rattlead.hu
Interview with guitarist/bassist Jani Lehtosaari from the Finnish band Belial. The Hungarian version will be available in the evening.
Jani, how about the roots of Finnish Death Metal? How did it start to develop?
Kids became interested in the new, more aggressive & darker metal style, after the speed & thrash metal movement.
The Finnish Death Metal scene has been revered for years as one of the best around in the early 90s, do you agree with it?
That’s what I’ve heard. Perhaps the Swedish, UK and US scenes were still more professional & organised.
Was it a kind of goldmine, considering how many outfits were active around those times?
I do not know. Was it? Maybe for outsiders?
Do you think, that the single most influential medium on the country’s burgeoning Death Metal scene was Klaus Flaming’s weekly radioshow Metallilitto (The Metal Union)?
It could have been. I never cared to listen to the radio.
You (I mean Finnland) didn’t produce the same amount stuff that Sweden and Florida, for example, produced, but quality took over quantity, correct?
If obscurity was the measure, then maybe yes.
Do you think that Finland perhaps suffered more from a distinct lack of promoters and venues?
There was no professional activity back in the day. If you didn’t play in a band or publish an underground ’zine, you probably lost your money arranging gigs at the local youth center
Was the ingenuity and ambition of the Finnish death metal movement simply an early example of the metal underground’s freewheeling spirit?
I can’t answer that. I was just in a small band in a small remote village.
When looking back on the blossoming death metal scene of the late 80’s/early 90’s and indeed its global impact, the regional distinctions are rather clear (Florida, New York, England, The Netherlands, Sweden). Did the territorial essence of the genre spawn a rich and diverse metallic underworld?
Sure it did.
If Swedish death metal was influenced by Swedish hardcore, then the Finns seemed more akin to UK death/grind, right?
Finnish death metal culture was so fragmented that very few bands sounded the same. Everyone certainly followed different influences.
Belial was formed in 1991, was the line up you on the bass, Jukka Valppu and Jarno Anttila on guitars, Jarno Koskinen on vocals and Reima Kellokoski on drums right from the start or did you go through any line up changes? Was Belial the first band for all of you, that you played in, by the way?
No, that line-up was the beginning. I had history in a previous band with Kellokoski and he knew all the other guys. Most of them had band experience before. We had fun from the start.
What were your views on the Finnish scene at this point, when a lot of bands were popping up from every part of Finnland, such as Funebre, Convulse, Demigod, Unholy, Beherit, Abhorrence, Impaled Nazarene etc.? Was it an interesting, exciting period?
Sure, those were exciting times for teenagers. We played gigs with some bands, some got to know each other through correspondence. I only discovered bands like Funebre and Abhorrence years later and they didn’t cause much enthusiasm anymore.
In 1991 two materials were released: a rehearsal (August 21st), the The Gods of the Pit demo (October) respectively, and the latter stuff were recorded three songs that appeared on your rehearsal and introduced one new song (For the Beasts), correct?
Wrong. We only did release the four-song demo The Gods of the Pit in 1991. All those rehearsal tapes (see cassette cover) were circulating underground for the tapetrade, but they weren’t considered releases in any way. Usually people confuse these things. So it’s all in your head, not real.
How do you view, that Belial tapped into something primal that other Finnish death metal bands lacked, a sense of violence?
I’m not sure about that. Several groups had a bit of violence in their approach.
Are there similarities with American bands rather than other Scandinavian ones? Do you think, that the most obvious comparison is the momentum-based approach of Deicide/Amon?
We were big fans of Morbid Angel, Massacre and Deicide, but also British Bolt Thrower and Norwegian Darkthrone. Maybe our material can be seen somewhere in between?
What Belial deliver on this tape is a ferocious storm of riffs and distortion, did the tracks follow a similar structure? Did the four songs have a consistency and flow to them?
We were not great composer geniuses. The tape is what it is. Simple crushing without mercy.
Belial were not messing about when you recorded the The Gods of the Pit; this is hard, honest, vital music, isn’t it? How do you explain, that Belial sounded primitive for the time in an international context, but you still sounded effective?
Not vital, but deadly. I can’t and I don’t want to explain any further.
Did this demo have a raw and roughshod charm of its own?
Did it have?
Before the demo we had zero fans so I think that helped.
Do you still remember, how did Lethal Records get in the picture exactly and how were you signed by them? Did perhaps bigger labels (Nuclear Blast, Earache, Century Media) also show an interest in signing the band?
I don’t remember that far back. There were several record companies and we chose one. I think their offer was the most suitable for us. Good terms and all. They just didn’t stick to that deal.
In June 1992 you entered the Tico Tico Studios to record the Wisdom of Darkness Ep, how did the recording sessions go?
It was a smooth recording. The previous demo sessions already gave an idea of how to do it better. Studio engineer Ahti Kortelainen was a big reason why we sounded so good.
Did you maybe tweak your style after the releasing of the The Gods of the Pit?
Not really. The tuning of the guitars was raised a little and the songs were learned to play tighter and harder.
Do you mind, that the music on this EP is still predominantly death metal with a strong Deicide influence, but there is greater subtlety and mystery than before? Are the songs with some elements that bring Belial closer to the second wave of black metal, which was just beginning in 1992?
