Hey! You published your first 7” ”Hardcore Addict” in 2012. It was a nice record, but perhaps nothing extraordinary. Then you added ”偏執症者“ to your name and brutalized your sound quite a bit. What happened?
E: When the whole thing started it was just by accident. Jocke and Åke was in the studio and made some new songs for ”Desperat” but they had no inspiration so they called me and asked if I could come over to the studio just to jam some d-beat.
We did six classic ‘Käng’ riff songs and decided that we should record them, just for fun. We also asked Nils if he was up for doing some vocals. Five minutes later he joined us in the studio. We printed 150 cassettes under the name “Paranoid”. It was also later re-release as a 7”.
Shortly after that we thought we should continue this project and turn it into a real band instead of just a studio project. And the sound turned into more what we sound like today. You can almost say it became a continuation of Jocke’s solo project ”Electric Funeral”.
At first I mistaken you for a japanese band, due to your name and partially due to your aesthetics. Have you heard of other people who have got the same impression? And by the way… who do you use the aesthetics you are currently using? Why the japanese?
E: We never have promoted us that much online, so without a homepage/bandcamp/facebook and you name it, people had a hard time figure out who we were or were we come from. What is most important? Who we are and where we come from? Or the music itself? We mainly focus on the music part and less activities online.
We’ve always been influenced by Japanese noise/rawpunk bands and its scene in general. As you know lots of Japanese bands often uses Swedish translations in their band names/lyrics etc. We decided to do the same but reversed. That’s why we now have our logo/lyrics and so on written in Japanese.
Why did you pick the name 偏執症者(Paranoid)? One could wonder if the band name 偏執症者 (Paranoid) has any obvious Black Sabbath references within it. Is there any? It wouldn’t be actually your first time to name bands after Black Sabbath songs.
E: You are on the right track there. We took the name Paranoid after we recorded ‘Hardcore Addict’ and needed a band name for that release. Jocke came up with the name because it became more or less a continuation of Electric Funeral as I mentioned. Electric Funeral and Paranoid are titles on the ‘Paranoid’ album by Black Sabbath. But also the spelling of Paranoid is the same in both English and Swedish, which was also one of the reasons.
J: Black Sabbath is and always has been a great inspiration to many musicians and bands. We are no exception. Paranoid is also a really good word that fits the times we live in. Because who isn’t paranoid in today’s society with all the surveillance cameras and interceptions? 1984 did come true. When you think about it, it’s pretty damn impressive and at the same time very scary that George Orwell predicted this already at the end of the 40’s.
The reason I got stunned by the ”Destroy Future Less System” was it’s sheer brutality, straight-forwardness and ability to match the brutal mångel with the japanese style of chaos. The noise that 偏執症者(Paranoid) generates isn’t that typical d-beat mangel, as it has some flavours from other aspects of hardcore and even heavy metal (I heard some Iron Maiden there!), especially on the guitar tracks… or at least I came up to such conclusions. What do you think?
H: Yes, you’re definitely right about that. Being narrow minded is nothing for us, we always draw inspiration from wherever we may want to.
J: What the fuck?! This is pretty insane that you can hear that!!! Iron Maiden is one of my all-time favorite band. One of my first contact, from when I was old enough to remember, with music was Iron Maiden. It was my uncle that showed me the cover art of the first Maiden album. I knew it was great just looking at the cover, and it was. They made a great impression on me and ever since I listen to Maiden, not every day, but almost. I always dreamt of playing Iron Maiden kind of heavy metal music. Unfortunately I’m not a sufficiently talented musicians. Therefore I try my very best at steal arrangement, riffs or other ideas I get when I listen to Maiden. I’m glad it got through the wall of noise and that you actually could hear that. Impressing! Up the iron.
The cover art by Alexander Heir was a topping on the cake. I got to admire his distinctive style. How did you ended up using his skills? How do you think the cover matches the content?
H: We simply needed someone to draw the artwork, and decided to get in touch with him, and see if he was interested. And he was! We’re very pleased with how it turned out, it ,atches the music perfectly. I’ve even read some comments from people who’ve bought it without hearing a single tone, just because they liked the artwork so much, so I guess you can’t really ask for much more than that.
