1. So the band started back in 1997, and here we are 10 years later. What was the original goal when the band first started?
Actually, the band started as early as in 1994 after some projects including members that later would play with EToS. Our first album, however, was recorded in 1997. Anyway, our original plan was simply to write good music and to get our music released. We were three guys who liked the extreme kind of metal and who wanted to write music of our own.. I mean music that we would like to hear if we heard it played by some other band.
We never really had any big plans such as "becoming the most successful metal band in the world" like Metallica did, but a lot of small plans. We wanted our music to be released some day, to have some gigs in Finland and other countries etc... And we've been lucky because all of our dreams have come true.
2. Are there still things you want to accomplish within the band that you have yet to attain?
There are a couple of things of that sort, yeah. One is a music video. I don't know why we've never really had a music video so far. Perhaps we should blame our current record company who talked about a music video for ages? Or perhaps we should blame ourselves for not being active enough to make one on our own? And the other one is creating an album that we're 100% satisfied with. Being sort of perfectionists, we always found something on our albums that are not satisfying enough. Even though we love all of our albums, we still know we can write better songs, make better arrangements and write better lyrics.
3. The newest album from the band "Before the Bleeding Sun" was released in 2006, but there was no release between 2001, and 2006. What was going on during that time?
Basically, we had a long break. We had our last gig in summer 2001 and as a band, we didn't do anything for three whole years. Between 2001 and 2004, all of us did a lot of other things, such as starting new projects and sometimes not even thinking about making music at all. We were just so sick and tired of EToS for three years.. But in the summer of 2004, we started thinking of getting back together and that's how it all started again. During that time, as I already said, we had several projects going on, and some of them are still active.
4. You are the guitarist, what equipment are you using to create your sound?
At the moment, Risto (our lead guitarist) and I use Ibanez guitars . I use Tech21 amps and Risto uses Engl amps. We had our "digital age" some years ago when we used digital modelling amps only but we just wanted to come back to the analogue age because of the better sounds and better response time.
5. What is most important to you when choosing a guitar to use?
The most important thing is how it feels when I play it. The guitar is an extension to my hands, so it must feel good with my hands, too. The second criterion is how it sounds. If it sounds bad, the pickups can still be changed to create a better sound. And the third criterion, the least important one, is how the guitar looks. If the guitar feels and sounds good but looks terrible, it can still be used as a studio guitar.
6. Has work started on the next album?
Yes, we have. As a matter of fact, we've been gathering a lot of new ideas since the summer of 2006. We don't have any finished songs yet, as all of us have been very busy with many different things, but a lot of ideas and about a dozen semi-finished songs.The new material sounds like what we want it to sound like: heavier, more aggressive, more extreme. Once again, our goal has been to push our musical boundaries, to spread our wings even more.
7. With so many sub- genres of metal these days. Is it hard to focus on playing one certain style?
Yes and no. When you think about melodic death metal as a genre, it's actually an amalgam or a combination of many different metal genres, such as death metal, heavy metal, thrash metal - and in our case also progressive metal, gothic metal and even black metal. If we put all those elements together and play them, it will automatically sound like us. So, even if we changed our style (and in fact, our style has changed on each of our album), the songs would still sound like us. So, the answer is simple: no, it is not hard to focus on playing one certain style but we don't want to do that as such. We just play what we want to play and that's it.
8. Will there be any further live shows before the next album?
I don't think so. What we have learned during these thirteen years is the fact that it's usually best to concentrate on one thing at a time. And for the rest of the year (+ a great part of the next year) we want to write new material. We don't want to hurry with it.
9. What is one thing fans should know about Eternal Tears of Sorrow?
We have some news coming up this autumn, so check out our website regularly!