1. You have been active since 2018, in 2022 the edition of your first two EPs arrives and you have just released your first full-length, in general terms with a more than acceptable impact, what led you to create the band? Why name of Moonlight Sorcery and what does it refer to? Are you a little surprised by the good reception of your music by the press and public?
Loitsumestari Taikakallo (Later mentioned as LT): I wanted to try to compose some sort of black metal metal music with traditional heavy metal elements in it. As my musical roots are strongly in the traditional heavy metal music it took over the compositions but I was thinking the songs could be more black metal with my friend Ruttomieli's vocals and I think it made the music more black metal. As soon as I heard Ruttomieli's vocals on the songs I had made I got more inspiration to try to create more black metal music with my own heavy metal approach. Later on we asked Haaska to join our forces as a rhythm player. Can't really remember how we came up with the Moonlight Sorcery name but for me it represents magic and spells cast in the cold moonlit nights. The reception has truly surprised me. I always thought this music would be too melodic for at least the black metal genre people but I guess melodic black metal is someshort of quilty pleasure for some people and nowadays they are not afraid to admit it anymore.
Haaska: Even if we ourselves have been satisfied with everything we have done and can stand proud behind our music the response from the audience has been better than we were expecting.
Ruttomieli: Yeah, Loitsumestari came up with the idea of playing black metal and he asked me to do the vocals. As far as I remember, I came up with the band name back then when it all started. For me, the band's name refers to the moon representing the subconscious realm and to my neverending reverence for the night and all mysteries it holds. I guess it also refers to that magical atmosphere we're after in our music.
2. You have taken an ambitious step in terms of sound with this first album, what have you modified in the composition and recording process with respect to the previous Eps? What brands of instruments have you used in the process?
LT: The composition and recording have actually stayed almost the same as they were in previous EPs. All guitars, bass, synths and vocals are home recorded. Only difference is that our session drummer Tommi ''Tomahawk'' Tuhkala went to record the drums in a different studio. The difference in the sound is completely in the hands of Dan Swanö and he did excellent work on it. I used my Fender Telecaster guitars in the recording process.
Haaska: I think it is easier for us to see that the music and composition itself is pretty similar between all of our songs since we know every detail that is happening in the music, after all we had to learn the material and record it but I can understand if people pinpoint different aspects from the music now that the production quality is improved. Every rhythm guitar track I have played on the albums are recorded with my ESP/LTD EC Black Metal from 2020. I think our instruments complement each other since they are pretty different sounds from each other.
3. Your proposal has always had a dose of coldness and rawness that in this first album is much more defined, the sound has gained in production, greater weight of melodies, a use of synthesizers to achieve a more defined atmosphere and a certain melancholy that sneaks into the final result, how would you define the sound of the album for those who have not yet heard it? What bands and styles have influenced you when composing this album?
LT: All the elements have been already in the previous EPs also but now you can hear them better with the Dan Swanös great mixing work. The term ''blackened power metal'' has been thrown around from time to time and I think that defines pretty well how we sound. There are tons of bands who have inspired my composing but to name a few they would be: Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Dio, Helloween, Racer X, Shadows Fall and Enslavement of Beauty.
Haaska: I can only comment on my own compositions and there haven't been many of them released yet but I think the main influences for myself come from the 90s Swedish scene such as Storm of the Light's Bane by Dissection, Vittra by Naglfar, Welcome to My Last Chapter by Vinterland and Slaughtersun (Crown of the Triarchy) by Dawn. Some parts are influenced even by bands like Immortal and Gorgoroth but I think most of the ideas I get are just a blend of everything in music that I enjoy. Improving as a musician I feel like I get lots of influences also from our own material since LT's compositions get more technical and advanced and it also drives me forward with my own musicianship.
Ruttomieli: As for the vocals, I've been influenced by vocalists like Torog from Behexen and Werwolf from Satanic Warmaster. The good old brutal black metal shriek fits best with our music, nice little contrast to all the melodicism.
