Spiritus Mortis interview: Vesa Lampi,vox and TM,bass answering …
first of all, congratulations for your debut! It's a very interesting album I described as a perfect mix of Epic Doom and NWOBHM, do you agree? would you like to introduce the band to our readers and explain why It took 17 years to release it (I mean with such a sound you should have get a deal at the first demo!)?
- T: We are doing what we like to play and what we like to hear. If it ends to sound like the album, then we must be doing something right… It took so long time because we were so lazy.
- V: Yes, mix of Epic Doom and NWOBHM is said quite right, I think. And if you think it’s perfect mix, that’s cool! Spiritus Mortis was formed in late summer of 1987. Founding members were TM and Jussi. At first V-P was only a temporary drummer but as usually shit happens and temporary became permanent. But in early ’90’s Finland was not ready for SM’s grim world. When nothing really happened with the band and studies, ”real jobs”, army services and so on came into picture SM almost dried out in late ’90’s. For awhile in late ’90’s Tomi Murtomäki was in band as a lead singer but when original SM trio found me to vocals things started to roll again. In January 2003 SM decided to go to studio to record debut album without any clue if any label will ever release it. During these days Vellu Yli-Mäyry informed that this will be his last recording with SM. Few days of dark clouds and icy rain but SM decided to find new drummer. After trying couple of drummers during the spring we found Jarkko “Sepi” Seppälä. New chapter begun. After sending some samples of metal to come, couple of labels approached and two of them offered record deal in the summer of 2003. SM decided to choose Rage of Achilles.
Your lyrics reminded me of early Slayer/Venom stuff, is it right or there are deeper meanings?
- T: I suppose you mean the “tongue-in-cheek-lyrics” of “Flames”? They weren’t meant to be taken seriously. And yes, those are VERY influenced by Venom…
- V: In my lyrics there’re almost always some relation to “real” world. I just disguise stories to warrior, evil and stuff and so on …
How goes the songwriting for Spiritus Mortis? How did you manage to create such a particular sound?
- T: Someone makes a good riff and we play it, then we decide that “this must be verse” then somebody else comes up with another riff, “this must be chorus” and so on. Or somebody comes to rehearsal with whole song. We arrange the songs together so we can have more ideas.
- V: Good thing for SM is that we have four songwriters. And everyone has their own style to compose. Albums soundworld is created by Marko “Snake” Ketola. He knows just what SM is all about and knows what we can do or not to do.
Can you name the 5 bands that influenced you the most? Apart from that, where do you find inspiration for writing? maybe movies or books....
- T: Black Sabbath, Venom, Celtic Frost, Slayer, Manowar. I listen music from hard rock to hardcore-punk and I try to steal any good idea I can find. I haven’t written lyrics for a while but my lyrics were influenced by horror and action movies. Movies like Mad Max, Terminator, Punisher etc. I like to read about warfare so some of ideas came from WWII. And of course my main inspiration is Kobe Tai.
- V: Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Motörhead and the Doors. For me also movies are deep well of inspiration.
Let's talk about the Finnish scene...It seems that most bands over there are influenced by power metal and Stratovarius. What do you think about power metal in general and the finnish scene? There are bands like yours in the finnish underground?
- T: I liked Helloween back in 90’ and I liked also the early Stratovarius. But Stratovarius hasn’t written new song since “Visions”… Other power bands, I haven’t heard enough to have a rock solid opinion. In Finnish music scene they are few good bands. I have to mention Reverend Bizarre and Minotauri, they are both friends of ours and good bands.
- V: Well, I’m not huge power fan at all. I guess I got overdose when Helloween’s Keeper I&II were released. I listened them very intensively back then. Nowadays bands doesn’t move me at all. And when some of them try to be battleaxe wielders, knights of some kind, it makes me laugh because I don’t see any connection to that kinda warfare and music which ain’t so HEAVY. Finnish metal scene is quite wide today, of course Stratovarius clones still pops up from somewhere but there are bands quite original aswell. Real heavy weighters are few in number now but interest is slowly increasing.
Did you hear that Timo Tolkki was stabbed sometimes ago? What do you think about "hoolingans acting" in music?
- T: I fucking hate those assholes who throw rocks or bottles to band. ANY BAND! They all should be castrated. If you don’t like the band then get the fuck out and let the others who might like, enjoy them.
- V: Yeah, that’s it!
In more than 15 years of career you played live a lot for sure. How is the band on stage? Did you ever play outside Finland? Are you going to make a tour to promote the album?
- T: We have been compared to freight train. On stage, we show how we love what we are doing. DSR II was the only time we played outside Finland up to date. No tour because nobody has arranged any. I hope we have manager who takes care the business side but so far Vesa and Jussi has been doing that.
You now have a long career, with the present experiences what would you change of your past choices? Your worst mistake in the whole Spiritus Mortis career?
- T: Thing I would like change is to got an decent vocalist and good drummer earlier. And to have been more active on music front, I mean sending the demo tapes to record companies and so on… Worst mistake: Not getting an decent vocalist and good drummer earlier J
Why did you sign for "Rage Of Achilles" and how are they working for Spiritus Mortis?
- T: They offered us the best deal at that time. We liked when they promised to send us 120 copies of the album so we can sell them on gigs.
- V: I had heard good things about RofA before and when we talked about the deal, label seemed to be professional enuff and all the things were agreed in honest way. Everything what has been planned to do are done, so everythings going just fine with the label. No complaints!
What about your future plans? Are we going to wait 17 years for another release?
- T: To have some pussy…
- V: TM are you getting desperate! That must be seventh time you mentio that in interviews! More gigs for sure, second album is coming out until June 2005, so in studio in January 2005. Hopefullt some kinda tour in Central-Europe in 2005 … we’ll see!
Any solo project or something?
- T: Some therapy projects. I like my music slow&heavy and fast&heavy so me and my brother have an “HardCorePunkVenomThrashSpeedMotörheadHeavyMetalRock'n'Roll” project called Lampaanvapahtaja.
- V: Watch out for Sintronic! ‘80’s heavy metal today! Great bass player and so on …. By the way, I play bass … h ah h hah a ….
Would you write a soundtrack for a horror movie if you were asked to?
- T: Of course. We love horror movies, especially the ones by Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento.
- V: Yeah! Certainly! It reminds me when friend of mine heard first time “The Throne will fall” track from SM album, he said this is like from some creepy horror film!
Top 3 Best albums of 2003 apart from Spiritus Mortis?
- T: Is there any? I don’t even remember any album that was released 2003…
- V: TM, you are forgetting Reverend Bizarre’s Harbinger!
Ok thanx for the interview guys! Something you want to say to all your italian fans out there?
- T: Visit our homepage www.spiritusmortis.com and download samples. If you like metal HEAVY then you like us!
- V: Yeah, all you metallurgs in Italia buy SM album and make us rich! Cheers!


