Angry trolls, ice-cold beer and frosty forests – the Finnish VERIKALPA already show with the cover artwork of their third album „Tunturihauta“ what they are all about. With their Viking/Folk Metal in the vein of Moonsorrow, Finntroll and Ensiferum they are quite convincing. Singer Jani Ikonen talks to us about drinking with elves, comparisons with the great idols and why he doesn’t sing in English.
Hello, thank you for taking time to do this interview. How are you the days?
Thanks i’m doing good! Havin’ a blast waiting for the album coming out.
How have you developed yourselves as musicians since your debut, what are you doing better than on your previous albums?
Well, yes there’s been a big step up as a musician. As years go by and we do our thing, you learn a lot. Not only as musician and player but the business side of it as well. Studio working also is a lot smoother than it was with the debut for example because of that development and you start learning more and more.
In my opinion, you can already judge from one song whether someone might like the music of Verikalpa or not. Which song from „Tunturihauta“ would you recommend to someone who has never heard of you and why?
I´d say the title track. It still gives me goosebumps when I listen to it. Tough question cuz right after I said that “Rautanen Herra” popped in mind cuz it’s much faster and really has the folkiness in it. So, check both of them.
At first “Taistelutahto”, then “Tuoppitanssi” and now “Tunturihauta” – is it intentional that all albums start with a “T”? Is it something like a “T”-trilogy?
(laughs) Nice catch. But no, not really. At first it just happened with the first 2 albums and when the “Tunturihauta” title came up, we kinda noticed it as well. We just felt those titles are the strongest for the albums. Maybe the 4th will start with a „T’’as well, who knows.
How does the songwriting process work for you? Are you all involved, how are the songs created?
Pretty much me and Sami Knuutinen (Bass) write all the songs. Either together or by ourselves. Mostly one of us comes up with a riff and then we sit down at my apartment. Start jamming riffs around that. Then we come up with a song which we then send to the other guys and if they like it, we gonna take it to the rehearsals. We do leave room for others to fill tho, like nothing is written in stone. For example, Jussi Sauvola (Synths) has his own style of playing and we gonna let him do his thing in some parts we didn’t think about. He was a co-writer for “Peikon Kieli” from the last album too.
What are your lyrical influences, what are the songs about? They seem to be dealing with war and beer a lot.
I have this habit of creating short stories in my head which I then put on paper, in a lyrical form. Basically, the song themes varies from happily drinking with elves, to battlefields, to hangovers and how much I hate winter sometimes. “Talven Varjot” means “Shadows of Winter”.
“Tunturihauta” is the first album you worked on since the pandemic started. How has Corona changed the songwriting process and influenced the band and the album?
It surely gave us more time to focus on the new songs. Other than that, it didn’t really change our work outside live shows. Maybe we were a little more pissed so couple songs sounds a little angrier.
“Tunturihauta” is aggressive and at times brutal, but also makes so much fun and has a joyful folky note. Is it always important for you to have fun with your music and transport that fun to the fans?
Yes, it is! Even if the songs sometimes feel more aggressive, there’s always the fun side of it.
I really like the hand-drawn style of the cover artwork. Sakari Forstadius also drew the artwork for „Tuoppitanssi“, why did you choose him and this style again?
We loved the “Tuoppitanssi” cover. He also did the single covers for “Naulattujen Vaellus” and “Talonväen Teuraat” so we figured that it would be just perfect to have him doing the third album as well. And damn, he just did that. He’s hardworking and pretty much always delivers so nice artwork. It feels like his art fits for our music perfectly. Thank you Sakke!
On the cover, beer brings the dead back to life. Which alcoholic drinks would bring you back from the grave? Mead, your favourite beer or something else?
It’s beer. When there’s beer around, you just can’t lay down for too long.
You sing all your songs in Finnish, and even in your regional dialect, right? Does that make you identify better with the music and the lyrics, and do you want to keep it that way in the future?
Yes, finnish in Oulu dialect. I write the lyrics as i speak. Sometimes it’s pretty hard to arrange but finnish language fits our music perfectly and it’s gonna stay, yes. I had couple english titles back in the days but those were pretty dumb so, yeah. Finnish it is. (laughs)
I think you fill a gap between Finntroll, Ensiferum and Moonsorrow. You can clearly hear the influences of these bands, but you manage to form your own mixture. How do you see it, how would you place Verikalpa in the Finnish metal scene?
I think we have a fair amount of different genres mixed up in our songs. There’s almost like 80’s hair metal type riff in “Tunturihauta” and then there’s almost death metal in “Verikauhu”, but both songs sounds us, Verikalpa.
Sometimes I read that you are a copy of the bands mentioned before. How do you deal with such criticism and accusations?
I think it’s an honor to be named after those bands. Been listening to them since forever and still love their music. I’ve always loved „folk” metal. Grew up listening those bands. We don’t really care if someone hates us for sounding like someone else to be honest. We think we have our own thing and we’re fine with that.
In the “Rautanen Herra” video you are playing in the woods, which seems kind of normal in Finland. I imagine walking through the finnish woods like a metal festival with bands playing concerts on every corner. What is the thing with finnish metal bands and the woods?
I guess it is cuz Finland is basically a giant forest.
Finland is by far the number 1 metal country in Europe with more than 60 heavy metal bands per 100.000 inhabitants. Why do you think that is, why is metal so important for Finnish people?
North, winter, forests, darkness, beer. Those are quite Metal so we know nothing else. I think.
Lastly, another comparison: in the district of Upper Franconia in Bavaria, where I live, there are more than 200 breweries per one million inhabitants, more than anywhere else in the world. How is it in Finland and in and around Oulo? Do you have a lot of good local beer?
(laughs) Oh no. I gotta be honest and just come clean. I have no idea about local beer in Oulu! But yes, there’s a ton of good local breweries in other cities. I’m more a „supermarket cheap beer’’ kinda guy, or imports such as Heineken or Budweiser.
Let’s conclude with our traditional brainstorming. What comes to your mind first when you read the following words?
Current favorite album: Children of Bodom – Hexed.
Streaming: Hypocrisy – Worship.
Nature: Woods.
Best Movie-/Series-/Book-Universe: Halloween.
Heavy Trip: Meh… it’s okay.
Something that makes every bad day better: For real, beer came up first.
Verikalpa in ten years: Still raising pints up high.
Thank you once again for your time! The last words are all yours.
Kippis y’all! Grab a cold one and have a blast! Check us out, we hope to see you on the road one day!
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