Brymir je finska melodična death metal zasedba. Nastali so leta 2006, od takrat pa so izdali že kar štiri albume. Najnovejši se imenuje ‘Voices in the Sky’ (naroči TUKAJ) in je izšel 26. avgusta preko Napalm Records. Da bi izvedeli več, smo jih povabili na intervju (Viktor Gullichsen).
Seznam skladb:
1 Voices in the Sky
2 Forged in War
3 Fly with Me
4 Herald of Aegir
5 Rift Between Us
6 Landfall
7 Borderland
8 Far from Home
9 Seeds of Downfall
10 All as One
11 Diabolis Interium (bonus skladba)
BRYMIR:
Viktor Gullichsen – vokal
Joona Björkroth – kitara, backvokal
Sean Haslam – kitara
Jarkko Niemi – bas
Patrik Fält – bobni
Povezave:
Homepage
Facebook
Instagram
Napalm Records
Studijski albumi
Breathe Fire to the Sun(Spinefarm Records) – 2011
Slayer of Gods (Ranka Kustannus) – 2016
Wings of Fire (Ranka Kustannus) – 2019
Voices in the Sky (Napalm Records) – 2022
ROCKER.SI: Lepo, da smo dobili priložnost govoriti z vami. Kako ste?
BRYMIR: Hvala za povabilo! Dobro sem – zelo se veselim, da končno spravimo nov material na pot.
ROCKER.SI: Predstavimo najnovejši album in vašo glasbo na splošno bralcem v Sloveniji. Ste že obiskali našo državo? Imamo veliko prizorišč za metal koncerte!
BRYMIR: Pred časom je bil koncert v Sloveniji v bistvu naš prvi nastop v tujini, kadarkoli! Za tiste, ki nas še niste slišali za nas, Brymir igramo melodični death metal, ki je pogosto noro hiter in težak. Pravkar smo izdali četrti album ‘Voices in the Sky’ in se že veselimo, da popeljemo naš nastop nazaj v Slovenijo. Vrnemo se letošnjega novembra!
ROCKER.SI: Spregovorimo na kratko o vaših začetkih. Drži, da ste se zbrali zaradi glasbenega tekmovanja na poletnem taboru? To je res neverjetno, če drži, sploh če zdaj gledano nazaj in vzamemo v obzir vašo uspešno kariero.
BRYMIR: Res je, originalno smo se zbrali na glasbenem taboru. Bili smo edini metal bend med mnogimi pop in jazz glasbeniki, zato smo začeli skupno potovanje, tam nekje leta 2006 smo začeli preigravati skupaj, ko smo bili stari 16 let. Po poletju smo se odločili, da malo resneje pristopimo in zdaj smo tukaj!
ROCKER.SI: Opazil sem, da načrtujete lepo število koncertov izven Finske. Kako trnova pot je bila, da ste prišli do teh večjih nastopov izven države?
BRYMIR: Veliko smo igrali na Finskem, kar nekaj let, ampak nismo pa imeli dostopa, niti povezav in sredstev, da bi lahko šli v tujino. Zdaj imamo končno izjemne partnerje, ki nam bodo pomagali do večjih turnej po Evropi in drugod!
ROCKER.SI: Boste prvič igrali v tujini? Nastopili boste skupaj z drugimi zasedbami, drži? V preteklosti ste že igrali s Children of Bodom, kar je res krasno, tudi oni so s Finske. To je bilo leta 2019, ravno pred krizo s Covid-19.
BRYMIR: Leta 2019 smo imeli epsko obdobje, ko smo se pridružili Battle Beast za nekaj tednov na turneji po Skandinaviji in Nemčiji, takoj zatem pa smo šli na Finsko, da smo z nastopi podprli Children of Bodom na njihovi zadnji turneji. Ampak naša prihajajoča 39-datumska turneja s Finntroll in Skalmond bo prva večja turneja, v okviru katere bomo obiskali skoraj celotno Evropo. Noro bo!
ROCKER.SI: Kakšna je glasbena scena na Finskem, se je težko prebiti v ospredje? Malo slovenskih metal bendov je uspelo tudi v tujini.
BRYMIR: Finska ima zelo uveljavljen metal trg in to je dobro okolje za razvoj metalskih zasedb, ampak konkurenca je huda. Veliko dobrih zasedb je naokoli. Pomembno je, da ne odnehaš – Brymir smo že dolgo na sceni in se razvijamo 16 let. Zdaj so se zvezde poravnale in gremo proti mednarodni prepoznavnosti. Potrpljenje in vztrajnost sta ključ do uspeha!