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Spiritus Mortis interview, Vesa Lampi, vox and TM, bass answering ….
In my opinion your gig at DSR II was one of the festival's highlights. How did you experience the show? I guess it was the biggest one for Spiritus Mortis so far...
- T: Biggest one, yeah. Good show. We played some of our more up-tempo songs in purpose so people might remember us better…
- V: Yeah, it was great! Very nice to play there! What can I say … I have a feeling that audience will remember SM from that gig. Also Albert from Reverend Bizarre was amazing, well, we are crazy Finns!
Sir Magister Albert's guest appearance has been awesome, very impressing! Have the guys from Reverend Bizarre been travelling with you? Are you good friends with them?
- T: We did “tour” with them and Minotauri, four gigs in Finland. But to DSR they came day earlier to sell their stuff and so on. Friends, I hope so…
- V: They are like brothers to us, brothers in arms, I might say. It’s been really a pleasure to get known RB guys and we’ll certainly do Friends of Hell II –tour someday … hopefully someday in Central-Europe too.
Have you watched some of the other bands, too? If so which one did you like the most?
- T: I watched only Nortwinds, I liked them. And I would have liked to see Orodruin, we missed because they played so early…
- V: Yes, it’s was a pity that we missed Orodruin! Shame on us! Well, While Heaven Wept was my favorite and also Wall of Sleep. Did I see other bands …. Bit hazy but I must have seen something … seriously speaking, I kept moving so fast all the time that I really didn’t have time to concentrate so much.
And what about the festival in a whole, please tell us about your impressions you got from the venue, atmosphere, audience, country, etc.
- T: Atmosphere was really cool and relaxed. I keep wondering because I heard that there was no security guys, if this kind of thing was arranged in Finland we should have had security from armed forces…
- V: Venue was great, roadies were great, audience was great, atmosphere was just amazing … I’m already planning to come again next year, hopefully I get some money to it! Never been in Germany before and I liked the tidiness of the country, and of course the beer prize was good too!
How come you haven't done any more gigs before or after DSR II? Wouldn't that have been an obvious option once you travelled such a long way?
- T: Nobody arranged any gigs… Really, it was difficult to arrange even this short trip because we all have our daily jobs.
- V: Lack of contacts, I think. Hopefully something could be done in future, While Heaven Wept is in the same record company, Rage of Achilles, so perhaps next year when we both will have new albums out …. We’ll see, we’ll see ….
It is said that Spiritus Mortis are in existence since 1987. That is quite a long time - how old are you guys? Why has it taken so long to release your debut album?
- T: Jussi and Vesa are 35, VP and I 34. Sepi the Lefty is the new guy, he’s only 21. It took so long time partly because we were so lazy that we didn’t bother to send the
demos to any companies. And nobody came to offer us a deal to rehearsal cave… And mainly it took so long because nobody understood back then what we were about.
The first signs of life I perceived from you were the Demo 2000 and "Forward To The Battle", which I purchased in one package from Black Tears distro. What can you tell us about the time before you joined the band - who was the singer, why did he leave and what about the old material? What was the band sounding like then and were there any releases that have to be mentioned?
- T: Vesa…
- V: Ok, I’ll do some talking … Original SM trio, Jussi-guitar, TM-bass and VP-drums, was formed in ’87. They recorded bunch of demos back then and still nowadays SM plays couple of tunes back from late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s. TM used to sing but somewhere in late ‘90’s Tomi Murtomäki came in but the time wasn’t right for SM and things didn’t move anywhere. I came in picture in late ’99 and for some reason rest of SM decided that I should join the band. What can I say about early SM … it sounded more raw than SM today. Maybe something to do with improvement of playing skills!
How did you get the job as the singer in SM? Have you been in any other band before?
- V: Actually the guy who is behind the soundworld of SM debut, Marko ”Snake” Ketola once asked me, in bar table of course, how come I haven’t ever tried to do vox in SM? So I talked with Bros Maijalas and rehearsed with old demo tapes and so it all begun. Me and VP used to have band called Worroar … well it was back in ’80 and early ‘90’s … I also played guitar and sang in Kharon and …. Well, there’s plenty of different kinda projects … Nowadays you have to be warned about Sintronic! Great project which plays ‘80’s style of metal! By the way, I play bass in that band.
I really liked the Demo 2000 with its great tracks of melodic Doom but was pretty disappointed when listening to "Forward To The Battle", as in my opinion those tracks sounded like average Metal songs without too much inspiration incorporated. The doomy approach seemed to be lost somehow. Have the band been satisfied with the recording? What do you think about that demo today?
- T: We got an nasty habit that we are so proud of what we are doing J The meaning of D2K was to finally do a REALLY good demo in real studio, good production etc. FTTB (and HOT) was recorded by my computer at the rehearsal cave and it wasn’t meant to be published. But we liked them so we distributed them…
- V: FttB ain’t too good at all. Situation before recording FttB was like this, Vellu Yli-Mäyry had just joined us and I guess we were a bit too much dazzled to the way he handled the drums, so all the tempos went too high. He is amazing drummer! Compare ,for example, the tempo of the “Forever” album version to FttB and you’ll see the difference! SM were really lucky to get Sepi to replace Vellu because he is as good as former one and a bit more heavy style player.
How did the deal with your label Rage Of Achilles come about? Do they give you the support you deserve? For how many albums are you signed to them?
- V: I heard that they liked the Demo 2000 back then but when I sent some tastiers from album to come RofA came involved. Of course we are talking about still “undergroundish” label but all the things gone just fine up to date. More money needed for promotion for sure but as I said label ain’t EMI … We have two album deal and the second one will be released until June of 2005.
Let's talk about the album now. The artwork really looks special, i guess your the first band having a chandelier on the cover! What's the idea/story behind it?
- V: You know, when you enter to cathedral first you look up and see chandelier, then you wander around and see bizarre medieval statues and so on … back to the door and watch back again and you see the whole hall and as you see in the back cover, it took some time ‘cause candles has burned and melted.
