1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the musical project since the recording of the new album?
Well, “The Third Level of Decay” was recorded about a year or a year and half ago, and after that I’ve kept my hectic rhythm going on, working with Absolute Key but also with other my musical projects like more black metal -oriented Rotten Moon. Also Circle Of Ouroborus has been quite active lately, more material coming and some interesting stylistic sidesteps taken.
2.In December you have a new album coming out, musically how doe it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
As I mentioned somewhere, this album is maybe the most metal album I have made. Of course from the beginning Absolute Key hasn’t been about pure noise/industrial but I have tried to make more actual songs with actual structures, rhythms etc. But this time the goal was to delve deeper into the “real music”, using drum machine beats as a main basis and using also guitars, not just synths and different noisy machines. Of course the noise/industrial elements are still there heavily presented, but I would say that this album could sink easier to the “normal” listener.
3.On your albums you work with a variety of many different musical styles, can you tell us a little bit more about the genres that you mix into your musical style?
Well, it is hard to describe what Absolute Key is actually about. When I started this band about three years ago, I wanted to mix Beherit/Ride For Revenge -styled rhythmics with noise/industrial soundscapes, but soon I realized that I want to explore more and more. And soon there were real drums, ambient touches, poetry, field recordings, keyboards etc. stepping to the picture. So nowadays I don’t restrict myself to some specific genres. My albums can differ a lot compared to each other– for example “Autiola” tapes are minimal piano/noise/drone works and therefore totally different to this new album – but there can be also variation between the album tracks too. But usually I have one very strong vision or idea that is the main seed of the album, and these variations are just branches that grow from that seed. So I don’t just go all over the place with my music intentionally. I just watch where that seed takes my music and where those branches stretch their fingers.
5.Since 2019 you also have released a great amount of material, do you spend a great amount of your time writing and creating music?
I work quite intensively, yes. When I get that main idea in my head, it follows me everywhere and reminds me about its existence all the time, especially when I go to sleep. And because I work alone and usually at home, it’s easy to just put gear up and start working with that idea. There are dry seasons too and sometimes I feel myself quite exhausted when the work is done, but at the same time it feels that there is a so vast and interesting world of music waiting to be explored that I get dragged there quite easily again and again.
6.On the new album you covered the poetry of 'Eino Leino', can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in his writings and also do you take any inspiration lyrically from other poets on past releases?
Well, actually there aren’t any clear lines taken from Leino on this one – although I have used his poetry in the works of Circle Of Ouroborus, for example –, I just used one of his poems, “Tumma” (“The Dark One”),as a referation point in a press sheet. But in general Eino Leino has affected a lot in my doings, especially in my lyrics. He was a great symbolist in the beginning of the twentieth century, wandering through National Romanticism to the more abstract topics and approaches. You can find universal themes, folklore, strong lyrical images and pure poetic brilliance from his poems, and also Finnish nature is heavily present which I also find important for myself. And because one main theme of “The Third Level of Decay” is death in its many forms and also the facing the death, the works of Leino came easily to my mind. He ponders these topics in many of his poems, but not always in bleak way. Same time when we step closer to those dark cabins, we feel life shining brighter and brighter in ourselves. The dance of death is also the dance of life in my opinion. I have also interested in many other Finnish poets of course, and for example Absolute Key’s album “Puut kantavat valoa” was totally dedicated to Finnish poetry. Every song on that album has a poem from different Finnish poets as a lyric, and I asked different artists – singers, actors, authors – to recite these poems on that album. Also musically “Puut kantavat valoa” is a bit more “poetic”, operating on electro/ambient levels more than in a noisier spectrum.
7.Whjat is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Absolute Key'?
Well, my band’s name has showed to be as multileveled as my music during these years. The first idea was just to connect the name to my own name’s first letters (AK) and I was just playing with words to find the right ones. It was suitable to combine something abstract and something concrete and so Absolute Key was born. A key is a very interesting and ambiguous tool that is can be used in different situations and also in a metaphorical sense, so the idea of a “universal key” that can open both physical, mental and spiritual doors became a natural and right choice. And I have noticed that the music of Absolute Key has been a big door opener for me personally, not only musically but also aesthetically and spiritually too. I have wandered high and low, in a shadow and in a light and learned many things about this universe and about myself too. And of course I hope the listeners can experience something like this too.
8.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
I wanted to keep things plain and simple on this one. As you maybe know, I am responsible of almost all the artwork on Absolute Key’s releases, and I wanted to break a pattern a bit on “The Third Level of Decay” – and same time pay a little tribute to all those dark, obscure and simplistic album covers of old industrial/noise albums. So there are three pin-impaled angels on the cover to visualize those three levels of death which is the theme of this album, and the back cover deepens this imagery even more. Murky images, heavy contrasts, hand-crafted solutions, aethereal themes dragged into mud and darkness – I think the artwork goes well with the music.
