Wolfheart on Rock Attitude

Wolfheart will visit Athens on 14th April for a show at An Club, with Desert Near The End as support act. Rock Attitude had a little chat with the founder of Melodic Death metallers Wolfheart, Tuomas Saukkonen.

We have the pleasure to interview Tuomas Saukkonen founder of Melodic Death metallers Wolfheart. Welcome Tuomas, and congratulations on your latest full-length album “King Of The North” and your new single “Iku-Turso”. Starting from the single “Iku – Turso” which was released on September 8, 2023, we would like to know what “Iku – Turso” means? Is it a bridge track between “King Of The North” and your upcoming record?

-Thank you ! “Iku-Turso” was just a stand alone single that followed the theme of Finnish mythology form the previous full length album. New material has already been recorded but there is no connection. Iku Turso was a malevolent demigod / demon in Finnish mythology.

In the next months should we expect the release of a new single or an album?

-There might be something new coming soon but I am not allowed to talk about it more yet.

Let’s go back to “King Of The North” which was released in 2022, which was one of the best albums of the year. Compared to the previous ones it is more melodic and with more choral parts. Was it a change you wanted to make for a long time or did it just come about with the line-up change?

-It was a change that was made possible by changes in the line-up and also hidden talent within the current members. Vagelis brought a new voice for the band when he joined first as a solo guitarist but nowadays also as backing vocalist. At the same time our bass player Lauri has taken bigger role with clean vocals in each album.

Regarding the line-up, the addition of Vangelis Karzis brought about some changes in Wolfheart’s style, with the addition of clean vocals and more elaborate solos. How much did Vangelis influence the songs on a musical level?

-The songwriting itself is still 100% in my hands so for the riffs, melodies and song arrangements there was not big influence but naturally his solos stand out in each song very strongly and same does the vocals despite smaller influence in song writing the role is big in the finished music.

“King Of The North” is an epic album that takes us back to the age of the Vikings, the explorations, and brings us close us with some of their traditions, like in the song “Skyforger” where you become an invocation for good guidance to the god of everything. Will you bring us back into contact with elements of their tradition to the new your album?

-Next album will have a strong nordic connection but it looks more into the future and nordic regions in post-apocalyptic era. So a lot of similarities but instead of history it looks more into the dark future.

Seven months after the live performance in our country, you are returning for an appearance at An Club. How did this opportunity occurred? Is it part of a European tour?

-Simple as it is we got an offer to do a show and the date was just between our Australian tour and East Europe / Balkans tour so since the band was active playing a lot of shows was easy to say yes and ad one more great gig to the list. We always love to play in Athens and it is kind of our second hometown for the band.

What can we expect at your upcoming live? Will it also include tracks from your first albums? Are there any surprises in store for the Greek audience?

-We will play songs from every album with main focus on the latest. And If we would have surprises would it get spoiled if I tell those now 🙂

Concluding, I would like to thank you for the interview and ask you if there is a message you would like to address to the audience of our web-zine ?

-See you all in Athens 14th of April !

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