1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band
since the recording and release of the new album?
We've been writing new material and done a lot of promotion by
ourselves and we just signed a promotion deal with Grand Sounds PR. We've also
finished our music video for the song Obsidian Chamber. Most of the material was
filmed in 2016 and the rest was filmed during the summer of 2017. Basically
everything except editing was done by ourselves. The editing was done by
Guilherme Henriques from Portugal. The music video was released on
6.12.2017.
2.Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the
musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ
from the stuff you have released in the past?
If you compare to our earlier stuff, the overall sound has greatly
improved, but we've also spend a lot of time figuring out what kind of approach
we should take with this material and how to get this brutal force into it. We
wanted it to have this very aggressive and crushing effect.
3.This is your first album in 6 years, can you tell us a little bit
more about what has been going on during that time frame?
Actually we already had this album finished a few years ago, but the
release was delayed by various reasons. We also faced many issues and setbacks
during these six years. Our rehearsal place suffered a huge water damage and
soon after the renovation we got kicked out from it in 2013. We didn't find any
reasonable place until 2015. Kari was also accepted to a school near Helsinki to
study music technology and it took a lot of his time. There were also hardships
in some of the members personal lives and thus a lack of motivation also. But
still our desire and determination to do this kind of music drove us
further.
4.Originally the band was more death metal but over the years have
evolved into more of a blackened death metal style, can you tell us a little bit
more about going into this musical genre?
Actually most of us have a backround in black metal and it has been
the main genre we've been listening since the early days. Some of the members
also have/had projects and bands that are/were black metal or some hybrid of it,
but in the early stage of Abhordium we were interested in playing death metal,
especially because of the technical side of it and we wanted to evolve as
musicians like we always do. But later we had the idea that it would be great to
include more darker and sinister elements to our music, because of our
backround.
5.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores
with the newer album?
It has views of depravity in our society and declares apocalyptic
visions upon mankind, but there's also a side of introspection through exploring
the dark and profound areas of consciousness and how to strenghten oneself with
the knowledge and wisdom it provides.
6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name
'Abhordium'?
It is meant to describe a state of mind where someone is feeling
abhorrence towards something. We wanted it to have this -ium suffix that appears
in various latin and english words so that it would better depict this state of
mind. The unknown tends to create fear in man and it can evolve hatred towards
it. Fear is of course a primal instinct but hate is an induced emotion which is
caused by the conflicts of views, beliefs and values that are taught by our
cultures, societies and religions and this combination can of drive people to
atrocities. So the name also represents the destructive power of man.
7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the
years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
There's few gigs we like to mention from our 2009 european tour,
which we did with 6 other bands. Berlin's K-17 club has the biggest stage where
we've ever played a gig so it was cool to play in there. The place was also
interesting because it had floors dedicated to a different genres of metal. We
don't have this kind of place here in Finland. Also a show in Rotterdam's Baroeg
metal club has sticked to our minds because the event was during the day and
there was the best stage sound that we've had on our gigs at that time. We would
also like to mention one private underground gig here in Finland where Kari did
fire breathing and it caused a bit of hazzle in this narrow space. One cable
caught fire and it was luckily extinquished with beer. Some people have said
that our performance is very enthusiastic, nicely controlled chaos and also has
this ritualistic feel on the other hand.
8. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
We have few gigs booked for the next spring in Finland and we are
looking to play as many gigs as we can in 2018. Of course we're interested in
touring also, since it has been a while. We are actively searching for booking
agencies to help us out in this.
9.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have
received any interest?
We are currently looking for a label and we've also received some
interest too, but some of the offers have been either too expensive and we saw
that they could not offer us enough efficiency in promoting our stuff, because
we know the cost of pressing the album and the other production concerning
it.
10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by
fans of black and death metal?
The overall response has been very positive which has motivated us
to push on and make new material. Of course there's always people who don't like
our music, but there has been only a few negative critics concerning this
album.
11.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects
these days that some of the band members are a part of?
Arttu has been a kind of session member in King Akira which is a
melodic trash/death metal metal band from Salo, they released their first EP
last year. He has also recently helped Ragged Sound ry to play cover gigs in
Paimio where he lives nowadays. Kari has been busy with his studio Raja-Audio
and he has also a side project and they've just filmed a music video for that
too. Markus has been recording with his main project Misanthropic Forest. Tommi
is making new material for King Akira and also has been doing Abhordium's
pre-pruduction. Henry is the only one who doesn't have any other projects than
Abhordium.
12.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the
future?
The new material we've been writing has been more black metal, but
we're going to make some pre-production soon so we get the ideas flowing and
continue from there. We'll see...
13.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an
influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Like we said earlier black metal has always been close to our
hearts, but of course also death & trash metal and many other extreme metal
acts, but without saying the most influental bands for making this kind of music
come from Sweden, Norway and Poland, but we all tend to listen to almost every
kind of music since it's clear that if you want to evolve as a musician you must
listen and play a lot of different styles.
14.Can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in rituals
and the dark arts?
We've always been interested in the ancient religions and thus also
their rituals and ceremonies and the mass hysteria concering them. Many time
periods have been very bloody and violent in history. Dark times create dark
arts. We are also interested in the introspective notion of these things. One must also delve into
the deeper depths of mind to walk the path to greater understanding of oneself
and connection to this universe.
15.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or
thoughts?
Thank you for this interview and to all of those who have supported
us during the years, thank you!
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