“Welcome to another exclusive feature here at SoundStoriesByJo, also featured on the Metalwar.gr official page. Today we explore the intricate world of Holosoil. Born from the ashes of R3VO and now signed to the legendary InsideOutMusic, this Berlin/Helsinki-based quartet is redefining progressive music with a sound that is as technical as it is organic. Let’s dive into their universe.”

E: Emelie (Vocals)
V: Victor (Bass)
J: Jan (Guitar)

Jo: The transition from R3VO to Holosoil feels like more than just a name change—it feels like a rebirth. Was there a specific musical “wall” you hit as R3VO that only the identity of Holosoil could break through?
V: We hit a wall with R3VO in the sense that we couldn’t work with our previous singer anymore. Holosoil feels more mature, and Emelie joining the band brought a new sound that could not have existed within the old formation.

Jo: Your lineup is a mix of French and German musicians based in Berlin, with Emelie joining from Helsinki. How does this “archipelago vs. big city” contrast influence the way you compose? Is the tension between nature and urban life the core of your sound?
E: So far the way we’ve worked on songwriting is that Victor, Jan and Altair in Berlin write the instrumentals by themselves and once they have created a solid idea and structure of a song they send it over to me and I write the vocal melody and lyrics in my own studio here in Finland. And then we tweak the song so that it all fits together nicely. So I think the biggest influence of this “archipelago vs. big city” comes at the stage when I write the melody and lyrics because then I bring in an energy from a very different place and a lot of times that might be something
quite different than what the guys might have had in mind when they worked on the instrumentals. So yeah I think a tension between nature and urban life has become a quite central part of our sound because the songs will have both of those energies fueled into the sound.

Jo: Emelie, you came into the band without a heavy metal background. How did this “outsider” perspective change the way the instrumental parts were written? Did it force the rest of the band to rethink what ‘prog’ should sound like?
E: I think it didn’t change the writing process of the instrumentals that much, because as I mentioned before, the guys are free to work on instrumentals however they want in Berlin, but the fact that I’m coming from a different background has definitely changed the sound, because the way I approach the music might be different than someone who has a heavy metal background. So I guess it takes quite a bit of open mindedness from all of us to make this music
because the instrumentals will not always be the easiest to write on and sometimes it takes a while until I get into the music, and likewise, what I write on the instrumentals might not always be what the guys were imagining, so we are all kind of forcing each other to rethink the sound of prog haha.

Jo: Signing with InsideOutMusic is a massive milestone for any progressive band. How has being part of a roster that includes legends like Dream Theater or Devin Townsend affected your creative goals for your upcoming debut EP, Look Up?
J: It is a huge honor for us to be with InsideOutMusic! They have a great team that is really easy to work with and they are really invested – that ́s honestly what you ́d wish for from anyone you work with, but it ́s not guaranteed of course. Being with them gives us opportunities that we did not have before, such as working with really experienced studio personnel. Creating a really professional sound and appearance is definitely a goal for us, and being on the same label with such legendary artists is a motivation for us.

Jo: The single “Animal” is described as a pledge to the great rock songs of our times. In an era of over-complicated structures, how difficult is it to write a song that appeals to both “pop fans and metalheads” without losing your progressive edge?
V: I think no matter what we write the progressive edge will always be there, because we like to try weird things. At the same time we all appreciate a simple tune with a great melody, so this combination of edgy and pop will happen naturally most of the time.

Jo: Your lyrics often touch on “humanity’s blindness” to the living world. Do you see Holosoil as a political band, or is your message more about a spiritual return to ancient wisdom?
E: I think they both kind of merge together. The lyrics often touch upon a longing for a spiritual return to ancient wisdom, but with that also comes a political critique of today’s society. So I would say I’m not shying away from getting political in the lyrics but at the same time everything I write is very rooted in the natural world, and sometimes the loudest statements is not what will be the most impactful.

Jo: The term ‘Holosoil’ suggests that the soil is a living, interconnected organism. In your creative process, who is the “soil” and who is the “seed”? How do you balance individual egos within such a sophisticated sound?
J: To be honest, you cannot really pin down who ́s the “seed” overall – most of the time, the initial idea for a song,
let it be a riff or even something that is already quite figured out, comes from Victor or me. And then everyone will start playing around with it, sometimes a sequence gets chopped up by someone else, etc. The main riff of our song “Look Up” is a good example – at first I sent it in 4/4 and then Altair took it and turned it into 8/8 and 7/8, and then switching between those two patterns laid the foundation for the rhythmic pattern that you can hear
throughout the whole song. So we have a very democratic approach when it comes to songwriting, which is of course quite
challenging at times. But I ́d like to think that everyone ́s involvement in it makes it very “all- round” and we create this “soil” together from which something beautiful can grow.

Jo: “Spirals” features a very hypnotic, choreographed video. How important is the element of dance and physical movement in translating the complex rhythms of your music to the audience?
E: I feel like the music video for Spirals opened up a new dimension to our visual expression. And that’s something that would be fun to explore even more in the future. And I think in our upcoming live shows it will also naturally develop, not necessarily to bring a choreography to stage (why not) but just to see how we move to the songs on stage, because for sure its an important aspect of translating the energy and message of the songs to the audience. Let’s have
some fun!

Jo: You’ve performed at Euroblast Festival and opened for bands like Vukovi. How do you adapt your intricate studio sound for a raw, live environment? Do you prioritize technical precision or emotional energy on stage?
V: The core of the music is really coming from 4 musicians playing live, we use some backing tracks for live shows but they’re not THAT important. Precision definitely has to be there, but I’d personally always prefer great energy over perfect playing.

Jo: “Look Up” is the title of your debut EP (coming April 2026). Is this a direct command to a society buried in screens? Do you feel that modern technology is the biggest enemy of the “progression” you advocate for?
J: It most definitely is! The song title delivers such a direct message that it felt very natural to go with it for the EP name. And I don’t ́ think that modern technology is an enemy per se, but sometimes I have the feeling that humanity should be more careful in how it gets used. Not every aspect of our lives has to be digital.

Jo: In tracks like “Cracks,” we hear a blend of trip-hop and heavy metal. Are there any “forbidden” genres in the Holosoil universe, or is everything on the table as long as it feels authentic?
J: Not really to be honest, as Victor said before we like to try out weird things. On the other hand I am rather sure that German Schlager music is something we will happily avoid.

Jo: Berlin is known for its brutalist architecture and electronic scene, while Finland is known for its vast nature. If your music was a physical space, would it be a concrete forest or a digital wilderness?
J: The idea of a concrete forest sounds pretty depressing to be honest. So I think the picture of a digital wilderness is more fitting. To me this also goes along rather well with our audio-visual appearance, this element of rawness and wilderness.

(+1) Jo: If you could input a “Cheat Code” into the music industry today to ensure that experimental and atypical bands like yours got the attention they deserve in the age of algorithms, what would that code be?
V: I don’t know if there’s any cheat code we could input into the industry. I think it’s all about working hard and keeping the grind up to get heard and seen, and eventually something will come out of it.

Thanks a lot for giving us the space to answer such interesting questions!
HOLOSOIL

“A huge thank you to Holosoil for this deep dive into their art. Their debut EP Look Up is set for release on April 17th via InsideOutMusic. Make sure to support them and stay tuned to SoundStoriesByJo and Metalwar.gr for more. Until next time!”

Best Regards,
Jo Music Journalist & Editor
SoundStoriesByJo | Metalwar.gr