There's some cool, gloomy pics in the booklet. I really like the look but I think they don't reflect your sound perfectly because they're very dark and sinister which your music is not all the time. Also I miss the lyrics. Any comments on my statements?
- T: It was RofA idea. We would have liked some changes but there were problems with Internet provider and those changes never went through by email. But I am happy with the result.
- V: Actually, we sent the pics but layout is made by RofA. Well, I do think that pics tells you something about SM … You are not the first to say about missing lyrics! That was our plan all along to have covers as simply as possible. But I guess we have to print lyrics next time, so many have mentioned that.
How were the reactions from press and fans so far, are you satisfied with it? Have you done interviews for some bigger magazines already?
- T: Reaction has been mainly positive. There are some people who don’t understand “the tongue in cheek” lyrics of “Flames”… We have done a couple of interviews after the album but not to bigger magazines like Metal Hammer or so on.
- V: Yes, I’m pretty much satisfied to reactions. For some reviewers it has been a bit of disappointment that we play such varied songs, not 45 tempo doom all the time, ha ha ah ha … but that’s SM! But some of them have really got the point right! Variation of songs are the strong point of SM in the long run, I believe it strongly.
What was it like to record the first album after being around as a band for so many years? It may be different for you being the "new" member, but I wonder if the guys being in SM from the beginning feel a certain enthusiasm now that the band seems to get started in a bigger way. Do you feel excited about the latest development?
- T: I felt really proud to have the bastard born at last but otherwise it hasn’t changed my life a bit.
- V: Yes of course this bastard son of ours gives us more power to do SM for next few decades!
Where do you get your inspiration from for your songwriting? Do you listen a lot to other bands playing similar stuff? What are your favourites (bands and singers)?
- T: I listen metal from soft to hardcore and I try to steal any good idea I can find. Other bands of similar stuff? Black Sabbath, none else. My faves are BS, Venom, Slayer, old Metallica and old Manowar.
- V: My song writing is based totally on emotions. If I feel fucked up, usually it’s good time to grap a guitar on my hands and have a personal revenge for the society. I ain’t no nine to five kinda “office” composer at all …. My life long faves are Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, old Rainbow, Motörhead and of course the Doors. Jimbo is king! Well … I’ve heard some Dio back in ‘80’s also …
What's your opinion on what Manowar are doing these days? To me they're more or less a bunch of commercial posers now, but the old classics will always remain untouchable epics.
- T: I liked them really much up to “The Triumph of Steel” but after that I have heard only ONE good idea in their studio albums. “Warriors of the World” is a little bit of better but there is too many mellow songs at the start of that album. And their recent lyrics are like randomly generated from their early lyrics. Just take four words “Kill, Steel, Metal, Warrior” and you have an Manowar song…
- V: I have listened latest Manowar album only once and that’s enuff! For me “Kings of Metal” is their last good album. Couple of good tracks in “TofS” ‘tho …
Was "Mighty One" originally conceived as an hommage to Manowar? Have you thought about doing a cover version of one of their ballads instead?
- V: “Mighty” was indeed my own ego trip as first! But when we recorded demo version which can be found from “Hot Summer of Love” demo, it sounded so good that we decided to make a version for debut also. Song has got very divided comments, some people really adore it and some can’t get over the idea that some other band than Manowar could make a song like that! Believe or not, I made the original idea, played only by acoustic guitar, and lyrics in about 15 minutes … it just poured from some dark place of my mind! No way SM’s gonna cover Manowar ballad! But I have some own tunes ready for second album … we’ll see what happens.
Do you see yourselves as pure Doom or is Doom just one aspect of your sound? Do you care if an idea fits into a certain scheme when it comes to creating new songs or do you just let it happen like it comes flowing from your brain and soul?
- T: We play what we like and what we like to hear. I don’t care what people call that. But if you want to fit us into any genre then it shall be Doom. I can respect any other band that are “true”. To me true means to be honest with yourself. If you like what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter if you are into stoner or into Reverend Bizarre.
- V: Yes, we do things just like we wanted … we can have up tempo songs, no problem there!
Are the lyrics important to you? What are the topics you're singing about, is there any song with a very special meaning that you'd like to enhance on?
- T: Lyrics can be about anything as long as they sound cool.
- V: Well, for me there got to be some more in them! Almost all my lyrics have some kinda story from “real” life behind. Painted to warrior or evil or what ever kinda form. “Vow to the sun” is funny story, I was watching old western “A man called horse” and suddenly I just had to write about Sioux Indians vow to the sun –ritual. Check out the film to understand what’s that all about.
Which are you favourite tracks on "Spiritus Mortis" and why?
- T: Hmm, I cannot say any fave track. But we are rehearsing some older tunes at the time to have some variation to set list. I have to admit that to me it is getting boring to play the same 13 tunes in every set list…
- V: Just quickly comes to my mind tracks … “Forever”, “The throne will fall” and “Mighty One”. All these are so much fun to sing and they went just fine in studio also. Damned, “In me” must be mentioned also!
What are your plans for the next months, any more live shows to be expected? Have you already thought about another album?
- T: To have pussy… Hopefully more gigs so we can have some money… We are making some new tunes to second album, we have the already about 15 songs to choose. Old and new ones.
I think that's about it, hopefully my questions weren't too boring. Feel free to add anything you'd like to mention but haven't got the opportunity so far. Thank you for doing this interview!
- T: I think that I haven’t thanked enough those who made DSR happen. So, THNX! and SUPER! to Jochen, Roman, Frank and the nameless stage crew.
- V: Yeah, thanks for you too! For all people who’ll read this, go and buy our album!