J: Henke make it sound so easy. I’ve been following Alex Heir and his artwork online for a couple of years before I had the opportunity to ask if he wanted to draw for a band I’m in. In retrospect, I realize that I’ve seen flyers that Alex did as I liked not knowing that it was he who made them. One of my favorite cover is what he did for ‘Pesadilla Distopika’, both art and colors. After he made the cover for ‘Skizophrenia/Vaaska’ and ‘Infernöh/Nomad’ I thought to myself, “What the hell, it doesn’t hurt to ask”. I sent a few covers and links to Henke and Emil and they both agreed to ask Alex to make the cover art for us. I tracked down his mail and sent an e-mail. I got an answer the very same day and the rest is history. He’s a very busy artist with many obligations, which is fully understandable as henever does anything that looks bad. I think he was easy to work with, reliable and open to ideas. I think that his art and dark edge matches our music really good. I would love to work with him again.
The new album is titled as ”Satyagraha”. What does it mean?
J: It’s loosely translated as “insistence on truth”. It’s a particular philosophy and practice within the broader overall category generally known as nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. The term Satyagraha was developed by Gandhi. Satyagraha theory influenced Nelson Mandela’s struggle in South Africa under apartheid. But also Martin Luther King’s campaigns during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, and many other social justice and similar movements.
Me and Per (Giftgasattack etc) talked about having a noise band/project when he planned to move up to the northern parts of Sweden where we live. He thought that our record should be called “Satyagraha”. Since that band never got anywhere and it would have been a waste of a great title I simply “stole” it and used it for Paranoid instead. Sorry and thanks Per!
How did you come up using ”satyagraha” – Gandhi’s teachings – as a basis for lyrical content? Have you given emphasis on thoughts behind it? Is it a subject which interests you in particular?
J: I think it’s a sensible philosophy, and if more people would embrace it the world had undoubtedly been different today. I have lived a hard life and for as long as I can remember it’s been filled with violence, drugs and hatred. In my case, it’s a good way to compensatemy past. Even though I will always carry a monster inside of me, a darkness, the difference today is that I can control it in a completely different way with a sober mind. I have not given it any more thoughts than that. Although hatred and prejudice and class differences thrive and grow larger. The digitization that is slowly taking over our world and the sick consumption society we live in is a greater threat my opinion. We’re slowly coming to an end and unfortunately, I have more or less given up. I often question myself; do our actions and opinions really make a difference or impact on the world leaders?
Either I don’t understand the principles the japanese writing styles follows or then some of the lyrics are not translated. However, you are not exactly the first ones to obey this kind of logic, but I could also cope with the philosophy involving the idea that you might not even want to completely ”open” your world of words on the listeners. Am I completely wrong here? Is it even completely necessary to enjoy aural bliss without the (clear) message behind the wall of noise?
J: In one way it’s a way to keep a certain distance to the world outside our closed internal circle. I think that people in general in this modern society is fucking lazy and always want everything served. If you are really into our music and ideas, or any other bands for that matter which also consciously chosen an underground path for their music, you’ll find a way to find out and learn more about it. Or am I wrong? I’ve met people in Germany who learned the Swedish language only to be able to read and understand Totalitär’s lyrics. It only depends on how interested and dedicated you are.
It’s the same thing with our band name; Paranoid. How common word isn’t that? I mean just google “Paranoid” and try find something about our band. You will only get hits on Black Sabbath and pages about people with mental illness. To find out more about us and our music you will have to work a bit harder. I like that fact. I rather not have the average Joe, lazy and spoiled kids listen to our music. If you know what I mean? Not to create any kind of elite and that we stand above anyone else, fuck that! But instead to make us even more inaccessible than we already are with our obsession of the Japanese language and their punk scene. A lot of people gets provoked by that we only uses Japanese letters, that’s just the way we want it to be. Always against the grain.
How about the visual aspect, then? You have some utilized quite brutal visions to amplify your musical delivery, although the aesthetics on ”Hardcore Addict” are – especially now – quite tame compared to nightmarish visions on ”Destroy Future Less System”, let alone ”Satyagraha”. At least I tend to think that the visual aspect is a quite quintessential part of 偏執症者(Paranoid) magic, as well as of other hardcore bands, too.
