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file under doom metal
If you lock yourself up in an abandoned cottage to record a CD, your dedication goes beyond and my curiosity is going aflame! Umbra Nihil is the last of many Finnish bands that have made a deep impression on me by being again so original. It must be in the water over there! I spoke to The Gelatinous Merauder about the new CD ‘The Borderland Rituals’ and about that abandoned shag.
Text: Erik
 Please introduce Umbra Nihil! What bands have you played in, what have you released already and who is Umbra Nihil?
We are a Finnish band. We have played in some unknown bands of no consequence earlier. In addition to these the vocalist on The Borderland Rituals plays bass in a doom band called Lord Vicar. We released a demo long time ago that unfortunately got released on a split with Aarni. We also released an album ‘Gnoia’ on Firedoom Records a few years ago that shows some signs of development. The main guy of Aarni had input on ‘Gnoia’. Epidemie Records released ‘The Borderland Rituals’ just recently which is much better than anything we put out before.
I must say you released a great album with ‘The Borderland Rituals’. How were the reviews up till now?
Your review is one of the first ones we have received. We are still waiting for some main Finnish fanzines to review it. I think I have seen like four reviews so far and they have been either good or fair.
Finland always produces bands that make weird and original music. Is it something in the water? Is it the environment? I consider you in that category of weird and original. Is that a compliment to you? Is it something you consciously strive to achieve?
There are good and original bands in Finland indeed. I don’t know what causes it. On one hand we do not aim to be weird or original, yet on the other hand I personally lack almost all interest in belonging to a certain genre. I guess we boldly try to mix elements from different music styles. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. I definitely like stuff that is weird and original, so in that sense that can be a compliment. Then again I also like many genre bands. It shouldn't be forgotten that a genre band can be as weird and original as a non-genre band trying to be weird and original.
Did you really record the album in an isolated and quarantined abandoned house on the inbred borderlands of Finland? How did that happen and come about? Why did you do that? Did creepy things happen during the recording sessions? Any anecdotes you want to share?
We recorded the album in a house that has been uninhabited for twenty years. The reasons are multitudinous. The vocalist, the bass-player and I come from the same small town in rural Finland. We share a common history, but we live quite far from each other at the moment. So after releasing ‘Gnoia’ I wasn’t particularly happy with the way that album turned out, so I thought that there were two options – to quit the band or to reinvent the sound. We decided that we haul our equipment to a house in the countryside because they are plentiful in the area due to depopulation of the area. So, we had this house just for ourselves. That’s where we met every now and then from 2006-2007 playing, getting intoxicated and experimenting with some ideas and also “auditioning” the guy who sings on the album. We also recorded three songs during this time, one of which will be released on a Thergothon tribute album by Solitude Productions, one that was supposed to be released on an obscure compilation record and one that we ditched. So, after we decided to continue with the band and make another album we realized that we can’t and don’t want to do it the normal way, i.e. rehearse for a certain period of time and go into a studio. Instead, we rehearsed the songs so that we got the basic structures for them. After that, each one of us entered the house when ever schedules permitted, sometimes alone, sometimes together with some other band member and recorded whatever was necessary. The house itself was a very inspiring place, still having pictures and belongings of the people who had lived there so many years ago in some rooms. We also found this one hundred year old organ from the attic that we used for one song that is unreleased at the moment. There were some setbacks with the recordings, like the meltdown of a computer at one point, which was frustrating. The recordings took place under various levels and forms of intoxication, so I think you can hear this in the material. But no ghost stories to be shared at this point.
‘The Borderland Rituals’ is based on a book, can you tell us more about it? What attracted you to do a CD on this particular book or writer…
Well, I was much inspired by William Hope Hodgson’s ‘The House on the Borderland’, which is a cosmic horror story predating H.P. Lovecraft. I could somehow identify with the narrative very well. Anyways, I thought that we could make a concept album and that was the initial idea for ‘The Borderland Rituals’, but in the end it isn’t. Our vocalist, having written the lyrics, is of the opinion that the album isn't based on the book at all, except for the general themes in a couple of the songs. Mostly the songs are about his life and experimentation with mind-altering substances. One song even draws inspiration from a Japanese erotic novel. I guess the promo letter had the information in a simplified form. To be more specific, the book was the source of initial inspiration but in the end the album is a more personal account of some of the same themes. The name ‘Borderland Rituals’ is also the moniker for the shared experience that took place in that particular building in the borderlands during that particular time, details of which only the three of us share. Furthermore, the vocalist made the lyrics in a pretty interesting state, also getting a nearly lethal infection of testicles in the end of the vocal recordings. I'll spare you the details, but surgical procedures were involved later on. Weird though that there isn't more high pitched singing, isn't it?