ROCKER.SI: Štirje izdani albumi pomenijo kar nekaj glasbe. Album na vsake tri leta, v povprečju?
BRYMIR: Res je in počutimo se, kot da smo šele na začetku! Upam, da bomo v prihodnje izdajali albume na manj kot tri leta.
ROCKER.SI: Ko razmišljate o setlisti, vsak album predstavlja svoje poglavje glasbe ali jih dojemate vse skupaj kot eno glasbeno entiteto? Torej da stojijo skupaj le kot združeni?
BRYMIR: Radi mešamo starejše in novejše pesmi na koncertih. Dobro je imeti variacijo, odvisno od razpoloženja in tematike na določen večer! Odvisno je tudi od tega, v kakšni postavi igramo!
ROCKER.SI: To je vaš prvi album z Napalm Records. Kako je prišlo do sodelovanja?
BRYMIR: Napalm Records so nam poslali sporočilo pred nekaj leti, če bi sodelovali – prevzeti smo bili!
ROCKER.SI: Kako je bilo ob izdaji albuma, ste jo praznovali s promocijskim koncertom? Organizirali ste nekakšna zabavo za predposlušanje, drži?
BRYMIR: V bistvu bomo imeli še eno zabavo za poslušanje albuma, in sicer 5. oktobra v Helsinkih. Kar nekaj pesmi bomo odigrali prvič, tako da smo trenutno sredi intenzivnih priprav. Ampak res smo imeli tisti dogodek, kot si omenil, bilo je izjemno. Feni so prišli od zelo daleč, samo da bi slišali nov material!
ROCKER.SI: Album je že na Spotify. Kako se počutite glede glasbenih platform za digitalno poslušanje? Kot zasedba in kot posamezniki oz. poslušalci?
BRYMIR: Glasbo poslušam le digitalno, ampak še vedno kupujem fizične izvode plošč, da podpiram zasedbe. Spotify je odlična platforma, ampak monetizacija ni na pravem nivoju, upam, da se bo to spremenilo nekoč in da dobimo bolj demokratično rešitev za izvajalce, ki bi služili od digitalnih izdaj. Mogoče “peer-to-peer” sistem na blockchainu ali nekaj pametnejšega!
ROCKER.SI: Z leti ste zavili iz smeri folk metal proti melodičnemu metalu. Tako je tudi na tem albumu. Je šlo za načrtno odločitev ali se je to zgodilo postopoma?
BRYMIR: Nikoli se nismo zares poistovetili s folk metalom, zato smo se želeli distancirati od tega, kar nam je dalo več umetniške svobode. Brymir je plovilo za izraz in zame kot avtorja je pomembno, da ne pišem znotraj določenega kalupa. Kakorkoli, na tem albmu smo predstavili kar nekaj folk elementov nazaj v našo glasbo. Zdi se nam, da smo se uspeli predstaviti kot moderni odgovor na žanr in lahko ponovno odprtih rok sprejmemo naše korenine.
ROCKER.SI: Album nosi 11 skladb. Odprete pa s kitarskim uvodom, kar se mi zdi dobra poteza, saj takoj zajamete različne elemente in jih kombinirate. Tako slišimo tudi zbor in “growl” tehniko petja. Glasno, ampak obenem ne preveč za poslušanje. Kako ste v studiu dosegli ravnovesje?
BRYMIR: Zbor je v osnovni sestavljen iz mojega glasu in kitarista Joona Björkrotha. Oba sva odpela po desetkrat v različnih harmonijah in z drugačnimi izrazi. Zdi se, kot da poje celoten zbor. Na ta način, kot sva snemala, je zvok bolj enozvočen in prepoznaven, kot če bi pustili le zvok benda. Na nekaj skladbah so najini posnetki v seštevki nanesli tudi na stotice samo za refren!
ROCKER.SI: Kvaliteta je na višku. Tudi, če znižamo glasnost, lahko slišimo vse elemente.
BRYMIR: Hvala – večino miksa sem opravil sam in sem zelo zadovoljen z rezultati!
ROCKER.SI: Kakšne glasbene vplive imate, je vse, kar poslušate, po naravi glasnega značaja? Se na vašem seznamu predvajanj skriva tudi kakšna nenavadna izbira, ki bi presenetila naše bralce?
