Im Jahr 2001 trafen sich einige finstere Gesellen im hintersten Winkel der Bar Papillon im südfinnischen Riihimäki und beschlossen, fortan gemeinsam Musik zu machen, die vor allem langsam, schwer und dunkel sein sollte. Nachdem mit Saattue der passende Name gefunden wurde, nahmen die Herren 2004 die EP "Kivisydän" auf, gefolgt von der Promo-CD "Ikiuneen" (2006), durch welche Spikefarm Records auf die Band aufmerksam wurde. Mit "Jäähyvästi" liegt nun die erste Full-length-CD vor, die vor allem durch die feine Melancholie bei gleichzeitiger Heavyness besticht. Eine gute Gelegenheit, mit den Gitarristen Jani Koskela und Tero Kalliomäki Kontakt aufzunehmen und ihnen einige Fragen zu ihrem neuen Werk zu stellen.

SJM: Hi Jani, could you please introduce Saattue and its members to our readers?

J. Koskela / Saattue: Greetings! Saattue are a doomy & gloomy metal band, who has just released their debut album "Jäähyvästi". T. Koskinen is the vocalist and lyric writer, T. Kalliomäki lead guitarist, composer & lyric writer. He is also responsible for the keyboard parts. H. Lampinen is a lead guitarist, S. Lahtinen plays bass guitar and M. Ahlstén is the drummer. I myself am a rhythm guitarist. Each one of us has quite a long background in metal music.

SJM: The band’s name, Saattue, is Finnish and means "procession". In how far does the name of the band refer to the music?

J. Koskela / Saattue: The name refers a lot to what we are doing. As a matter of fact, we label our music as saatto metal. Saatto and Saattue are both meaning procession in Finnish. Saattue's music is like a funeral procession. It advances with heavy foot steps - slow and calmly.

SJM: There are some bands like My Dying Bride that create heavy but melancholic tunes like you, but on the other hand they sound quite different. Can you tell me something about your musical influences?

J. Koskela / Saattue: There are quite a lot of different influences and Saattue's music is quite rich indeed. Doomy and brutal sounds - such as also My Dying Bride are producing - are something that we can relate to. Meanwhile, some of the influences are coming from more atmospheric & experimental music. Like from Pink Floyd for example. I would say that the oppressive heaviness and darkness comes from doom metal, the brutal side from death & thrash metal and the atmospheric influences from such bands as Pink Floyd or Anathema. However, as you said, we sound quite different. The spectre of our influences is very wide.

SJM: What do you think is the most outstanding trademark in the sound of Saattue?

J. Koskela / Saattue: I think that it is the richness of the sound - well thought out compositions and arrangements, as well as the dynamic nature of our sound. These are the factors, which makes us unique and gives us the right to call ourselves as Saattue. Having three guitars is also a point that stands out, especially when we're playing live.

SJM: You have your new album out these days, "Jäähyvästi". Did you already get reactions to the album?

J. Koskela / Saattue: Yes. So far we have received only very positive feedback about the album. All of the reviews have been good, or very good. It seems like that a lot of people are very inspired about the atmosphere of the album. It is just the beginning, but it looks good.

SJM: And what are you doing these days when the album is about to be released?

J. Koskela / Saattue: We just made a mini tour in central and eastern Finland, with our label mates Hanging Garden. We also did few other successful record release shows in our hometown and one in Helsinki. There’s one more show to do and then we’ll start to look for more. So, at this moment we are booking more shows, making interviews and following the reactions to "Jäähyvästi".

SJM: As all song-titles and all lyrics on "Jäähyvästi" are in Finnish and my small Finnish-dictionary has failed – can you tell us something about the lyrics?

T. Kalliomäki / Saattue: Lyrics are mostly about feelings, which come to our minds when we are listening to the raw versions of the tracks. Those feelings are 99% extremely dark and maybe some of them are even suicidal... Example the title track "Jäähyvästi" tells about death of your own child (hit by a drunk driver), "Varjojen saattue" tells about the shadows that will follow you, when you have failed and betrayed someone whom you love. There is also a song called "Vieraaseen multaan", which has some Finnish historical feeling to it. It tells about young soldiers on their path to death. "Ikiuneen" is a memorial song to a lost family member. I wouldn't say that death is the theme of the record, but it is the very main actor of the plot. There is no light at the end of the tunnel on this record... Half of the lyrics have been written by T.Koskinen and the other half by me.

