Finnish winter is hard and cold and feeds the fire to create extreme art. Also Pekka Taina [picture] felt the urge to make some really aggresive music after playing in various bands over ten years. Enshrouding will release its debut album Time To Kill The Beast later this month. Below an interview with founder and vocalist Pekka.
TMR: Hello to you from´The Metal Resource’ Holland, how are things going there in Finland ?
Hi there! Things are great! Lots of things going on.
TMR: Will you Introduce yourself and the band please [name and instrument]
My name is Pekka Taina and I play guitar and do the vocals and programming. The band is basically me, but there are some other musicians playing in the new album. They are:
Pekka Taina – Vocals, Guitars [Sotahuuto, Sáwol]
Rolf Pilve – Drums [Miseration, Stratovarius]
Matti Taina – Bass [Sotahuuto, Sáwol]
Taneli Törölä – Guitars [Sotahuuto, Megiddon, Sáwol]
Jussi Verkkonen – Percussions
The line-up in live situations vary a bit from the line-up in the album.
TMR: Tell us the brief history of ‘Enshrouding’.
Enshrouding started in 2008 when I decided to try to release some extreme metal I had composed. I had some recording equipment myself and I wanted to record and mix everything myself. The result was an EP titled ‘Volatile Times’. At first I thought I would leave it to that as I had other bands going on. The EP got quite good feedback and I started to have some ideas for new Enshrouding songs. So I decided to make another EP titled ‘Arise New Army’ in 2010. My passion for this project continued to grow and then became a really good opportunity to play a live show. So we played live for the first time in Nordic Fest 2011 (Oslo, Norway). At that point I already had decided to make a full-length album as I had more songs ready. So early this year I started to really focus on the album and we started the recordings in the spring. Now the album ‘Time to kill the beast’ is ready and it will be released in October 24th.
TMR: Are you guys full time musicians ? If not what kind of job or study do you do beside the band ?
Rolf is a full-time musician and he recently got a pretty nice new job as being the new drummer of Stratovarius. I’m an acoustical designer. The other guys work mostly with IT & graphics.
TMR: What is your musical background ? [for everyone personal]
I started playing cello when I was 7 years old but I stopped that when I was 18. At that time I also studied the theory of music. I have been playing guitar for almost 20 years now.
TMR: Why the name ‘Enshrouding’ ? Is there a story behind it ?
Enshrouding is a song title from a nice swedish band called Raison d’être. It sounded cool and fitted really well for the concept, as I wanted to keep the project anonymous at first.
TMR: Who writes the music/lyrics in ‘Enshrouding’ ? .. how do you get in the mood for writing music? And which bands/situations have influences you for writing music and lyrics ?
I write all the music and lyrics. Usually the best musical ideas come when I have no hurry. Saturday morning and a cup of coffee usually does the trick. I try to write down ideas for lyrics whenever I get them (in bus, at work etc.). When I have enough ideas, I start putting them together and fit them into some song.
TMR: How do you describe the music of ‘Enshrouding’ the best ?
I’d say its a mix of black-, death- and thrashmetal. I guess this is what happens when a deathmetal guy tries to write blackmetal.
TMR: How does ‘Enshrouding’ stands in life till events in the world, religion and politics and in which proportion stands that till your music and lyrics ?
Enshrouding is a christian band.
TMR: For a lot of bands the lyrics are just a accidental circumstance, but for some bands they use them to communicate ! ..can you tell us how that is for ‘Enshrouding’ ?
I try to write encouraging lyrics for Enshrouding. There are lots of darkness and pain in the world and so I want to bring light and strength to people instead. It is challenging sometimes, as the lyrics should also fit the quite dark and aggressive music. So there are also some darker tones in the lyrics.
TMR: Name some of your favorite bands to play with live [past and future] and tell us why ?
It would be great to play with bands such as Antestor and Horde as they are pioneers in the christian metal scene. We have already played with A hill to die upon, of which I enjoyed a lot. They are cool dudes!
TMR: First record you bought?