J: We have become pickier about the visual parts today than at the beginning. I love the artwork for ‘Hardcore Addict’, I think it suits the songs on that demo perfect. Our development comes naturally to the dark side, both musically and visually. That we are influenced by both punk and (black) metal bands is no secret, even here both musically and visually. We mix and match what we like most, and then it will be darkness and hatred which is usually the common denominator.
When speaking of your lyrical content, I can’t speak much of your lyrics due to my non-existent skill on Japanese language, but from the scarce translations I could see some elements dealing with personal and internal struggles. I could also sense the presence of themes like life in the modern world full of hate, war and destruction, which seem to be filtered thru personal viewpoints and conflict.
H: I think it’s most important that the vocals sounds good together with the music and create something appealing to one’s ear. I listen to all kinds of music, lots of bands singing in languages I didn’t understand a word of, but the vocal lines still get stuck in your head. For example, the Finnish language sounds very aggressive and fits very well with raw punk.
When it comes to lyrical content, there’s not really anything groundbreaking or that personal aspects. I mostly just try to write as chaotic lyrics as possible, to match the vibe in our sound. The typical punk/metal themes that you mentioned; war, insanity, corruption etc. are used a lot, you’re definitely right about that.
I’d say that ”Satyagraha” is an album of three I’s: it’s intense, intriguing and insane. Almost the whole album is immensely violent and volatile. ”Satyagraha” ends in mellow outro, which is almost like a church music. It’s haunting and you feel quite crushed after the record finally stops spinning. It kind of underlines the brutality of the album. Other peculiar highlights of the album are the mid-tempo steamrollers, which bring balance to the force and the album itself, opposed to the endless d-beat blitzkrieg present on the majority of the album tracks.
H: The intention was to create a very intense and chaotic album from the beginning to the end, but still keeping it varied and dynamic. Jocke wanted a Fleetwood Mac outro (read “Oh Well part 2”), but we never managed to create the same atmosphere. With only days left ‘til deadline, we decided to ask ‘El Parador’ to help us out, and it turn out way better than we hoped for. The perfect ending and contrast to the rest of the album. Some have even drawn parallels to a war, the nine first songs being the battle, and the outro the aftermath. Which is a pretty good summary of the album.
As opposed to Heir’s stunning work on ”Destroy Future Less System”, on ”Satyagraha” you have made the dark, impressive cover and inner sleeve art by yourself. How come? Could you consider using an ”outsider” again to make some art for the band or was this particular occasion just something which had to be done?
J: Okey, let’s take it from the beginning. The cover art for the demo cassette was made by a friend of mine called Pancho. He’s also responsible for the cover of Electric Funeral fifth demo ‘Order from disorder’. I really like his classic style of hardcore punk art.
After we released the cassette we had good inspiration and quickly got several new songs and the plan was to release an LP (Satyagraha). I came in contact with Andrew Morgan and his cut and paste art through my and Krogh’s fanzine ‘Distortion Faith’ when he made the cover of number # 4. I snooped around on Viral Age’s blog and saw other covers and flyers he has done. I felt quite immediately that he should make the cover of our album. Only that he’s doing everything the trve old school way by hand with a scissor, markers and a glue stick is something that appeals to me and was a decisive factor. It gets a more personal touch if you ask me.
But all plans came to an abrupt end because of tragic circumstances, and we put everything on hold indefinitely.
Once we started playing together again we wanted to hurry slowly and take it at our own pace. Instead of an LP we recorded an EP (Destroy future less system), as Alex Heir made the cover for. Shortly before the ‘Destroy…’ was released, we play together with Andy’s band Endless Grinning Skulls in Leeds, UK. He sounded disappointed that we didn’t use his cover, but we explained that we still had plans to record an LP and that we would use that cover then. I think it’s an ultimate LP cover and if we had used it on a 7 “lots of details would’ve been lost. I am glad that we took that decision and grateful for Andy’s patience. Andy also made the cover for ‘Punkdemonium Hell’, which also turned out better then I hoped.
