NOUMENA
// Falber Teles
SOURCEWEBZINE - As it is the first time I became advertent of NOUMENA
Please tell our readers something about your history and some background information about you...
TUUKKA TUOMELA (G) - NOUMENA started out in 1998 as Ilkka and Hannu came up with the idea of a melodic death metal band. Soon after NOUMENA was established when Tuukka, Antti and Ville were added to the line-up.
The line-up has stayed the same through out our history and it is: Antti Haapanen – vocals, Ville Lamminaho & Tuukka Tuomela – guitars, Hannu Savolainen – bass and Ilkka Unnbom – drums. The five of us have been good friends for many, many years before NOUMENA and we have played together in various underground bands before NOUMENA.
We all come from a small finnish town called Ähtäri. We have done three albums, “Pride/Fall” (2002/Catharsis Record), “Absence”(2005/Spikefarm) and the brand new album is called “Anatomy of Life”(2006/Spikefarm).
SOURCEWEBZINE - "Anatomy of Life" is a really great example of the band branching out and experimenting with different sounds. What's the story behind the inspiration and creation of this particular cut?
TUUKKA TUOMELA (G) - We started to write new material for “Anatomy of Life” sometime in the fall of 2005. At that point we were doing a bunch of gigs and promoting the “Absence” album. In the spring of 2006 we were doing more gigs in Finland and also a minitour in Germany and Austria. At that point we had most of the material for “AOL” done, but for example “The Burning” was rehearsed for the first time three weeks before we hit the studio and also “Monument of Pain” was one of the last songs that was finished before the studio. The material for “AOL” didn´t come out as easy as we would have wanted. But after all we got our material together for “AOL” and we entered the studio Sundi Coop in May 2005.
The studio session in itself was fairly easy for us. We stayed perfectly on time with our work and we didn´t have any major setbacks in the studio. Before-hand we had a pretty good idea what kind of sound we were looking for.
On “Absence” we played it kind of safe and didn´t experiment that much on different sounds or anything, so this time around we wanted to do something a bit more experimental. I think that the overall sound on “AOL” is somewhat different in comparison to “Absence” but still the basic elements of our music stands out very distinctively. We used all kinds of different guitar sounds for example for this album and now there are a lot more variations between the songs sound wise. I think we are pretty happy with the out come of this album and the way it sounds. But as always you are hungry for bigger and better things and you want to learn to master your craft even more so to speak, so when it comes to making the next album we will be pushing ourselves to new heights to make an even better album as the previous one.
SOURCEWEBZINE - The first thing I noticed listening to "Anatomy of Life" were the great melodies going all through the album. Would you agree with me that this is one of the most typical and important style elements of NOUMENA?
TUUKKA TUOMELA (G) - Yes, I agree with you on that. Through out NOUMENA´s history the melodies and guitar harmonies have been one of the most important elements in our music. We all like melodic metal/music in general, so it´s no co-incidence that we put those melodic elements to our music also. For me as a songwriter those melodies just come out fairly easily and many times the melodies creates the basis for the song. So I would think that many who have listened to our music would point out the fact that our music is very melodic.
SOURCEWEBZINE - Is it safe to say "Anatomy of Life" is your most melodic record yet?
TUUKKA TUOMELA (G) - I personally think, that our previous album “Absence” was in a way more melodic than “AOL”. Of course both albums have a very strong melodic presence, but on “AOL” we have added more riff-based stuff to the songs. As I said earlier, the guitar harmonies and melodies are one of the most important elements in our music and those elements will stay even though we always try to create something new. As I said, on “AOL” we have songs that have more riff-orientated guitar work, but still the melodies are there. Guitar melodies and harmonies are a big part of our music.
SOURCEWEBZINE - "Anatomy of Life" will be your second release through
Spinefarm Records and it was released on 2006. How has the cooperation
between you and the label been so far?