BRYMIR: Všeč so mi razlićni tipi glasbe, pogosto poslušam klasično glasbo in jazz, ampak eden izmed najljubših žanrov, poleg metala, zame so razne oblike elektronske glasbe. Všeč mi je techno in psihadelični trance. V teh dveh žanrih prav tako delujem kot producent!
ROCKER.SI: Na drugi skladbi je backvokal posodil vaš kitarist za koncerte v živo. Se je to zgodilo prvič? Še nekaj drugih pesmi je na albumu, kjer ga lahko slišimo v ozadju.
BRYMIR: Da, bilo nam je v užitek povabiti Anttija Nieminena, da je zapel na albumu.
ROCKER.SI: ‘Seeds of Donfall’ mora biti najbolj mračna skladba tukaj, bi se strinjali s to oceno?
BRYMIR: Sicer se mi zdi dokaj poživljajoča, ampak besedilo pa je res žalostno!
ROCKER.SI: Lahko poveste več o tem, kje ste našli lirične tematike in kako ste jih združili? Vem, da je vsaka skladba zgodba zase, ampak če bi jih združili v rdečo nit, kako bi se imenovala?
BRYMIR: Najbolj pogosta tematika je želja po turneji in potovanju – in pa tematika človeške krutosti. To so bile nekako misli v moji glavi zadnjih nekaj let, ko sem pisal album. Se sprašujem, zakaj …
ROCKER.SI: Všeč mi je pesem ‘Borderland’, kjer ste uporabili besede ukrajinskega poeta Tarasa Schevchenka- Je bila ta povezava zaradi trenutnih dogajanj v Ukrajini?
BRYMIR: ‘Borderland’ govori o grozi, s katero so se srečali civilisti v Ukrajini in povabil sem svoje ukrajinske prijatelje, da so recitirali pesem!
ROCKER.SI: Všeč mi je, kar počnete in vam želim le najboljše na prihajajoči turneji. Hvala za vaš čas in odgovore! Lepo je spoznati ljudi, ki ustvarjajo glasbo in pogledati v zakulisje albuma!
BRYMIR: Hvala!!
*angleška verzija intervjuja
ROCKER.SI: So great to get the chance to talk to you! How are you?
BRYMIR: Thanks for the invitation! I’m good – very excited to finally bring the new stuff on the road.
ROCKER.SI: Let’s introduce your latest album and your music in general to our readers in Slovenia, have you visited our country yet? If not, you should, it’s really nice, and lots of metal venues!
BRYMIR: Back in the day Slovenia was actually where we played our first show abroad, ever! For those who have not heard of us yet, Brymir plays melodic death metal that often is insanely fast and heavy. We just released our fourth album Voices In The Sky and look forward to bringing our show back to Slovenia in November.
ROCKER.SI: Let’s just say a couple of sentences about your beginnings – is it true that you started becase of the music summer camp competition? That’s so incredible, if you look back …
BRYMIR: Yes, we originally met at a music camp. We we’re the only metalhead among a the pop and jazz musicans and started our journey together by jamming there in 2006 at around 16 years old. After the summer we decided to continue in a more serious way and here we still are!
ROCKER.SI: I’ve noticed that you will play a good number of shows outside of Finland, how rocky was the road that led you to those shows, so – to the concerts outside of your own country?
BRYMIR: We have played alot in Finland through the years but we havn’t previously had access to the networks and resources to tour much abroad. Now we finally have amazing partners that help us access wider touring in Europe and beyond!
ROCKER.SI: Will that be the first time? You’re touring with other bands, right? I’ve tried to look that up if you already played elsewhere in Europe – I saw that you played with Children of Bodom which is sooo great, also a Finnish band, that was in 2019, just before Covid happened…
BRYMIR: We had an epic run in 2019 when we joined Battle Beast for a couple of weeks on tour in Scandinavia and Germany and directly after that we headed to Finland to support Children of Bodom on their final tour. But our upcoming 39-date tour with Finntroll & Skalmóld will be our first big round visiting almost everywhere in Europe. It’s going to be crazy!
ROCKER.SI: Is the music scene rough out there in Finland, because in Slovenia, for a metal band it is very hard to be known elsewhere in Europe, not many made it!
BRYMIR: Finland has a very established market for heavy metal and is thus a good environment for bands to grow in, but the competiton is intense with so many amazing bands around. It’s important never to give up – Brymir has been around and evolving for 16 years and now the stars are aligning for us to start our path towards international recognition. Patience and persistence is key!