For the split with Absolut we asked Sugi, perhaps one of the best punk artists in the world. To summarize the question and answer we have only been using “outsiders” to all our covers. I’ve done most shirt designs and such, except occasionally when we have taken the help of Robin Wiberg, Toyo and Jonas A. Holmberg to mention a few. We’ve had the honor to work with the very best and I hope for more fruitful collaborations in the future.
There’s the abbreviation ”N.W.O.B.H.M.” on the spine of the record. Why?
J: Northern Winds Of Brutal Hell Mangel. It was Gaki/Konton Crasher who dropped this great slogan when we were about to release ‘Destroy Future Less System’ and it has followed us ever since.
You started a Cover of the month-challange on Youtube, hence utilizing the social media in a way which is perhaps not too common within the scene. What actually inspired you to take upon this challenge?
H: We got the idea from Sub Alert, who did exactly the same thing in 2010. Though it would be a fun thing to follow for those who likes us, and for ourselves as well. Being able to choose which song you want from the entire music history is more or less a dream, isn’t it?
J: It’s what sets us apart from many other active bands today. It’s us who exploit the Internet and social media on our terms, not vice versa. I think there are way too many bands that lose their dignity in facebook posts with minimal content and pointless status updates in the constant quest to get more ‘likes’. Somewhere along the way, I think we lost the real purpose of why we make music and noise. We are more social than ever (online), but even more lonely in real life. We live in a digital and impersonal world, a world I prefer to keep a distance.
I’d have to say that there were some real surprises within your picks, and I’m not talking about just Celtic Frost and Sepultura cover songs. Instead, your choice was something that struck me by a surprise: Too Old, Too Cold by unholy Darkthrone. I mean, you could have easily picked something from their vast repertoire and keep yourselves at the vaults of solid classics, but this song is from 2006. Yes, it’s perhaps not among their most recent performances, and Darkthrone has even ventured into the shades of black heavy metal. Additionally, it occasionally seems that the new bands need ”to have a permission” to cite anything post-80s as an influence.
J: I hear you and no doubt we could’ve chosen a predictable and immortal black metal classic from “A Blaze in the Northern Sky” or “Under a Funeral Moon”. But then again, what’s the fun in that? “The Cult is Alive” is the record that meant most to me when it comes to Darkthrone. To be honest, I was not convinced at all the first time I heard it but it really grew on me. I would say that it includes all the features of a masterpiece and it‘s a very important album for me in many aspects. I often fall back on that specific record when I lack inspiration. “Seeing feeling bleeding” by Dischange is also one of those records. I never get bored or tired of the songs no matter how many times I listens to them. I could write an essay of Darkthrone, but I don’t want to bore you with more glorifying rubbish. Haha. For those who want to know more, I refer to my ‘The story behind’ that comes with the cover/video on youtube.
I cannot deny or hide my influences because of some stupid unwritten rules to get anyone’s permission or blessings. I couldn’t care less if the record was released in 1986 or 2006. A good album is a good album. Period!
You also made a cover version of ”Natsit ja kommunistit” by Kaaos. It’s the only song you performed with the lyrics in other language than english or swedish. You also performed that tune when you were playing in Vastavirta, Tampere, Finland. Have you performed any other of these tracks in live situations?
H: Yes, so far we’ve also done the covers of Celtic Frost, State Of Fear (performed in Tampere as well, you didn’t hear that?!) and Totalitär live. All of them has been very fun to play, and it’s not
impossible that we’ll try some of the other ones too on any of our future shows.
J: It’s not entirely true. We have also done a song which we sing in Japanese. We was asked to participate on a compilation LP that Brain Solvent Propaganda will release this year, perhaps. We saw it as a fun challenge and we’ve even had it in our setlist when we played live a couple of times. The song is unique in its kind, not only because Henke sings in Japanese, but that we also have a special guest appearance from Japan. The song is of course mixed and mastered by Shige-San at Noise Room, Tokyo, Japan. My dream is that the entire next album to be completely in Japanese. What the hell do you mean that we’re obsessed with Japan? Hahaha.
When it comes to the covers, I’m pretty sure that we will play more covers live in the future.
What’s the general response towards these tracks? Do you have any plans to have these tracks published in some physical format?