TUUKKA TUOMELA (G) - The cooperation has been going quite smoothly. No big disagreements or anything like that. We have been very pleased with the way Spinefarm/Spikefarm has handled the promotions and marketing of NOUMENA and our albums. And it´s easy to operate with Spinefarm because their office is in Helsinki and you can just go there if you have something on your mind. So we have been happy with our label.
SOURCEWEBZINE - You guys come from Ähtäri, Finland. How´s the metal scene doing there at the moment? Any uprising band you would like to recommend?
TUUKKA TUOMELA (G) - Ähtäri is a really small town in central Finland with some 7,000 inhabitants. In a way it´s a weird place because the band scene has always been quite active for such a small town and there are always new bands coming out. We still have our rehearsal place in Ähtäri and there are also other bands playing there, so every now and then we get a change to hear the new bands emerging from Ähtäri. There are a lot of young kids playing metal music and starting up bands in Ähtäri and that´s great of course. If I have to mention couple of “Ähtäri-bands” I would suggest to check out CRYONSIDE, which is a melodic metal band and also GARAGE13, which is a great action rock band. They both have mySpace-accounts so go check them out!
SOURCEWEBZINE - What's behind the idea using female vocals on the album? It sounds very good and doesn't seem spontaneous in any way...
TUUKKA TUOMELA (G) - We have used female vocals on our demos and albums through out NOUMENA´s history. Our female vocalist Hanna Leinonen was on our first demo and she sings on “AOL” also. The female vocals, and also the clean male vocals (mainly by Tuomas Tuominen/Fall Of The Leafe), gives a great contrast to the deep growls that Antti puts out. The guest vocalists give more diversity to our music and the clear vocals have become a part of NOUMENA. One of the characteristics of NOUMENA is the deep growling vocals of our main vocalist Antti, but the clear vocals adds an ingredient to the the NOUMENA-coctail. Both Hanna and Tuomas are amazing singers so we are very lucky to have them onboard and occasionally they can be heard on our live shows as well.
SOURCEWEBZINE - In Ähtäri there's a zoo, where we can see Finnish wildlife
in natural environment. Could you tell us more about your city ?
TUUKKA TUOMELA (G) - Whoa, you have done your homework! Yes, the Ähtäri-Zoo is the city´s main attraction and by far the one and only thing that almost everyone in Finland knows about. Besides the zoo there aren´t that many great attractions in Ähtäri. Ähtäri is more of a summer-town, when there are a lot of people from around the country on holiday trips or on their cabins. As I said earlier Ähtäri is a really small town and there isn’t a lot of things to do besides hanging with your friends and playing music. Of course if you´re into sports you can join the local athletics club or something, but that ain´t cool. But what makes Ähtäri such a great place for me are the friends and the general atmosphere when you go to Ähtäri.
SOURCEWEBZINE - In the end I like to take a sneak peak to your playing
list. What kind of music kicks the most ass in NOUMENA camp?
TUUKKA TUOMELA (G) - Well, I asked the other guys what they are listening to at the moment and as you can see our current playlists contain very diverce music, from metal to classical music. Ville has been listening to Paatos: “Silence of Another Kind”, Agalloch: “Ashes Against the Grain” and Mozart: “Requiem”. Hannu´s playlist contains Mastodon: ”Blood Mountain” and Hypocrisy: “The Arrival”. Ilkka has been listening to Cradle of filth: “Thornography”, Cat Stevens: “Tea for the Tillerman” and Porcupine Tree: “In absentia”. Antti has been into Borknagar and their “Epic” and “Origin” albums. I have been listening to Tenhi: “Kauan” and “Väre”, Samael: “Eternal” and “Passage” and the new Keep of Kalessin: “Armada”. For me the soundtrack for this fall has been the new Insomnium album “Above the Weeping World” which is just an amazing record. I recommend it to all metalheads.
SOURCEWEBZINE - Any greetings to your fans all around the globe ?
TUUKKA TUOMELA (G) - Buy our new album “Anatomy of Life” and also our previous albums “Absence” and “Pride/Fall” and be ready to wet your pants! Vahvaa osaamista from Ähtäri! Cheers!
Spinefarm Records
NOUMENA
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