Interview with Korpiklaani, Manala and the North American Tour

Hello! This is Jaraad from Der Metal Krieger; a Los Angeles based metal webzine.  I’d like to take a few moments of your time for this short interview.

 

Your latest album, Manala, was just released and I had the opportunity of giving it a solid review.  I have to say that it’s what I’d expect from Korpiklaani, a fun blast of the most danceable metal around, all while upholding your Nordic woodsmen lore.  How are you able to constantly release fantastic albums without running out of musical energy and lyrical content?

Korpiklaani has always loved to write songs and get them recorded as soon as the ideas occur to us. It is also a big pleasure for us to be able to play new songs live each year. We love our job and we have a high work ethic. We want to be as productive as possible. When we have time to write songs, we do write songs, which results in recording albums that we release at a pace that many other bands may wonder, but which is entirely normal for this band.

 

“Metsälle” was the first single to appear off the album back in 2011, followed by “Rauta” a few weeks ago. I couldn’t help but chant “Iske! Iske!” throughout “Rauta”.   Both songs offer a different musical personality, but if you had to choose just one, which would you prefer?

I clearly prefer Metsälle, because it is a lot more versatile, whereas Rauta is pretty okay for such a simple song.

 

I reviewed the standard edition of Manala which featured Finnish lyrics throughout, what made you decide to record a deluxe edition with English tracks included on a bonus disc?

Many fans have been willing to understand our lyrics better. Some of them have asked us to record an entirely English album. We also wanted to do it out of curiosity, because it turned out to be an interesting experiment. It was challenging yet rewarding to translate the lyrics from Finnish into English. However, it made us realize that Finnish will always remain our main singing language, because it clearly fits the band best.

 

Manala is the Finnish variation of an underworld if I’m not mistaken, why did such a dark location serve as the album’s namesake? Does that explain the deeper and more dramatic atmospheres found on the album?

At least three of the songs on the album directly deal with the Underworld. Those are Sumussa hämärän aamun (In the Mist of a Dark Morning), Kunnia (Honor) and Tuonelan tuvilla (At the Huts of the Underworld). The overall feeling of the album is pretty dark and gloomy. A good example of this is the song Synkkä (Dismal/Dark Side). However, this was not a conscious choice and such developments can happen easily, as we release such a great number of albums.

 

I noticed Manala didn’t have any alcohol titled songs.  Did you run out of booze to sing about?

The song Petoeläimen kuola (The Predator’s Saliva) deals with the birth of beer, but is no direct drinking song. We write drinking songs when we feel like that. The latest album without a drinking song whatsover was Korven kuningas in 2008.

 

You also have a new violinist, Tuomas Rounakari.  What happened to Teemu Eerola after Jaakko left the band?

Teemu Eerola left the band during our North American tour last year. We saw it was the best choice possible for both him and the band.

 

Soon you’ll be embarking on yet another North American tour with Moonsorrow, Týr, and Metsatöll. Are there any North American cities that seem to bring the most energy?

Almost every city in North America has definitely given us a lot of good energy and we are certainly looking forward to playing in all of the cities again.

 

During Paganfest 2011, I heard you guys made a “special” drink.  1 part Jägermeister, 1 part Baileys, and 1 part Vodka right? Do you think this Korpiklaani Coffee should catch in local taverns and bars? It should if you ask me.

Korpiklaani coffee is such an ultimate piece of drinking art that no-one can help falling in love with it.

 

Thank you for your time.  The Der Metal Krieger team will be at your Southern California shows partying hard in your pits/dance floors! We wish you the best with the release of Manala, and we hope we can share some “coffee” with you soon. Cheers!

Thank you a lot for the interview!