1. Beyond Seventh Dimension began in 2025 as a one-person instrumental project and, in a very short time, evolved into a full-length album. How do you look back on those early steps, and at what point did you feel the idea could grow into something much bigger than you had initially imagined?
Looking back, those early steps felt very natural because there was zero outside pressure—it was purely about translating the sounds and atmospheres I had in my head into reality. Initially, it was just meant to be a personal outlet, an instrumental sandbox. The turning point came when the compositions started taking on a genuine narrative weight and emotional gravity. Once the melodic themes and structural depth began matching the scale of the concepts I wanted to tackle, I realized this couldn't just remain a quiet side-project. It demanded a full-scale album treatment.
2. In this regard, the transformation of Beyond Seventh Dimension from a personal project into a collaborative effort involving various musicians is also interesting. What did each of those collaborations contribute to the final sound of “Tähtien ikuinen suru,” and to what extent do you consider the album to represent a strictly personal vision?
At its core, the album remains a strictly personal vision; I wrote all the primary compositions, arrangements, and lyrical concepts. However, bringing in trusted collaborators—like Saku, who recorded guitar and bass parts, and other guys singing, acoustic guitars and solos added an organic human warmth and performance dynamic. Their musicianship elevated the material by injecting genuine grit and dynamic execution into the tracks, turning a solitary studio concept into a living, breathing metal record while preserving the original artistic intent.
3. “Tähtien ikuinen suru” can be categorized as atmospheric black metal, yet it also incorporates elements of more traditional black metal, death metal, ambient music, and even passages reminiscent of a cinematic soundtrack. How would you define the album’s sound, and how important is it to you not to be confined by the boundaries of a specific genre?
I would define it simply as atmospheric metal driven by extremes—balancing the raw aggression of black and death metal with the vast, immersive textures of ambient and cinematic soundscapes. Staying confined to strict genre boundaries has never interested me. Music is about emotion and imagery first and foremost. If a melancholic synth pad, a brutal death metal groove, or a soaring black metal tremolo-picking run serves the song's atmosphere, it belongs there. Rules only suffocate creativity.
4. One of the album’s most striking features is the contrast between delicate, melancholic sections and moments where the guitars and drums surge with immense intensity. How did you work on that dynamic between atmosphere, melody, and aggression during the songwriting process?
That contrast is the lifeblood of this style of music. Melancholy loses its impact if it’s constant, and aggression becomes exhausting without space to breathe. During songwriting, I focused heavily on contrast as a narrative tool—treating quiet, desolate ambient passages or fragile melodies as the calm before a cosmic storm. When the heavy guitars and blast beats finally break through, they need to feel like an overwhelming tidal wave crashing down, making the emotional payoff much heavier and more resonant.
5. The universe, space, vastness, and our own insignificance in the face of the incomprehensible seem to lie at the heart of the album’s concept. What lies behind this fascination with the cosmos, and how does it connect to the deeply personal emotions found in the songs?
There is a profound, humbling comfort in looking up at the cosmos and realizing how completely insignificant we and our daily struggles are in the grand scheme of deep time and infinite space. That immense scale mirrors internal isolation. When you experience deep personal loss, grief, or depression, your inner world feels just as cold, vast, and silent as deep space. Connecting human vulnerability to cosmic scales bridges the gap between the infinitely large and the intimately personal.
6. I’d like to focus specifically on the lyrics. There is an interesting juxtaposition between colossal phenomena or timescales—the cosmos, other worlds, extinction, the Silurian period—and deeply human feelings like loneliness, loss, or depression. Were you intentionally aiming to establish that contrast between the infinite and the intimate?
Yes, absolutely. The lyrics were intentionally built around that exact parallel. Whether you are looking at the silent extinction of an ancient geological epoch or navigating a quiet, crushing bout of personal depression, the underlying emotional texture is remarkably similar: a confrontation with emptiness. Using grand, non-historical or cosmic backdrops allows us to examine raw, fragile human emotions from a slightly distanced, more philosophical perspective.
7. “Silurian Seas” is a great example of that gaze toward Earth’s extremely remote past. How does a song like that come into being? Do you start with a specific image or idea and build the music around it, or does the music itself end up suggesting the concept and lyrics?
It usually works as a two-way street, but in the case of "Silurian Seas," the historical fascination came first. I was drawn to the eerie, alien beauty of Earth's deep past—long before humanity existed, when the planet was dominated by vast, primordial oceans. That mental image dictated the cold, rolling, hydrodynamic flow of the riffs and the sweeping melodies. The music was then structured to feel like a slow drift across forgotten, prehistoric depths.
8. There is also a clear evolution throughout "Tähtien ikuinen suru", ranging from the atmospheric nature of the intro to much darker, more aggressive moments. Was it conceived from the start as an album with a specific narrative and arc, or did that structure emerge during the songwriting process?
It was very much conceived with a deliberate arc in mind. An album should take the listener on a journey rather than just feeling like a random collection of songs. I wanted the record to open with an atmospheric invitation, gradually pulling the listener deeper into the darkness and heavier structural territory, before finally resolving into a place of quiet, lingering resonance.
9. "Rogue Planet – Symbol of Depression" is particularly interesting due to its title and its blend of darkness, atmosphere, and elements that stray from what we traditionally associate with black metal. What does this song represent for you within the album? Is it perhaps one of the tracks that best encapsulates Beyond Seventh Dimension’s compositional freedom?
"Rogue Planet" holds a special place because it serves as the emotional anchor of the album. A rogue planet—cast adrift in eternal darkness, untethered from any star—is the ultimate metaphor for profound isolation. Musically, it allowed me to break away from traditional black metal orthodoxy, blending melancholic doom elements, sweeping atmospheric layers, and harsh aggression. It definitely represents the absolute freedom of the project: following the emotional gravity of the concept wherever it leads, regardless of genre tags.
