Showing posts with label Whispered. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Whispered. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Whispered Interview

    1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?


Greetings! Things are going pretty good. We're making a music video, doing interviews, trying to get more contacts with promotors / booking agencies and such.



    2.In May  you have a new album coming out, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?


Every member in the band agress that this is the best stuff we've done yet. Metsutan - Songs Of The Void contains all the usual Whispered elements, but I think everything is in better balance this time. There are also more japanese influences which give the album a nice ethnic atmosphere and most of the songs are quite fresh so compositions are more in line with our vision and concept. Influences from several metal genres are represented on the album forming a very diverse and compelling experience I might say.


    3.In the beginning the music was more power metal but the newer music has more of a melodic death metal approach, what was the decision behind going into a heavier direction?


Even during the recordings of our first album, I was thinking that I wanna push things to a bit heavier direction. I love all kind of metal, but I think that the driving force with Whispered should be drawn from melodic death metal clashing with symphonic and ethnic elements. On the new album there's probably more black metallish influences than ever too, but we wanna keep things interesting and not force the band to go to any specific direction.



    4.Your lyrics deal a lot with Samurai's and Japanese Legends, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topics?


I've always thought that those themes work really well with metal music, and no-one seems to disagree. I've been interested in japanese culture for a really long time so the inspiration to write this kind of music felt really natural for me. Samurai as a concept is really like Whispered's music I think. Fearlessly engaging to the battle, without forgetting to enjoy a nice cup of tea on occasion.



    5.originally the band was called 'Zealot' what was the decision behind the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Whispered'?


Zealot didn't sound quite what we're about and we thought that another name could work better. I think Whispered works nicely because it's gives an serene and silent impression of the band, yet we're mostly quite the opposite. It's also a name that gives us a chance to play something else in the future if we want. If we'd named the band "Samurai Killers", we'd have a hard time to play country music. Hopefully that won't never happen.



    6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?


One show we did in Tokyo 2013 really stands out (no surprise there). It was truly amazing experience since we had no idea what to except from an audience in the land of our concept.
Luckily everything was a blast and we had really great time there meeting fans and getting some connections. These recent shows in Finland have also been quite great. Audience has been amazing and we're really excited to play some new songs. I'd describe our stage performance as I'd describe a battle. Tons of adrenaline being scattered in the midst of the fight, leaving the crows to pick up what's left!


    7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?


Not much really. We're really trying to make connections to Europe, since this is our first release there also and we hope to hook up some booking opportunities.
Currently the situation is that we're giving one festival show in Finland at Tampere Metal Meeting with likes of Moonsorrow, Insomnium, Tiamat and Finntroll.
We try to get as much shows as possible for autumn.


    8.The new album is coming out on 'Redhouse Finland Music Publishing', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?


Well it's a quite small label, but they've given us really much financial support with our journey. Like us, Redhouse FMP doesn't have much connections
outside of Finland, but we hope we'll / they'll gain something with the new album.


    9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?


It has been quite amazing actually. We have a really solid and constantly growing fanbase which I'm extremely thankful of. I think we're making something quite new and I'm really
happy that most of the people seem to understand what we're trying to do here. I've not read much of negative stuff about Whispered, though nowadays it's probably not the smartest
idea to constantly browse the internet to see what people think. But overall, the feedback has been extremely positive.


    10.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?


Well our bass and backing vocalist dude Kai Palo sings and plays in a band called Drawn Awake. Others don't have much projects, though I'm slowly cooking up some game soundtrack projects and such in the future. Whispered takes about everything we have to offer, so we don't have time for other uphill projects.


    11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?


For now, probably the same direction we're going already. Bigger, better, more oriental, more focused. Though I'm quite sure that at some point, we'll make a bit less crowded album.
Meaning something that's really focused to the band with less orchestral elements. That sounds something I'd like to do at some point.


    12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?


Well for me, I constantly listen to all kind of music. I love finnish metal bands, game and movie soundtracks and some smooth jazz for instance. If I had to give some names right now,
I'd give Joe Hisaishi, Yuko Takehara, Moonsorrow, Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestri, Carach Angren, Waltari, Sodom, Vesperith etc.



    13.What are some of your non musical interests?


Movies, making movies (shortfilms and stuff), wandering in the woods, games. I'm all fired up to try Dark Souls 3!



    14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?


Check out Metsutan - Songs Of The Void! Support the band, buy the music and merchandise!
Stay heavy, stay honored and hail Gojira!

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Friday, April 8, 2016

Whispered/Metsutan -Songs Of The Void/Redhouse FMP/Inverse Records/2016 CD Review


  Whispered  are  a  band from  Finland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  melodic  death  metal  and  Japanese  folk  music  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Metsutan  Songs  Of  the  Void"  which  will  be  released  in  May  as  a  joint  effort  between  Redhouse  FMP  and  Inverse  Records.

  Japanese  folk  instruments  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  chants  in  the  background  and  tribal  beats   and  they  also  mix  in  some  symphonic  elements  at  times  and  after  the  intro  they  mix  it  in  with  more  of  a  heavier  sound  and  also  mix  in  back  up  shouts  and  melodic  guitar  leads  while t he  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  Vocals  bring  in a  mixture  of  both  black  metal screams  and  death  metal  growls  and  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  use  a  great  amount  of blast  beats  and  throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  some  of  the  tracks a re  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  some  of  the  faster  riffs  also  utilize a   great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  on  some  of  the  songs  while  other t racks  also  use  chants  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  while  the  last  track  brings  in  male  and  female  choirs.

  Whispered  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  melodic  and  symphonic  sides  of  black  and death  metal  and  mixes  them  with  Japanese  folk  music  to  add  something  different  and  original  to  the  folk  metal  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Samauri,  Bushido  and  Japanese  legends.

  In  my  opinion  Whispered  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  melodic  black,  death  metal  and  Japanese  folk  music  and  if  you  are  looking  for  something  original,  you  should  check  out t his  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Strike!"  "Kensei"  "Warriors  of  Yama" and  "Bloodred  Shores  Of  Enoshima".  8/2  out  of  10.

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