UNHOLY – Interview with Jarkko

If you don’t know Finland’s Unholy, it’s imperative you read this interview and learn about one of the most influential European Doom bands from the early 90’s. If you do know who Unholy are, then it’s equally important you read this interview—entertained no less by co-founder Jarkko Toivonnen—and get the juice on the new reissues (via Ahdistuksen Aihio Records) that cover their entire discography. Feeling glib and shooting straight, Jarkko guides us through his band’s turbulent history, his own baby, Tiermes, and explains why he hates Metal Hammer.

Are you afraid that the legacy you created with Unholy might be forgotten?

No. There are lots of Unholy fan sites and I’m very satisfied to see some zines and even people who have used our song titles for their names or aliases. For example, there’s the Australian “Procession of Black Doom zine” or the “Unholy zine.” And I get 50 to 100 emails a day concerning Unholy, which is quite a lot, don’t you think?

For those unfamiliar with your past achievements with Unholy, can you give us a short introduction to the band?

Unholy was formed in 1988 by singer/bassist Pasi Äijö and myself, the guitarist. Originally dubbed Holy Hell, the group recorded a demo titled “Kill Jesus” before adopting their familiar name in 1989. The following year, Unholy—having added guitarist/keyboardist Ismo Toivonen—issued a second demo, ”Procession of Black Doom,” and with new drummer Jan Kuhanen resurfaced in 1991 with the EP “Trip to Depressive Autumn.” Both releases earned a positive reception from the underground, and upon signing to Lethal Records we released its official debut “From the Shadows” in early 1993. After that, the follow-up “The Second Ring of Power” met with mixed reviews. Unfortunately, Unholy disbanded in late 1994, with each member pursuing solo projects. The group reunited in mid 1996, although I chose to remain with my band, Tiermes. The remaining trio returned in 1998 with “Rapture,” adding keyboardist Veera Muhli before recording “Gracefallen” a year later.

Wait one moment. I’m confused. Is Tiermes and Temple of Tiermes the same thing? Since they were formed when Unholy split up in the mid 90’s, what did you want to achieve with this new band?

I was disappointed as the other guys in Unholy wanted to go in a more goth and commercial direction so I formed Temple of Tiermes in 1994 and Tiermes in 1996 (the same year I left Unholy). The difference between Temple of Tiermes and Tiermes has confused many people. To set the record straight, Temple of Tiermes is my solo project (which doesn’t mean I do all the songs by myself, in “Delirium Sadomaso” there were two other guys doing Temple of Tiermes shit with me) while Tiermes has a permanent line-up. You can also consider Temple of Tiermes as a fleshly incarnation of Tiermes, which has a more “spiritual” approach to sound processing.

Unholy is actually quite a revered among specific circles these days. But in its biography, it's stated that the masterful albums released in the mid 90's—'From the Shadows' and 'The Second Ring of Power'—actually received bad press from critics. Do you still remember some of the complaints or barbs that the press and ambivalent listeners threw at the band?

Yes, I remember. There was this commercial magazine named Rumba in Finland which gave us a very bad review of the second Unholy album. The bad thing was the writer who did the review also worked in Spinefarm records, which was the only metal distributor in Finland back then. This same person banned Unholy from Spinefarm so our Finnish fans had to order our albums from other countries. Have you ever heard of a shithead like this guy? Banning a band just because HE didn’t like it? What a retard. Germany’s Metal Hammer also gave us a really bad review but I don’t care as it’s not my fault if these reviewers were so narrow-minded. In underground zines our music was far more respected, and since I didn’t want Unholy to be commercial, I didn’t give a shit about commercial magazine reviews. I still support underground publications 100% and I still don’t read commercial magazines at all.

What were the lyrical themes you chose for the songs of Unholy? And throughout your discography, who were the bands main songwriters and composers? Can you also describe the kind of work ethic you had in the studio while recording your best-known albums?

Lyrically, Unholy was esoteric. I can’t give a better answer than that. From the beginning the main songwriters and composers were Pasi (Aijo) and I. After I left Unholy I don’t know who did the songs. Propably Ismo, as the last two albums sound pretty much classically influenced, as Ismo (Toivonen, keyboards) had studied classical music since he was a kid. About our work ethic, in the first album our hotel (Vienna) was next to a whorehouse. Because the whores had drugs we were almost high all the time. I remember the producer kicked us out from the studio three times because we were so stoned we couldn’t play. The second album was done in a more professional way, just like a regular workday where you arrive at the studio in the morning, record your shit and go back home in the evening; very interesting, huh? Of course we had prepared ourselves for the studio by rehearsing the songs like madmen. As for both albums we had only two weeks to record and mix them. So it was out of the question to arrive in the studio unprepared.

Is there a genuine sense that Unholy’s sound was misinterpreted and ahead of its time? Do you ever feel that someday, you will be vindicated? That your residual influence on new musicians might pave the way for younger bands to make something highly original and give you credit for it?

