"Death metal has always been "Metal for Maniacs", not "Metal for the Masses"" - An Interview with Obduktio

Obduktio is a four-piece death metal/punk band hailing from Joensuu, Finland. Their dirty sound and in-your-face attitude reek of Autopsy and Repulsion. Come Friday, November 21^st, Obduktio will be performing at a bar called LaBarre in Joensuu with a death metal band Malicious and a thrash metal/punk act Bonehunter. This sort of an event has this writer very excited, and so I felt the need to contribute and promote the show somehow. Dicklas Tappio Fleshkanen (guitar, vocals) and Кириллл Куйттинов (bass, vocals) of Obduktio were kind enough to find the time to answer my questions.

Close to a World Below: First of all, thank you for accepting my interview request. There isn’t much information to be found about you in the Internet. For example, there is no mention of your band in Metal Archives. Is this a conscious decision? If not, could you give us a short introduction to your history and lineup? E.g. are you affiliated with any other bands, and which bands and themes inspire your creative process?

Dicklas Tappio Fleshkanen: The reason why we cannot be found on Metal Archives is that they thought we were too punk! And then we thought that if that organisation is so into genre-wanking, we don’t even want or need to be part of it.

But nevertheless, Obduktio was originally found by me and Кириллл Куйттинов somewhere in spring 2013 and we recorded a few songs under the name of Napahuora. And then on one stormy and beerful night on december 2013 I played these songs to Sakari, who turned out liking them very much, and we immediately agreed on forming a band with a full line-up. Olavi was also fond of joining us as a drummer, if we were ready to change our name!

I’m also the singer/guitarist of a death metal band called Coffincraft, and Olavi has bands called Oksennus and Antero Vipunen. Most important musical influences for me on Obduktio are Discharge, Doom, Dead Kennedys, 4scums, Autopsy, Death, Repulsion and lyrically mainly Hassisen Kone.

Кириллл Куйттинов: D has his own influences and so do the others. I'm influenced mostly by black metal and Russian hc punk when it comes to playing and singing. Then there are Shitter Limited and Skitsystem, my favorites. I’ve listened to too much black metal for I can’t help but keep doing tremolo even I’m playing the bass.

CtaWB: You have a rather punkish approach to your death metal. I find this to be quite refreshing, since that aspect brings a different kind of dirtiness to your sound. Do you yourself feel more connection with the punk or the metal scene, or do you even feel the need for such labeling?

D: Actually one the main ideas behind Obduktio is to make listeners question their beliefs concerning labeling in music and in life generally. I don’t feel the need to separate metal from punk, because they both essentially represent the same extremities. And you can actually even question the existence of metal or punk scenes. Groups have the ability to create illusions of unity.

KK: I don't know about the others, but I tend to label our music as punk if I have to. Then on the other hand I have no connections to the ‘scene’, punk or metal.

CtaWB: In my opinion metal, especially extreme metal, rarely works when sang in Finnish, with a few exceptions such as Rippikoulu and Vainaja. You, on the other hand, have quite an original lyric style and using Finnish works for your benefit. However, you also have one song in English, “Handless bastard, headless bitch”. Is this a one-time thing or will you continue writing lyrics in both Finnish and English? Also, how did you end up writing your lyrics (at least mainly) in Finnish?

D: I have always felt a bit strange of writing lyrics in english, and in Coffincraft it was and is the basic way of making things. For about five years I’ve had a notebook, where I write lyrical ideas, mainly in finnish, and one day when reading it, I realized that I have an irresistible need of using those finnish lyrics for some purpose. So Obduktio actually came out of real need, it was meant to be formed. I guess ”Handless Bastard, Headless Bitch” will be one of a kind, because it’s a very old song I’ve had lyrics ready for for many years. It’s a classic zombie-holocaust-fantasy, kind of like a tribute to grand old school of death metal, but I have no interest in writing that kind of lyrics anymore. I’m able to say much more by using finnish, and I have a lot to say.

KK: My source of inspiration for the lyrics I’ve wrote (a couple) is just sheer vitutus. And it’s easier to express that kind of feeling in Finnish.

CtaWB: Related to the first question, you write punk lyrics and place them in a death metal context. For instance, your song “Petra” has rape themed lyrics, but unlike usually in death metal, it is not about fucking someone with a knife while you cum blood all over the place. On the contrary, it is not about the act itself, but more about the consequences and the sheer brutality of the aftershock, which actually makes the song more effective. Is this kind of effect created by an unconventional approach planned, or do you just want to write punk lyrics?

D: I’ve always been a pretty thoughtful and aware in person, and I see alot of injustice and trouble in my environment. I guess my head would have exploded a few times if didn’t write songs like ”Petra” or ”Kunnes Kuolet”. I think bitterness is more effective than brutality. But being offensive is the most effective.

