1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
We are a quartet from Kouvola, Finland. Kouvola is in Kymenlaakso, next to South Karelia. We are a mid-tempo black metal band. The band began as a two-man project years ago among non-blood relatives, and in recent years we have grown to a real band.
2.In November you released your first full length, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?
Musta maa is an album with strong guitar walls and synthesizers with a kind of grooving riffs and even symphonic influences. The album is not so aggressive as other black metal bands, although there are a couple of more aggressive songs, but there is an evil ambiance always around. The evil is always lurking behind.
3.The band started in 2015 but waited until 2025 to release any music, can you tell us a little bit more about the long what?
The band began when Metällinen, our drummer and I ended up in the same family when I got married to my wife. At the beginning, we played just for only to our fun. Some covers, some of my own songs. Most of the my own songs did not even have lyrics back then. I am not a professional musician, and I worked hard at the same time. Then I got a child, and in my life, there wasn't enough room for music to practice and write more songs. Of course music was there, but not so strongly. Then I got another child, and there was space little bit less. Don't get me wrong, I love my children and I am proud of them and they haven't taken me anything away but sometimes I have to prioritize. Then I went to university. I worked at the same time, and I didn't have time for anything else. I graduated, and shortly after that Tenho, our bassist joined to the band. A couple of years, and then Liekkiö, our second guitarist came along and we were full band. Short after that I realized that the time was right and we started to work with album. I still have my day job, but you don't have to wait for our second album so long.
4.A lot of your lyrics cover Paganism themes, how would you describe your interest in this topic?
I think it is an immense injustice that forced religions, whatever they are, have destroyed so many of the early religions, beliefs, and even knowledge of different peoples. Personally, I appreciate the original religions of many different peoples, and that is why my lyrics contain many references to pagan religions, perhaps most of all to Finnish ones. I am an atheist myself, and I do not force it on anyone, but I would like my thoughts and texts to provoke thoughts in people.
5.You also cover a lot of Anti Christianity themes, can you tell us a little but more about your hatred for this religion?
Although the Crusades were not necessarily always just about killing and coercion, I believe that a lot of that happened. Some people adopted a new religion voluntarily, but not all. So I think that Christianity is more or less a forced religion. And the religion almost completely destroyed the early religions in Finland, for example. And even when I was born, some people were forced into religion. I was baptized by force. It was the habit in here. No one ever asked me whether I wanted to be baptized or not. I have thought about it for many years and have come to the conclusion that I value many other religions significantly more than Christianity. But a baptized person is baptized even if he no longer belongs to a church.
6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Mourniaty'?
I took the the word mourn and the end of the word serenity and put the letter a in between because I felt that something had to be added to it that made sense. A was the best option. Perhaps you could also call it a kind of word play. Grief has often been present and serenity is exactly what I miss at that time. That's where the inspiration came from
7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
In my opinion, Musta maa is a pretty dark album, so I wanted a dark cover for it. I made the cover art myself, so that I could get it to my liking. I also took the photo myself. Musta maa is translated as "Black Earth", but in the title track of the album I have tried to refer more to the frosty, black and barren ground beneath our feet. So tough k the album needed a cover where everything looks dark, dead and barren
8.Has the band done any live shows or open to the idea?
We have played some live shows and we hope to have more of them.
9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
We haven't gotten much attention worldwide yet. The few comments I've gotten have been quite positive. But I would imagine that our music might be a little bit difficult to approach. Many people don't necessarily consider our music to be true black metal, and then again, people who don't like black metal don't like it because it still is more or less black metal.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
I'm planning to start writing new songs. I imagine that we stay our mid-tempo black metal, but I want more orchestral influences to our music. Bigger sounds on that side and more orchestral instruments. I also imagine that lyrics will also be in both languages in the future, some in English and some in Finnish. Maybe I'll add more poetry to the lyrics, even though Finnish lyrics are already quite poetic.
11.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?
I started to listen to metal very young, at about eight or nine years old. First came Finnish band Sentenced. It's far from black metal, but it's grim and very dark music. Shortly after that came melodic death metal like Children of Bodom. Shortly after that came black metal. My first touch to black metal was Dimmu Borgir. I listened black metal for a long time. Somewhere in the journey came along Finnish mid-tempo black metal Ajattara. Of course I listened other bands too, like Emperor, but I would imagine that the biggest influencers to my own music are Ajattara, maybe a little bit of Dimmu Borgir and maybe even one small fragment of Sentenced. Nowadays I still listen black metal and Sentenced. Same bands too but few more. I like Carach Angren very much, and it is influencer too, but it might be a bigger influencer in the future. I just found band called Parakletos and it's quite interesting music. I have a problem with my taste in music being quite selective. The music has to sound just right to me for me to listen to it. Sometimes I let Spotify play new songs for me and sometimes I find them. Sometimes I don't.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for the interest that you've shown towards our music and the nice review. If anyone reading this gets interested, you can find our mandatory links at mourniaty.com. If you really want to show your support, use one of those links to order our new album in CD format. Every little bit helps on our journey forward. Thanks!
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