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 21st,
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?
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
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