CtaWB: It is my understanding that so far you have released your music only in the Internet. As a record enthusiast I must ask; can we expect a physical release at some point?

D: We have actually released a few tapes: ”Treenisnauha” and ”Maksa”.

KK: I hope our future LP will have a physical form of some sort. It better not be a vinyl, I have no vinyl player.

CtaWB: You’re getting up on LaBarre’s stage in Joensuu with Malicious and Bonehunter on Friday, November 21st. Have you listened to these bands and what are your expectations of the evening?

D: They’re both absolutely brilliant, and I think I’m honored to share a stage with those punky sons of bitches. OMEKO!

KK: We'll be performing some new songs. Too bad we can’t play the samples which belong to them. I guess the gig will be fine.

CtaWB: The first time I saw you live, I believe it was also an event organized by Metal for Maniacs in spring. You shared the stage with Bonehunter and Axeslaughter. My recollection of your gig was basically “Young guys who dig Autopsy. It was ok, I guess.” Fast forward to July to an event held by Susiraja Metal Club. Your show felt like being ran over by a tank. In my eyes, it was a real improvement compared to the previous show. Do you feel that you had gained more experience and honed yourself as a band altogether during those few months? Or was it just me being in the right mood for your music?

D: I guess the songs had gone through some kind of development and Кириллл started his job as a second vocalist. That might have made us sound ”bigger”. It’s also possible that you were more drunk than on the previous gig.

KK: In my opinion the main improvement was that during that time I finally learned how to play and sing at the same time. That made possible to perform songs like Kulmikas or Kunnes kuolet as they should. And the world would have never heard Middle Asian throat singing over surfy punk (I’m referring to Kulmikas now). The shrieking parts are influenced directly by Bathory. We also began to use more D-beat, the best beat ever made. Otherwise little has changed, guitars keep shreaking, bass still buzzing, drums still blasting.

CtaWB: The underground Finnish death metal scene has been very lively for the last few years, and it has also been noted internationally, as for instance Dark Descent Records has signed many new Finnish dm bands. You could say that the Finnish death metal is sort of living its renaissance. Sadly, this has not really shown in Joensuu, aside from a few events organized by Metal for Maniacs and Pohjois-Karjalan black metal (North Karelian Black Metal). There are tons of awesome death metal bands in Finland right now, but they don’t seem to find their way to Joensuu, this is why the events such as Friday’s are really important. Do you think there is any particular reason to the lack of quality black and death metal gigs here, and is there something that could be done about the matter?

D: Joensuu is a pretty small town, and death metal has always been exactly ”Metal for Maniacs”, not ”Metal for the Masses”, or ”Metal For the Massi’s”.

KK: I have no interest in this matter. If there’s a good gig coming, I’ll be attending, but lack of them doesn’t annoy me.

CtaWB: Joensuu has a lot of metal bands, but aside from such names as Hårda Skit, Oksennus and obviously you guys, I think it lacks black/death metal bands dedicated to the honest underground sound and musical approach. One could argue that the small size of the city would be a big factor in the matter, but I’m not sure if it explains it all. One of the most positive qualities of Joensuu is that people in there are active and have a real DIY attitude, but unfortunately it hasn’t really reflected on the black/death scene. Do you feel the same? If so, can you think of any reasons to this? Also, do you think Joensuu’s bands and shows could benefit from broader and more unified underground black and death metal scene?

D: Haven’t really thought about it, guess I’ve been just too focused on playing guitar and screaming my head off.

KK: I don’t care about the ‘scene’. I’d prefer not to be a part of it.

CtaWB: What does the future hold for Obduktio? Do you have any specific plans, recording- or gig-wise?

D: We have a plenty of new songs, and we’re going to record a full-lenght somewhere in the spring-summer 2015.

CtaWB: As I myself am always interested in finding new bands to listen, for my final question I would like to ask you to recommend some underground metal bands that have made an impression on you and you feel haven’t achieved the attention they deserve?

KK: All ug-hc-punk & black metal from Russian Karelia and St. Petersburg area. 4scums, Iskra Zhizny, Antimelodix, Meti Bhuvah, Komatoz.

CtaWB: Thanks a lot for your time! I’m really looking forward to seeing you on stage on Friday! If there is anything you would like to say to the people reading this, feel free to do so.

D: You’re goddamn right I’m free! And so are you all!

KK: Mie tuun keikalle, tuuthan siekkii.

I’m really looking forward to Obduktio’s upcoming full-length, and sure hope KK gets a vinyl player at some point.