I agree with that, our music being “ahead of its time” and “misinterpreted.” You have to remember the kids who read magazines like Metal Hammer like a bible. If Metal Hammer said ‘this is bullshit’ they believed it. And these young metalheads were the ones who spent their money on metal albums, and if Metal Hammer said ‘this is crap’ they wouldn’t buy our albums. We got a better response form more mature people, and let me remind you again underground zines appreciated our music a lot more than commercial ones. This vindication is already happening right now as the Finnish label Ahdistuksen Aihio Records bought rights to Unholy from Italy’s Avantgarde Music and soon they will release all demos and albums as LP’s. There will be 10″, 12″, 2×12″ gatefolds with booklets, badges, and various shit. There’s a lot of new bands whom Unholy has influenced, there are even some who have taken the name Unholy, which I think is great, seeing that the original Unholy has influenced them.

What were Unholy's live concerts like? How did audiences in the early and mid-nineties react to your music the first time they heard it? And how would you rate the band's abilities in the live setting? Do you consider Unholy an excellent live band?

In the nineties there were usually three to six bands playing in one club, in those days gig arrangements were not as professional as today. Back then we were lucky if we got travel expenses and some free drinks. If the gig arrangements were okay, then we did the best to play a good gig, if gig arrangements sucked it also affected our motivation to play in some shithole. Were we “an excellent live band”? This is subjective, and depends on how the audience experienced our performance. If we were headliners, of course most of the audience were doomsters, but if it was a three to six band gig and all except us were death metal, then of course our performance was not so appreciated as the audience was mostly die-hard death metal fans.

Throughout Unholy's existence, there seems to have been a lot of conflict and tension within the band. Can you name some of the factors that led to Unholy dissolving after 'The Second Ring of Power' and then reuniting once more for 'Rapture'?

Like I said, I left the band because I didn’t like where the other guys wanted it to go, which was a more commercial direction. We are still good friends though but at the time I left Unholy the band spirit wasn’t in very good shape.

When you reunited again for the latter half of Unholy's career, what brought Unholy under the wing of Avantgarde Music?

Actually we recorded our second album for Avantgarde. About the reunion’s choice for Avantgarde, I can’t say anything as I wasn’t involved with the band anymore.

How do you look upon Unholy’s work following the reunion? Do you consider “Rapture” the band's most mature effort? Along with “Gracefallen,” how much do you think do both records differ from your first two studio albums?

Those albums were more commercial. The band was no longer the same group it was in the “From the Shadows” era. For the first and second album everyone was 100% dedicated to doing original music and gave everything. However, the last two albums were more commercial, nothing more to add to this question.

Let’s delve into your past a bit. Before Unholy existed, what were the different kinds of music that you soaked up prior to forming Holy Hell with Pasi Aijo? Can you name some of the records that, instead of influencing you, shaped your own musical aspirations?

Old Celtic Frost, Voivod, Possessed, Kreator, and Slayer were the bands we were listening to before we decided to form Holy Hell. Of course, the creators of heavy metal themselves, Black Sabbath, were a crucial influence, especially the first four albums. We wanted to do everything more extreme and original compared to the bands that I just mentioned. I also listened a lot of classical music, György Ligeti and what would basically be considered “weird” stuff.

Your partner in crime with Unholy was Pasi Aijo and the two of you worked together for years. But can you elaborate about how the rest of Unholy’s lineup joined the fold?

Ismo came first after a year or two, then Jan joined just before “Trip to Depressive Autumn”

But even before you made the transition to starting your own band, what kind of musical training did you have while growing up? Do you still remember how many hours you put into practicing on your instrument and learning to write songs?

In the first two years I practiced 12 hours a day playing Yngwie Malmsteen for finger exercises. Yngwie’s songs are perfect for finger exercises, but musically there’s no spirit in them, just technical perfection.

Up to this day, even with Temple of Tiermes, people don't know whether to consider you Doom, Black Metal, Drone, or Industrial. More often than not they lump you into a very broad genre. Do you always want to confuse people with your beliefs translated into music?

No, I don’t want to confuse people at all. “Drone” and “Black” are just words. I just record this shit I’m doing with Temple of Tiermes. I’m not interested with how people categorize my music.

There's a resurgence of classic Death Metal from the mid 90's right now—which is Unholy's era—with Carcass doing festival dates and Cynic releasing a new album. Do you think the same opportunity might ever fall upon Unholy, where the four albums you released will find a new audience in this age of downloading and free music?

Unholy is not releasing any new stuff, only re-masters and re-releases of each demo and our four albums. Our best albums are already recorded, we don’t want to do the same as Carcass—there are hundreds of examples of early 90’s death metal bands whose new releases are just crap. Their first albums were absolutely classics but their new stuff is just crap. Bands should know when to stop, but I guess they’re doing this for money.

Can you describe your hometown? Where do you live? And how far have you been able to travel as a musician for touring commitments?

I live in Tampere, which is Finland’s third largest city, though there are only about 250,000 people here. Finland is a small country with a population of about five million plus. Tampere is known as a center for culture. There are lots of art galleries, music venues, festivals, and events. Vienna is the farthest place I have traveled for a gig. Second farthest is Lithuania, where I really like to play. The bands in Lithuania are very good like Girnu Giesmes. Too bad this band isn’t very well known outside the Baltic.

With Metal coming from Finland being so popular these days, are there any groups that you admire or consider yourself a fan of?

None. It has changed to commercial crap, like Nightwish and Lordi.

Thank you so much for this interview Jarkko. At this stage in your life, are you still motivated by the same ambition that pushed you to make Unholy and Temple of Tiermes succeed?

Yes, I am! And thank you for your support!

Since Unholy are gone, they don't have an official website, much less a Myspcae. Try Metal Archives.