9.On the recordings you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?
When the visions and ideas are so strong and personal as in my case, it’s the easiest way to work alone. Also I don’t rehearse and polish the songs to their final form and then record them but the process is very free and instinctive so it would be impossible to work as the ordinary bands do. There have been a few guests here and there – vocalists, saxophonists, guitarists – on the other albums to bring something that I couldn’t do to the picture, but “The Third Level of Decay” is solely made by me.
10.You will be also making your live debut later this year, what can we expect musically one you hit the live stage?
Well, actually I have performed many times live both in Finland and abroad, but my live debut in Portugal happens soon at Invicta Reqviem Mass VI. Live situation is always an interesting challenge, because for albums I record my music layer after layer and with time but in a live situation I have to get everything done in that moment. On the other hand I don’t want to just play some buttons and work with background tracks too much, so I use percussions, electric strings, synths etc. to make it more a performance than just a clinical and safe act. There is always a feeling of danger present and things usually don’t go as I planned but I’m fine with that. The sheer power and aggressiveness of the sound swallows me and I find myself in weird states of mind. It’s some sort of an out-of-body experience.
11.You also do 'Kaleidoscope Zine', can out tell us a little bit more about the musical styles you work with on this zine and do you feel the paper zine does need to make a comeback with all the webzines and bogs taking over the years?
Your information is out-dated unfortunately. Kaleidoscope was laid to rest in 2013 after eight active years, and after that I’ve been working with my zine Arise!, although after seven issues, also the future of Arise! seems a bit blurred today. But what makes Kaleidoscope topical is the fact that Signal Rex will publish a Kaleidoscope compilation, which will include all the 16 issues, divided to three 220-page parts. So quite a big dose of underground zinestry! It’s good to have a decent funeral for this creation. But what comes to Kaleidoscope and my doings in zine business, well, I never wanted to restrict the content to only extreme metal, and for example the fourth issue of Kaleidoscope included a long interview with David Tibet of Current 93. So I truly wanted to create a kaleidoscopic sight what came to bands, themes and questions. I have a quite varied music taste and although metal music is my first and dearest love, I can enjoy many other styles too. Maybe this is showing in Absolute Key too in one way. And the long and bloody war between paper zines and webzines… I have worked in both so it’s hard to take any sides. Of course the content and the editor’s vision and talent are what matter in both cases but let’s say that a paper zine has so many other possibilities of expression (visual, thematic etc.) so it will rule supreme in my books. Unfortunately it seems that people aren’t so interested in paper zines anymore and for example the high postages for paper zines may affect on this, but I’m sure this form of art (yeah, I consider paper zines as art) won’t fade out into shadows totally. They are artifacts, samples of their times, like papyrus or murals.
12.On your current releases you have been working with 'Signal Rex' and 'Nekrogoat Heresy Productions', do you feel these labels have been very helpful when it comes to getting your music out there heard?
I have been hopping from a label to another quite a lot but luckily I have found very professional and dedicated persons to spread my art. Nekrogoat Heresy and Signal Rex have also done very good job and materialized my visions in a perfect way, and it has been interesting to see how a bit bigger label like Signal Rex works. I have been in business for almost 20 years and usually things have been done quite freely and amateurishly so this has been a refreshing change.
13.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal, ambient, noise and industrial?
Hard to say. There have been a few positive reviews concerning this new album and I guess the sales have been ok too. I’ve got chances to perform in Russia, Denmark and Estonia for example, and I have met great like-minded people during these three years, so at least I personally have received so much from Absolute Key. I hope I have managed to give something back, maybe broaden people’s views on extreme and experimental music.
14.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?
A hard question. When I started this band, I didn’t have any specific goals or visions where to go, and there have been so many weird twists and turns during this ride so it’s impossible to say what is happening next. However, I have a few plans and works in process, that will widen my spectrum even more, so maybe it’s just safe to say that I’m heading everywhere that feels comfortable and natural.
15.What are some of the bands or musical styles that you are currently listening to nowadays?
Maybe it’s easiest to list my top 12 of 2022? So here you go:
Autopsy: Morbidity Triumphant
Moor Mother: Jazz Codes
Makaya McCraven: In These Times
Aum Xul: Aum Xul
Garden Of Worm: Endless Garden
Current 93: If a City Is Set upon the Hill
Forbidden Temple: Step into the Black Pentagram
Seremonia: Neonlusifer
Stangarigel: Na Severe Srdca
Organ Of Corti: Auris
Unfyros: Alpha Hunt
Joose Keskitalo & The Mystic Revelation of Teppo Repo: Orfiset laulut V
& VI
16.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for the interview. Keep your minds and eyes open. Read books. Seek the truth.
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