H: Some of the videos have more views and some less, but overall the response has been great. We do have plans to release it physically, but there aren’t any details confirmed as we speak.
What do you think of those versions? What songs came along nicely? Which one didn’t? Do you feel that you would have left any one of them undone for being too weak as a rendition or for being too obvious? Which one – in turn – makes you proud for living up to challenge?
H: I’d probably say that all of them came along nicely, don’t really feel unsatisfied with any of them. My favorites are probably the covers of Strebers and Pentagram, since they are the ones that we managed to do the most original and personal interpretations of. On the other hand, that wasn’t really the intention with all of the covers, in most cases you mostly wanted to pay homage to the fantastic bands/songs and not ruin the magic by changing too much from the original versions.
E: Some of the bands covered I had hardly listened to at all or for that matter heard of. I am talking about Celtic Frost and Pentagram in first hand.
Both Jocke and Henrik are like two lexicons when it comes to music in my opinion, me in the other hand don’t know much about the heavy metal scene at all. But I thought it was fun to explore new bands and songs that I probably never would have listened to otherwise. To pick the covers was extremely hard, so many great bands and songs. But we also had to have in mind that we had to make the songs we have chosen justice, and not destroy them. A good example of that is that I really wanted to make a cover of a Nasum song, because Nasum is a band that for me means a lot. But we quickly discovered that it would be impossible to do a cover of them that makes them justice. Really sad, but it is better to admit that you can’t play anything and that you have limitations of what you can do.
One of the first bands I started to listen to when I was young was The Exploited, so that was of course an obvious choice for me. I think it is easier to make a good cover when you have some personal connection to the band/song you going to cover. You can relate to it in a completely different way than, for example, a band like Celtic Frost (that I had hardly heard of before).
I think the most of them turned out great. My personal favorites are probably the metal band covers, because it was new territory for me. I’m most proud of the Sepultura cover and Pentagram cover, but the cover that I think turned out best of them all is Strebers – 2 skott.
It was a fun project, even thou we wanted to kill our self in the end. I don’t think I want to do the same thing all over again, haha.
J: I think that The Exploited cover came out really nice. Same goes for Pentagram and Sepultura. Strebers is probably my absolute favorite and sadly I have to say that I’m not completely satisfied with our performance with the Anti Cimex cover. I think its lame in some way, don’t know what it is. Maybe we just chose the wrong song? We should have stuck to the plan and took a song from “Absolut country…” as it was intended.
We missed/forgot thousands of songs we should have recorded. Since neither Henke nor Emil mentioned anything about the bands that we talked about unofficially but that didn’t make it all the way I thought it might be fun reading to name drop a few. Here it goes; Sodom, Hellhammer, Disfear, Extreme Noise Terror, Saint Vitus, Bonnie Prince Billy, Fukpig, Corrosion Of Conformity, Prodigy, Entombed, Mob 47, G.B.H, Tampere SS, Venom, Bathory, Skitsystem, Neurosis…and so on. I’m sad that I forgot Breach. Brilliant Swedish band that I listen to a lot.
Were there any tracks by the bands or even subgenres you would have liked to interpret? Do you have ever felt that you could have continued with the challenge?
H: Definitely, it sure wasn’t to choose just twelve songs. We had countless discussions and suggestions of which bands and which songs to record. So to continue to come up with more songs you’d like to do covers of wouldn’t be any problem, but going through the whole process of recording and everything isn’t really anything that we’d like to go through again.
J: The basic idea and the original plan was that we would record 4-8 songs with only Japanese bands and release it on vinyl and call it “Hail to Japan” (flirting with Manowar and Doom) and leave the other 12 covers as youtube exclusives only. That was the hidden agenda and our intentions. That’s why we never recorded any covers by any Japanese bands. We was saving the best for last.
But at the end we were so uninspired and unmotivated that I know it would’ve just been a terrible and half-heartedly outcome if we would have tried. That’s why we decided not to do it. We’ll see what happens with that project in the future.
You seem to have a balance, when it comes to publishers of your records. So far, majority of the 偏執症者(Paranoid) records have been published thru either your label D-Takt & Råpunk Records or Konton Crasher, along with some smaller labels to handle the tape versions of your records.
