Sonic Shocks
Issue 15/2013
Interview by Ashley Naismith On a sunny March afternoon, Sonic Shocks sat down with Olavi Mikkonen, guitarist for Viking Melodeath powerhouse Amon Amarth, to talk all things ‘Deceiver of the Gods’. With a tour on the horizon and a song featuring Messiah of Candlemass, the Loki album is gonna be good and the Amarth guys can’t wait to bring it live. Hey man, thanks for doing the interview! How are you doing? Good, really good! First off, you’ve just left the studio having recorded your latest album ‘Deceiver of the Gods’. How do you and the band feel about how the record turned out? I think we all are overwhelmed with Anders’ production and we are super epic about how well it’s gone. Because we’d written them before going in, we already knew the songs and we were really excited and happy about them. I think everything turned out great. Obviously it’s up to the fans which songs they like best, but you’ve got some pretty popular songs in your back catalogue (think ‘Twilight of the Thunder God’, ‘Guardians of Asgard’ and ‘The Pursuit of Vikings’). Do you think that any tracks on ‘Deceiver of the Gods’ can compete with them as crowd favourites? For sure! I think at least… yeah, I think the majority
of the songs are going to be killer live songs and will stay in the set for a long time. Speaking of the title track ‘Deceiver of the Gods, it starts out really atmospheric and it builds up into the time-tested Amon Amarth sound that everyone’s looking for. Would you open your live sets with this song? Yeah! I usually think that an opening song for an album should be similar to an opening song for a live concert; that’s the way I see it. And I think that so far every opening song we’ve had on an album has also been the opening song on the tour. I think Deceiver is going to be killer! How does the Amon Amarth writing process go? Is it just Johan, or do you all play a part? Both of us [Johan and Olavi] make our ideas ourselves. Then, when it’s time to start writing the album, we get everyone together in the rehearsal space and show the stuff we have. Usually we have complete ideas, but we kind of break them down and then the band builds up the idea again. It’s a band effort, but usually it’s either me or Johan who are writing the songs. But we always build it up together as a band. The title of the album, ‘Deceiver of the Gods’, seems at least to me like a reference to the trickster God, Loki. Yeah. You’ve done albums before referencing Thor and Odin, so is this in the same vein? Yeah, kinda. This is the Loki album. There are four
By Cayleigh Shepherd Shortly after their killer set at Download Festival, the newbies of The Wild Lies join Sonic Shocks to talk about their performance, how they became part of the group, and how playing is not necessarily the most important part of appearing at a rock festival… How was it for you playing at Download? Zak: It was awesome. We’ve never done a show like that before, it was different to what I expected but the audience fucking loved it. We had a great response, everyone said we sounded great and the tent was packed. It was an early set, but I was really surprised: the place was rammed. We had a couple of familiar faces out there, but lots of new ones too. As we looked out into the crowd we saw people singing along. We have no idea how they know the words but it was a beautiful sight to see. Last time I saw The Wild Lies, you were opening up for Jettblack at their Christmas hometown show. Do you prefer the bigger gigs to the smaller shows? Andre: To be honest it’s hard to tell at the moment. We’ve played a couple of big gigs now but the intimate shows are also great. As long as there are people there to play to then we’re doing the thing we love. When it comes to looking up at an audience of a few hundred people it’s definitely a big buzz. Today they really got into it by the end, which was great for us. Z: We were standing in the crowd yesterday just standing there gormless, but the audience for our set really gave us something back. The sound system today was huge, so you know we were gonna rock. We definitely prefer the better sound systems!! Are you sticking around for the rest of the weekend or heading home? A: Oh hell no! We’ve got VIP passes for Maiden so we’re sticking around til Monday and hitting the bar- that’s what it’s all about: free drinks and food! We’ve been eating cheeseburgers all week so it’s about time we had some decent food. Z: There’s still forty-odd Strongbows to get through still. It’s
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songs that are totally about Loki, but yeah. It’s the Loki album. Is it like a concept album? Is there an overall narrative? Nah, I think Loki is the one we have most songs about. And always when you make an album, you have to think what is going to be the album cover. We had already decided “let’s go for Loki” so we could start working on the artwork. Speaking of the artwork, I haven’t seen it [at the time of interview]. Can you explain it? It’s going to be massive! Massive? Yeah, it’s a little different coloured themes to the last one [‘Surtur Rising’] as that was very fiery. So it’s a little different from that, it’s beautiful, it’s the same guy who did ‘Surtur’ and ‘Twilight’. Yeah. It’s going to be massive. Out of interest, have you read the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda? Yeah! How much do you base your songwriting off Snorri’s narratives? I would say in the past, quite a lot. But I think recently, since Johan is writing all the lyrics, he found other sources as well to get inspiration from. But yeah, Edda is a great inspiration. I was very excited to see on your Facebook page that you were in the Studio with Messiah Marcolin from Candlemass. What was it like working with him? It was amazing! He’s a fantastic singer and a great guy, he has a really nice personality. So yeah, we had an amazing week in Derby when we recorded it and yeah, it was like five fanboys watching him sing. So good times! Did he do all the vocals on one song? Or did he contribute to more? Just one song. The beginning of the song ‘Blood Eagle’ starts out with some sword fighting and