KAUNIS KUOLEMATON is a melodic doom/death band from Finland that has just released their fifth album called “Kun valo minussa kuoli”. Their music is really special.. atmospheric, full of emotions and darkness and their lyrics is in Finnish, a characteristic they stay true to since their beginning of their career. We had the honor to talk to Mikko Heikkilä (guitars, clean vocals) about their career, their new album and about music in general.
Metalwar: Hello and welcome to our webzine. I heard about you from Gogo Melone from AEONEAN SORROW and I immediately loved your music, so it is a great pleasure for me to be able to talk to you. First of all, please introduce yourselves for those who might not know you here, in Greece.
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: At first high, and say hello to Gogo as well 🙂 Well, my name is Mikko Heikkilä and I work on clean vocals and guitars in our five piece band KAUNIS KUOLEMATON. We have had the same line-up since from the beginning, and the other members are Ville Mussalo – guitars, Olli Suvanto – growls, Jarno Uski – bassguitar and Miika Hostikka – drums. I have known Miika and Jarno since my childhood and somehow I would also say that we´ve grown together as long time friends. So the band chemistry and the way how we work in the band is kinda based for the friendships.
We have been working with this band from 2012 when we also released our first self-release band name titled cds. Our debut came out in 2014 and nowadays we can say that we have found our way to express ourselves through the music as a band and have found our own kinda style. I also think that one of the reasons for our unique style is the Finnish language, all the melody lines in vocals and guitars. We have kinda grown together how we sound these days. Mixed styles of metal in spirit of doom and melancholy.
Metalwar: I guess this a question that you get asked a lot. What does “KAUNIS KUOLEMATON” mean in your language and what does it mean to you?
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: Straight translate is beautiful immortal, but… in Finnish and how we see it there is more deeper meaning behind than just those two words. Melodies can be very beautiful and touching even among all the sadness which our songs are mostly about. And in a way, music is immortal, everlasting in its own form.
Metalwar: I don’t like to put labels in music but I think it would be interesting to know which artists or bands influenced your music the most.
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: Me neither 🙂 There is so much music these days that it’s really hard to categorize it. We all members have our own history and a background that we have been gone through. Different bands, different styles, so I think what inspires the most is the past and the live that we have lived through.
Metalwar: You are about to release your new album, “Kun Valo Minussa Kuoli” which means, and correct me If I am wrong, “When the light inside me died” (the interview took place a few days before the official release date). First of all, give us some info about the album.
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: We signed with German label Noble Demon Records in 2020 when we released our third album “Syttyköön toinen aurinko”. So this is our fifth in overall and third album for Noble Demo which we are going to release now. We have produced the album by ourselves like all the previous ones. Vocals, bass and drums was recorded by Saku Moilanen at Deep Noise Studios who also done the whole mixing. Album was mastered in Sweden at Fascination Street Studios by Tony Lindgren. “Kun valo minussa kuoli” will be released in November 28th.
In the band we have three members who write the songs, so that’s also the reason why you are able to found the differences inside of it while listening. But I also think that’s also one of our biggest strengths for having different composers. Most of the lyrics were written by me but sometimes Olli and Ville has given their parts on some songs as well.
Metalwar: The title of the upcoming album is very powerful and poetic that carries a lot of sentiment. Why did you choose this title and how it connects with the music and lyrics of the songs included?
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: Wow, that’s nice if you had those vibes about the name 🙂 In generally you think it´s hard for the foreign people to catch the ideas because of the language, but maybe it´s showing though somehow. Our lyrics are pretty simple and I really often have a feeling that I´m repeating myself but… I have also talked with others about the issue, but maybe that´s just my way to write. Lots of fans keep telling me how easy it is to get placed inside those songs and I think the reason for that is clarity without any hooks or difficult line combination what would have difficult to understand.
Despite all its simplicity it´s nice to also have been able through the album and its poetic way to express thoughts and things around you. If you find the right and artistic way how to describe the album that can tell you more than just the album name…. you get me? 🙂 With the album name you are able to tell more about the music and the atmosphere that´s gathered. I like that name too. Beautiful name in all its sadness which colors the music in the album even more.
Metalwar: Throughout your career, you balance perfectly between atmospheric melodies and harsh music and you combine clean and harsh vocals. These are some characteristics that shape your identity. In your new album what can we expect? Any differences from the previous albums?
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: It’s hard to say. We never write songs based on a theme that has been made in advance. We never even think about the genre and where we should stay with our writings. What I´m trying to say is that we haven´t set any limits we cannot cross.
When we started this band the first main thing was that we do what we want and in a way which feels right. So, hearts ahead of everything 🙂
Metalwar: Another thing that defines you is the fact that you use your native language instead of English as most bands around the world. To be honest, although Finnish sound a bit strange to my ears, in a magic way fits perfectly your music. At first, I thought that it would make it difficult for me to listen to your songs but at the end I ended up loving your whole discography. What is the reason for this decision? Is it something that may change in the future?