E: As you know D-takt & Råpunk is Jocke’s label and it is close at hand. We have also worked with Brain Solvent Propaganda, Beach Impediment records, Crucificados and Phobia records on the “Jawbreaking Mangel Devestation” split with Absolut. Rawmantic Disasters re-issued the “Hardcore Addict” vinyl together with Phobia. Up next we’re having Viral Age (UK) re-issue the flexi, but as a vinyl 7” with a bonus Disclose cover track.
We now have our own band label called “PND” and with that label we have re-released “Destroy future less system” on 12”, the “Satyagraha” European press and also the “Punkdemonium Hell” flexi with some help from D&R distributing it.
We are currently talking with a US label about our upcoming release, more info will follow.
Speaking of different versions, the music by 偏執症者(Paranoid) has been published thru various formats. ”Destroy Future Less System” saw the light of the day via 7”, 12” and the tape version. On the other hand, I haven’t stumbled upon any CDs containing 偏執症者(Paranoid) material. What’s your stance on the neverending ”format issue”? Does the vinyl rule and do the Cds suck? Which one of them is your favorite? And most importantly: why?
J: Sadly there is no labels, or almost no labels, releasing CD’s anymore. Reason? No one cares to buy them because this digital world we’re living in with free downloads and streaming services. I really like the CD format and I listen at CD’s while cooking, driving my car and at work. I would not mind release all of our records on CD. I think that I can speak for all of us in this matter and that’s why we decided to include a free cd with the ‘Satyagraha’ LP.
For me I would say that all three format are my favorites; vinyl, cd and cassette. The cassette format have a huge nostalgic value for at least me growing up with tape trades, mixtapes and so on. Vinyl is always vinyl and I love holding that large cover, reading lyrics etc. Cd is more practically. I remember the Cd-revolution and when I bought “The Razors Edge”. I remember that I thought it sounded real massive, heavy and huge. And so came Metallica’s black album. Maybe not the best album of any of the bands or the records I listen to every day in present time but damn, I was impressed by the CD-sound in the early 90’s growing up on cassette tapes and worn out vinyls.
Jocke, you are known as a man of many bands and activities. You have broad discography, including a lenghthy career with Electric Funeral and being involved with such bands as Totalt Jävla Mörker, Dödsdömd, Warvictims, Desperat and some other groups. How does 偏執症者 (Paranoid) relate to other band you’ve been involved with? At least when it comes to publication rate, 偏執症者(Paranoid) seems to be most active at the moment.
J: For me it makes no difference on which bands I have been or are involved in. I think many people put too much weight on that matter. Especially organizers and maga(fan)zines. That’s why I never really liked, or used, this whole “members of …” thing. I usually think that it can make a band injustice. My opinion is that bands and people who always have to use their past achievements don’t really have something of their own to bring to the table. In many cases it’s just embarrassing when they try to take advantage of it. I mean, I couldn’t give a fuck if it’s members of Disrupt, Wretched or Terveet Kädet if the band itself sucks. Good music speaks for itself, nough said!
2015 was a busy year for me with all my bands and projects. But yes, we had a very intense and active year in many ways. Not to mention all the recordings that we did. What distinguishes all my bands apart is that everyone in Paranoid live in the same city and that we meet or rehearsal at least once or twice a week. Sometimes even more often if we have a gig or recording booked, or other band related stuff.
It seems that Paranoid has become one of the most prominent bands you operate in, even among the people who are not your typical avid d-beat noise freaks. Even one certain record store chain in Finland has some copies of ”Satyagraha” in stock, and that store chain has not particularly profiled themselves as d-beat experts. So, Paranoid seems to have a lot of audience. I don’t think the band doesn’t attract any of those average joes, but I think it’s cool that people who could be into this stuff have a chance of finding it more easily. Perhaps this is just my view on things, but what do you personally think?
J: We often hear comments like “You take the monotonous D-beat songs in new directions and make it interesting again” and “I normally don’t like this wall-of-noise styled punk but this is something different”.