4. Ruttomieli is in charge of writing the texts of the songs, with a somewhat abstract theme, leaving the interpretation in the hands of the listener. What does he base on when writing the texts? What themes are important to him? Time to capture them in the lyrics? Do the lyrics adapt to the music or vice versa?
Ruttomieli: I definitely like to keep my lyrics somewhat abstract so they can have different meanings depending on the interpreter. Would actually be nice to hear what kind of interpretations there are floating around. I'm not going to unlock them too much but some of the themes deal with finding one's own voice, the emotional flow through hate and the power it holds, the neverending search for the indescribable and yearning for the unknown. Nowadays I'm mostly inspired by everyday life but I also read a lot of poetry. The everyday life turns into something magical in the realm of Moonlight Sorcery. I usually write a huge mass of text from where I start to process it. When I first hear the demos, I start to ponder which one fits where. Only then I start to arrange and that's when the lyrics tend to change once again. To me, the dearest lyrics of mine are "Hauta-alttari", "Into the Silvery Shadows of Night", "Yönsilmä" and "Suden tie"
5. You have had the participation of Dan Swanö when mixing and mastering the album. At what point did you decide to work together to release this new album? What do you think Dan has added to the final result of the album?
LT: We were throwing around ideas who could mix the album and Dan Swanös name came to the table at some point. We asked if he would have time and interest to mix the album for os and he did so we decided to choose him. Dan made the band sound as it is supposed to sound. I think he really understood what the goal of the band and the music is and he created the perfect sound for us on this album.
Haaska: Yeah as LT said we had few ideas that we could follow when making the album but I suggested that we really should try to contact Dan if it was possible to fit our album in his schedule since I am a huge fan of his work and I am really happy how that turned out in the end. Dan really made the album shine and I think there isn't a single recorded track that gets buried in the mix. All instruments get their moments in the spotlight so to say.
6. In a short period of time you have managed to stand out within the scene, it seems that Finnish black metal has become a trend in recent times, how do you experience the Finnish black scene from the inside? Is there an established extreme metal scene? in a city like Tampere?
LT: As I'm not a huge black metal fan myself I have no clue about the black metal scene in Finland.
Haaska: Finnish black metal is thriving and certainly has its own distinct sound but I think we are a bit in our own category. I wouldn't know how it is to experience the scene from the inside since it is really not a thing I have even been thinking about nor do I even know how the "scene" itself works here. We just do our own thing.
Ruttomieli: I guess all the bigger Finnish cities have their own little scenes but because Finland isn't that big a country anyway, it's easier to think of the whole country as one scene. At the moment, we all live in different parts of Finland. Even at best, only two thirds of the band have lived in Tampere.
7. For the artwork of the album you have worked with Linda Piekäinen, this time the design seems much more sinister, more Lovecrafian so to speak, to the detriment of a certain medieval touch of yesteryear, how did you decide to work with Linda and how did you Does this cover relate to the content of the album?
Haaska: The cover art for Piercing was pretty much a joint effort between us and you could say it is maybe a bit like a "tribute" to all the great albums that have been made with a similar aesthetic since we were discussing many albums inside the band when we were thinking about references for the artwork. After that was done I started building a bigger picture and a sort of continuity with our visual side that has been implemented on the next releases. I don't think the art is that much in relation to the songs that directly but I was going towards a sort of a climax this time since our album now is bigger and more grandiose than before. Working with Linda was really easy and she understood my vision really quick. I was satisfied with all the early drafts we received from her and other than some finetuning we didn't have to do any major revisions.
8. You continue to publish your albums through Avantgarde Music, how have you forged this connection for so long?
LT: Working with them has been very easy and we have great connection with the guys in Avantgarde Music so everything goes perfectly with them.
Haaska: Avantgarde has been a great label to work with and we are grateful to them for believing in our vision and signing us to allow us to make all this music.
Ruttomieli: Yeah, everything has worked smoothly with Avantgarde and we're grateful they believed in us.