10. In works like this, production is crucial for ensuring that layers of guitars, keyboards, vocals, and drums coexist without losing depth. Saku Moilanen handled the mixing and mastering at Deep Noise Studios. What exactly were you aiming for regarding the album's sound, and what role did production play in creating that sense of space and melancholy?
Saku did an incredible job at Deep Noise Studios. The goal for the production was to achieve a massive, wall-of-sound depth without sacrificing organic clarity. In atmospheric extreme metal, if the mix is too compressed or sterile, you lose the haunting coldness. Saku understood precisely how to balance the abrasive punch of the extreme metal elements with the vast, reverb-drenched spatial textures, ensuring that every layer—from the subtle synth pads to the crushing guitar walls—had room to breathe and evoke that core sense of melancholy.
11. The cover art for "Tähtien ikuinen suru", created by Finnish photographer Tiina Törmänen, fits perfectly with the album's cosmic and natural dimensions. What led you to choose her work, and what did you want to convey visually with this image? Was the cover conceived based on the album's concept, or did it end up influencing your own perception of the album?
Tiina Törmänen’s photography captures the raw, majestic, and often melancholic beauty of the Finnish nature under vast night skies. Her work resonated instantly with the musical themes of isolation and cosmic vastness. Visually, the imagery bridges the earthly and the celestial, reminding us that we don't have to look into deep space to feel small—our own wilderness holds the same quiet eternity. It reinforced the atmosphere of the record so perfectly that it felt like an extension of the music itself.
12. The album is being released by Inverse Records, a label with a significant presence in the Finnish metal scene. How did the connection with the label come about, and how important is it for such a young project to find a company that understands its vision right from the start?
I was trying to get my song into Inverse Records' playlist on Spotify and they asked me if I would like some help in promotion and stuff. For a project as young and personal as Beyond Seventh Dimension, having a dedicated label partner that respects your independent artistic vision is invaluable. It takes a massive amount of weight off administrative logistics, allowing the focus to remain purely on the creative and promotional aspects of the music.
13. Finland has a very distinct identity within metal, yet when discussing black metal specifically, the international conversation often immediately turns to Sweden and Norway. From your perspective as Finnish musicians, what differences do you perceive between the Finnish black metal tradition and the Swedish scene? Is there still a genuine influence from the Swedish school on new generations of Finnish musicians?
The Finnish metal scene has always possessed a distinct, idiosyncratic personality—often leaning heavier into melancholic introspection, raw melancholy, and an unpolished, idiosyncratic atmosphere compared to the more structured melodies of Sweden or the aggressive frost of Norway. While the classic Swedish death and black metal schools certainly laid foundational groundwork for many musicians growing up, Finland’s metal identity has always marched to its own bleak, independent drumbeat.
14. Some of the musicians associated with Beyond Seventh Dimension have extensive backgrounds in the Finnish metal scene; Saku Moilanen, for instance, has been involved in projects such as Red Moon Architect, Before the Dawn, Godflesh Deformed, and Slaughterror. To what extent does that experience across different scenes and styles—along with contact with musicians from other Nordic countries—filter into the music of Beyond Seventh Dimension?
That deep collective background brings a level of intuitive craftsmanship and maturity to the table. When you work with musicians who have spent decades navigating everything from doom and melodic death metal to underground extreme metal, they bring an instinctive understanding of how arrangements breathe, how tones sit together, and how to serve the emotional core of a song without overcomplicating it. That experience implicitly shapes the depth and polish of Beyond Seventh Dimension.
15. How do you envision the future of Beyond Seventh Dimension? You’ve already mentioned delving deeper into atmospheric black metal, but after Tähtien ikuinen suru, do you think the project will continue to explore the same sonic universe, or are there other territories—musical, lyrical, or even related to forming a stable lineup—that you’d like to explore on the next album?
The sonic universe of Beyond Seventh Dimension is vast, so there is still plenty of deep space left to explore within atmospheric extreme metal. Musically, I want to keep pushing the boundaries between crushing heaviness and fragile ambient melancholy. Lyrically, we will likely continue touching upon cosmic, historical, and existential themes. As for a live or stable lineup, the project remains primarily a studio-driven vehicle, but I am always open to where the evolution of the music naturally leads.
16. What were your musical beginnings like? What were the first concerts you attended and the first albums you bought? What event in your lives drove you to want to become musicians?
My musical awakening came from diving headfirst into heavy, atmospheric, and guitar-driven music. Discovering foundational heavy metal and classic rock artists like Metallica and Pink Floyd left a permanent mark on me—showing me both the raw power of heavy riffs and the incredible hypnotic depth of atmospheric composition. What drove me to become a musician was the realization that music could articulate complex, wordless emotions—loneliness, awe, and melancholy—in a way nothing else could.
17. Which album, for you, embodies the essence of black metal? What are the most recent albums you’ve purchased?
For me, the essence of black metal lies in its ability to create an authentic, transportive atmosphere of cold isolation and grandeur, rather than just relying on superficial aggression. As for recent listening, I constantly gravitate toward immersive releases across the atmospheric metal and ambient spectrum that push sonic textures to the limit.
18. Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions for Black Metal Spirit; if you’d like to add anything for Beyond Seventh Dimension’s fans, this is the place to do it. I hope the questions were to your liking.
Thank you for the insightful questions; they really cut to the heart of what this album is about. To anyone listening to Tähtien ikuinen suru: thank you for taking the journey into the cosmic cold with me. If you want to dive in, a great track to start with is "Blazing Tears of Nebulae." Turn off the lights, look up at the stars, and let the music take you there.
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Black vinyl LP in regular jacket with a photographic innersleeve and a PVC innersleeve
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