ROCKER.SI: Four albums, that’s quite a catalogue, you’ve kept yourself busy, an album per three years.
BRYMIR: Yes, and it feels like we’re only getting started! I hope that we can release new stuff even sooner than three years for now.
ROCKER.SI: How do you think of those albums when you’re puting together a setlist, are they each their own music, or do you see them as coherent entity that only stands united?
BRYMIR: We like to mix old and new songs in our live sets. It’s nice to have some variety bewteen shows depending on the mood and theme of the night or the other line-up!
ROCKER.SI: This was the first album with Napalm Records, how did it come to this collaboration?
BRYMIR: Napalm Records sent us an email a couple of years ago with an offer for a partnership – we were awestruck!
ROCKER.SI: How did the release go did you celebrate it with a concert? You had some prelistening party, right?
BRYMIR: We are actually hosting our release party a week from writing this, 5.10 at Tavastia, Helsinki. We will play many songs live for the first time and are currently busy preparing. There was also a pre-listening party, it was amazing to see some fans arriving from very far away for a glimpse at the new stuff!
ROCKER.SI: It is already on Spotify, how do you feel about these music platforms for digital listening? As a band and as a listener?
BRYMIR: I only really listen to music digitally, but I do still buy physical records to support bands. Spotify is a great platform but the monetization is not there yet, and hope that there one day might be some more democratised solution for artists to earn from digital releases. Perhaps a peer-to-peer system on blockchain, or something else brainy!
ROCKER.SI: As the years went by, you went astray from folk metal to more melodic metal, it is also the case on this album, was that your decision or did it happen gradually?
BRYMIR: We never really identified as a folk metal band and wanted to distance ourselves from the gimmicky side of it as it gives us more artistic freedom. Brymir is a vessel for expression and it’s important for me as a writer to not have to write into a certain mold. However, on this album we introduced many folk elements back into our sound. We feel that we have managed to establish ourselves as a more modern answer to the genre and can embrace our roots again with open arms.
ROCKER.SI: Albums features 11 songs, 10 plus bonus. And you chose the guitar interlude for album opener, I think it’s great how you combine elements, and also this almost choir singing with the growl .. it is so loud, but at the same time you can easely listen to it, how did you achive that in the studio?
BRYMIR: The choirs are essentially made out of me and guitarist Joona Björkroth singing several tens of tracks each in various harmonies, and with varied expression. We really can make it sound like there are several more singing but the sound is more unified and recognizible as being just the band there. Sometimes our combined tracks reach over a hundred just for a chorus!
ROCKER.SI: The quality is really up there, even when you lower the volume you can hear all the elements.
BRYMIR: Thanks – I did all of the mixing myself and I’m very happy with the results!
ROCKER.SI: What sort of musical influences do you have, is everything you listen so loud? Or do you have some musical choices on your playlist, that would maybe surprise our readers?
BRYMIR: I like many types of music, and often listen to classical music and jazz, but one of my favorite music besides metal is various electronic stuff. I’m very much into techno and psychedelic trance – and I’m also a producer of those genres!
BRYMIR: ROCKER.SI: On the second song you got a backing vocals from your live session guitarist, was that the first time (i’m not so much familliar with your musical catalogue)? And there are a couple of songs where he sings along, that’s great!
BRYMIR: Yes, it was a pleasure to invite Antti Nieminen to sing some tracks for the album.
ROCKER.SI: ‘Seeds of Donfall’ is supposed to be the most »gloomy« track and the album, so I’ve read, do you agree?
BRYMIR: I think its kind of uplifting, musically. But the lyrics are really gloomy!
ROCKER.SI: Can you tell me more about where did the lyrical themes come together with this album? i know each song is a different whole, but if the waters merge into the sea, what would you call that sea?
BRYMIR: The most common themes are my desire to tour and travel – and the theme of human cruelty. These we’re the topmost thoughts on my mind the last few years while I writing the album – I wonder why…
ROCKER.SI: I love ‘Borderland’, where you used the words of Ukranian poet Taras Schevchenko – was that in connection with the happening in the last year?
BRYMIR: The song Borderland is about the horrors civilians face in Ukraine and I invited my Ukranian friends to speak the poem!
ROCKER.SI: I love what you’re doing here and wish you all the best on the upcoming tour! Thank you for taking the time, it’s great to meet the people behind the music. That’s it, I’ll tag you, when it’s published!
BRYMIR: Thanks!!