With bands that base a CD on a book I always ask what they will do the next time and what they will use as an influence. Have you already have plans in that direction? Don’t you consider it dangerous to base a CD on a book? I mean, it’s so limited…
Yes, it is limited and can be boring as well. That’s why we didn’t base the album on the book entirely. Furthermore, we have this song called ‘The Dreams in the Witch-House’ on the ‘Gnoia’ album which is based on H.P. Lovecraft. H.P. Lovecraft has become a cliché in metal, so we try to avoid stuff like that from now on. I think it was a mistake to state that the album was based on the book as it would be more accurate to say that the album was inspired by the book. Then again this kind of stuff can work out very well if done appropriately as on Camel’s ‘Snowgoose’ or Bo Hansson’s ‘Sagan om Ringen’ to name two pretty awesome prog albums.
 Have we read the book when we listen to the songs and read the lyrics?
No. They are a personalized and share some themes with the book. It’s not one to one with the book. The lyrics can be read and understood without knowing anything about Hodgson.
I really wonder how it goes in Umbra Nihil of how to decide how a song gets written and how you get the right lyrics for that particular song. Can you guide us through your songwriting? How does a song start and how do you get to the finished song? Of course you do not have to give away your darkest secrets ;), only if you want to!
Riffs and song ideas arise, then we jam a bit. Then I have a better idea of the song ideas and riffs. After that I come up with a tentative arrangement. Then we try out this arrangement and change it and rehearse again and change it, etc. This goes on until we think that the song is ready. Getting a song ready can last from two weeks up to three years because of the nearly astronomical distances that we have to travel in order to rehearse. I might also council the other guys if I have a problem and they state their opinions. Sometimes I have the vocal melody ready and tell the singer what he should do. Sometimes I don’t and he does as he sees fit. Sometimes I lack a bridge and don’t know what to do and ask the bass player invent one and he does. It’s trial and error, trial and error, till getting fed up and ditching the song or getting it to a point that it’s complete.
You did a split with Aarni, another great and weird band. Do you like their music? What are other influences to Umbra Nihil musically? Can you sum up some names that would come close to a description of Umbra Nihil? Or how would you describe the sound you guys make?
I like their outrageous music. They boldly go where no other band has ever wanted to go before. Aarni is to music what Pink Flamingos is to cinema. But we are not influenced by Aarni. We started at the same time. I don’t know who we resemble or who resemble us. We have been said to bear likeness to Unholy, King Crimson, Ildjarn (the production on the split, hah), Maudlin of the Well, Voïvod, Amon Düül 2 and kraut rock. I’ve tried to discover a band with which we could share another split release, but haven't been successful so far. I am personally influenced by too many bands to mention. I don't consciously draw influences from them. An exception on the new album is Sea of Sleep. The main melody was influenced by a Finnish traditional song Konevitsan Kirkonkellot which was made famous by an old Finnish band Piirpauke. All in all I think it would be safe to describe our music as a mixture of seventies progressive influences with heavy metal and doom metal.
What’s the biggest difference between your debut ‘Gnoia’ and ‘The Borderland Rituals’ ? Are there musical differences you think? And what about the split CD? Do you see development or evolution or a change of pace between these albums?
There is a huge development from the demo / split to the new stuff. The demo was basically just me laying down some ideas on top of a drum machine, but unfortunately I couldn’t resist the offer to get it released by a new emerging label at the time. Some people have claimed that the split is good because it is so utterly obscure. Go figure. ‘Gnoia’ was better, I tried to mix riff doom stuff with death doom to show that they can be combined, but now I’m not so sure, heh. I think that the production is too sterile. ‘The Borderland Rituals’ is different from the two. It is more of a band album. I also realized that grunts are useless and so we switched to mostly clean vocals. Furthermore, we wanted it to be organic sounding and not too gimmicky when it comes to the sound. No triggering or any bullshit of that ilk there. I wanted the drums to sound the way they used to sound back in the seventies on albums of bands like Magma, Dust, Captain Beyond and Budgie. No dominating triggered ultra compressed bass drum piercing through everything, like it’s done nowadays. I also wanted it to be dynamic. I think we managed to make it sound organic. Furthermore, we were less influenced by death metal and stuff like Unholy and Esoteric with the new one so that probably shows as well.
Your debut was released by Firebox Records, the ‘The Borderland Rituals’ CD is on Epidemie Records. What happened in between and why did you change labels? Are you up till now satisfied with the work Epidemie did for ‘The Borderland Rituals’?
I’m very much satisfied with Epidemie Records. They have been patient with us constantly postponing the release. Firebox was changing direction at the time, signing shitloads of bands and letting the old ones go, so the change was quite natural. The distribution has been as good on Epidemie Records and the main distributor is still Firebox in Finland, so basically nothing much has changed. I still stay in touch with the Firebox label guy.
Do you guys play live? And if so, what can we expect, and most importantly, when?
Well, we plan to audition a drummer, so if that happens this could be possible, but it’s too early to say where and when. Everything might work out just perfectly or suck completely, so it’s hard to say at this point.
http://www.umbranihil.net
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