Interview with Olli Vanska

Interview with Olli Vanska by MetalOxide

0:05 - Turisas' sound without genre titles or band names
0:37 - Playing the violin before joining Turisas
3:15 - If he ever thought he would be in a metal band
4:40 - Violin over guitar in Turisas' music
6:28 - The recent lineup changes
9:00 - Accordions in Turisas
10:50 - A brief explanation of Turisas' recording process
13:30 - The genre of folk metal and Turisas' role in it
17:00 - Predictions for the future of fol metal
18:45 - Finland's role in the folk metal genre
20:07 - Personal influences and the band's influences
21:43 - Playing in festivals vs. clubs
23:10 - Playing around the world
24:40 - Playing in Chicago
26:10 - Future goals for the band
29:05 - Most memorable experiences touring with the band

Melanie's Album of the Week

This is my first post here on the new Metal Oxide blog and I figured that the perfect way to start it off was to tell you about my album of the week.  Most weeks I listen to a playlist of mine on random but some weeks I find myself listening to one album over and over without getting sick of it.  This week's album is "Communion" by the greek death metallers Septic Flesh.  

This is currently their latest release but they are in the studio recording a new album with a release sometime in 2011.  I actually purchased this album at a concert of theirs, however, I didn't get to see them perform for more than 15 minutes because House of Blues was being idiotic and not letting us inside till the end of Septic Flesh's set.  Although, the one song that I did manage to here completely was "Persepolis" which is off of this album.  That prompted my to go to their merch stand and buy it and to my delight, the album was even better than I thought.  

The mix of clean vocals and deep growling is perfection, and with a dark sound to their music and a mythological theme to their lyrics it quickly becomes addicting.  Some of my favorite songs off of "Communion" are: "Sunlight/Moonlight"; "Sangreal"; and "Persepolis" but when it comes to "Communion" I think every song is my favorite.  This is the only album I own in a hard copy of theirs, but I have the rest of their discography and everything that I have heard so far is fantastic.  

We don't play Septic Flesh too often here on Metal Oxide, but they are definitely a band that will be played more in the future.  Hopefully their new album will come out sooner than later and we can get that on the show!  Now I just have to figure out a way to see them live.  

Melanie