SOURCE – Six years is a long time between albums, especially for an active band who are not on hiatus. Is this gap indicative of a long, difficult writing and recording process?
Riina Rinkinen (Vocals) – Well, it’s actually been more than 6 years since our last album, as Amortean came out in 2008, stretching the gap between releases to a whopping 12 years. We may have not officially announced a hiatus, but a decade of silence certainly did become one. During these years we’ve been at times active with doing a one-off gig here and there, and of course with the songwriting. We also had some changes in line-up during those years which in part lengthened the process. Life also happened. A few of us have become parents and such, increasing demands of how we use our time. Some of the songs on the new album are ten years old and some more recent. Not all material produced during those years made it to the album. The recording process was long, but not particularly difficult, I’d say. More so just that there were long pauses between parts of production, mainly because of overlapping schedules and unforeseen delays. All in all it was a very pleasant experience working with Aksu Hanttu who produced the album.
SOURCE – What aims do you have for the new record?
Riina Rinkinen (Vocals) – We hope to finally deliver material worth the long wait to all our amazing fans who have stood by us throughout the years, but also want to widen our audience.
SOURCE – Are there any external influences on the music? Anything you were listening to at the time – or reading, or watching – which you feel had an effect on the writing process?
Sami Boman (Keyboards) – The album was composed in quite a long period if time, almost ten years, so we had time to listen to quite a lot of different bands and, at least in my case, music is the sole biggest source of inspiration and everything affects my writing. I can’t point out any specific or precise points in our songs as in what came from where, but for sure the music is altogether deeply influenced by something.
SOURCE – What do you see as being the band’s objective right now? Do you think your priorities have changed over the years?
Riina Rinkinen (Vocals) – Well I guess the main objective has and always will be to make music we like and that want to play to other people as well. Besides that, a lot has changed since we have been gone and we were never so big that we could just pick up where we left off and expect a similar status in the scene. So right now it’s important to us to build our presence once more and make it known that not only are we back, but we have also evolved and intend to keep on doing so.
As mentioned above, some of us are parents now and of course that will somewhat adjust your priorities, or at least it should, but music is still one of the key factors in our lives.
SOURCE – You’ve given fans a taste of what’s to come with from your new record with your latest singles, but if you could summaries the new era for Silentium in one word what would it be?
Riina Rinkinen (Vocals) – Perseverance.
SOURCE – Whilst Finland boasts some quality metal bands, the scene is comparatively small compared to other European countries. How is the Finn metal scene and does having a smaller scene actually benefit the growth of your band and other emerging talent?
Riina Rinkinen (Vocals) – The Finnish metal scene I guess could be described as big also, if it’s compared to the size of our country and the amount of people living here. The scene is very dedicated and there seems to be new bands coming up all the time. Of course any saturated market is hard to penetrate as a newcomer, especially now that the supply has grown exponentially with technology making recording your stuff affordable to most. We are lucky to have started our career back in the day, so we already have something to build on. Then again in a scene and country like ours, where people are likely to have common friends and other connections, word of promising new bands travels fast.
SOURCE – Are you still involved in the metal scene in Finland when you are not on tour, and are there any bands coming up in the scene you are particularly impressed by?
Sami Boman (Keyboards) – I love going to gigs of other bands, so at least in that way I’m always involved in the Finnish metal scene. Of course now because of the situation it’s impossible. Damn you Corona virus! I’m not sure are they “coming up” anymore or are they pretty up already, but I loved Wheel’s debut album that was released a couple years ago. There’s also this other rising band lurking in the marginal named Nightwish. They too released an album a couple days ago. You should totally check it out. I believe they’re going to be big one day. Perhaps even outside of Finland.
SOURCE – What’s planned following the release of Unchained single?
Riina Rinkinen (Vocals) – We have another single coming out at the end of May and the album will follow with a signature track after the summer. Depending on the lamest plague, we also intend to tour following the album release. Fingers crossed we don’t have to do it digitally!
Contact:
Silentium
Stream: