Interview with funeral doom death metal band from Finland - CONVOCATION.
Answered L. and M.N. , thank you!
Recenze/review - CONVOCATION - No Dawn for the Caliginous Night (2023):
Ave CONVOCATION! I was up very early this morning. There was snow outside and I walked several kilometres to work. It was freezing, -18 degrees Celsius and I was listening to your new album "No Dawn for the Caliginous Night" on the way. There were heavy black clouds over the city. Somehow both music and nature came together for me. I have to compliment you, the new album is really very good. How was it made? And where did you want to go from the last record?
L: Thank you. That sounds like a really good way of listening to the album although -18 is tad too much for my liking. We somehow wanted to create an album that is not “urban” or “nature” in its atmosphere but somehow a bit beyond that - otherworldly maybe. We didn´t have that clear vision of where should we go after Ashes Coalesce but instead we just explored a bit, created songs and tried to figure out what kind of big picture will appear for us.
I've been following your musical journey since the very beginning. And every time I listen to one of your records I imagine deep and dark forests somewhere near you, in Finland. Does the environment you live in influence you in any way? I mean now a certain melancholy, maybe even sadness, eternity, that can be heard in your music. Where do you come up with most of the themes for the new songs?
MN: Well this is the land of darkness, suicides and alcohol problems. So, of course it has an influence on us.
L: I´d say it definitely does influence a lot. I live in a place where on the other side there´s city and other other fields and forests. I tend to do walks there on the nature quite a bit and soak in that atmosphere. It´s where I am at peace the most. And I am definitely sure about being Finnish does affect a lot. We grew up with listening to stories of all kinds of hardships and life after wars and the general mentality and mood is very bleak. Most of the music in the radio is very melancholic and lyrics always deal with some problems. “Everything is horrible”.
We did work on the themes together with Marko and ended up digging into human psyche the most.
How do CONVOCATION actually compose, create new material? I understand that Lauri Laaksonen creates all the music and then Marko Neuman sings the vocals? How is the songwriting for CONVOCATION and DESOLATE SHRINE different?
L: From the basic process point of view it´s not that different. I work on ideas first in my head, then with either guitar of keyboard and see where to flow takes me. But I work differently in a smaller scale with Convocation and DS. I have different guitar that I use, I write way more with keyboard with Convocation and so on. It´s a different kind of mindset nowadays.
Why did you decide to play doom metal in particular? What fascinates you about this style? For me it's like I need to calm down in today's fast-paced world, to stop, to collect my thoughts. I really like to read books with your records. I like to wander in the woods at the weekend and when I come back I sit in my chair and read. I listen to "No Dawn for the Caliginous Night" and then I feel cleansed. How do you feel about this style?
L: That´s a really good question. I think originally I wanted to do more with keyboards, organs and such instruments as I had used them in few DS songs already. And it was always on the slower parts. So that lead to the conclusion that I want to go deeper into that realm. It wasn´t from the kind of “fan” perspective that I wanted to make doom (funeral or otherwise) because of I like certain bands. It was purely a step further down the road. It felt natural and interesting. I might as well now come clean that I do not listen very much doom metal myself compared to black- and deathmetal for example.
MN: To me personally, I'm not a huge Doom Metal fan. I like some Death Doom combinations, but like traditional Doom, no. Except Profetus. I love that band.
I understand completely. I also tend to put some albums on when I do basically anything other than music. Artwork, chores, reading and so on. For some reason having albums on background makes me very immersed with them as I don´t TRY to listen to anything. The music just works it´s magic from background to (sub)consciousness.
The Czech Republic is a small country in the middle of Europe. We are a former socialist country. Yet, when we talk with our friends in the pub, we like Finland very much. Your culture, your nature (if you only knew how many documentaries I've seen about your nature!). Somehow I feel that we perceive music very similarly. I feel like when a band from your country plays somewhere (I love SOLOTHUS, PURTENANCE and many others!), I understand them, I like the way they play. How do you perceive your scene and bands? Do you stick together? Do you support each other?
L: It might have something to do with our past, being subjugated by a much larger country and then getting free of that afterwards. It leaves a huge mark on culture and people. The interesting thing is that for me, even through I love our nature, it is not that super special in a way. I always look abroad for example Norway how amazing their nature is and so on. I guess it´s a human condition to always look elsewhere, right? I mean, you have amazing nature just as well and beautiful cities.
MN: I book and organize shows for a few Finnish Death Metal bands and work in Helsinki Death Fest etc. So, I support Death Metal bands in Finland. As I see it, we stick together and support each other.
I´d say we try to stick together and we are very very connected. But honestly, we (Convocation for example and, sorry guys, Solothus as well) are more of the “older generation” nowadays. I hope that the younger ones will carry the torch but I haven´t been in much contact with them. If they exists, hah. Of course we are a country with a small population so when you know guys that play instruments well and share similar interests, you tend to befriend them and do all kinds of shit together. Share tips, listen to music, talk about movies, life, drink and party together and so on.
