Well, the album was released in Finland and Scandinavia in May and we had a great album release gig and party during Walpurgisnacht in my home town Kuopio with the legendary cult of Demilich! The worldwide release was just a few days ago, so there hasn’t been tons of stuff happening since… I’m doing a lot of interviews, editing the upcoming music video, designing upcoming merchandise and so forth. Busy busy.
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?
With “Aeon of the Shadow Goddess” I’ve finally made an album that I am 100% satisfied with. I feel that we truly found our identity as a band with this full-length, you know? It’s a conscious step forward on the Left-Hand Path and continuation to Forgotten Horror’s debut album “The Serpent Creation”.
Forgotten Horror walks hand in hand with my own esoteric and spiritual growth and I think you can hear that the songwriting has matured and evolved quite a bit if you compare it to its predecessor.
3.This is the first album to be release in 4 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?
While making this beast, I’ve also been active with my other bands. We released our sixth full-length with DEATHCAIN and a debut full-length with JESS AND THE ANCIENT ONES. I also play the bass in TRUE BLACK DAWN, we’ve recorded a new full-length and it’s gonna be a killer!
But the real reason for this long time between the albums is that after the first album, I encountered a lot of strange obstacles in my personal life. Immediately after the debut album in 2011, I began making the next album and I was also working with my second Qliphothic initiation. A lot of dream and astral workings related to the Gamaliel Qlipha and its ruler, Lilith.
All of the sudden my life turned basically into chaos. There was so much hardships, financial problems, serious sudden illness within people closest to me, problems with my own health, strange fuck-ups from people working with FH related stuff, and just so much “bad luck” (I don’t believe in bad luck or coincidences) that I was totally getting buried alive under all these things. But eventually, some extremely positive things happened and I managed to struggle through those hardships. But it really made me step back and re-evaluate everything in my life.
I always try to see the positive side of things, so I used all this extra time to polish the material which definitely paid off. So all in all, it’s been a huge process for me and the album release was a kind of rite de passage to let go of this phase in my life and move on to the next. I’m very happy about how things eventually turned out.
4.You label your music as 'Lilithian Black Metal', can you tell us a little bit more about this term?
Well, our guitarist Kennet came up with the term. He is a PhD., an assistant professor and an expert in Tantricism and Western esotericism, and we talk a lot about FH in this context. I agreed that the term suits the band very well since FH has become almost like a band with an entirely “Lilithian” concept.
5.Your lyrics cover a great amount of Occult and Left Hand Path themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in the Black Arts?
Sure. For years I was a member in a dark magical organization Dragon Rouge, and the main reason why I moved to Sweden was so that I could be more active near the Mother Temple. Then during the making of “Aeon…” something happened that really changed me as a person. You could say that “seek and you shall find”. I found something that made me realize my own destiny and the changes and sacrifices required to stay true to my own path and thus I left Dragon Rouge. DR was a great teacher for me and I learned a lot about the essence of magic, rituals and how to put theory to practise so there was no bad blood or anything like that. In the deepest sense, that’s what I feel an esoteric organization or a guru is supposed to do; to point out the way for the adept so that he/she can walk into the burning darkness alone.
So you could say that these things are not mere symbolicism or imagery for me, but quite the opposite. I don’t dress like a typical BM dude, actually I don’t relate metal music to real occultism at all anymore, but I live and breathe these things in my everyday life instead. Practise what you preach…
6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Forgotten Horror'?
It can be anything, really. An ancient deity, an evil ex-girl or boyfriend hahah, the listener can give a meaning of their own to it. I used to contemplate on changing the name into something more catchy but I embrace the band’s name now. I prefer for my band to have a name with a real meaning for me that’s charged with energy, than something that might sound more cool but which doesn’t resonate with anything, you know?
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?
Of the FH gigs so far my absolute favorite was the recent “Aeon…” album release gig at Walpurgisnacht in my home town, that show was very important for me. All in all, out of all the gigs I’ve played, the Jess and the Ancient Ones North American tour with KING DIAMOND was absolutely the greatest experience so far. I’m a huge MMA (mixed martial arts) and UFC fan and it was unreal to play at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas where they arrange the biggest UFC events!
8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
We have now signed with Incantation Agency, actually both Forgotten Horror and True Black Dawn are in there now. FH is very hungry for more gigs and we’re hoping they’ll book shows for us later this year, in Finland and abroad! Can’t wait to play abroad with my beast child Forgotten Horror, I know we will absolutely DESTROY any festival / venue!
9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to the new album by fans of black metal?
I actually don’t know, I live such a busy life that I barely have time to listen to the final album versions of my songs hahah! I’ve read two 10/10 reviews of “Aeon…” which is something that’s never happened before. So I think the response has been good. Of course, I know that there are people who don’t like it but that’s okay. To each his own.
10.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?
Besides Forgotten Horror, I play in Jess and the Ancient Ones, Deathchain, and True Black Dawn. JATAO will enter the studio depths in a few weeks to record the sophomore full-length, DC will activate again after a hiatus and we’ll start making new songs hopefully this year and we’ve already recorded a full-length with BD and it should be out quite soon…
Kassara plays in many other projects, I’m not even sure which ones. The ones I know are Deathchain (naturally ‘cause I play there as well heh) and BAPTISM, who seem to be playing quite a lot all over Europe and overseas.
Kennet plays also in SATURNALIA TEMPLE and he just returned from a show in Austria. I stayed at his place in Stockholm, taking care of his cat while he was gone.
11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We’ll just keep on evolving and listening to our hearts. I think this can be heard as even more dynamic material in the future; the fast parts will be faster, slow parts slower, more tempo changes, bigger sound scheme… it’s a neverending progression and we know now where to go with FH.
12.What are some of the bands or musical projects that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
I’m a big fan of soundtrack music such as Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar, Gladiator, The Last Samurai scores etc. but the greatest composer ever for me is Ludwig van Beethoven… I just love his piano sonatas and I think his music is the heaviest shit ever made!
I listen to all kinds of music, it doesn’t matter what genre it it. Good music is good music. At the moment I’m having a lot of 80’s hard rock and pop stuff on my playlist.
13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
I encourage everyone to question their lives, their lifestyles, their attitudes… free
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