Obduktio's Facebook page
Obduktio on Bandcamp
Obduktio on Soundcloud

Malicious, Bonehunter & Obduktio @ Ravintola LaBarre, Joensuu, Friday, November 21st

Mouth of Empty...

Yesterday I came across this interview of Bloodbath’s and Katatonia’s Anders “Blakkheim” Nyström. I was struck speechless by the following comments:

-  First of all, thank you so much for taking your time to answer me. The album hasn’t been released yet, but there is already a few reviews and two songs on streaming. How is the fan reaction going so far?Blakkheim: It's kind of a mixed bag! We have the enthusiastic people, who are instantly embracing the album just because Bloodbath is back. We also see the older generation getting triggered because they were part back then and remember the past. But then we got the conservative "fanboys" who just want it to sound a certain, very specific way and if it doesn't, everything alltogether [sic] sucks ha-ha! More or less lumped together with them, at least in terms of negativity, is the new generation of stubborn kids with limited or no connection to the old school scene what so ever [sic]. They just tend to follow the stream of what everyone else says (depending on whats [sic] in majority).

- Talking about death metal in general, I think it’s a genre that has been exploited to his limit. What is your opinion about the style and the scene nowadays? Do you have any favorite new metal bands?New metal bands? Sorry what was that? Ha-ha, well seriously, I don't really have any favorite new metal bands, I know there are tons of them out there in this oversaturated scene and I can even appreciate and respect them as musicians and performers being good at what they do, but the problem is that the "magic" isn't there anymore. Todays [sic] scene is more about software, gear and youtube. People rather talk about Pro Tools plugins than talk about cemetaries [sic] and graveyards if you know what i mean? For me that long gone "magic" is 50% of the whole experience with death metal. Luckily, it still exists with all the classic albums released back in the day and they're just within an arms [sic] reach to enjoy at any time.

I can’t for the life of me get a grasp of what Blakkheim is trying to say here. Death metal scene I’ve been following for the past years has been very vital and the last words to pop into my mind about it are “Pro Tools” or “softwares”. Ok, “gear”, fine, since you like, uh, use gear to play the music. But you get my drift, right? No one in their right minds could say that today’s death metal is polished or overproduced. So what is Blakkheim’s deal?

One logical explanation, in my humble opinion, is that Blakkheim has so totally and utterly alienated himself from the underground that he doesn’t actually know what is really going on in the scene. Katatonia and Bloodbath are both big names, so for the past ten years or so he has spent in the mainstream. And that’s completely fine; Katatonia for instance has been one of my favorite bands for many years now, and it seems I can’t stop enjoying their music no matter how polished or “pop” they sound. What is not fine, though, is blurting out statements undermining something you obviously have no idea about or connection to. That is called being a total jackass. To top it all off, Blakkheim himself seems to suggest that the young people don’t have any connection to the old school, and therefore aren’t entitled to have an opinion about Bloodbath. Yet he obviously has a right to his opinion, since he was there back in the good old days. It doesn’t really matter, if he has no clue of what’s going on nowadays, he has a gut feeling about the matter and that should be enough! Oh, Anders, you remind me of someone with your know-nothingess.

   Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström.

I sure hope Blakkheim doesn’t live in some sort of a fairytale world, where Bloodbath represents “true” and “honest” death metal. I’ve enjoyed some of their albums in the past, but let’s be honest here: “supergroup” consisting of guys whose days in the scene are long gone with their walk down the memory lane doesn’t exactly qualify as my idea of today’s death metal. Not when this year alone has seen the spawns of loads of good death metal albums. For fuck’s sake, if you haven’t noticed, most of this year’s best albums have been death metal! And yes, I strongly doubt Bloodbath’s new album will end up on my list of albums of the year. I would recommend Blakkheim to listen to some Dead Congregation, Domains, Teitanblood or Corpsessed, to name a few bands which have released an album this year, and are from the scene which is “about software, gear and youtube”, but I guess it would be caviar to the general.

Hey, Anders, did you happen to notice that Dead Congregation released an album which is so far the best of the year? I guess not, since you were too busy having your head stuck up your arse. Well, here's a YOUTUBE link for ya!

Am I overreacting? Well, let’s say if Blakkheim had simply said that he doesn’t enjoy death metal nowadays, my reaction would’ve probably been something along the lines of “ok, weird, but to each his own”. But no, he had to pretend to know something about the matter he obviously has seen no effort to look into. And that type of behavior really bugs me. I have no problem with people who don’t get the music and say that it’s just racket. But unfortunately, there are a lot of people like Blakkheim in the metal scene. The last time this kind of people felt any sort of contact to death metal was when Death’s Symbolic (one of the greatest albums ever made) came out. Then they hear The Black Dahlia Murder or some shit like that and they make the conclusion that “Hey! This sucks!” And they would be right. But what follows next, is a totally illogical conlusion of “This sucks! That means all of the death metal nowadays must suck!” and never bother to dig into things beneath the surface. Does anyone else see a fundamental problem in this trail of thought?

