Sydäntalven Viha is the latest single from Finnish folk metallers Vetten Äpärät. We caught up with the band for an insight into the song, and also reviewed it. Check it all out (and even give the song a listen!) below.
What’s the story behind Sydäntalven Viha?
Sydäntalven Viha or Winterheart’s Wrath in English is is our take on the classic theme of the cold dark north. From the destructive nature and gloomy atmosphere to the mindset of a cruel world that can exist on it’s own without humans and devours into it’s abyss those who cannot find a way to survive there. Rugged and infertile landscapes which pose challenges to farming especially due to the long and cold winter months. These ideas are coming from myths and reality romanticizing the barren beauty of all this.
Lyrically it’s a two part song. The intro, the chorus and the clean sung “poems” after the verses come from the longing and feelings of despair and sorrow of the aforementioned atmosphere. It’s like crying against the wind with no one to hear you. The verses come from pure rage like a dying animal’s last stand as an army clashes against the spirit of the northern nature in a battle of the outcome of which has already been decided against their favor.
Can you describe your writing and recording process for the song?
The writing process of the song was a long one. Some lyrics and melodies were made as far as five years ago. The song was made entirely by Sami. His inspiration stems from a wide scale of traditional folk music and life in general. We as a band are keeping in the framework of folk metal but not liming ourselves to any certain part of the genre. The combination of distorted guitars, heavy drums and our traditional folk melodies works smoothly and is fun to play.
What comes into the recording process, we were originally planning to record more songs but ended up focusing our resources on one song only. The idea was to make a one high quality song to represent our music. We figured it would be easier and quicker to promote one since nobody has time to go through a demo of mediocre song by a new band these days.
Working at D-Studio in Klaukkala was a good learning experience. We’ve all done some stuff at studios but this was something different. More professional as the head of the studio Jarno Hänninen was a tough motherfucker to please. With his “take no shit” attitude he motivated us to do our best and we feel that it shows in the end product. With six members and almost an eight minute song the workload was quite massive actually with around 12 h sessions spanning five days. It’s was basic studio stuff but helpful for better planning future projects.
Would you say it’s representative of your next full-length album or is it more of a standalone piece?
It’s going to be on the upcoming album this fall. Sydäntalven Viha will work as a ending for the first part of the album. We are a planning a release that holds two different moods with songs as stories in a constant flow rather than just songs after another. We hope to keep the production quality at least as high as the single.
Can you tell me a little bit about the artwork?
It’s straight off the song. Visualizing the spirit of the northern nature claiming the life of a dying soldier made by our friend Anssi Kallio.
And finally what’s in the works for the rest of 2015?
Mostly the album and overall promoting of the band. We have a few gigs lined up for this summer and we’re hoping book a release gig/tour when the album comes out.
Sydäntalven Viha Review
Sydäntalven Viha is a pretty strong song in its own right, but unfortunately one of the first things that becomes apparent when you listen to the song is that there’s some very heavy Ensiferum vibes to it – the main melody that’s interwoven into the song sounds very similar to the track Hero In A Dream from Ensiferum’s first album, especially when you reach the section at 1:56, which sounds like a carbon copy of Hero In A Dream‘s introduction. There’s certainly nothing wrong with drawing influences from other bands, but it does feel a bit much if bands wind up emulating their influences rather than creating their own style.
However, that doesn’t mean the song is a write-off; in fact, it’s far from that. The clean vocal approach throughout is absolutely stunning, and all similarities aside, Sydäntalven Viha is a damn catchy track that you won’t just be able to listen to once – it will get your foot tapping and you’ll be humming along before you even realise!
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Give the track a listen below and let us know your thoughts.