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Interview with Spiritus Mortis with Vesa Lampi - vocals, TM - bass and Jussi Maijala - guitar. (Rage Of Achilles - Suburban) Spiritus Mortis was formed in 1987, why did it take you so long to release your first album?
"TM: We were so lazy. Nobody came to our rehearsal cave to offer us a deal…
Jussi: Why should we hurry? For me SM is more like a lifestyle or entertainment, not a project with a five years plan.
Vesa: “I guess the band was more like a hobby in the early days for the guys. Fortunately original SM trio kept going and as I came in … it was late 1999… I kinda took over the promoting stuff and so on. Things begun to roll. Rage of Achilles was already interested in us with our Demo of 2000 but as they heard we were in studio again they contacted us and so begun our co-operation with RofA.”

Are you happy with the end result?
"T: “Mainly yes, maybe a little bit of too polished but I can live with that”.
J: It sounds heavy, so it is like SM.
V: Yes, I am! Bastard son has finally born! After almost 17 years of pregnancy. Of course everything could be done better and better as technically speaking but in overall I’m satisfied with the result.”

You probably had a lot of songs to choose from? How has your sound changed or stayed the same from the demo recordings?
"T: Sound isn’t that much changed over all the years because we are still the same players, only we have developed a helluva lot as players. Still we’re not virtuous but anyway… We have better vocals of course.
J: Not too many because our policy is make a few but all good songs. Compose them to the one perfect monolith. Not like ‘we made 40 songs for our record’.
V:Well, the band existed from ‘87 and we had about 30 songs to choose from for the album, that ain’t much! But as Jussi said, all the songs are on that level we could have chosen differently and still the album would have been great! On the next album we also will experiment with old and brandnew tunes”

What was the most difficult song for recording in the studio and explain me also why?
"T: For me it was “Death Walking”. Somehow there were tune problems with bass and guitar. We found it out only after the guitars were recorded, so I got to rework all the bass parts.
J: We have played those songs so many times that there was not any bad problems. Think yourself; we have played "Rise from Hell" since 1988.
V: “Mighty One”. We used so many tracks while recording it and to keep everything all together and have a point all the way was the hardest part, not overdoing anything. Also I had some problems with vocals too, in the last possible moment I decided to remove all the verses and redo them all again. Also this one was the most interesting song to record.”

