METAL OBSERVER May 2004
By Frodi

Elenium - (For)Giving, (For)Getting (Johannes Salo)
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Finland’s Metal Mecca has a new member. ELENIUM’s debut album has definitely caught my attention with its intricate mixing of all kinds of genres ranging from Death Metal, Progressive Metal to Piano music and free style Jazz. ELENIUM’s music is pretty much open territory, there’s no recipe or formula to go through which gives a surprising twist on their songs. I had a chat with keyboard wizard Johannes Salo where we talked about this interesting album of theirs while also bringing AMORPHIS, CHILDREN OF BODOM and OMNIUM GATHERUM into the context, so if you’re not too busy at the moment you are more than welcomed to read on and discover the pleasures of (for)giving and (for)getting.

Hello there, how’s it going today?
Now it’s Friday, so feeling is quite OK, thanks! I think I have to take couple of beers tonight…
(Editor’s note: how very appropriate)

Just a curious non-related question before we start. When you answered my contact mail you said your vocalist J was in Indonesia on vacation, does he have relatives there or something?
A friend of J’s lives in Indonesia at the moment and J went to meet him. Hopefully J won’t enjoy his time too much with tropical fruits and good weather and start building a house over there as well, HEHHEH!

Ok. How has everything gone so far with your debut album?
Feedback has been very diverse. Some judge it to the lowest hell and some praise it… Anyway, I’m satisfied with the way the album has spread to many countries. There’s been no information about selling rates yet.

I first discovered you by hearing this album, could you brief me a bit about the bands history so far?
Well, ELENIUM has been kicking ass in the scene since autumn 1995. Three demos have been recorded and one single called “This Side Of Paradise” through Hella Records. We have experienced few line-up changes, but the situation calmed down after our guitarist Kasperi joined our team in autumn 2001. In 2002 we released a demo called “Them Used Gods” and it got great feedback and got us a deal of 2 albums with Rage Of Achilles.
Our debut album “For Giving – For Getting” was released in the end of 2003 in Europe and now it has been released in Northern America as well. Now we are preparing our second full length.

What does ELENIUM mean by the way?
Nothing. It’s just a name from one story… We had just recorded our first demo and we were lacking a name. During the years we’ve really began to dig it though there always is a humoristic aspect as well, especially when you look at the names of many Finnish bands like: OMNIUM GATHERUM, INSOMNIUM, MORS PRINCIPIUM EST…If you know what I mean. But the fact that ELENIUM doesn’t mean anything suits our music really well because it doesn’t put us straight into any category.

Your album is called “For Giving - For Getting” why’d you split the words in half like that,
what’s the concept here?
It’s just fucking up with language and imagination. Everyone can understand it differently. The main concept is the selfishness of us, humans. Yet again it’s not a concept album the selfishness is just present in every songs lyrics somehow.

Your music is progressive and technical enough to satisfy the musical oriented crowd, has this sound
always been in the band or have you evolved into the shape that is today?
We have advanced to this point. In the beginning there was more fire than know-how. If “For Giving – For Getting” can please (besides us) musicians as well as common listeners I can say we have succeeded!

Judging from the playing I am almost 100% sure that the members of ELENIUM are trained
and well educated musicians, true or false?
There is more false than true in your assumption, heh! Lead guitarist Kasperi is the only one who is really motivated to exercise. He studies in a conservatory to become a professional musician. I started to take piano lessons when I was four years old, but because of the lack of interest I quit when I reached the age 14. Others have taken few lessons in some chapter of their lives, but in the end they are all self-educated.

Especially solos, both keyboard and guitar, sound like they’ve been rehearsed a million times?
Yep, guitar solos are extremely technical and you can hear that the guitarist must been training with his fingers bleeding. I have spent time in the making of the keyboard solos, but from a technical perspective those are quite easy to play. The main focus must be in the composition work not in showing our skills to other people. We’re not trying to prove anything but we like to add some hooks into our music so that it is more interesting for us to play. So yet again, our motives are selfish.

What’s the lyrical focus on “For Giving - For Getting”?
Thoughts about the world we live in and the people we live with. The lyrics are pretty gloomy but there’s a lot of self-irony in them too. Our lyrics can be about anything actually if they only reach a certain standard of quality and suite into the moods of our music.

If you ask me, for a Death Metal band these are highly untraditional lyrics, even the song titles
are rather perplexing, where does the inspiration come from?
The inspiration comes from everything that happens around us and inside of us. It’s a fucked up world we live in if you really bother to look around. It’s all driven by money and we’re all out there to get our share. Human race is a brutal subject for Death Metal lyrics even without the gore perspective...

Some people in the media have said that you’re music can be compared to AMORPHIS
back in the mid nineties, what do you think yourself?
AMORPHIS, great! No doubt, there are parts, which remind of AMORPHIS that’s for sure. I still smell a little impatience there… If you have listened the album only a couple of times you are quite out of it and you make your review from the most catching and familiar things.
Finally, when/if you get truly inside the album you notice that we use many different elements and many different moods and that’s how ELENIUM differ from any other band! We have mentioned the importance of AMORPHIS in our promo letters and almost all interviews we’ve done, so if the reviewer has problems in getting a full picture of “For Giving – For Getting” it easy to compare us to the named band.

