|
SILENTIUM Last year this band
released Sufferion – Hamartia of
Prudence, which nested within me with such emotional distress, a grieving
formula for weary days and weakened nights... Hailing from Finland, this is
not just another Gothic/Doom band, for they have what many lack, having
issued a conceptual album that veils vigorous charisma for the sake of Art!
This is SILENTIUM and to give us a glimpse of what is timeless grief, please
welcome Mr. Matti Aikio, their vocalist and bass player!
BTTG – Greetings! Formed in December 95, you’ve
already released 2 demos, 1 MCD and 3 CDs. Anyway, why «Silentium»? How do
you see the development of your sound from the demo ages until now? Matti – Man…I wouldn’t call it development for my part. I lost most of
my right hand fingers in 1995, so most of this SILENTIUM era has been kinda re-inventing
of the Bass playing for me. I would say that the style of SILENTIUM has
become more daring with the recording of Sufferion. There is a certain
twist of its own now in it. Obviously the arrangements have grown bigger and
larger during the years. I’m not making much sense, am I? (Solitudinis: it depends on how fat the
situation is ,hehe) BTTG – As you didn’t have any major line–up changes,
your sound established within the realm of Gothic/Doom Metal… A style you
always wanted to play before starting the band? Since when did you decide to
call your music “Theatrical Metal”? Matti – Since when has anyone called it theatrical metal? (Solitudinis: Just go to http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=3018 and read the review…
one can find the link on your website) Gees…It sounds about right with Sufferion, and I study and read
a lot of drama and poetry, but I wouldn’t say that the material we’re working
on now would have anything to do with the world of Theatre…And by the way…The
Line-up is changing. Our original drummer, Jari Ojala is replacing Janne (not related) Ojala within few
weeks. The Female singer and Violin player are also due to be replaced. BTTG – This is your third release through Spikefarm
Records… Why did you choose it? Were there any other labels interested in you
back then? For how many CDs is your deal? Are you satisfied with the
promotion? Matti – Spikefarm chose us… not the other way around…that’s how it
works, at least in Finland (too many bands, too few labels). Spikefarm would probably treat us better, but it is only a sub-label
of Spinefarm. Spinefarm has been recently sold to a foreign major company,
thus bands like SILENTIUM get to be treated like shit. We ain’t too fucking
happy about the non-existing promotion they’ve given us, and we would be more
than happy to get out of this “safe bet” business bullshit that Spinefarm
nowadays seems to be about. I know it is the same shit that is afoot
everywhere, but Spinefarm hasn’t been honest about it, that’s the worst part.
We’ve never REALLY known what’s going on around us. BTTG – Sufferion – Hamartia of Prudence is
your third CD… A masterpiece inebriated by a dreaming yet painful scent… What
have been the reactions so far by fans and media? Matti – It’s a Love/Hate situation, and that’s a good thing. Nobody
has been going on with this “Oh, it’s a nice record” bullshit anymore. Art of
any form should not be sterile or just “nice”. BTTG – Have you had many gigs after the release? How
would you describe a SILENTIUM gig? Matti – We don’t usually have many gigs…We don’t have a promotional
company behind us. But we’ve had like a gig or two a month since Sufferion
went out, and I think they have been the best gigs yet. Finally there seems
to be a lot of vibes and energy on stage. Live gigs have really come a long
way. BTTG – Although you have had a better layout on your
previous releases, this one still enchants the viewer by giving a glimpse of
what awaits… An ancient tale about a grieving love, withered by Time as the
pages of an old book… yet, still burning like it was a tale of all times… Why
that particular cover? Were you so fascinated by MY DYING BRIDE’s Like
gods of the Sun, which also had a butterfly? The back cover also gives
reasons to wonder… Tell us also about it… Matti – Well…We usually prefer the layout to be made by someone who is
a friend of ours. Kinda a win-win situation between friends. But this time we
needed some outside view on these things, and decided to go along with
whatever this artist called “Judas” came up with. I don’t know what kinda
mushrooms was this lad on when he made this cover. It’s got some really old
Swedish bible pages on it and some strange oddwhats. I think it’s cool. BTTG – I think you should know by now how much this
release means to me… The story leaves a scar in my heart… Anyway, who came up
with the idea and why? Why the XVIII century? Was it difficult to write about
it, did it take many sleepless nights out of you? Matti – Well, first of all…thanks mate. That really meant a lot to us.