9. If I'm not mistaken, you are a band that does not offer concerts, is there a chance that one day you will decide to go on stage or do you prefer to keep the band only in the studio?
LT: As other projects and personal life is more prioritised at the moment we can't give any live performances at the moment. But we are planning to play some shows in the future.
Haaska: As LT said it is currently not possible but we have made some plans and have scheduled things within the band. We are really looking forward to when we can present the live show to the audience but we want to make it into something really spectacular.
10. How were your beginnings in music: first concerts you attended, first albums you bought? What happened in your lives that pushed you to want to be musicians?
LT: If I remember correctly my first concert was with my brother. We went to see Iron Maiden on their A Matter of Life and Death tour. I was really excited about that and it gave me stronger hunger to be a musician myself some day. I can't really remember what my first album was that I bought but I would assume it has been some euro dance album or any other electronic music since that I mostly listened to when I was young. I started to play guitar at the age of 13 and after that I wanted to be a musician some day.
Haaska: I think my first major concert that I can remember atleast was Metallica's Madly in Anger with World -tour in Helsinki 2004. There may have been some other shows before that but this is the earliest that has left an impact. I think the first real album I bought consciously must have been Hatebreeder or Follow the Reaper by Children of Bodom. Before that I had some records from my dad and my uncle like Metallica and Deep Purple and stuff like that but I think after listening to Children of Bodom for the first time music became something more than just music for me. You could say CoB also was a gateway towards the blacker side of things but after buying Finntroll album Midnattens Widunder that was the major turning point towards darker music in my life and I have been enjoying the blacker aspect of metal most since then.
Ruttomieli: The first festival I attended was Ämyrock in Hämeenlinna in the 1990s with my dad and my younger siblings. That's the oldest completely free music festival in Finland. Later, when metal music was everything to me, I attended Pellavarock at Lammi and Rocklinna Metal Fest at Hämeenlinna. These were somewhere in the early 2000s. The first album I ever bought was by a punk rock band called Klamydia (boy, what a name!), I was probably ten years old. At the age of 13 I bought Impaled Nazarene's Abscence of War Does Not Mean Peace, Pantera's The Great Southern Trendkill and many more.
11. What album represents for you the essence of black metal? What latest albums have you bought?
LT: Well for me it might be not the truest of the true black metal but my first touch with black metal was some black metal compilation my brother had got from his friend and it had Enslavement of Beaty's Dainty Delusive Doll in it and that song was black metal for me back then. Later on I got my hand on their 'Megalomania' album and that album is the essence of black metal for me. Last album I bought was Baccara's Baccara.
Haaska: The essence of black metal is too broad a subject to discuss over a few sentences but if I had to say few albums that are the core of black metal in my eyes I would say In the Nightside Eclipse by Emperor, Pure Holocaust by Immortal and De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas by Mayhem. I also have a huge respect towards old german thrash metal bands such as Sodom and Destruction which you could say are also a huge part of the origins of the genre. The latest albums I bought were ultimate reissues of The Somberlain and Storm of the Light's Bane, The Past is Alive and Maha Kali EP by Dissection. I rarely buy CDs since I am more of a vinyl guy but when I found all those albums sold at the same place with some other Dissection merch I thought were lost in time I could not pass them.
Ruttomieli: For me, the essence of black metal lies in albums like Mayhem's De mysteriis dom Sathanas and Behexen's Rituale Satanum. They are at the core. But of course the genre is much broader than that. The last album I bought was Vemod's re-release of their demo from 1998.
12. Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions for Black Metal Spirit, if you want to add something for Moonlight Sorcery fans this is the place. I hope the questions are to your liking.
LT: Thanks for the interview and the questions. They were great! And thanks to all the Moonlight Sorcery fans for liking the music and supporting the band! It really means alot to us.
Haaska: Thanks for having us and thanks for everyone who has supported us!
Ruttomieli: Thanks for the interest in us!
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