1) Hello Tuomas, we are so glad to have you at the Museum Of Past Affections, how are you? First of all we would like a small introduction about Wolfheart for those who may not know the band.
Hell-o! Wolfheart is a Finnish Melodic Death Metal band what identifies as “Winter Metal” because of the nordic lyrical themes and cold but still beautiful melodies and crushing production. Grand like the nordic winter is.
2) The band has already released 6 records with the last 2 being concept albums , what led you to proceed in releasing 2 full length albums with a specific story behind them ? (Wolves Of Karelia which was based on modern history & King Of The North which is based on mythology).
After writing 4 albums mainly inspired by the Finnish nature and winter I just wanted to dig a bit deeper and with Wolves Of Karelia I dived into the rabbit hole of Finnish was history and specifically focused on the Winter War between Finland and Russia during the World War 2. With King Of The North I had no other choice than aim even deeper and Finnish mythology was the next step in the history timeline. I
want Wolfheart to carry a strong Finnish connection either with the nature or the past.
3) How important is tradition to you and how do you perceive it through its connection with music ?
It is very important. History tells us who we are and where we have came from. My connection comes to live through lyrics. Music itself is a result of more selfish process and self expression.
4) Describe to us the research before a Wolfheart record is released, but also the general process of writing the songs
The first 4 albums that were inspired by the Finnish nature were easy hen it comes to the research since just by living in Finland will give you all the data you would need. For the past 2 albums there was more intense studying involved. WOK gave me a lot of material since it took place not that long ago but KOTN was a huge workload since the Pagan era in Finnish history was not documented well at all. When skills to write arrived to Finland with the crusades and Christianity it was also denied to write about the pagan stories and gods / demigods of nature so a lot stories and beliefs were kept alive in spoken stories and a lot later gathered in books but those are mainly compilations of small parts of stories, few lines of old songs/poems etc. So it was like making a huge puzzle with very little pieces.
5) What is your opinion on today's society and do you think that metal music can survive in it ? (thinking about the whole cancel culture movement and people who get offended by anything)
I believe that metal audience is smart enough to see through most of cancel culture and the foundation of the metal scene is strong enough to survive any challenge the society might offer. Seems like there is nothing that does not offend somebody and everybody has ability to make a huge noise about it in social media but sometimes it can even make the metal scene stronger and more unified like it was the case when Nergal was fighting the church in Poland.
6) We know the relationship you have with Greece and you have certainly met several Greek musicians as well as fans of the genre in our country, working with Vagelis Karzis definitely strengthened this love and relationship. What does Greece mean to you and what unites you with it?
Yeah I have been visiting Athens for a long time and done some album production there for Among Ruins (their 2nd album), pre-production for few Wolfheart album and other times just stayed in Athens for several weeks to escape the Finnish winter. Now days I have a lot of great friends in Athens, Vagelis is one of my brothers in arms, my graph guy who does both Wolfheart and Before The Dawn lives in Crete so Greece is nowadays a solid part of Wolfheart. And I love the food, history and culture too !
7) On April 14, 2024, Wolfheart will be in Athens for a live show. What do you expect from this and what should Greek fans expect from the band?
Nothing less than you have seen before. Athens is our 2nd home so we will bring nothing but the best from us to the stage.
8) At this point, I would like you to tell me the 5 records that have influenced you either in your life or in the music you write
-Dissection “Storm of the Lights Bane”
-Metallica “The Black Album”
-Katatonia “Tonights Decision”
-In Flames “Jester Race”
-Amorphis “Tales from the Thousand Lakes”
9) What are the future plans of the band?
Working with new album currently, heading to our very first Australian tour in late March, of course coming back to Athens in April and East Europe tour in May. Starting from fall looks like will be very busy touring with Wolfheart and hopefully we have a new album out too.
10) Tuomas, we would like to thank you again for the honor to do this interview for Museum Of Past Affections, we wish you all the best!!!
Thank you , My pleasure !!!
Michael-Angelo Diakogeorgiou for MOPA-Music Webzine