Since I didn't get any lyrics, I am curious of course as to what your lyrical base is for songs. I'm assuming from song titles like “Rise from hell “, “Flames”, “Death walking” and “Mighty one” they are antichrist-related?
"T: Personally I don’t like the brainwashing the church give you, but also I don’t like satanistic lyrics and imagos of some black metal bands. These lyrics which I wrote are heavily influenced by Venom, by this I mean they are not to be taken so seriously…
J: You can not think a band like SM sing about love and flowers. Maybe ‘I love tanks’ and ‘Flowers of evil’.
V: Basically, almost all my lyrics are about daily life’s shit, believe it or not. Real meanings are hidden in warrior or evil kinda stories …. Well, actually you don’t have to know anything more about them! “Death walking” and “Mighty One” are mine and I wouldn’t say they are antichrist-related! Takes too much time to tell the stories inside out. So if we’ll meet someday and you buy me a beer or dozen maybe I’ll tell you what went thru’ my head when writing these!”

The last song on the album is a Savatage-like piano-classic ballad, can you give me a reason why a lot of epic metal bands like classical music?
"T: To get more epic feel? Actually, I don’t know. Classical music was heavy metal of the 15th/18th centuries!
J: I find same kind of all or nothing attitude both in Heavy Metal and in Wagnerian-style classical music. BIG MUSIC.
V: Yes. Again Jussi’s right! Getting smarter day by day …. What can I say, humangous feelings can only be expressed by heavy metal or in classical music and it’s just fun to combine these two elements.”

Explain the name Spiritus Mortis? Do you agree it suits a power epic doom band?
"T: At first we were known as Rigor Mortis. But in USA there was also a band with that name so someone got us mixed up. So we had to change our name. Spiritus Mortis can be freely translated as ‘spirit of death’.
V: Yes, I have heard often that people like the name! I guess it’s a good name for us and it gives straight away a hint what kinda music we play.

What is the benefit of having a label behind you? Was it easy to find one and why Rage of Achilles?
"T: They have a hell of a lot better contacts to outside the world, so the promotion is better.
V: Promoting is the key thing here. RofA was easy for us to find because they contacted us! When we had two offers in our hands, then it was easy to choose for the English label RofA. I don’t want to go into details but RofA-paper was better!”

Which were the bands that influence you the most? What are the bands you enjoy nowadays?
"T: Influenced by Celtic Frost, Venom and Black Sabbath. Nowadays I listen to music ranging from HardRock through Thrash metal to HC-punk so I cannot give any exact band. As long the music is good I like it…
V: “Personally speaking: Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Doors, Motörhead …. I still listen to these bands nowadays. Couple of new bands that I listen are Reverend Bizarre, While Heaven Wept …. Not so much trendy shit like Limb Bishit or what the fuck was it … hah hah ha ha …”.

You know the line “death to false metal”? What is false metal in your eyes?
"T: To me false means “not doing what you like”. In life you got to do sometimes some things you don’t like too. For keeping a balance, I try to play the music I like.
V: Basically, I don’t give a shit what others do and play but some of those ‘shield, sword, knights’-power metal bands really suck! I just can’t figure it out how that kinda music which smells like a dentists’ waiting room has anything to do with good old sword of steel! Makes me laugh only …”

What are the immediate plans for Spiritus Mortis? Do you already have a tour in preparation?
"T: Live through Finnish cold and dark winter and have some pussy. Hopefully some gigs to bigger and better places.
J: No panic. We don’t have to hurry. Ask after another seventeen years.
V: Doom Shall Rise II is the main goal right now. We will show that first of all SM is definitely a live band! Hopefully we ain’t too loaded …. Have to have some festival gigs for the summer also. Also Friends of Hell II tour with Reverend Bizarre and Minotauri must be done! And in January 2005 SM hits the studio…”

Is there an active Finnish metal scene? Can you name some bands that you think could rise out of anonymity?
"T: What metal scene? Back then Finnish metal scene was laughed at. But now some best-selling Finnish artists are Heavy Metal bands. Some bands that are worth of mentioning are our comrades-in-arms Reverend Bizarre and Minotauri.”
V: Yes, nowadays bands rises like never before here in Finland. It’s a good thing! Hopefully our friends from the same rehearsal cave, band called Masquerage gets a chance to show what they are like! Really talented players in vein of Running Wild and Helloween.”

So how heavily are you into Finnish culture, religion and mythology?
"T: Blood, guts and beer. That’s it.”
J: Things like that doesn’t influence my music directly but off course things like that has given marks in my view of world.
V: Yeah, nothin’ further to add!"

I have already taken much of your time. Anything else you want to add to the above?
"T: Hopefully we get a chance to play in Belgium in future and see all you metal maniacs there. At the meantime buy our record J.
V: Yes! Make us rich and famous, we already are bold and beautiful …. Hahah ahha …. Cheers Belgium, see ya in future!”


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After expressing some concern that Hot Summer Of Love might have taken the head clean off my shoulders you must be delighted (or perhaps disappointed?) that I have returned in one piece. With no further ado, salutations and welcome, Vesa, to Abandon All Hope. Is life treating you kindly?

Thanks Danny! Yeah, life's a bitch and then you die. Seriously, things are going just fine right now. Things with SM are finally going the way I have hoped so long and I have beer enough here in SM rehearsal cave where I'm doing this!

Hot Summer Of Love is the latest addition to the Spiritus Mortis discography. As it stands, it is essentially another demo but with nine songs and good ones at that. Are you satisfied with the results? Do you feel that this recording cements the working chemistry within the band?

