A few questions - inteview with death metal band from Finland - WORMLORD.
Ave, can you introduce your band to our readers? – When was it founded and what style of music do you play etc.?
Dobrý den! Cheers Jakub for having us in Deadly Storm Zine. We are Wormlord from Helsinki, Finland since 2019, striving to play death metal.
Veikko (VL) - vocals and guitars
Jukka (JK) - guitars
Olli (OH) - drums and backing vocals
Jani (JL) - bass
We released our debut ‘Open Wounds’ in March 2023.
VL: About the band formation.. Jukka, Olli and Jani have been recording some demos as ‘Saasta’ since 2015. I had just moved to Helsinki in 2019 and was to find a group to play some death metal. I then created a post to a Finnish music site that I was looking for a band with some HM2 flavors. Olli then contacted me and the group somewhat quickly solidified.
Where and under what conditions were you recording the new album? Who was in charge of sound, production and mastering ?
OH: I have done some recording and mixing projects for my own bands and friends band’s also so we ended up recording all the Instruments and vocals in our own rehearsal room with my recording gear. I did the editing and first mix by myself in my home studio and then we had a couple of mixing sessions with the whole band to get everything sound the way the band wanted to. The album is mastered by me in my home studio and produced by the Wormlord.
The main guitar sound is based on Boss HM-2 pedal and both Jukka and Veikko have peavey 5150/6505+ heads and cabs. I play the great sounding KUMU drum set so the drum sound is based on the set's own natural sound. Vocals were recorded through the sm57 and we found that sm57 gave the right feeling to the vocal sound after testing other mics too.
Overall our goal was to get the old school death metal sound to the album and we are pretty happy with the result.
How many copies were released and which medium was used for this new edition (CD, digital, vinyl, cassette)?
VL: So far we have only released ‘Open Wounds’ digitally to major platforms. We are planning to have a CD release during 2023. It is just progressing very slowly as we did not expect any impact from the audience for that.
We also agreed on some death metal split record, it will be published in December. Let’s see how and if it turns out.
Who is the author of the lyrics and how were they created and about what do the lyrics deal with?
VL: I (Veikko) write the lyrics.. When we were planning to start recording the album, we didn’t have a singer nor the lyrics. During covid we had jams with the eight tracks for quite some time, and just before recording I started to try out some vocals out of the box. Vocal demos turned out decently and it was then decided to place them on the album, instead of trying to find a new vocalist. Vocals mainly touch on “general” death metal topics, with some flavors of (love)craft thematics. Carousel for the feasters. For me, it was more to achieve a certain atmosphere to the album with the limited thin growl knowledge than to express something very deep. Or maybe there is a deep meaning behind, dig deeper!
Lyrics were created as it was the only obstacle preventing album records. Pressure gets things done. Hopefully I can craft more into the next one.
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?
VL: We found a stunning graphic designer Gary Ronaldson (@biteradiusdesigns), who designed the album cover and the initial logo for Wormlord. He’s gooood. And no we don’t have a website, I’ve been asking ChatGPT to create me one, but no success yet.
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?
OH: We chose to get the digital distribution by cdbaby and for that reason we don’t have any representation by outside the band. At the moment we are happy with this situation where we have no contract and we can do things the way we want to.
Which bands do you idolise and where do you get your inspiration?
VL: Currently mostly bands having both black metal and thrash vibes. Destroyer666’s newest for example. I got hooked into death metal by listening to ”secretly” friend's older brother’s collection; old Sentenced especially. Tenkula was a phenomenal guitarist. Then I started to dig deeper and found Entombed. I can recall being in the front row and spilling beer into Hellid’s pedals during moshing. He must’ve been happy.
OH:I was a teenager at the end of the 80's and used to live in the Turku area in Finland. I joined my first death metal band (E.C.T.) in 1989 when I was 14 years old and have been playing more or less death metal since then. At that time there were many bands (Deceiver, Xysma, Disgrace, Archgoat etc.) and quite an active underground metal scene in the Turku area and that’s where I got my inspiration even today decades later. I think you can hear those influences in Wormlord’s music too.
Death metal classics from that era like Entombed, Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Death, Obituary, Carcass,Cannibal Corpse and Deicide are still my favorites. There are also a lot of new good bands and releases I like to listen to Lik and Bloodbath to mention..
Did you send your record to some Labels - which are the labels? How was the response?
VL: We have not, some labels have been interested in the album, but so far we have decided to be unsigned and publish stuff via main distribution channels. Works for us.
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?
VL: We haven’t been playing live with this group as it’s hard to coordinate our schedules. It’s enough scheduling during work, but some occasionally gig wouldn’t hurt, I just have to work on my growls to get it last till the end.
OH: At the moment we are very busy. We all have our day jobs and are raising kids and being with our families (except Jani who spends his time tuning the gaming computer and playing the games, hahaha). So yeah, there are some difficulties organizing time to do the gigs. It would be nice to have some gigs in the future though.
What about your plans for the future? What do you want to achieve with the band?
OH: At present, we don't have any set plans for the future. Our immediate focus is on starting to write new songs, practicing them, and enjoying the creative process. While we haven't solidified our album recording plans, we're looking forward to embarking on that journey.
Our current aspiration revolves around Open Wound's ability to disseminate the captivating essence and energy of death metal worldwide. Our ultimate goal is for anyone who comes across the album to deeply resonate with the music and revel in its power.
In the interim, we're committed to keeping a strong connection with our audience. This involves staying active on social media and utilizing various platforms to sustain interest in our project.
VL: We have somewhat half of the next albums tracks identified. Usually one of us has an idea and a raw demo. Then we try to capture it during rehearsals.
How and where can your fans contact you? Can you provide some contact information?
Contact us via
Or just send old-fashioned email at:
Thanx for the interview.
Thanks for inviting us!
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