I work in a company that bought one of your factories a few years ago. My colleagues, when they come to Helsinki, rave about the city. The food, the drink, the environment. But when I ask them about clubs, they don't know because they don't listen to metal. Do you play with CONVOCATION anywhere? Or are you just a band that records albums? Can you recommend a good club? Just so I know when I finally get to you. How are CONVOCATION doing with live performances in general?
L: Huh, interesting. I´d like to know which one. At the moment we don´t have a stable live line-up so no gigs. But we might in the future do something about that. Helsinki is a nice place but like most cities, it is not instantly visible. Lot´s of the nice places are maybe harder to find and requires a bit of exploration. I personally fell in love with Helsinki again when I was spending a summer to write around the city just randomly going here and there. It gives you new perspective to “old boring city”.
One thing that is a shame though is that our clubs for live music are going down the toilet. Many of the good mid-size places have done down under and there has been no replacement. So it's either really really small clubs or huge arenas and nothing in between.
I have to get back to the new album. I can't help but ask, what studio did you record in, who is signed for mixing and mastering? Because the sound is really chilling, beautifully clear and perfectly expresses the overall atmosphere of the album.
L: Thanks. It´s all me with the mastering done by Greg Chandler. I worked with the album in my, eh, mobile studio “Desolate Dungeon” where I recorded drums and all the other instruments. A long process, but I do think it was worth all the trouble. That was exactly my goal - to have a bit more clarity on the textures without sacrificing too much of the heaviness. Really hard balance to maintain but overall it worked out well enough.
The cover also complements your music beautifully. Am I wrong in thinking it's a photo? Where was it taken and who is the author? Or is it a painted picture? It really caught my eye because that's what the sky looked like when I first heard your new record.
L: It´s a digital painting by me. It's a thematic summary of the album in a nutshell but done in a way that it´s not instantly noticeable. Nor even very somber. Basically it is a kind of serene scenery in daylight but clouds and/or some entities are there to not just block the sun but strangle it forever. The entites are reaching each other and soon to be linked, strangling the light. It is, like the album title itself, an analogue of depression, dementia or any other severe disease clouding or poisoning one´s mind. I wanted to get a bit of old Anathema and Candlemass feel to it but it is also pretty generic Finnish scenery. I was driving from the middle of the Finland back home to south and the weather was kind of like that: sunny but constantly shifting patches of clouds formed very dark shadows all over and at the end the light didn´t reach the ground anymore. I was at that moment thinking of the concept for the cover art and realised that damnit, it´s in front of me the whole time.
How did you get into music in the first place? Who was your role model? Do you have any musical training? What was the first band you played in? What was your first gig? Tell me, tell me...
MN: I had no role models. I was into extreme metal at an early age, but I didn't look up to no one. I don’t know why, I just didn’t. I have some musical training, but i learned more by studying myself. For example, singing and screaming in the shower. My first gig? The year was 1995. We (yes the band had a name) were drunk, we let minors in secretly through the back door, broke some instruments and cabinets (not our own), one of us got beaten up and we were thrown out from our own gig. Total disaster. Loved every second of it.
L: I was forced to play piano as a kid but I ended up doing more basic kids stuff - playing football, computer games and so on. It wasn´t really that interesting to me especially because I was forced to play songs from the notes. I found it very boring and I kind of understood the value of music in my life better when I got the means to Create it myself. Not just play what other people have already written.
I´m not sure about role models. Those shifted probably every year. For drums probably Lombardo from Slayer way back in the 80´s. But overall, it could have been anyone or anything. Alice in Chains, The Prodigy, Katatonia, Emperor, Kingston Wall (a Finnish prog trio), Classical music, Dracula´s Soundtrack, you name it. My first gig was probably some Christmas or summer festival of school. I was one of the few people at school that wanted or could play the drums so I was asked to help out many times. Hated that, haha.
Necessary question at the end. What is CONVOCATION planning in the next few months? Do you have any message for the fans? Here's your space...
L: I´m going to track drums for one song that will, along with another that didn´t fit on the album, be on a split. So two new songs upcoming!
Thanks for the interview and of course thanks all for the support. It is very appreciated especially during these long and dark days of december.
Thank you very much for the interview. I really appreciate it. I already know what I'm going to listen to tomorrow on my way to work. It's supposed to be freezing again, and I think "No Dawn for the Caliginous Night" is an obvious choice for me. It's an excellent album, thanks a lot for your music too! Have the best of luck!
L: Sounds like a an excellent plan. And best of luck to you as well!
Recenze/review - CONVOCATION - No Dawn for the Caliginous Night (2023):
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