Well, I have to say that I've been amazed how good feedback we've received about HOT! It was never meant to be "demo" at all, just a kinda notebook markings for SM use only. Songs are pretty good, I must admit, although production ain't super. HOT was recorded at our SM caves computer system, not real studio conditions at all. Asking about chemistry I guess this is the place for some announce: Veli-Matti Yli-Mäyry decided to quit SM due to some differences in musical interest and due to other commitments. He certainly played in debut albums recordings. We have now new guy on drums, Jarkko Seppälä. No bitter feelings shown during HOT sessions and so on all was just fine but Vellu made his own decision and we have to respect that. He was superb drummer for us but now we have even better. h ooh he ho ho oho I hope Vellu reads this some day! Hail Vellu and thanks for 2 and half years of your commitment!

Please explain how the unusual choice of title, the artwork that features a rather unfriendly looking tank and the songs all come together. The combination strikes me as contradictory rather than complimentary. Is there any correlation the listener should be aware of?

. Ha hhh hha hahh hahahhah h.. .You are definitely not the first who asks about title and cover! Bullseye for us! Well, you know, SM sound can be described pretty well with Königstiger tank .. heavy, noisy, slow . Did I say heavy already? Title makes nice contradiction with cover indeed! Only pervert mind thinks that the days when you need a tank , that the days are from Hot Summer of Love! This brilliant idea came from bros Maijala, not from me like they always tend to say, god dammit! Idea for the intro came from bros too. It's from some Finnish movie and roughly translated to english it means: " When you are beating me up, does it bother you if I'm masturbating?" and people usually thinks I'm crazy!!!!

Do you think we will bear witness to another petty war in the summer of 2003?

I guess we are, too much wielding the sword already, no turning back anymore.

In the past, you have been likened to Finland's equivalent to Ronnie James Dio era Black Sabbath. However, in some respects you may have smashed this charge with arguably your most varied demo yet. CD closer, The Mighty One could very well be the glorious sister hymn to Manowar's Heart Of Steel and then there is an interesting rendition of Trouble's The End Of My Daze. It seems that you are spreading your wings. Any comments?

I don't know. Certainly, after I came into band, much more versatile songs has been made but I see that as a normal development, not planned thing at all. In my opinion, that's SM's strong point! At least, if you compare SM to doom-metal bands in general. Gives us listeners from metal genre in general, I mean. As you mentioned Mighty One, it was actually my ego trip song but in some point it turned out to be SM track. We have recorded it also for debut album but we'll see if it's gonna end up in it. The end of my daze was made for Trouble Heaven online tribute, www.Trouble.de , if I remember it right! Very good boogie for SM!

I think you have chosen some interesting titles for songs. I wonder, how important the lyrics are to the overall Spiritus Mortis experience?

Lyrics ain't the most important thing in SM's way to make music but the way I perform them should give the necessary feel to the songs. Sometimes I got it and sometimes I'm close ha hah ha.. Of course lyrics have to have some meaning for me but don't waste your time searching for an answer to what is the meaning of life from SM lyrics!

Please share some insights into what was going through your mind when you penned the following:

- Leave Me, Glory of dying in the battlefield! Not much more I can say about this one.. warrior's dying and he hopes to meet his maker.
- Killing Machine, This is about when you hurt somebody and afterwards feel like a real criminal. Exaggerate the things you've done I guess you have had some bad hangovers too? ha hha ha . I'm sure of it, you are Irish!
- Vow To The Sun, This idea came directly from movie " A man called horse", old western from 70'. I recall that leading roles Richard Harris was an Irishman ?.. Anyway, I had to stop watching the film and just took the pen in my hand and wrote this song. Find out more from that ritual yourself! Sioux warriors were real warriors!
- Death walking, Warrior stuff also! In "Leave me" guy wishes to meet his maker, in this one he is caught in the middle and stays here as a walking death. Believe or not, this one has also personal explanation but it's far too long story to tell!

No doubt you are pushing for an album deal after fifteen years of existence and if ever you deserved it, it is now. Please tell us how agonisingly close you have come to this end only to be piped at the post by our very own Mourning Beloveth. If not Aftermath what label would you be happy to work with? I believe there are four interested parties!

.. ha hah ha hh.. Yeah, I don't know exactly how close we were to sign Aftermath but still Mr. Holm is interested about SM stuff! We are so in the middle of things right now that I don't feel too comfortable to discuss about any names of labels. That much I say that Firebox Records has offered us a deal but we are waiting for offers from some other labels too. In few weeks I can reveal label and release date.

Spiritus Mortis has taken advantage of past opportunities provided to them by compilations such as with Psychedelic Fanzine and the pending At The Mountains of Madness Volume II. Have you any plans to participate in any split 7" series, such as with Metal Coven, like country mates Reverend Bizarre, Minotauri and Heathen Hoof to bandy about your name?

Some unofficial discussions have been with RB's Albert to do a split but our first priority right now is to finish this SM debut thing. Still you'll never know what will happen in the future.

Do you value vinyl? Has it a place in Heavy Metal today?

Personally, I value vinyl high. I have about 500 lp's and I will never trade them to cds! Of course cds are much more easier to handle and cheaper to post to some mags and so on .. .h e heh . I'm not sure but I think all Motörhead albums has been released as vinyl too, so vinyl have it's place in Heavy Metal still!

