitally on streaming services. There is also a pressing of 500 CDs and a small pressing of 100 cassettes for this release. We’re very pleased with how the physical releases turned out for this. The EP was maybe a bit too short for 12’’ vinyls and a bit too long for 7’’ vinyls. However, we are also putting out a split release soon with fellow Finnish death metallers, Sepulchral Curse, which will be released as a 7’’ vinyl, thus covering all corners of possible physical media.
Who is the author of the lyrics and how were they created and about what do the lyrics deal with?
Jone: Our singer Ilkka has so far been solely in charge of the lyrics in our songs. In general, the lyrical themes delve into some horror fantasies as is the tradition in death metal. However, the final song on our new EP is lyrically more aimed at the state of humanity. Sometimes real life can be more gruesome than fantasy.
Who created the logo of the band, and who took care of the graphics and the website? What about you and social networks? Do you consider these things important?
Roni: The logo was made by Moonroot art and the EP cover art is by Necro Frost. I think that nowadays social media is a big and very useful tool for marketing and promoting music, but at the same time one could argue that it kills some of the mystery around bands. As in, you can just search your favorite artists online and find anything you want to know about them if you want to oversimplify it.
Which label did you choose for releasing your album and why this label? Are you satisfied by how your label represents you and takés care about you?
Jone: The first EP was co-released by Godz Ov War Productions and Personal Records. Godz Ov War was interested in releasing the EP on cassette and Personal Records produced the CD release of the EP. We sort of knew both labels via some other underground death metal releases we knew of, which they had put out and thus we figured they’d be suitable for our releasing needs. We’re glad they decided to have us on their release roster for this release and so far we’re very pleased with the way the release has come out.
Which bands do you idolize and where do you get your inspiration?
Roni: When we first started the band the idea was to play death metal in the style of Incantation, but we didn't restrict our music to just sounding like Incantation. Rather we used it as a starting point and started forming our own sound from there. Main inspiration to me is maybe Autopsy, Incantation, Suffocation and Pestilence.
Jone: I think in general everyone in the band is a huge music nerd and while we enjoy all sorts of metal music, we all share the common love for old school death metal, whether it be Floridian, Swedish, Finnish or whatever else. We’re also big into a lot of the stuff happening in today's underground death metal scene. While rest of the guys in the band were geeking hard about e.g. Incantation and Autopsy when I joined, I found myself drawn more towards the likes of Dead Congregation and Teitanblood and I think for that reason we don’t sound like a total Incantation/Autopsy rip-off. But you can probably still hear the influences of those particular bands through some of the riffs.
Did you send your record to some Labels - which are the labels? How was the response?
Jone: What happened was we published one of the songs (Graveless Abomination) from the EP online by ourselves as a digital single first. The two labels mentioned above found it and were impressed enough to reach out to us in hopes of releasing our debut effort in physical form.
How many gigs have you played? Which type of gigs do you prefer, whether it's (clubs or festivals) and which of your performances would you consider as the best?
Jone: We played our first gig last year as part of the Helsinki Death Fest warm-up show at a fairly small club in Helsinki. Since then we’ve played at a few other local clubs and now we have a bunch of shows all across Finland lined up for this spring. Even a couple festival appearances this upcoming summer. So far we don’t have experience in outdoor settings with this band but we have enjoyed playing at clubs a lot. The darker live atmosphere seems to work very well with our rotten ways of death metal. Add a fog machine and some eerie lights and voilà, you’ve got yourself a perfectly horrifying death metal show.
What about your plans for the future? What do you want to achieve with the band?
Roni: In the near future we hope to record our first full-length album and play some shows to promote our new EP. The overall plan with the band is to always aim high and do bigger things such as bigger shows, festivals, and what is most essential: to always keep making kick ass death metal.
Jone: Exactly. And let’s hope we get to come play in Czechia too at some point. But also in general, we want to give back to the beautiful scene that has given us so much already by doing our best to keep the underground death metal veins flowing. We’re right now in the middle of the writing and rehearsal process of our debut full-length and let me tell you. If you think the songs on our EP are cool, just way till you get to hear what we’re cooking up currently. ;)
How and where can your fans contact you? Can you provide some contact information?
Roni: The best way to contact us is via Instagram: @ashentomb or via email: ashentombofficial@gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Youtube and Bandcamp.
Best regards,
Jone & Roni | Ashen Tomb
Thanx for interview.
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