Ghastly is one of the best death metal bands to come about in the last 10 years today I caught up with Ian from the band to chat about The Tampere Music Scene, How you can’t street drink in California and much more.
Hi Ian, congratulations on your 2nd album ‘Death Velour”, loving the sound of it
* How did you guys approach the song writing of this album compared to your first album?
After the first album I only had one song ready and it took me few years to start developing new songs, but after that hiatus the songs started flowing easily. There weren’t any different kind of approach compared to the first album, it was made similar way as “Carrion of Time” was songwriting-wise, but this time I had more knowledge of recording an album and I had quite clear idea how I want it to sound.
I should have learned not to record an album by myself again
* What mistakes did you learn from recording your first album that helped you this time around?
I should have learned not to record an album by myself again, but then I wouldn’t had achieved this kind of sound and control over it. Recording guitars worked so much easier this time and the sound is also better compared to the first album.
* How did you hook up with the 20 Buck Spin guys? (seems like a good fit for you) and are you happy with the job they have done so far?
I sent a promo to 20 Buck Spin, Dave liked it and wanted to hear more. After hearing the whole album, he offered us a deal. Been familiar with 20 Buck Spin’s releases for years and seeing how great quality stuff they put out, it was easy to say yes to that offer. We have been very happy with everything that 20BS has done for us. Really dedicated label and it is great to be part of their roster.
There are really great Finnish death metal bands around, new and old
* How is this death metal scene in Finland these days – its seems to me as an American we hear much more about the Finnish BM scene than the Death metal scene.. is that a fair assessment or no?
Can’t really say much about black metal, I’m not that interested in that particular genre even though there can be found some black metal kinda things in Ghastly’s music too. I like some black metal and go to few shows now and then but the people and overall atmosphere at the gigs is something that I don’t go crazy about. Don’t have any clue if Finnish black metal is a big thing in the US.
There are really great Finnish death metal bands around, new and old and it is great to be part of that scene. It’s cool that there are more unique sounding bands rather than some worship bands who take everything from influential groups, but maybe there is a place for those bands too.
* What about the Tampere metal scene? Is it very strong now?
Not huge but a good one. Not really heavy metal bars anymore but that’s a good thing because they would play some mainstream metal and rock in those bars, which usually is terrible. We have few great DJ nights around the town at least, Gassy Sam’s Pacto De Sangre for instance.
Only thing that counts is if the band is good
* Back in the early 80s Tampere had some great punk rock bands.. do you think there is a Tampere “attitude” compared to other major cities in Finland?
We have a strong punk scene here and also many metalheads are digging punk, I don’t but it doesn’t bother me that much. I haven’t paid any attention if there is an attitude going on in Tampere and I don’t really care that much. Only thing that counts is if the band is good, no matter where are they from.
Early Amorphis started showing me northern European death metal scene and I was hooked.
* Growing up how did you get into Death metal – for me bands like Morbid Angel and Death were eye openers. Whispers Through the Aether definitely has that old school Morbid Angel feel to my ears.
That’s pretty cool if you can get Morbid Angel feelings out of that song. Wasn’t any intention but “Altars of Madness” is one of my favourite DM record, so it has been a huge influence through the years. When I was in elementary school, my classmate had Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel albums and those were the first death metal bands I heard. Then later on Entombed’s “Left Hand Path”, early Amorphis started showing me northern European death metal scene and I was hooked.
* Has any of the band ever visited the USA before? if so what were your impressions? Many visiting Norwegians are surprised that everyone doesn’t live in like an episode of Seinfeld or Friends (ha ha)
Gassy Sam visited the States when he was a kid, so probably he doesn’t have any wild memories. I visited USA in 2016 for Frost and Fire II, Cirith Ungol’s first gig in decades. It was a cool trip and I only spent time in California. Really cool place and great scene, awesome crazy metalheads there. Good food, beers and weather, so I liked it a lot. Only things that were fucked up was that it was expensive as hell there and public drinking was extremely forbidden.
I would totally want to do tours and see the world
* I know you guys play live but it is not an important factor for your band. Is there a reason for this? Would you like to be a band that does a couple of big tours every year?
It’s hard to maintain a live band when I’m playing almost everything on the record. We are rehearsing at the moment and focusing on starting to do shows. I would totally want to do tours and see the world at the same time, rather than doing jobs but there’s bills to pay. Hopefully we can do touring as soon as possible.
* Speaking of playing live – what has been your best show so far as a band and why?
There has only been two shows till this day and I wouldn’t say any out of those were the best. Those gigs happened in 2013 and we played as a trio. Now we have added a second guitarist and our songs will definitely sound better than in 2013.
* What can we expect from the band for the rest of 2018
Hopefully few gigs, at least one is booked for September with Anatomia, Cryptic Brood, Solothus and God Disease.
* Any final words?
Thanks for this interview. Be sure to check out news and other info from our fb site and also visit 20 Buck Spins website for physical copies of the album and shirts too.
-Ian J.
https://www.facebook.com/ghastlydeathmetal/