Basic facts, we don’t follow any trends, templates or rules, but instead takes impressions and inspiration from everything that we like. Because of this we reach out to a wider audience. I would say that we do some kind of punk/noise/crust/metal/thrash cross-over music BUT with punk as the strongest foundation and closest to our hearts.
It’s noticeable and clear that more obviously started looking up and noticed us, especially on our band contact mail where we increasingly receive gig/tour requests and orders from all over the world. This worst 偏執症者-hype will go away in just a few months and time will tell who lasts.
I stumbled upon some commentary citing that ”Satyagraha” would be perfect to not only those old geezers who always complain about the ”non-existent” quality and edge of today’s punk, but also for those youngsters who are taking their first steps in the miraculous world of raw punk. Something that could coalesce generations of punks.
J: I’m not sure if this last was a question, a personal comment or just a statement, but you probably can’t get a better review than that.
Just when we get back to your releases and publications, you haven’t been actually been away from the record pressing plant after ”Satyagraha”. Most recent additions to 偏執症者 (Paranoid) family are the split record with Absolut and a single-sided flexi ”Punkdemonium Hell”, with the aforementioned having two versions in existence (US version on 12” vinyl by Beach Impediment Records and Brain Solvent Propaganda and European version on double-7” vinyl out on Phobia Records and Crucificados Pelo Sistema) and the latter having a Finnish version limited to 100 copies. What can you tell about those records?
J: You find most info about all the records in Emil’s answer three questions back. Don’t know what else there is to add. The process in releasing a vinyl compared to only 2-3 years ago is much more complicated, frustrating and time consuming. The service from the pressing plants have become worse and the price higher. Speaking from personal and extensive experience. All records that you mention are recorded at different sessions but due to delays and hassles with the plants instead they was all released about the same time.
During 2016, we will working on new material for a hopefully new album and will probably not enter the studio at the end of the year at the earliest. Instead we will rehearse more and try to play as much live as possible. After all covers and other recordings from the past year, we are all just sick and tired of being locked up in a studio and go on each other’s nerves.
What do you think of Iron Maiden’s current status? Have you heard ”The Book of Souls”? What do you think of it?
J: You’re asking the wrong person, I can’t look objectively at their music and current status, in my
book Iron Maiden is always Iron Maiden. Even though I think that the period of Blaze Bayley does not belong to their very best by a long shot.
The first two albums with Paul Di’Anno on vocals is of course my favorites. It probably depends mainly on there were the first records I heard by Iron Maiden. “Powerslave” and Bruce’s debut on “The Number of the Beast” comes as strong runner-ups. Then, I prefer the old classic hand drawn covers (until “Fear of the Dark”) much much better than today’s crazy, futuristic and digital layouts. Derek Riggs is for real, computers are not. For some reason I’ve always thought that “Live after death” is their most perfect cover. Great atmosphere, details and color selection.
I think that “The Book of Souls” is a decent album. You know what you’ll get. Brilliant basslines, Maidens lovely guitar harmonies and melodies and last but not least the perfection of the vocals. Tongue cancer go fuck yourself!
H: I thought it was very good, although I liked the previous one a little bit more. Maybe some of the songs could’ve been a bit shorter, but none of them really felt like fillers, which tends to be the case with such long albums. I was a bit worried about that when I first saw the total playtime, but they pulled it off! Same goes for Nostradamus that Judas Priest made a few years ago, speaking of long and ambitious works by classic bands, love that one as well. Otherwise, it’s still always a pleasure to witness Maiden live. I’d like to hear some more songs from Somewhere In Time though (my favorite album). If I just could see/hear them perform Caught Somewhere In Time, Stranger In A Strange Land or Alexander The Great, I could die happy.
Do you have anything else on the top of your minds? I think I’m done with the questions for now! Thank you for your endurance!
J: Maybe I should take the opportunity to thank everyone who made “Suomi Saatana” such a great and memorable tour. Kiitos! Many thanks Jouni for your support and interest, we’re truly grateful for that. Keep up to good work with keeping the zines spirit alive. I’ve had a long and hard week so now I just want to go to bed. Painu helvettiin ja nukkua hyvin!
Q: Jouni Parkku, Ajatuksen Valo
A: E (drums), H (vocals/guitar) and J (vocals/bass)