Well, I guess that’s enough ranting for now. I’ll spin Domains’ Sinister Ceremonies and try to forget the Anders Nyströms of this world.

Yours truly,

Emplate

I had Domains' Sinister Ceremonies delivered to me just today. I suggest you look into it.

Closing in on the World Below

What? Why? Who?

I've lately awaken to the thought that although I love writing, I nearly never do it any more, besides the bullshit I occasionally crank out in the form of schoolwork. This has created a rather frustrating cycle of me deep down loving to write, but almost never enjoying it. How to break this cycle? And what should I write about? Come to think of it, the answer to the first question is kind of obvious, since I already am in the internet. And the second one, well, I don’t know. How ‘bout writing about the things you enjoy, you dimwit (or “me dimwit”? I don’t know any more if I’m speaking to myself as myself or as some other… being)? Basically this will probably mean metal music, underground and extreme, although I reserve the right to write about anything I find interesting. Sure, it would be interesting to write about things that actually matter, like politics, sociology and whatnot, but there’s a shitload of people who know much more about those matters and are able to bring up valid and original points, so I’ll leave that to them. One thing I will not write about, though, is my personal life. First of all, it’s kind of mundane, and secondly, although I admit this blog might have some aspects of a “therapy project”, I simply find diary-type of writings to be uninspiring.

I pondered for awhile should I write the entries in English or in Finnish. As you can see, I settled on English, at least for now. There are a few reasons to this. I’ve always considered myself to be “ok” in English and I read a lot in English, but I feel like I’ve lately lost touch with writing it. So, perhaps this blog can serve as a tool for me to keep up, or even improve this skill. I recognize that I might not be able to be as “witty” in my written output in English as I could be in Finnish, but I want to believe that writing in a different language will also have a positive influence on my writing altogether. Of course there will be tons of grammatical errors, but I hope you’ll bear with me. If you won’t, well… It doesn’t really matter, since in that case I guess you most likely have stopped reading this text by now. Also, I have some friends (did I hear a “yeah, right” back there?) who do not speak Finnish, so I think it would be nice if they also had the possibility to read my mumbles, whether they in reality want to or not.

Goals

Yes, goals. I got to have them, ‘cause I admit that I have had trouble committing myself to long-term projects. Why do I want to consider this as a “long-term project”? Basically, because I have some sort of unexplainable urge to create something of my own. Something, that would follow with me and offer me some sense of accomplishment. Cryptic, I know, but I said “unexplainable”, didn’t I? So, yeah, goals:

• To write actively. No, I won’t do any promises about how often I will write entries, ‘cause that would a) be bound to fail, and b) probably take the fun out of the whole thing, making it “mandatory” to write something by deadline, thus turning the whole idea of this blog upside down. Still, I want to keep this thing fairly active, since I want to maintain, and further improve my writing.
• To contribute to the underground scene. If even one person finds a new band which he likes, buys a record, or goes to see a gig thanks to my writings, it will be more than enough.
• To do interviews and write reviews. A simple goal, huh? Be that as it may, I feel this would be a good way to reach the goal mentioned above. The internet is already of course full of album reviews and band interviews, but I strongly feel, that this is a good way to make people aware of the more unknown bands. Plus, I myself really enjoy reading interviews of smaller bands and other not-mainstream operators.

So, there. I have few other goals for this thing in my mind as well, but as I am in the end quite unsure of myself, I won’t reveal them, at least not for now, since I fear they would seem stupid. But to tell you the truth, even having a vision of some sort feels good. Although I said earlier that I don’t want to make any timetables, I try to finish the first real post quite soon, so that I could have a active start. Plus, it would be fucking embarrassing if this post would be my last.

Yours truly,
Emplate

Ps. Oh yeah, I wanted to say a few words about the name of the blog, too! I wanted the title to be somehow connected to death metal, since that genre is probably closest to my heart. At first I thought of “Where the Slime Live”, the track from Morbid Angel’s “Domination” album. What a kick-ass name would that be, right? Unfortunately, someone else had apparently also had similar thoughts, as the name was already taken. Next I wound up stealing the title of Immolation’s fourth album, “Close to a World Below”. I felt that it reflected the idea of the blog pretty well, since you could perceive it as referring to the underground.


Some people feel that already "Domination" is a poor performance from Morbid Angel. I beg to differ.


I hope that Ross Dolan & co. won't come after me for stealing their album title.