Jani came up with the Idea of filling every goddamn minute of a normal 74
minute CD with something. I wrote something, he directed a play of it, and
that's that. We thought it was something new, but as always is the case, some
poor cunts in Germany had made the same error long before. Heh. The writing process was swift. We had somewhat 4 weeks to write,
direct and record the play, and there are lots of bits and pieces I would
re-write if we could have had the time. Everything that has to do with
History has always been close to my heart. As I think about it, every SILENTIUM
song reminds me of some piece of History, some era long gone. I should have spent more time with writing the play, but we had the
arrangements, lyrics and vocal melodies under work at the time, and I spent a
pile of nights writing them down. The raw material comes quickly, you only
have to live a little and suffer some 3 months of arctic darkness (kaamos)
every year, but the finalizing and arrangements, that’s the hard part. BTTG – Was it hard to find such suitable actors and
actresses for the spoken parts? Where did you find them all? Could you tell
us something more about them? They have a great British accent (excuse me if
any British person thinks otherwise… ), which is quite fitting within the
century chosen… Matti – Well, they were mates of Jani, our violin player. Most of them
are from the Acting Schools of Tampere. We needed actors and they needed some
experience, and voilá, yet another win-win situation. I’ve never met the
actors myself. Would love to, actually. In reply to your question... Naah, I
think actors were found quite smoothly and the only phoney English accent was
with the only native speaker, that's SILENTIUM for you... BTTG – Why did you use the melody from With Blood
Adorned (Infinita Plango Vulnera, 1999) as the background music on
the theatrical track The Conspiracy? Well, it has that classical
feeling, but is there any other reason? Matti – Oh you’ve spotted it…well the idea was, we needed some 18th
century music on it so Sami and Jani went to Jyväskylä university, where Sami
does his musical studies and started to mess around with some authentic 18th
century instruments. The final cut has two old SILENTIUM songs in it, and
ain’t gonna tell ye what the other one is… (Solitudinis: Bahssss you old cunt licker!!! ) Actually, now that
I think about it, it’s a good example of that historic twist SILENTIUM has
always had. BTTG – You have decided to use a producer instead of
dealing all with the recording of the CD… Tuomas Holopainen of NIGHTWISH
fame… How did that happen? Were you satisfied with his work and will you use
him for future releases? Matti – Tuomas had had some nice things to say about our music since
the demo tape era. I don’t know why, but it was Sami’s idea to have Tuomas
aboard on it and it went swell. We never really had any arguments or trouble
with him. We did have some alcohol problems with him. There never seemed to
be enough booze around… BTTG – Could you tell us some info about your first
video Painless from Altum? Who came up with the concept
(what was it like?) and who directed
it? Was it released on CD or only available on the net at http://www.sfperkele.net which was, while online, the most downloaded video
on SFP's video of the week with over 1200 downloads? Could one see it
elsewhere? Matti – It was an utterly homemade video. We made it ourselves. I
think it is one of the nuttiest music videos ever and hopefully never ever
released. But on the other hand, it’s different. Not the usual MTV gothic
video is it? And it’s filmed in locations of our small hometown, nothing
phoney about it. Hayhat hillybillies in a hayhat hillybillie environment. BTTG – I found out that you appeared in a book about
the influence of vampirism, horror and gothic in music by Dr. Julio Ángel
Olivares Merino ( which is a teacher of English and American Gothic
Literature in the University of Jaén, Spain and he's also President of the
Transylvanian Society of Dracula in Spain), side by side with AGATHODAIMON,
WITHIN TEMPTATION and ABYSSOS… How did it happen? Has it already been
released? What were your reactions towards it? Have you been contacted by
some of the readers of it? How much space was given to the band? Matti – I don’t know what Dr. Merino has been up to. He contacted us
on the matter and I was like…cool, okay, sounds great, and I was flattered
and all that, but I haven’t heard about the man since. So Julio, if you read
this all the way in Spain, give us a howler and let us know what’s up, right? BTTG – Have you started rehearsing new songs? Any
differences from Sufferion…? Matti – I don’t think we’ll do any playwriting on this one. The
line-up is about to change and so will the sound I think. Too early to throw
in some speculations on what direction, I've only heard few of Sami's
newbies, but I’d guess something rougher and up-tempo is in process. From the
lyrics I can say that something truly strange is on the way... BTTG – Is it in your plans to release a Live CD or
even a DVD? I’m asking it because, nowadays, everyone seems to do it, which
is a great way for fans to discover something more about a band… When will
your site be updated? Matti – If there is a record company which, in their right mind, would
have a Silentium live DVD released, I’d volunteer for that. But who
knows. I haven’t heard about any plans of that kind. BTTG – Well, as it seems this is the end of the
interview… Give us some of your tragic poetry to conclude it properly… All
the best!!! This is a part of some new
material (hopefully): ..Shall rise the burned,
sinner and weak, the quiet, fool, humble
and meek, to wipe out all that still
stands here unburned! Then rise my lowered,
stand up tall, the enslaved ones, who yet
now crawl. The revolt of the fallen
one will soon sweep here...! By Solitudinis (e-mailed)- Back To The Grave March 15, 2004 |