The songs were the same songs as on the demo. For us, basic death metal but slightly spiced up with a flirtation in the direction of black metal.
Two songs from the demo have been re-recorded, but/and the other ones are more interesting in terms of showcasing the band’s new ideas, do you agree with it?
Three songs from the four demos were re-recorded and two newer songs were added. That’s it. I don’t see much difference between them. They were all written in very short period of time.
How do you view, that the music of Belial at this point was an altogether classier act; it is at once overbearing and brutal, but menacingly atmospheric and dark at the same time?
I think we managed to achieve what we wanted in those sessions. Wisdom is quite a successful package. A couple of decades went by when I didn’t like or care about the music we made at all. Maybe people’s reactions and admiration made me listen to the material with new ears and realize that it’s not so bad after all.
At which point and why did Jukka Valppu leave the band? Didn’t you think about to add a second guitarist in the band?
Valppu was asked to leave the band around the same time Wisdom was released. The rest of us wanted to go in a different direction musically and he was also a bit of an asshole. Belial was also disbanded for the first time at that time. The rest of the musicians continued in a new rock band called Autumnfire without vocalist Koskinen.
You entered the Tico Tico Studios again to record your first full length titled Never Again, what about the recording sessions?
We were on hiatus for a few months before Lethal Records reminded us that there is a budget reserved for the upcoming studio session. That’s when we restarted Belial, booked the studio and wrote the record on the fly. A couple of new songs were written for Autumnfire, which were closer to grunge rock than black metal. A couple of old songs were left over from the Wisdom sessions, so we recorded them all and experimented in the studio. This time we had six days in the studio, on previous occasions we were only there for a weekend.
Do you think, there is a massive difference between the demo and Never Again, which came out two years later, yet there is a clear lineage between them which can be connected through the Wisdom of Darkness Ep?
Demo and Wisdom are like siblings with a year difference in age. Never Again more like a cousin. Same family anyway.
Is it an interesting and varied record that captures the confusing nature of the Scandinavian extreme metal at the time?
Never Again is a strange and confusing record. We didn’t think about other bands or Scandinavian metal when we made it. It was about the desire to experiment and self-expression. We did what we wanted.
Was this a period when death metal was beginning to subside and the second wave of black metal was taking shape?
I guess it was. We didn’t feel like being a part of the black metal scene back in the day.
Did you mix your heavy layered style of black/death metal with doses of thrash, 70’s prog rock, and NWOBHM sounds?
Not really. For us it was death metal, grunge & electronic music put in a blender and see what comes out.
Is this debut album a natural evolution of your earlier sound?
Quite a bit to do with earlier music. Something on the death metal side, but more like trying out new ideas.
Did Never Again sound different to Wisdom of Darkness?
Like day and night.
How do you explain, while the Ep was a death metal record with blackened undertones, this album occupies a curious non-space between death and black metal?
I can’t and don’t even want to try explaining.
Do you think, that vocalist Jarno Koskinen has adapted his style to suit your new approach?
He just had to. In 1993 our guitars were in standard tuning and he had to come along, change his approch and sound.
Is the twist, that Belial have also become more technically proficient with their instruments?
It’s just an illusion.
One will immediately notice the number of keyboard sections and interludes, was Reetta Säisä a session member? How did your choice fall on her?
Reetta was once Reim’’s girlfriend/fiancée. Reetta played piano and keyboards, so it was natural that we asked her to play on our records.
Unfortunately she passed away two months ago, how do you want her to be remembered?
I will remember her as a dear friend and also as a member of the band. We played together for almost a decade.
Do you mind, that the band hinted in this direction on Wisdom of Darkness, but things are taken to another level here?
I would argue that on Wisdom we were at our best. With full-length albums, we wandered off into some dark places from which there was no returning back.
Were there any shows/tours in support of the record?
Nope. After the release of Wisdom, we didn’t do any gigs. After Never Again only one. The passion for the band was already gone.
How about your second album 3? Did you drastically change your musical path compared to your previous releases?
The recording and release of the last album were accidents at work that should never have happened. That album is sadly full of garbage. I think the Never Again album was kind of the connecting factor between Wisdom and that last album.
Was it a a logical step, a natural development or…?
For us yes. That album should never have been released. Well, shit happens.
Disgrace, Convulse or Xysma also changed a lot compared their early recordings…
So did Amorphis, Sentenced, Impaled Nazarene and numerous others. It was the spirit of the times.
Do you still keep an eye on what’s going on in the metal scene these days? Are you still in touch with the former Belial members?
We keep some contact with old bandmates. Sometimes we go out for a beer when we happen to be in the same city. I follow the scene from a distance. Sometimes I even get a new record or go to a gig to check out bands. Local Unfyros released their brilliant debut last year. Likewise, local band Revulsion is currently recording their second album. It’s sure to be awesome.
Jani, thanks a lot for your answers, any final thoughts, comments for our readers?
Check out our IG / FB @belialfinland for some old memorablia from 30 years back. Keep your eye also on Osmose Production for reissues & official merch. Thank you!
