Last month I had the privilege to review the new cd by the Finnish Masterstroke. That was no punishment: ‘As Days Grow Darker’ is a great, melodic power metal cd. After inquiring with some diehard music freaks it appears that hardly anybody knows this band. That is a great pity. Therefore I think it is high time to allow these gentlemen to further introduce themselves. In my best Finnish I asked some questions to keyboard player Jussi Kulomaa.
First of all I want to thank you for taking the time to answer some questions about the band. I do not think that there are many people who know Masterstroke, so first of all can you please tell us a bit more about the band and its history? Hi, my pleasure! Masterstroke is a melodic heavy metal band from Finland. Niko and Janne started the band in 2002 with a slightly different line-up and our music was, let's say, more ´traditional´ power metal. With the release of our first album in 2006, our line-up became what it is today (Niko - vocals and guitar, Janne - drums, Markus - guitar and backing vocals, Marko - bass and Jussi - keyboards and backing vocals). We have released two albums so far and a third one, ‘As Days Grow Darker’, is about to hit the streets on the 25th of March.
In 2006 the band released the album ‘Apocalypse’. I guess the album was only released in Japan because the distribution was done by a Japanese company, The Art Union Corporation. How did a band from Finland get in touch with them? That was done by our record-label. They licensed it to for example Japan and Russia and had plans for a world-wide release, but apparently they went belly-up before that and well, that was it! It wasn't even released in Finland, but I have heard that it might be available through some on-line dealers.
In 2007 you released a new full length album (‘Sleep’) and also a cd single. Regarding your debut album what was the difference musically seen as in comparison with that new album? The ´Apocalypse´ album had more traditional powermetal stuff, with ´Sleep´ we went into more darker and heavier songs. I think this is where we are heading now, as is evident on our latest album.
After the release of ‘Sleep’ you started touring a lot. In the summer of 2008 you also visited the Netherlands as a supporting act of Jon Oliva. I was also present at that gig and I remember that when you guys started playing there were only a few people present in the venue. You started playing so early! How did you deal with that during that tour, your role as a supporting act? Yeah, well, it is part of the deal, I guess. Actually, that tour was fantastic! We felt very welcome with the other bands and we were just happy and grateful to be there, playing in these venues with some of the largest crowds in our career. I hope this does not spoil us for any up-coming tours! I have heard some stories where the support acts were treated like trash.
As a relatively ‘new’ band you encounter alot of new things, alot of stuff happening around you. What does a young band - as Masterstroke is -, learn from touring with an experienced man like Jon Oliva? It is sort of an adventure this early on in any bands career. The old cats have seen and done it all. One thing is the whole professional attitude. You really can not treat people like crap and expect to stay long in the business. Jon Oliva is a true gentleman and funny! Oh yeah, and what is important: you have to eat, drink and sleep whenever possible.
All your albums are mastered by Svante Forsbäck. Can you tell us something more about his work and why he is important to you as a band? I like his work, it is pure and simple! Seriously, when I mixed ‘Apocalypse’, I wanted to have at least some professional touch to the finished product. I wasn't that confident in my abilities then. I also like the idea of developing a ‘working relationship’ so that you know what they can do and you can trust their judgement. It is also the reason we did the drums in Fantom Studio with Samu Oittinen (familiar to fans of Diablo, for instance).
Your new album will be released on March the 25th and is entitled ‘As Days Grow Darker’. Can you please tell our readers what happens when the days grow darker? When we were thinking of a name for the album, this seemed to fit the whole album and the themes in the songs. Things get a bit heavier and moodier! Better bring a flash-light!
In my review of the new album I have mentioned the name Nevermore, especially because of the vocals in songs as ‘Walls Of My Temple’ and ‘Inside Myself’. Is that something you recognise and is Nevermore an influence to the band? Yes, Nevermore has been on heavy rotation here, hehe. But I am surprised that you hear it in the vocals. Not that I am complaining! Warrel Dane is unique.
