The Band: Amoth
Country: Finland
Answers by: Tomi
Ihanamäki (guitar)
Today we have the
pleasure to talk with Tomi Ihanamäki, guitarist of Amoth, a band from Helsinki
which has just released their second effort, “Revenge”, a very good album that consolidates
the band’s path into quality Metal. One of those bands you could say that has
no limits.
Hello Tomi, you are a
band with ten years of experience, can you summarize a little your career till now?
We started Amoth in
2006 at the conservatory of Kokkola. Although it was in existence before by the
name of ”Withered”. Some of the riffs and songs of Amoth are from that earlier
era. Anyway, in Kokkola we were only a trio and didn’t have a singer ’cause we
couldn’t find one. So we had one guitar, bass and drums and already had early
versions of songs like ”Fault”, ”Revenge”, ”Shadow of The Beast” and then some.
At some point in 2006 we moved to Helsinki so we could find
a singer, another guitarist and a new drummer. We went through a lot of players
and singers but couldn’t find good enough/suitable members. In 2008 we decided
to make a demo/EP ”Wounded Faith” with session musicians on drums and vocals.
I met Tuomas ”Tumppi” Nieminen (Adamantra) at a course in
Sibelius Academy and surely enough he agreed to do the vocals on ”Wounded
Faith”. At that time my friend was making some demos too and he had this guy
called Toni Paananen (Malpractice) on drums. I heard him playing and thought
”this is it, this guy can surely do the drums on our EP”. He agreed and we did the ”Wounded Faith” EP
at D-Studio, Klaukkala. Physical copy of it is extra rare nowadays but you can
find it on YouTube. It had 3 songs; ”Fault”, ”It Ain’t Over Yet” and ”Wounded
Faith”.
Unfortunately Nieminen and Paananen were only session guys
’cause they had their own bands and didn’t have time for Amoth. After the EP
was done we again went through a million players and singers. We couldn’t find
a good singer, so I contacted my old friend Pekka Montin. We were in the same
music school in Kauhajoki in 2001 or something like that. Now we had a singer but no drummer.
In 2009 or 2010 we had many new songs and decided to do
another EP. We contacted Jarno Hänninen at D-Studio again and began recording…On
drums we had Tuomo Latvala (Hateform, Torture Killer) as a session player. We
recorded 5 songs or something. They were ready and mixed…but then we decided;
to heck with the demos and EP’s, let’s do a full length album! So I called
Latvala again that could he come and play a few more songs. He did and so was
birth given to our first album ”Crossing Over” which came out in 2011.
The first Amoth gigs ever were done after the release of
”Crossing Over”. Rolf Pilve (Stratovarius) joined the band at that time and we
did a few gigs with him. Then he decided to leave ’cause he was chosen as a new
Stratovarius drummer. We had gigs already booked but he didn’t inform us that
he had ”taken the job” in Stratovarius. Luckily our current drummer Oskari
Viljanen joined the band then. First to fill Pilve on the gigs that we had
booked and after that he joined as a permanent member.
On 2013 singer Pekka decided to leave Amoth ’cause he wanted
more money from the gigs. Then began our long journey to find a new singer. We
scrolled through the ads in different musicians forums and had many interested
candidates. Then we found Tomi Kurtti. He wasn’t even looking for a band and he
was living in Oulu! It’s 600km from Helsinki. We didn’t let that hinder us and
contacted him and surely enough he was interested and joined us as our new
singer!
Your debut album,
“Crossing Over”, is from 2011, now you have released your second and great
album “Revenge”. It has been five long years to get it, longer than you
expected?
Yes and no. ’Cause we’ve had our struggles along the way.
Finding a new singer etc. And also it takes a while to make an album ’cause we
pay everything by ourselves. What that means is we can’t book a studio for a
month for example because that would be very expensive. What we did with both
of our full length albums is booked the studio in small pieces, like one day
there, another one there. It only took about 30 days in total to record, mix
and master but the days were scattered along a long period of time.
What difference are
we going to find between those two albums?
First of all both albums have a different singer and a
drummer. And of course we learned a lot from the first album. They were
recorded in the same studio by Jarno Hänninen but when we did ”Revenge” the
studio had a new mixing console, preamps & whatnot. So the sound quality is
improved on ”Revenge”. Also I had new amp and different guitars and pickups on
our latest album. So all those things combined makes ”Revenge” sonically more
advanced. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with ”Crossing Over” and
the songs are equally good on both albums.
