TUOMO RAISANEN (bass) &
JOHANNES SALO (keys),
ELENIUM

Interview - January - March 2008,
Finland - Russia

- Last year has bring so many news from your camp - as expected, as unexpected. But I think that firstly all your fans wanna know: What's up on the new Elenium? What can we wait from the Band for now?

Johannes: As the album “Caught in a Wheel” was recorded in 2005 you can guess how much we have new material in stock. The band is well motivated and we’re really anxious to start bringing in some new Ele-stuff. Live performances are also one priority to do. We have already performed two times with the new line-up and the pleasure can be found from all of our faces. Right now we have a strong belief towards the future of Elenium.

- You have got a very serious change of the line... The Band has lost 3 members last year. What's the Band's opinion about this? I suppose, it was not so easy for the Band's spirit...

Johannes: Our friends’ motivation went down and they had plans to do something else for change. There wasn’t much we could do about that. You can’t force anyone to play in Elenium. :)
Anyway, Tuomo and I are the main composers, so the loss won’t change the music. I still don’t want to underrate the guys. It was a big issue to replace those two great guitarists and killer persons.

- Where the new musicians from and what kind of music experience do they have before Elenium?

Johannes: Lauri (guitar) has been playing in Crystal Blaze since 2001 and Ville (guitar) has a long history with a band called Disordead. Anssi (drums) has been playing in several Finnish rock bands.

Tuomo: Lauri also played on the first Imperanon album when he was just 17 years old.

- The current line of Elenium… Let’s talk about it more… :)

Johannes: Our current line is blessed with some creativity, swing, playing skills, rhythm and shitty humour for example and it’s the tightest Elenium to date!

Tuomo: Yeah, I agree! Playing hasn’t felt this good for ages and I’m really anxious to make some new material with these boys. We have already been rehearsing a couple new songs and it has been great.

- Elenium music is the cool played death with the great melodic components. Who are your favourites in the music scene?

Johannes: Meshuggah, Pantera, In Flames, Kyyria to name a few.

Tuomo: There are so many great bands out there so this would be a long list. Everything began with the early Metallica and Pantera. Of course we have to always remember to mention the early works of Amorphis as well because they were a big reason Elenium was formed in the first place.
I dig all the bands Johannes mentioned and I could add for example Katatonia, Opeth, Entombed and Gojira. Outside the metal scene the latest Velvet Revolver and Foo Fighters albums have been rocking in my stereos lately. But as I mentioned, there’s plenty of good music around…

- Your 2nd album was released not so far... Tell me, please, about the 'Caught in a Wheel' conception? What's your estimate of this work?

Tuomo: CIAW is the latest child of Elenium. A heavy package of 9 tracks unique sounding melodic deathmetal. We are very happy with the way the album sounds.

- Let's talk about the Kampas Records - label, where was your 2nd Full length CD was released?

Johannes: Kampas Records is a new and rising metal/rock label from Finland.

Tuomo: Caught in a Wheel was the first album Kampas records released. Nowadays there are 5 high quality bands in the Kampas roster so you’ll hear more about the label in the future for sure. There are also some pretty interesting rarities in the Kampas Webshop. Feel free to check them out at www.kampas.fi

- What will come with the Band's style in the future? Can you keep this one or not? ;)

Tuomo: The basic ingredients of Elenium are all still there. We want to progress as a band and as musicians. There will hopefully be natural progression in our music but with the unique sound of Elenium ever present. The new lads will bring a lot of good things into the mixture, no doubt about that.

Johannes: I’m very pleased how those new fellows have brought a lot of energy into our band. Their attitude is great and they are really motivated, so hopefully we can keep this one.

- You was successful on the Finland Awards 2007, cause 130 000 votes given for you. You was also successful on ProgScan small poll also (congrats! ;) ) What do you feel about this? And what do you think about your fans’ support?

Tuomo: It felt really good to get to the same list with all those huge bands like HIM and Nightwish. The news have been a little misunderstood though because the amount of 130 000 votes given was the total number of votes given in all the categories together not just for us. But anyway we must have gotten a lot of votes so we must have done something right with our last album I guess. We are really grateful to all the people who voted. The support means a lot and that’s a big reason we keep on going despite all the shit that has come our way. Now there’s a chance to help us and vote us to Metalcamp 08 Festival at our website and MySpace.

- What about your plans for this year? What is a main Elenium’s priority?

Tuomo: Well I think our main priority is to write a killer follower for Caught in a Wheel. We’d like to get some new Elenium material released as soon as possible, but we shall see how the schedules turn out. It depends on who’s going to release the album. Other band Omnium Gatherum will also be releasing their next album in the autumn so that will affect our schedules as well. We’d like to tour a lot more with the next release now that it’s possible. I think we have something special to offer with our current line up and I’m sure the live Elenium will surprise many people positively. It’s full of energy.

- Wish you a growth of Elenium’s camp and… Keep it Metal! :)

Tuomo: Thank you! And we wish all the best to Progscan and all your future projects. Hopefully we’ll meet in an Elenium concert in Russia soon!

Johannes: Yep, thank you for this interview and keep up the great work what you have done in the scene!