SJM: All the seven songs on "Jäähyvästi" have epic choruses. How do you compose the tracks? Do you create the music first and then write the lyrics, or are the tunes referring to lyrics that are already written?

T. Kalliomäki / Saattue: On this album, the music came always first and the lyrics gave some kind of "shades to dark paintings". It has always been my method of composing, but there is also couple of new song structures, which has been influenced by my emotions, that I wrote down one night. Loneliness, "couple" of drinks and listening of "Shape of Despair" [Band from Helsinki, including members from Finntroll, Impaled Nazarene etc.] was a reason for those depressed thoughts. Usually I make all the structures first with guitar, keyboards and drum machine. After that the songs go to the rehearsal room, where we arrange them together with the band. After that T. Koskinen or I make the lyrics. Epic and ear-catching choruses have been Saattue’s trademarks since the beginning, so maybe you will hear those on the next record also...

SJM: What is your favourite song on the album?

J. Koskela / Saattue: That is a hard one to choose and depends on the mood very much. When I'm listening to the album, I would probably pick up "Vieraaseen multaan". Then on the other hand, “Hyiseen veteen” is very often my favourite on stage.

T. Kalliomäki / Saattue: My definite favourite is "Varjojen saattue". The 11minute song has all the elements that make Saattue original and recognizable: acoustic and heavy guitars, dark feeling, brutal grunts, softer female vocals and catchy chorus etc. It features our guest singer Ines Lukkanen on half of the song, and that brings lots of dynamics to the song. The ending of the song has a mighty chorus, that reminds me of "We are the world" of type of group singing, but with a very suicidal feeling.. Maybe "We cut our wrists" would be more fitting, heh...

SJM: You have filmed a promotional video for the song "Kaaosmaa". Can you tell us something about the story line of the video?

J. Koskela / Saattue: That is an old video that we did in 2006 - at the time when we released “Ikiuneen” promo EP. As you said in the review, it is full of grim humour and presents some traditional suicide methods. Everybody dies – although in this case, with a little support from someone else. It is by no means meant to be a promotional video for "Jäähyvästi", just a nice YouTube extra for those who might be interested in watching.

SJM: In how far are you playing with the stereotype of Finnish people being depressed and sick of life (like for example Sentenced did in some lyrics) with this video-clip?

J. Koskela / Saattue: Well, the video is playing with suicidal thoughts, but in these cases there is a second person, who is as willing to finish the job as the candidates themselves. Also - the stereotype is always lonely and left without any attention … and (on this video) only one of the characters is provably under the influence of alcohol. So there are few things that won't fit into the profile of a stereotype.

SJM: You have three guitar players in your ranks and the tunes on "Jäähyvästi" give us an idea of the wall of sound you are able to create live. What can we expect from a Saattue-show?

J. Koskela / Saattue: You can expect energetic, moody and very heavy sounding show. We definitely need three guitars to perform our music in live situation, so that it would sound as convincing and rich as on the album. As a matter of fact, on the album, there are way more than just three guitar tracks. There are quite a lot of extra spices for those who like to go a bit further in listening.

SJM: Are there any plans for touring Europe and especially Germany in the near future?

J. Koskela / Saattue: Not at this moment, but we are very much looking forward to be able to do this in the future. It is going to be very interesting to see how people react to the album. Saattue is a very powerful live band and it would be great to be able to play in the foreign countries as well.

SJM: Any last comments? If there is anything you’d like to say or just add what has not been mentioned yet, you’re welcome!

J. Koskela / Saattue: Thank you for the interview and thanks a lot for the feedback that we have got so far. Check out "Jäähyvästi" and stay tuned for some more saatto metal.

T.Kalliomäki / Saattue: In the end of the tunnel there is always light, but in this case it just happens to be an approaching freight train... Goodbye.

(Eckart Maronde)