SOURCE – Beyond its place in the band’s discography, what sets Isle of Bliss apart from your previous releases?
Toni Hatakka (Vocals) – I would say there is a sharper edge to this album. We decided to let the drums and guitars do the heavy lifting on the new songs, and we happened to come across Gomez Arellano during our show a few years back. With this in mind, he seemed the obvious choice to mix and master our album, further contributing to the perhaps more “bare bones” approach audible on the album. Also, utilizing Riikka’s screaming capabilities to a greater extent on this album builds upon this foundation, in my opinion.
SOURCE – What was the production process behind the album Isle of Bliss like?
Toni Hatakka (Vocals) – Meeting Gomez in Helsinki during our gig perhaps kind of solidified the idea of going “harsher” this time around. As usual, the band members had been amassing demo songs into a shared folder since completing the previous album, and as the deadline for pre production started approaching, the folder had a hefty 31 demos from which to choose. Jussi (guitars) is the main producer in the band, and he curated those to roughly half, from which we had to make a decision whether to go for a more “mellow” collection with more of the classical gothic vibe, or lean towards double kicks, blasts and tremolos. In the end, we decided upon the latter. As usual, this was followed by the band members recording their parts in various studios and home studios. Perhaps notable is that the drums were recorded once more at D Studio by master Jarno Hänninen, who excels at drum recording and production. When everything was recorded and edited, we sent the tracks to Gomez at Orgone Studios, and he started the work. It was kind of strange and interesting to just let the master perform his craft without backseat driving, and we were indeed very pleased with the result.
SOURCE – Is Isle of Bliss the album that most strongly reflects Black Metal influences in your work?
Toni Hatakka (Vocals) – Well, I do not think there is a “strong” BM influence, as black metal is perhaps a more thematic than compositional aesthetic. But I get what you mean, and I would say it definitely takes the most from the Nordic metal tradition, be it black, death, folk or whatever genres the bands have been put into.
SOURCE – What is the long term outlook for Isle of Bliss?
Toni Hatakka (Vocals) – We do not know. Hopefully a good outlook. We will definitely be playing the songs a lot live for a long time, as they all have strong live potential.
SOURCE – How does having a seven member lineup impact your songwriting process, both positively and negatively?
Toni Hatakka (Vocals) – Positively in that we have an abundance of material to choose from and can do a lot of picking. Negatively, we have an abundance of material we have to go through and have to do a lot of picking and discarding. We also do not get to jam a lot.
SOURCE – For many years, being in a band essentially meant writing, rehearsing, recording, and performing. Today, the landscape demands a broader skill set. Has it become more challenging to be in a band today?
Toni Hatakka (Vocals) – Well, I think yes. A band has to have a social media presence and a dual role as a content creator. We started making music videos ourselves some ten years ago and have gotten quite good at it, but the social media side often feels quite cumbersome and artificial. We are trying to find an honest angle to bring some aspects of ourselves to those platforms in a meaningful way, but often we just neglect social media quite a bit. The performing aspect is also challenging, as it is quite difficult and expensive to move seven people around and fit their schedules together, especially as most of the members are parents of small children and have demanding day jobs.
SOURCE – To what extent has being a Finnish band emerging from a renowned scene contributed to your career?
Toni Hatakka (Vocals) – I think the band got signed during the death doom boom of the mid 2000s, but I was not in the band at the time. I only joined in 2010, so it is hard to say for sure. But in the end, I feel that being a Finnish metal band mostly means the difficulty of standing out in a massively oversaturated scene, as Finland has by far the most metal bands per capita in the world, about eight times as much as in the United States.
SOURCE – Is there any song or album in your catalog that you would like to revisit and re record?
Toni Hatakka (Vocals) – This is a good question. I have often thought that it would be awesome to revisit at least some songs from At Every Door, perhaps in a live studio setting. But mostly, I think it is best to leave each work as it once was, because they are all products of their time, and that is strongly reflected in the sound, production and performance.
Photo band credit: Jani Kormu
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