Has the band had much experience of touring and playing live? Having spoken to both Ari and Albert I imagine that the Friends Of Hell Tour would have been one of the more colourful journeys on the road from your recent past. Please share some thoughts on it with us.

Well.. SM has been around for 15 years so some gigs has been made! Yeah, FOH gigs were great! It was very nice to finally meet guys of Reverend Bizarre and Minotauri. Thay were all crazy! The first gig in Turku was a kinda gathering magical event. Of course it was raining. We all felt like doing some real history of metal here in Finland! Hopefully the same bunch someday storms to Europe like northern warriors did few hundred years ago. Nicest thing I recall from FOH gigs is when we played near to SM hometown and RB guys were sleeping over in my penthouse. Friend of mine, who actually sang some backvox in SM debut, and I were bit loaded and we would not let RB guys sleep at all before they had to go to train station early in the morning I have got some criticism about that stunt later!

Whilst you were not on the bill for Doom Shall Rise had you been approached to play the festival? Do you see a potential place for Spiritus Mortis in such future events?

No one ever asked SM to play in DSR-festival. Certainly we would have taken that gig! Maybe next time. SM is at their best when we play live. You have to see us sometime!

Speaking as a music fan are there any bands you would travel across countries just to see them playing live? Only last year I travelled from Belfast in Northern Ireland to Monza in Italy to witness the mighty Manowar at the Gods Of Metal. And let me tell you, it was worth every effort!

Certainly if I would have money enough I would travel across countries to see band like Manowar! Actually I have seen them once where it was? . Damned in Turku with Motörhead and Dio! Nice evening it was! I have been privileged to see Black Sabbath 3 times live already but I hope to see them again and again and again.

Have you any regrets as a band? Has being a musician had any negative impact on your life?

SM should have been more active in a field of promoting long before I came in band! But what the hell.. debut is coming out and nobody or nothing can stop SM anymore! Only negative impact on my life as being musician is that I'm always broke! Like Lemmy says: . "I'm so bad baby I don't care!" Playing keeps me sane and that's it! Gives more that it takes!

In an effort to get further inside your head you must endure this trial by fire!
- Are you the hunter or the hunted? It depends if I'm on my paranoid mood or not! Both I say..
- Are you an optimist or a pessimist? When I'm optimist it turns to pessimism in next 5 minutes and vice verca.
- How would you like to spend your last hours on this godforsaken planet? Dancing cheek to cheek with Britney Spears! Song would be Black Sabbath's Black Sabbath. Suddenly the moon explodes and that's it..
- Is there life beyond the grave? Haven't seen yet.. There must be something
- If you could bring one little something with you what would it be and why? Case of beer, just for in case.. he eh hheh hehh heh ho ..

Mortality aside, I think there is plenty of life in this old dog yet. Thank you for sharing some of your valuable time. Please close with your predictions on twisting and turning fate that is Spiritus Mortis. Good luck! Just wait a while for Spiritus Mortis debut album Soon the day will come!

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1. Who Are You?

Don't ya know? We are Spiritus Mortis! The band was formed in the end of 1988, if guys remember it right! We were the first band in Finland to be called as a doom act. Founding members were TM - bass,vox , Jussi - guitar and VP - drums. The early SM lineup gained cult following by good reviews of demos and helluva lot of gigs. Realfurious ones! When nothing really happened with the band and studies, "real jobs", army services and so on came into picture SM laid low in late '90's. I came in picture around 2000, I recall, and present drummer Veli-Matti joined SM in late 2000.

2. What about your music?

In the early days SM sounded a bit like Celtic Frost meets Venom. Or something like that. I got to say that Black Sabbath has been always one of the biggest influences to the band. Gods! But SM always sounds like SM! The best way to describe SM music is to picture in your head herd of rhinos running towards you. Of course you stay frozen and can't run away! Heavy!

3. What are your current activities and plans?

We have been doing some promotion for about two years now with Demo 2000 and Forward to the Battle demos. Lot of reviews around the world and pretty good ones I must say! Also couple dozens of record labelshas got SM demos. We have got an offer from some Finnish label and several foreign labels has been interested in us but we'll see whatwill happen....... If we won't get decent deal this autumn, we'll make new demo for sure and do same helluva "mailman operation" as with Demo 2000 and Forward. I'm sure the world will hear about us in future in one way or another! At least when we play live somewhereand unleash the hell in SM way...........


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Spiritus Mortis
by Chris Barnes


Finland's Spiritus Mortis make their brand of dark, NWOBHM-tinged Doom Metal the old fashioned way - with sweat, talent and passion. Both their Demo 2000 and Forward to the Battle demos are a pleasure to listen to... heavy, epic in scale and, as singer Vesa Lampi likes to say "...like a charging herd of rhinos...". Some savvy metal label has got to sign these guys. Hell, if I had the bread, I do it myself! Guitarist Jussi Maijala and singer Vesa Lampi talk about the band's history, their recordings and what they think of the current state of heavy music.


Hellride Music: Spiritus Mortis has the distinction of being the first Doom act ever in Finland, with it's roots going all the way back to 1988. Give us a rundown on the history of the band. I know there were other singers before Vesa joined in 2000.