Do you take the statement above as compliment or do you go “no way man, we have our own style...”?
It is a compliment. AMORPHIS was an important band to me in my youth and I appreciate much their work. AMORPHIS existence gave birth to ELENIUM! They we’re the number one source of inspiration and motivation in the beginning of our band but it was 8 years ago so a lot of things have changed since then.

It’s better than being the next band to be compared to C.O.B. he he right?
You are right. I have still heard some C.O.B. comparisons too. As a matter of fact people in the press have compared “For Giving – For Getting” to myriad amounts of bands and put it to many genres! Here’s couple interesting stack ups: ATHEIST and PESTILENCE! Cool!!!

Your recorded at Sonic Pump with Nino Laurenne, how did that work out for you guys?
It worked out well. Sonic Pump & Nino were familiar to us from the “Them Used Gods” demo recording session 2002. Tero Kostermaa also gave us a big helping hand. Nino stopped his work everyday at 4 pm. Tero was a night person and we managed to record even all night long! Many of us have a day job, so Sonic Pump suits to us perfectly as it’s located in Helsinki.

That studio seems to be growing with each year by the way, is it a cosy place to record in?
I think it’s mid paced comparing to other equal class studios… They certainly don’t lack customers at the moment.

Ok, now for some personal questions. Name your top 5 Metal albums of all time?
Here are seven!
METALLICA: Master Of Puppets
MEGADETH: Countdown To Extinction
SYMPHONY X: The Divine Wings Of Tragedy / V
MESHUGGAH: Destroy, Erase, Improve
FEAR FACTORY: Demanufacture
AT THE GATES: Slaughter Of The Soul

Occupation and current residency?
I live under the same roof with our bassist Tuomo. We have a communal flat. It is absolutely great! We can work out the music much more easily and show ideas directly to each other. What comes to my job, I work in medical wholesale as errand boy.

Favourite composers?
Dave Mustaine, Michael Romeo, Danny Elfman, Fredrick Thordendal, Viktor Smolski, Jeff Loomis, Björk…

Hobbies, if any of course?
Spectator sport… Aaah, Gambling with “low” prices…

Opinions on the following albums: C.O.B. – “Hatecrew Deathroll”, IRON MAIDEN – “Dance Of Death”
and METALLICA – “St. Anger”.
C.O.B’s “Hatecrew Deathroll” is one of the best releases in 2003! The vocals are better than ever and the overall sound is working well! CD transmits their “Fuck off” vibe in a new and awesome way and it is always nice to hear the stylish drumming of Jaska Raatikainen.

I have heard only two songs from “Dance of Death” and they didn’t convince me much.

Somehow I have missed the “St. Anger”…? Radio/video songs are OK, but I think my interest
wouldn’t carry through the entire album.

You’re on Rage Of Achilles, are you satisfied with the co-operation so far?
I’m satisfied. They have organised many interviews and put work to make adverts too.
Rage of Achilles is growing fast and they awake interest more and more around the metal scene.

Do they consider you as top priority?
I assume that OMNIUM GATHERUM is…? Not sure? Anyway, it’s better to be high positioned in the
Rage of Achilles roster than file-member in a major label!

If I’m not mistaken, your fellow countrymen from OMNIUM GATHERUM are on Rage as well,
any thoughts their music?
Yes we are country mates. OG is our fellow band and we have made many gigs together here in Finland. OG’s music works well and I can’t wait to hear their new material! That band is also a very powerful live act.

OMNIUM GATHERUM and a lot of other bands including yourselves, in my opinion, could be seen as a new wave of Metal music from Finland, do you feel this way too or do you think it’s just another extension of the Melodic Death Metal sound?
It can be seen as a new wave, I guess. The standard of Finnish bands is really high at the moment and there’s a huge amount of great demo bands here. The most important thing is that there are bands that have their own personal styles. A couple of years ago everyone was just copying CHILDREN OF BODOM or the Gothenburg style, which has been done a million times already.

What’s your view on the Finnish Metal scene as a whole?
It’s definitely big and a varied one! Now we are living the time when non-melodic Death/Thrash is popular and that crap Heavy/Hard Rock with Finnish lyrics sell big amounts.

Ok we’re almost there, a couple of more questions. What about ELENIUM’s touring schedule
for 2004, anything prepared?
ELENIUM’s touring schedule is quite empty. Few on/off shows are confirmed here in Finland,
but we are working all the time on that territory.

What’s the perfect touring package in your opinion?
If/When I have someday possibility to tour my package will probably include all needless things or simple nothing! I don’t know… Good music is welcome everywhere, so big amounts of CD’s won’t bother… It’s the same where I’m going cigarettes are the most important burden, Hehee…!

Last question: what do you think of our site?
Extensive! Updating everyday is excellent! I even found the review from the band SOULSTREAM, which is my other band (Editor’s Note: didn’t know about that one)! That’s rare… Keep up the good work!

Ok, thanks for doing this interview. Any last words?
It was a pleasure to answer to your questions! Be selfish and buy FOR GIVING – FOR GETTING!

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