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: I said earlier that Finnish language might be one of our strengths, so I stick on that 🙂 At first I wrote about 5 songs in English, but somehow that felt pretty strange…. I always came up into feeling that something was missing. There was a moment with an idea about the Finnish language. Still back on that time it wasn’t that popular so it felt kinda fresh thinking about the whole picture of a band. I started to write more songs in that way and I felt relieved, natural. Now we are able to write lyrics in a form where we are able to fill its purposes exactly how we want. It’s also one of the parts that makes us sound more unique than a band performing in English… we’re not just one band among thousands of others.
Sometimes some people are throwing out that question about performing in English at least doing that in one song but I don´t know. Somehow I always get this feeling that it just not made for us. So I don´t think that´s ever going to happen.
Metalwar: Do you believe that this decision made it harder for you to acquire more followers outside Finland?
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: Of course, but it´s decision that we have made back then and what we have become following that path, so we wouldn’t be who we are now without that decision back then. It´s a huge part of our band´s identity.
Metalwar: It is obvious that your music is full of emotions and seems to be very personal. What inspires you to create music and what is the concepts you choose for your lyrics? Not only in “Kun Valo Minussa Kuoli” but generally throughout your discography.
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: Personally I like to write about very basic things in a simple way. KAUNIS KUOLEMATON is the first band that I have ever write in native, so I don´t have any other experiences of that. I have never studied, I have never searched about how other artists write about their methods or styles, so this has been my own path as a lyricists. I’m the type of person who studies a lot of the environment, what’s going on around me. I also think about things in many different ways, so writing comes pretty natural to me. Sometimes I’m afraid that I’m repeating myself too much, but I don’t think about that as much as I used to.
The topics I write about are very basic, everyday things. However, the darkest thoughts that people often don’t dare to speak out loud. But we will do it, we will say it and that´s also the reason why it is so easy to stepping into our songs.
Metalwar: Regarding live shows, all these years you are active as a band, can you choose 1 or 2 occasions that you will never forget? Maybe an incident on stage or a collaboration with another band or artist?
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: Yes I can and it´s Tuska Festival in 2024. The experience that I never forget, about the audience, about that noise that came out from numerous people. And of course there are also those events where you think that no one is coming and after all we play in a sold out venue, so….. we have been heading to a right direction during these years. And we are lucky about this situation that we are standing now.
Metalwar: How are you planning to promote your new album?
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: Label will do they part, social media advertising, pre-listening sessions, just few to mention. We are lucky to have partners like Finnish webstore for our merches, Backstage Rock Shop as they are working with numerous bigger bands so that´s also helping a lot to get more publicity. In Finland we have kinda solid base for everything so we don´t have to do that much to get more attention. We are heading smoothly but surely. We try not to take so much stress about everything. Nowadays, social media plays a huge role in promoting.
Metalwar: The last years, promotion and distribution of music is very important due to the huge load of info that reaches the ears of the listeners throughout the world. You have to find a way to reach those people and maybe stand out. Unfortunately, the quality of your music may not be enough sometimes. What is your opinion of the last trends such as streaming apps? Is it something that really helps the artists or it is a necessary evil in a way?
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: It’s bad in the sense that there’s so much music available these days. It’s hard to get noticed because the number of bands is so huge. Nowadays it’s really easy to get studio-quality sounds on a very small budget, and it doesn’t take much to get your music on streaming services. On the other hand, if a band already has a solid fan base, they can use social media to their advantage on their own without a major marketing company. So, it has its pros and cons.
Metalwar: Do you believe the use of AI in almost every aspect of music, from composition to artwork, is a threatening situation for the artists or an opportunity that we may use in our favor?
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: I can’t say what the future holds, but still in these early days, at least for me, the use of artificial intelligence in our art form is quite disturbing in a way. We’ll see how things develop and what the trend is. But for now, I’m saying no thanks, to put it simply
Metalwar: I think we covered pretty much everything. I would like to thank you once more for your time and energy and wish you all the best! Do you like to send a message to Greek metalheads?
KAUNIS KUOLEMATON: Please do dare to give a chance for Finnish KAUNIS KUOLEMATON. We have done several albums already and the new one is on its way. So grab all the oldies to get to know what KK is made from and pre-save the new ones. If you are a friend of melancholy style of metal with beautiful and sorrowful melodies, you won´t get disappointed…. at least we hope so. It would be nice to play in your beautiful country someday, so hope we have a chance for that in a future 🙂
Take care yourself and all your loved ones…..
Interview – Text: Kostas Boudoukos