death. With most bands I’d just assume it was stock, but with you guys I imagine you getting drunk in the studio and having a sword fight. Please tell me that’s what happened! *Laughs* No, actually we went into the forest and we just took this guy and beat the fuck out of him. But I don’t think they have… since the murder is still under investigation, I don’t think we should talk… Of course. Considering you’ve got relatively huge, if you could pick of the big bands of folk/Viking metal to work with and to bring on tour with you, who would it be? Ooh, to bring on tour….. *long, thoughtful pause* The Týr guys. Fun guys and a great band. With a new album traditionally comes a new tour. Do you have any plans to bring this album to the UK? Yeah, of course! We’re doing Download festival, on the Sunday. Later on we’ll definitely hit the UK massively! Why Download? Amon Amarth just feels like more of a Bloodstock band. Yeah, but I think we played Download four or five
such a hard life… How’s life been for you since the release of your EP in January? Z: Great. We got four ‘K’s in Kerrang!, great reviews in the US, the UK and around Europe. This was all before we joined the band, but it’s one of the reasons we joined: the EP represents what we’re all about. It’s hard rock: heavy riff-age and stadium rock vocals. Can’t go wrong with that combination! How did you guys become a part of the group? Did you audition or did you get the call? Z: We gigged with them previously, then Dylan contacted me and asked if I was interested as they lost their guitarist. I said ‘yes’, but I like working with two guitarists and the different dynamics that brings, and I love this guy (nods to Aw) to bits, so I just asked him “how about
we bring two people in?” A: Hopefully he likes my sound too… Z: Yeah, it’s alright man! Then with Tom, he already knew Dylan as they were in a band together before. Tom is just an insane drummer. To be able to play the stuff he does, it’s incredible. Tom: I’ve known Dylan for years. I was a big fan of the band anyway, so I was so stoked when they asked me to join them. I love the music, so to take over on the drums was just awesome. Do you think the change to the line-up is one of the reasons why you’ve been brought more to the attention of the rock and metal community? Z: I think so. Since the EP’s had a lot of exposure, but I think the band has a new lease of life. It seems more complete, so we’ve been really pushing ourselves and trying to get out there as much as possible. Tom: I think Matt and Dylan were looking for the right setup before taking it further. Now I think they’re happy with us, and we’re happy working with them. Z: Totally: they’re amazing musicians. Dylan really has an ear for music and Matt’s an amazing singer. It’s great to be working with them. Where can we see you next? A: We’re playing places like Camden Underworld and Nambucca in July, in addition to the possibility of a tour with a certain Finnish band, but we can’t really say anything yet. Are you going to concentrate on your live performances, or following the success of the EP with an album? Z: This summer we’re just touring, then after that’s all wrapped up we want to head back into the studio to record another EP or album. A: We’ve started writing for our debut album. We wanna put something out there that’s longer than your typical 5 song EP. Expect some good things from us before the year is out!
years ago and we played Bloodstock three years ago. I think next time it will be Bloodstock again. When Sabaton came last, they brought all of the pyro and the big stage and made a DVD of the London show. Would you consider doing the same? Sure, why not! I might be slightly biased, but I think the London crowd is the best crowd to make a DVD for. It is, it is. London is good! When you bring your live set, what kind of stuff can we expect? New stuff? Crowd favourites? Festivals are usually crowd favourites. There are so many people who have never heard of the band and you want to make sure they hear the songs that the crowd love so they might become fans. It’s going to be like a best-of. We’ll do some new songs too. If you had to pick just one Amon Amarth album to play start to finish at a gig, which would it be? The new one, of course. Of course, I should have seen that one coming. What’s your craziest thing you’ve done as a band? Like have you ever drunkenly bought a longship or something? *Laughs* Not a longship exactly. There’s tons of stuff that’s happened in the past. We’re not as wild as we used to be, but back in the day things got pretty messy! Is there anything you want to say to the fans in the UK? Yep, get prepared for the Amon Amarth attack!
By Denise Britt I was a bit nervous face to face with Fieldy, at this year’s Rocklahoma Festival. Still I managed to choke out a few questions!... Y’all played Rock On The Range last weekend. How was that? It was one of our first shows with HEAD back and it was insane. 35,000 people, sold out. Lots of energy up there. How long has it been since you guys have played together? It’s been 8 years. You are both a part of The Whosoevers now right? Who what? (laughter) Yeah, we represent The Whosoevers. Will Korn have a new album out soon with HEAD playing on it? Yeah, yeah, we did one show with HEAD and it just kind of unfolded and we ended up doing the whole new Korn record with HEAD. What do you do when you are not touring? I am at home with my wife and kids. I have 5 kids. Do they ever get to go on the road with you? I’ve brought my older daughters out with me a couple of times here and there. It’s hard because they are in school. They love it. I had my son with me one time, he was 5 and we were going to a meet and greet and he just stepped up and got a sharpie, he didn’t even know how to write yet, he was just signing x’s on peoples papers. Awww, that is so cute! I look forward to seeing you guys play tonight. Thank you very much, we’ll be rocking the house! Ryan Ries (Whosoevers) joins us on the bus joking around about Fieldy’s hair and telling stories about Wal Mart and baseball caps... Lovely to meet such nice guys in this business, and see how time has been kind to them.