Masterstroke is a melodic power metal band. There are a lot of bands in that segment. What is the thing that distinguises Masterstroke from other power metal bands? Mmmm.. that we are not power metal? Ah.. well, I think Niko's voice is somewhat unique, he does not do that high-and-loud stuff. I also try to avoid the more obvious synth stuff that is common in power metal (ie. harpsichords...strings and choirs rule, tho'!)
Does Niko (Rauhala, vocals and guitar) write all the material for the band, both the music and the lyrics or is it a band effort? And lyric wise, what does inspire you? Niko writes most of the music, but everyone is welcome and encouraged to share ideas. I write most of the lyrics these days with Markus contributing as well. Most of my lyrics have a basis in real life situations, feelings and such but tweaked and enhanced to something that might be interesting in a song.
Can you tell us a bit more about the writing proces and your time in the studio, recording the album; do thinks happen in the studio or is everything written and thought out before you start recording? What do you write first, lyrics or the music? Usually what happens is that Niko has an idea (riff, passage) or sometimes even the whole song composed and then we start tinkering with it in rehearsals. Sometimes the song seems to write itself and sometimes it takes a little bit more work and sometimes it's off with its head and we will cannibalize it for something else! I do not write lyrics for a particular song, I just write them and send them to Niko who then chooses what seems to fit each song and then we edit from that. For this new album, we left some things open on purpose so that they would be fresh and exciting come recording time. Going over and over the same stuff gets boring after awhile and you lose that spontaneity and freshness. Worked great! However I'd say that most of the material was ready, some guitar and synth lines were open as well as most of the vocals. Although Niko did have an idea for all of the melodies, so we weren't unprepared. Uh.. I hope I'm making sense here. It seemed natural to us and since it is our studio, we could take our merry time with things if it seemed like it (though we did have a dead-line to meet, so no lazying about!).
It is amazing how many metal bands from Finland release albums. Is metal – and in particular powermetal – popular in your country? And if so, why is that? Can you make a living by making music? Metal is very popular in Finland right now. We have metal bands reaching #1 spot in the official charts from time to time! Can not really say why for sure. Metal fans are active and I guess it has something to do with them actually buying the albums instead of just downloading the latest hit-single. We are such a sparsely populated country that making a living out of music (and metal in particular) is very difficult. You have to have a passion and a drive to do this, otherwise you just end up being miserable (and still broke!). Most bandmembers have day jobs and try to fit that with music, it's certainly the case in our band. Not everyone can make it, but I believe that if you're good and willing to take the time and effort.. why not?
In my opinion Masterstroke has a very mature and professional sound. What is the band´s strength musically and in what area you still have some work to do? Thank you! Hmm.. a difficult question. I think we're a pretty good live band. We are also pretty decent musicians, maybe not virtuoso, but as a band everyone pulls their weight and delivers. We also know what we like and what sounds good (at least we think we do!) but we're not afraid to try out different things. That is also one thing that I'd like to do more, but there is of course the danger of losing your way.. I need more work on practicing playing the damn keyboards! What other strengths and/or weaknesses we might have I leave to the listener to decide.
What is your opinion of the metal scene nowadays? Any personal favourites that you want to share with our readers? It's getting a bit crowded.. Evergrey is great, Arjen Lucassen's many projects, Opeth, Nevermore. I tend to go for variety in music, so that if I'm in a ‘juke-box mode’, I might listen to songs from Behemoth, Kraftwerk, In Flames and (oh yes) Demis Roussos, back to back. Oh, and Vangelis, of course.
What are the future plans for the band; extensive touring? As a supporting act or as a headliner? Well, playing live obviously for the immediate future. Let's see what happens, hopefully plenty of touring! We have a mini-tour here in Finland supporting Wolf in two weeks and some gigs here and there, but other than that nothing is locked.
I sincerely hope to see you on tour in the Netherlands this year, I’m looking forward to see you perform live. To end the interview, anything you like to say to our readers? Yes, hope to see you soon too! It was really nice in the Netherlands the last time we were there... I always draw a blank here at the end so I'll just leave you all with ‘Keep it metal!’ (Corny enough for ya, eh?)
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