Hanna Tsepesh: Moro Retu! Thanks so much for accepting this interview and Welcome to THE GATES OF METAL! First of all: how are you and how are the things doing with your concerts?Retu: Moro! Everything`s going very well. We are back from Örebro where we played our new album release gig there and I think we had a very good audience.
Hanna Tsepesh: For those who do not know Sotahuuto could tell us a little how it all started?
Retu: We decided to discontinue our previous band in 2003 and took a fresh start under the name Sotahuuto. The name Sotahuuto comes from a song with the same title. It describes our attitude. We wanted to change the old name, because it wasn`t very good. At the same time we started to take the music more seriously and our sound changed a lot. Most of us have been playing together for 10 years. We are good friends and like to hang out together also outside the band.
Hanna Tsepesh: What inspired you the most to create the lyrics?
Retu: My lyrics are influenced by the world around me from a Christian perspective. Our drummer Eero wrote most of the lyrics for the new album. Me and Eero wrote the lyrics together for two songs: “Peruuttamaton vala” (“The Irrevocable Oath”) and “Etulinjaan” (“Front Line”). Pekka wrote the lyrics for “Tulenkantaja” (“Flamebearer”).
Hanna Tsepesh: What are your favorite bands? You have any singer that you admire the most?
Retu: I listen to very different types of music, but as we are talking about metal music I like bands such as Machine Head, Sepultura, Living Sacrifice, Mortification, In Process etc. When I started to do growl vocals I liked Steve Rowe’s (Mortification) voice a lot.
Hanna Tsepesh: I would like to know if you had or have any singing lessons or any guttural technique lessons? I am very surprised with your talent in this album…
Retu: Thank you! My friend taught me a guttural technique several years ago, but mostly I just try and find techniques myself. I think I`m headed in the right direction, but in the future I want to find more techniques, maybe some very brutal and unique sounds. We`ll see what I can come up with.
Hanna Tsepesh: The band has a new album called “Vastarintaan”. Like I say before I am very surprised and I think the band has an amazing album in here! Can you tell to us the lyrics theme in this particular album? For people who don’t listen yet can you talk about “Vastarintaan” and what is the big different for you between this album and the previous one?
Retu: The lyrics in this album tell that we see lots of bad things in the world and that we are fighting back. We want to take a stand and encourage others to do the same. Some lyrics in this album are also very personal, because the lyrics are mostly inspired by our own lives. The new album will be a bit more encouraging than “Ihmisen Jälki” or “S/T” albums. We tried to write stuff that would be more aggressive but less dark. The music is a bit more Thrash metal this time. We have developed as musicians and so the new stuff is a bit more technical and faster than on the previous albums.
Hanna Tsepesh: Everything went well at recording studio? It was an easy process for the band? The band feels proud with the final result or you think that miss something?
Retu: The recording and mixing process in the studio was really hard, but we also had a great time there! All of us had a hard time in life over the last year and we tried to put all that aggression into the music and lyrics. I think we succeeded in that. We are very satisfied with the new album.
Hanna Tsepesh: How has the response been to the album by the media and fans?
Retu: The media has given pretty good reviews on our two past albums. For the new album, we don`t have reviews yet, so I can`t say. Some guys tell that they really like the new album and some others prefer our past albums. I think the new album is our best album so far.
Hanna Tsepesh: If one of our readers wants to buy your album, what they can do?Retu: Well there are many websites where you can order our albums, but I can say one place where you can order our albums safely for sure: a Finnish music store called Underground Record Store. Here you can probably find other places to buy it too: www.bullroser.com/epages/bullroser.sf/en_GB/?ViewObjectID=4285709
Hanna Tsepesh: what is your favorite music in this album and why?
Retu: There are so many songs that would be my favorites, so I can give you a couple of my most favorite songs on this album. I like “Uhri” (“Sacrifice”) very much, because this song grooves very well and the lyrics and music are a great combination. “Tuhoaja” (“Destroyer”), because this song has so different parts and lots of very good riffs. Also I think that the vocals work very well on this song. “Etulinjaan” (“Front Line”) kicks ass with killer and groovy riffs. “Neljä Sodan Elementtiä” (“The Four Elements of War”) has very nice groove too and great HC parts in the end. “Taistelu Jatkuu” (“The Battle Goes On”) has some very cool riffs too and Sven-Erik in the end gives this song an amazing “endtime” feeling with the birds.
Hanna Tsepesh: The band is thinking about a European tour? You guys have plains to include Portugal in your tour or something?
Retu: We like playing shows. That is the most fun part in this. So we hope to play some good shows in the future and we hope to play abroad also. This time we had only couple of shows in Finland, but it would be nice to go to some countries we haven`t played in yet (Portugal, for example). Let`s hope we get an invitation!
Hanna Tsepesh: Do you want to send any message for the people who going to read this interview?
Retu: Please visit our myspace (www.myspace.com/sotahuuto) and listen to our new songs “Tuhoaja” (“Destroyer”) and “Etulinjaan” (“Front Line”) from our new album “Vastarintaan” (“To Defy”). You can also listen to songs from our previous albums. If you like our stuff, feel free to order our albums. Godspeed!
Hanna Tsepesh: Thanks o much for your answers and time. THE GATES OF METAL wishes the entire band a great success with “Vastarintaan”! We hope to see Sotahuuto very soon in here…
Retu: Thank you Hanna for supporting us and for this interview.
Hanna Tsepesh: You are very welcome Retu! All the best and thank you.
By: Hanna Tsepesh
To listen to some SOTAHUUTO music’s and for future information’s go at:
www.myspace.com/sotahuuto
www.sotahuuto.com/v2/index.php
