01. TELL US ABOUT THE BEGINNING OF VONULFSREICH?

In 2012 I got this urge to form a new, working band. I was already pretty sure to pick Fogg and Lempo as fellow musicians since both of them are long-time friends of mine and also, we were already rehearsing three-piece in 2009 and it worked out pretty well. My main band at that time was going nowhere and I felt this raging desire to DO things. And after that, do some more things.

The first twin-releases we did with two different line-ups to record with separate types of recording methods and personalities. Northern Shamanism (recorded with Fogg) was darker but more atmospheric side of V.Ü.R. Sepulchral Silence (recorded with Lempo) instead was heavier and highly punk-influenced.

02. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SOUND TO SOMEONE WHO HAS NEVER HEARD YOU BEFORE?

Obscure and noisy metal/punk that is highly against any musical standards or taking a musical direction depending on what's ”in” at the moment. Most likely the music will sound unpleasant.

03. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE LYRICAL CONTEST OF THE MUSICS?

It's a journey to the darker side of spirituality. It's struggling man's poetry. My lyrics usually involve nature mystics, solitude, darkness, anger and several otherwordly experiences.

04. TELL US MORE ABOUT CD: SPELL OF THUNDER?

Not a CD yet. We are working on the release as we speak. It came out pretty cool I think. I'm not usually this pleased of a new release but this one is quite ok. I would of course change something at this point but fuck it. There's no use to make a perfect record. What on earth would we do next? The core line-up on Spell Of Thunder is me and Fogg only. Lempo needed to take a break from everything and so he went travelling. But he said it was okay to go for it while he's away. However we have some guest vocals and guest solos on the record, and even Lempo appeared to the bünker studio while we were finishing the recordings so he managed to do some additional vocals as well. All in all, we had six people to perform on Spell Of Thunder. That's quite a bunch of people for a cranky loner band.

05. WHERE DID THE NAME OF THE ALBUM COME FROM AND HOW DOES IT RELATLE TO THE ILLUSTRATION ON THE ALBUM COVER?

Just like everytime, the title just came out of nowhere rushing to my head. The name's obviously a small nod towards the first Tarot album. The name fits the album's soundscape very well, I think. About the illustration, I just happened to come across with it in the new year's night when I was listening to the rehearsal demo versions of these songs. It was just something that immediately gave face to our new songs. There was no turning back. It was a perfect choice. It definitely reflects the album's overall atmosphere.

06. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO USE THIS WORD: VONULFSREICH AS A BAND NAME?

It's from a vision of ”Vonülf” I had in 2012 before starting a new band. I think a unique name would do more justice to our music instead of using english or finnish names. It's too late anyway so all the best names are already taken.

07. WHAT MERCHANDISE DO YOU STILL HAVE AVAILABLE?

Only records. Even they are slowly running out.

08. TELL US NOW YOUR FAVE BANDS AND ALBUMS?

Too many. I have always enjoyed music as music instead of style. I grew up with U2, Beatles and Bad Vugum stuff (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) then later got into pop, rock, electro etc. and ”eventually” found metal around the age of 12 which gave my life quite a new meaning. When it comes to metal, I have stopped following most of the bands years ago. I still have pretty much the same old faves which I probably never grow tired with. If you're interested in listing of some sort, here's my tip of the endless iceberg:

- Burzum: Filosofem

Filosofem or bus money? Filosofem and 25km walk home? The kid made a right decision. Out of this world. Still absolutely mesmerizing. Literally a timeless classic. For me this was a revelation of minimalistic and hypnotic music. I guess that's why I enjoy kraut, ”nowave” and ambient these days.

- Mayhem Deathcrush & De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas 

On DMDS modern black metal was born and killed. Deathcrush was my first Mayhem record. I wonder if my Weird Manheim cover version is still somewhere.

- CMX: Kolmikärki

The first album from this long-time finnish group. Before taking more progressive and experimental pop direction, Kolmikärki is still pretty much dealing with hardcore punk (by no means it's typical hardcore though) with esoteric lyrics. Lots of influences from shamanism, theosophy, literature and occult. I was lucky enough to find this album again a couple of years ago. Used to bang my head to this a lot as a teenager. Very powerful and vital album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ2xyy0A0tY

- Darkthrone: A Blaze In The Northern Sky

Unique and timeless. Those death metal leads make it even weirder. An unexpected d-beat on Kathaarian Life Code killed me.

- Bathory: The Return......

Usually when I praise this album to people, surprisingly many would say they always skipped or are unfamiliar with that particular album for some reason. Very underrated and 10000000% black metal.

Besides metal, I enjoy bands like Joy Division, Terveet Kädet (Suomi 82 hardcore anyone?), CAN, KTMK/Radiopuhelimet, Vangelis, Magma, Frank Zappa, Dead Can Dance, M.A Numminen, Psychoplasma, Suicide, The Stooges, Kauko Röyhkä, Birthday Party, Leo Bugariloves, The Doors etc.etc.etc.etc...

09. WHAT ARE SOME INTEREESTS THAT YOU HAVE OUTSIDE OF MUSIC?

Art and living/dying. No ”hobbies” really.

10. WHAT´S YOUR OPINION ABOUT: SATANISM, OCULTISM AND SHAMANISM?

They might be a perfect gateway to the unseen dimension of existence and perhaps taking you closer to the truth. Any individual ideology connecting to the roots of man and higher knowledge can be seen as good thing as long as you stick to keep it individual. I write most of my lyrics concerning these subjects.

11. AS YOU SEE THE UNDERGROUND SCENE ON YOUR COUNTRY?

Seeing how the underground scene in Finland is going is one of the last things I'm interested of. There must be some bands worth checking out but I simply got better things to do.

12. WHAT´RE YOUR FUTURE PLANS?

Future is uncertain. I have never seen tomorrow. At least we got some more releases coming around if things work out the way they're supposed to. At this point it's not time for writing or recording but releasing instead. We've been recording a lot of different kind of music within the past year. Let's see how people handle that.

13. THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT. ANY LAST COMMENTS?

Thanks for your support and cheers to our brazilian listeners! Early brazilian death/thrash murders!