Deliverance – A decade of…
TMR: What makes you laugh?
Good and bad jokes from nice people.
TMR: How do you promote your band and shows ?
I try to do some promotion in the web now as it seems to be the place where people can be reached. Facebook, various discussion boards, Myspace, Soundcloud, Youtube…
TMR: How do you prepare for a show?
I try to just focus and drink some coffee & water. Nothing special there. I really enjoy playing live!
TMR: Describe your show, visual and musically ? And tell us about your next shows and why we should be there.
I try to use some thought to the setlist so that the music goes fluently. I think about tempos and feelings in the songs. The music is really good for live situations and so the shows become aggressive quite easily. Visually we haven’t tried anything radical yet, but maybe in the future.
TMR: What is the dumbest question you have ever been asked?
Maybe this one, haha.
TMR: Do you have a life philosophy / favorite quote ?
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
TMR: Are you visiting many gigs and what do you listen to these days?
I like to visit gigs myself. I usually enjoy more some smaller shows. Lately I’ve seen Nasum, Dying Fetus and some Finnish punk bands. I listen to quite different music styles these days. In the past weeks I have been listening to AC/DC, Decapitated, Miles Davis, Archive, Jimi Hendrix, Foo Fighters, Povo, Mors Principium Est, Seefeel, Mental Destruction, Raison d’être…
TMR: Tell us about the hardrock/metal scene in your area please?
We have quite many bands here in Helsinki area and many good shows. We had some kind of a metal trend going on here some time ago, when Lordi won the eurovision song contest. Luckily things are now getting back to normal and we can enjoy our metal in peace.
TMR: What’s your outlook on the record industry today?
Hard to say. Things are definitely changing. Bands can do more themselves these days (recording, mixing, mastering, marketing, selling etc.). At the same time record sales are getting smaller and so bands and labels need to find another ways to make money.
TMR: Your upcoming album ‘Time To Kill The Beast’ will be released on Oct. 24th, tell us about the songs, the recording proces, who did the artwork etc.
The songs are quite fast and melodic death/black/thrashmetal. There are some studio reports in youtube. We recorded the drums with Arttu Sarvanne in Studio Watercastle, where I have worked may times before with my other bands. After that we set up a studio in Helsinki, and we recorded the bass, guitars and vocals ourselves. Then I headed back to Studio Watercastle with the material and so we mixed the album there. The mastering was handled by Henkka Niemistö in Chartmakers, Helsinki. The process was quite heavy for me as I was in charge of almost everything. After all it turned out really good and I’m satisfied. The snake on the cover actually belongs to Lasse, the owner of Bullroser records. He took the picture and Taneli made the album covers from that. I think they did really good job too!
TMR: The album will be released via ‘Bullroser Records’, how did you get signed by them ?
I know Lasse, the owner, well and I have been working with him a couple of times before. So it was easy for me to ask him. He thought it was a good idea and so here we are!
TMR: What about your plans for this year or the near future ? [European Tour maybe]
I need to work with promotion in the near future and hopefully we get some shows confirmed soon!
TMR: What advice would you give to fellow bands?
Follow your dreams and do what you really want to do! Focus first on the music and after that to other stuff.
TMR: What are the biggest obstacles for bands ?
These days the internet is both really good and bad. Internet is a great way to spread your music, but it is hard to get recognized as there are so many bands there. Bands need more than just good music for success.
TMR: Pekka thanks for your time and the interview, we wish ‘Enshrouding’ all the best for 2012 … Is there anything you wanna say at last? [any final statement ?]
Go check out the studio reports and the new songs from youtube and join our Facebook page! Keep supporting metal! God Bless!
Band members:
Pekka Taina – Vocals, Guitars
Rolf Pilve – Drums
Matti Taina – Bass
Taneli Törölä – Guitars
Jussi Verkkonen – Percussions
Discography:
Volatile Times [CD EP 2008]
Arise New Army [CD EP, 2010]
Time To Kill The Beast [CD, 2012] [Pre-Order]