In my opinion, one of
the best things about your sound is that you make a progressive metal than
anyone can like and enjoy, without being an expert
I agree. I (as a songwriter) am not so much into too
technical progressive metal. We are not technical ”just because we can”, but
maybe have a more heart into it. Our foundation lies more in 80’s metal and
thrash and all the ”progressive” stuff comes almost solely from the fact that I
have studied music in various music schools and conservatories. What I mean by
that is that I don’t really have that much of a progressive background and
don’t listen so much progressive metal bands. Being a studied musician and also
a metalhead, that’s where the ”progressive” stuff comes from. In fact we
recently changed our ”genre specification” from ”progressive metal” to
”progressive heavy metal”. It may be a more fitting term for us.
How was the
composition of “Revenge”?
I usually have a riff or a chord progression first. Then it
just builds and builds from that. I usually notate or record the riffs that are
”good enough for a song”, then it just goes ”by itself” from there. Sometimes I
have a certain drum beat in mind and sometimes it stars with the lyrics, like
”Die Young”, I was driving to work (over the limits!) and this sentence popped
into my mind; ”Woke up another day, adrenalin rush in my veins”. Then I knew
already how and what kind of song it was going to be. I really put much time
and effort into lyrics. I just can’t write ”some nonsense”.
I think you have some
similarities with such great bands as Ark or Savatage
I have no idea! Pardon me but I’ve never heard of Ark ,not
even the name. So it’s very strange to read Amoth reviews that say that Ark is
clearly our main influence. Maybe I should check ’em out someday! Savatage is a
great band, but I wouldn’t count them as an influence. I only have like 2 of
their albums, the ones with Skolnick on guitar.
What is your favorite
track in the album and those you think will work better in a live show?
Hmm that’s a tough one. Like what is your favorite child…I
think the most personal song is ”Tattered Wings”, but then again, they all are!
For live shows I really enjoy playing ”…And So They Fueled These Veins With
Chaos” and ”Road To Ruins”, oh and ”Shadow Of The Beast” is fun too, with the
thrash ending and everything.
I believe you could
almost play every style you wish...
We certainly have all kinds of stuff going on and probably
always will, but still keeping metal as a main thing. Although we’ve had
discussions about an acoustic album…
What are your main
influences as a progressive/heavy metal band?
The main bands that have had a huge impact are probably Iron
Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Pantera, Testament, W.A.S.P., Cradle Of
Filth, also maybe Dream Theater to some degree. Guitarists like Joe Satriani
and Steve Vai made their mark too. I also really enjoy gypsy jazz like Django
Reinhardt and Andreas Öberg.
“Revenge” is released
through the good label Inverse Records, how do you feel with the guys?
Without them our albums would be on our desk drawers so
kudos to them!
Crystal clear. Amoth
is the kind of band you expect, and hope, to have a long career and brilliant
one. How do you see your future and how you manage that responsibility?
Thank you! We are certainly driving for that. Amoth album #3
is already quite long in the creative process so maybe sometime soon we start
to rehearse the songs for that album! Only thing that we’re missing is a proper
agent/manager to sell more Amoth gigs in Finland and across the globe! So if
you’re a one and are reading this, feel free to contact us!
Message in the
bottle... How do you see the Metal scene in Finland?
Metal is quite strong in Finland. Many metal festivals
during the summer, like Tuska and Nummirock. There are LOTS of bands. There are
good ones, bad ones and excellent ones! Unfortunately this is such a small
country that some band are left in the shadows (not enough audience), many of
them in fact. And I mean like really really good world class bands! But the
record companies are not interested if you’re not a huge band and have toured
around the world, so what can you do.
What plans do you
have on touring? We will have the good luck to see you on stage in Spain?
Like I said before, what we need is a proper manager/agent
who would ”take us in” and ”sponsor” us and sell our gigs. Until that happens
we can only gig in Finland. The money being the issue of course. We would LOVE
to come to Spain!
Well, things can go
an exponential growth when you less expect it, and then you will have many
managers to choose around and many countries to visit. Romi, thank you very much for your time and
wish you the best!!
* Thank you so much for the interview! Means a lot to us.
Please support the band (and yourself) by buying the real stuff! Meaning the
CD. Like many albums, our albums too are made in a high quality studio and are
meant to be played through good stereo system using a good quality format. MP3 is not one of those formats, it’s not even
half the quality of a CD, so you’re missing all the sweet stuff by listening
only MP3:s. Through a crappy smart phone speaker in a worst case. Yes there are
good things too on streaming but you’re sacrificing audio quality in the
process and giving your money to streaming services, not to the bands. I have
my eyes on you Spotify.
kind regards,
Tomi Ihanamäki / Amoth
very great band
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