UPCOMING SHOWS: 22.10.2010 Tallinn, Estonia, Club Rockstars (w. Rapture, Thrashless) 29.10.2010 Vaasa, Hullu Pullo (w. Ghost Brigade) PAITAMYYNTI: Tilaa Throes Of Dawn-paidat täältä. SITE UPDATES: 08.09.2010 Live dates 02.08.2010 Live dates 09.07.2010 News Interviews 12.12.2000 Flash Magazine 1- Is your music completely spontaneous/straight from the heart or do you spend much time trying to shape it and polish it, having some schemes in mind, like a style or genre to follow? Our music is quite spontaneously born, we really don't polish or shape them afterwards. Toni and Jani, both of our guitarrists make all of our music. Nowadays it's Jani who makes most of the songs as he seems to have a more creative period going on now. We really don't even rehearse our songs too much, there was one song on our previous album "Dreams of the Black Earth", which we had never even played together before the studio! 2- How do you deal with your inspiration? Do you let it come to you anytime/anywhere or can you let it out at some convenient time (like you 'have' to release an album because the contract says so?) My inspirations come without warnings, I usually have a pen and some paper with me wherever I go. It may sound silly but that's the way the inspiration works on me. Some great thoughts or rhymepatterns can just pop-up in to my mind and I have to write them down somewhere. 3- Is everyone in the band a 'creative force' or is there just one 'productive' individual? I write all the lyrics and Toni and Jani compose all the music, so there's our drummer Teemu and our bassplayer Matti who really don't create any of our music, but they have a strong influence on our music through their playing styles. We have played six years together with the same line-up so I think that every member brings something "own" to our music. We have rehearsed with the ex-drummer of ENOCHIAN CRESCENT, at the time when Teemu was doing his military service, and it felt totally different to play with another guy on the drums. There just wasn't any of that familiar THROES OF DAWN feeling... 4- What elements must a ToD track have in order to satisfy you completely? THROES OF DAWN track should have a spirit on it, I mean that it should sound emotional never forgetting the good melodies. The music should also be dark, but I think that the most important thing in our music are the melancholic melodies that create a certain atmosphere... 5- Do you think it makes more sense to be constantly aware of what goes on in the metal scene (since this is the music style you play!) or ignore it in favour of different music scenes (in terms of influence/inspiration)? Hmmm... I'm quite well aware of the happenings in the metal scene, but our songwriters hardly follow what's going on out there. I think they take most most of the influences from other music styles, but of course they take influences from metal music as well. I think it's good to listen to various styles of music, it has a positive effect on our songwriting; that way we can create something original. 6- Is there a lyrical concept to be found within 'Binding of the Spirit'? Each song seems to be about a specific character Well, there's something in common... To put it in a single word, this would be Despair. Despair is something that is more or less present on all of the lyrics, although the lyrics differ quite a lot from each other. I wouldn't bind everything into one concept, but I would rather see the lyrics of the album as a journey through a dark fantasy. Starting from "the Last Rainbow Warrior is Dead" and finally ending into the "On Broken Wings of Despair", where everything just collapses and shatters to pieces... 7- Is there a conscious use of metaphores and symbolism in your lyrics? What kind of role do you think they have when writing? Yes, I use them consciously and they are very important in the lyrics, although some of them aren't so visible or obvious. Some can be veryhard to understand as I can take lots of stuff from my personal life and feelings. I usually don't like to reveal everything about my lyrics, I'd rather let the listeners find something on their own, and usually people find many different things from them which I haven't originally even meant, but that doesn't bother me... 8- As far as you are concerned, what is the deeper meaning of making music? What does it give you? I see myself more as an artist than musician (I can't even play any instrument!) And I have to say that music has given me a great opportunity to create something different. The release of three full-length albums is something that I'm very proud of! Not doing this for money, but for the sake of art; After an album is finally finished, I feel like an artist when he has finished some great painting. It has something of myself in it. 9- Have you ever thought upon the fact that the environment influences the individual? In other words, do you think ToD would have been exactly the same, had you been from Italy?! Yes, I think that the environment influences us very much, we wouldn't sound the same at all if we were an Italian band, at least I think so... There's something in Finland that influence me very much, and that is the surrounding nature, the timeless solitude and the sense of melancholy in the forests... But who knows, maybe we could even be a better band if we were from Italy? (c) FLASH MAGAZINE 2000