We caught up with Jonne Järvelä (vocals/guitars) and Kalle “Cane” Savijärvi (guitars) from Finland’s folk metal behemoths Korpiklaani in anticipation of their upcoming opus ‘Noita’. We had a few questions, and we were very interested about the meanings behind the album, and how much has changed in the 3 years since the band’s last album. By the sound of it, we are up for a real Korpiklaani treat! Read what the gentlemen had to say below.

 

THE METALIST: First of all, we would like to ask that it has been the longest time between a release Korpiklaani albums. Why the long break this time?

JONNE: We toured.

CANE: Yes we toured. More this time so there was a longer break in between albums. Also Jonne had a solo album released and this is why it took more time!

And you toured new places as well where you have new found fans?

C: Yes we did!

J: Yes, we played old songs in the new places though and most older stuff.

C: This is the real time between albums, what it should be. An album per year is too quick.

J: I think this is the way we will try to continue from now on.

So going forward Korpiklaani will release an album every 2-3 years now?

C: We’ll see, you never know. For example this entire year is booked already [for tours], and now we are already planning next year so there will definitely be no time for the studio. There is always time for writing but not for recording for a while.

Well you have a new album coming out now! We are interested in the name ‘Noita’, can you explain a little bit about it? Is it a concept album?

J: It is not a concept album.

C: No it is not a concept album; there are actually only two songs on the album that deal with the subject. The translation of ‘Noita’ is a witch – lots of people though associate it with Black Sabbath, dark rituals or an evil woman with broom flying. It’s nothing like that! The traditional Finnish meaning is a healer or shaman, could be a man or a woman.

J: Actually in Christianity the ‘Noita’ was demonised, when he or she was actually doing good things. He or she had some unnatural abilities.

So was there ever a hunt in Finland for the ‘Noita’, like witch burnings?

C: Yes, it all started when Christianity came. They started to burn people, and then they started to burn more people even if they were just weird.

Are there any songs on the album that deal with the subject of witch hunts and burnings?

C: No, no. The songs are about before that all happened.  It’s about a true story of a ‘witch’ who lived in Vesilahti where Jonne is from. It’s the story of about the one woman who wanted to be buried in a churchyard, but it was not allowed for ‘witches’. So they had to do it in secret in the night, and four men carried her body through the forest. That is what the album cover is.

That’s very interesting. The album cover does look darker than the usual covers Korpiklaani has.

J: On the way to the churchyard though she died, and needed to be buried in the exact place where she died. There are still quite a lot of twigs and branches there…

C: Yes, the ‘witch’ said that everyone who passes the grave should throw a twig or branch on it, or else something bad will happen.

J: People still do it and this was many many years ago.

So it has become like a superstition now?

C: The legend is still alive!

So since the album has a darker name, will the music on the album be darker?

J: No, not at all!

C: It’s just the one song on the album [‘Noita’] that includes the cover picture. There are a lot of different songs with different subjects.

J: And of course the song ‘Viinamäen Mies’ is actually about our lives. All about the touring, drinking and having fun, all about the joy of life!

Definitely not darker then! So the music on the album has quite a bit of diversity in terms of subjects, will we find any new musical elements on the album such as new instruments?

C: Well with instruments not really.

J: We still stick with our traditional instruments, the acoustic guitars, the violins and the accordion. It is heavier now though. We do have something different on the album though…

C: We’re more on top now [refined], and that’s because of our new accordion player Tuomas [Rounakari].

Yes of course! I was going to ask about the new member. It’s his first album with the band, and he has brought something new along with him?

C: Yes very much!

And his style of playing accordion is a lot different than his predecessor?

J: Yes he plays in more of a traditional way. He’s a really good player. Very talented.

C: An accordion shredder!

J: He’s kicking our asses now!

C: Of course the energy he brings is fantastic. He is very enthusiastic, he brings skill and he brings ideas and really adds to the band in a big way.

And have you played shows with Sami yet?

J: Yeah, yeah. He’s been with the band two years now.

C: This is just his first album, he has been playing with us for a while now.

And he is fitting in with the band and live performance well?

J: He has really fit into the band, the live shows have just been getting better and better.

That’s great! We definitely look forward to seeing him live on this tour! The next question I wanted to ask was about the lyrics on ‘Noita’. Over the past couple albums we have seen that the lyrics are more Finnish dominated than in the beginning, and now Noita is completely in Finnish. Is this just preference or is there more meaning to the music with Finnish lyrics?

J: It’s just easier for me to write in Finnish, because my English is not so good. There is definitely more feeling in the music with Finnish lyrics, the music should be more about feeling than just the language. It’s definitely easier to put more into the music with Finnish lyrics.

C: Also another reason is that a lot of the writers for our inspiration write in Finnish, such as the poets.

So it makes more sense to the music to write in Finnish.

C: Yes. You can translate it [to English] but it wouldn’t make much sense to the listener.

Kind of like trying to translate the Kalevala? [The Finnish National Epic]

C: Exactly! They use a lot of the old Finnish language that even we can’t understand sometimes.

J: We do find some Finnish writers though that have good books, and we take a lot of inspiration from these.

Well all the Finnish language songs definitely seem to work, as your fanbase has been growing and everyone is very much into the music!

C: With the last record we did an entire English version of ‘Manala’, but all the feedback that we got was that the music was better with Finnish!

And when you played these songs live on the last tour did you play the English versions?

C: No always the Finnish. The fans preferred it!

And the fans outside Finland sing along with the Finnish lyrics?

J: Yes! It is very cool. It is sort of the same idea I guess that when I was a kid I used to listen to songs that were in English and singing along. Of course I didn’t really understand them but I was singing!

It must be a bit strange to sort of see it the other way round, that now fans are singing in Finnish!

J: A bit maybe, but it is just very cool. When we were in Buenos Aires, the fans were very noisy and they knew every word. The whole place was crazy!

C: It was amazing to us because it was the other side of the world. Great fans in South America. Every gig was like a big football game with all the chanting and the people singing along!

So what are the future touring plans for ‘Noita’?

C: Well we have the North American tour with Ensiferum, summer festivals coming up, then we are headlining Heidenfest in October in Europe. Then we will do our own European and Scandinavian tour.

And we have ask of course, any UK shows for this year?

C: Only Bloodstock this year.

J: I think we will plan a UK tour for next year though.

We certainly look forward to it! Last thing, do you guys have any favourite things to do while in the UK?

J + C: Drink Cider.

J: The cider here is very good!

Any favourite pubs or bars?

C: Well we don’t actually know too much about where stuff is, but we always have a good time. Every time we come here we don’t remember too much about the last time! [laughs]

[laughs] Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing! Well thank you guys so much for the time and we really look forward to the new album!

‘Noita’ is released on May 4th via Nuclear Blast Records.