Vesa Lampi: Spiritus Mortis was formed in the end of 1988. We were the first band in Finland to be called as a doom act. Founding members were TM, Jussi and VP. Totally different and unheard in Finland. The early SM lineup gained cult following by good reviews of demos and helluva lot of gigs. When nothing really happened with the band and studies, "real jobs", army services and so on came into picture SM laid low in late '90's. I came in picture around 2000, I recall.

Somewhere in the end of 2000 Veli-Matti joined SM... rest is history .. ha ha ha . Yes, TM formerly sang in SM and what can I say.. he sounded like his bass! And then there were singer called Tomi Murtomäki. Very good and talented vocalist indeed! He's style is more or less like D.Coverdales and I guess it wasn't satisfactory to all. Maybe he was a bit too shy on stage also... at least if you compare it to my chaos act! ..ha hah ha..


Hellride Music: The band has recorded many demos between 1990 and 2002. Looking back on the early years, how would you say the music is evolved? How would you describe the bands sound back in 1988 and how it sounds in 2002?

Jussi Maijala: Always heavy and slow, earlier we sounded more like slow Celtic frost or Venom. Now Spiritus Mortis sounds like Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger II Ausf. B "Königstiger" - tank with 88-mm cannon, heavy and destroying everything who dare to resist.. well .. little bit megalomania makes your life more interesting. Sometimes our tank sounds like its another track is broken.

Vesa: Well... as I have been close to SM through all it's history I can say that the basic SM sound has not changed a lot. We still play many songs from late '80s and the only change is that the soundwall is even bigger than years ago! Like very fat rhino running or herd of rhinos, depending which song we play! Of course the band itself has become better and better. Even technically! At least the last 2 years ,or so, with Veli-Matti on drums has been great time of development for SM. Still basically I can say that the world changes, SM won't! And we are proud of it! Someone could say that no progress but we do exactly what we want and we don't run after always coming and going trends! It's very sad to see bands that do it... No soul...


Hellride Music: I hear a noticeable difference in approach between Demo 2000 and Forward to the Battle. Demo 2000 seems to be more reminiscent of Trouble meeting epic Dio-era Sabbath, while Forward to the Battle has a NWOBHM feel along with it's darkness. What led to the different approaches between the two albums?

Jussi: More songwriters, Vesa makes some good songs too and make our music more versatile. Darkness is always with us.

Vesa: I've heard that one before! Demo 2000's songs are very old, kinda basement of SM, if you see what I mean? Veli-Matti joined SM couple months before Forward's recordings took place and that's for sure one reason. We made half of Forward's... songs while kinda adjusting V-M to SM. He brought us "old guys" also so much fresh ideas that Forward's... songs turned out to be the way they are! Even the double bass drum part in one song!! As a very talented musician and technical drummer he gives us much more possibilities to compose songs than days before. There are also my songwriting and that also makes Forward... maybe little different than Demo 2000, for sure. Another thing is that if we would have done Forward... in the same studio than Demo 2000 it would be much closer to Demo 2000, I'm sure of it! Good thing is that both demos have got great reviews around the world. That's nice!



Hellride Music: Where were the two demos recorded and who did the production and mixing duties? Did the sessions go relatively easy?

Jussi: We recorded Demo 2000 in PopArtikkeli-studio in our hometown, Alavus. Everybody did they heavy duty and told their own opinions. We have played those songs so long that sessions were quite easy. The wizard behind the soundworld was M. Ketola.

Vesa: I had been in SM for only couple of months before going to studio and I rehearsed songs by 4 tracker from old demos, also other songs too, removed former vox tracks and so on. You know, standing alone in rehearsal room and shout the lungs out! Actually I do that often nowadays before gigs. We had only one training session with whole band before going to studio, I recall... The playing went easy because guys had played those tracks a couple hundred times. My part was easy too, actually I was surprised how it turned out! Actually the first song "All the Words Were Spoken" is the only vocal track I've ever done in studio which I've been completely satisfied afterwards ... Did I really say that?!?! Completely.. I don't know, but close anyway! Forward... was recorded by ourselves with our own computer recording system. That's why Forward... is, soundwise speaking, from another planet comparing to Demo 2000. Not bad but too weak I think. Tempo's in some of the tracks are too high.. I guess we were too excited about new drummer who could really play! No problems while recording, anyway!


Hellride Music: Let's talk about the songwriting in Spiritus Mortis for a bit. Can you give us a general description on how the songs evolve? What serves as inspiration both lyrically and musically?

Jussi: I play guitar, play more guitar and try to make guitar riffs with ones I want to play myself. Not too complicated ones because I just don't want to play such kind of riffs, usually they are too artistic so I don't enjoy playing them and I think that crowd won't like them either, people don't catch them, they can't remember those riffs, can't sing with them in the shower or dance to them in the car. Do your Jazz Odyssey at home, don't tease people. After the creation of riffs, I introduce them to the boys, usually if they start to jam with me, the riff is good enough for us. Usually TM and Vesa make most of the arrangements. Our goal is that the song goes like a freight train!

Vesa: I have never thought about myself being real musician. I can't read notes and stuff. For me songwriting is strongly connected to feelings, emotions. If something goes badly wrong or I'm just pissed off then it's right time for me to pick up guitar and have my revenge on society! The grim world flows to the guitar and unleashes hell. I might say, no 9 - 17 office kinda "musician" at all! About the whole process I can say that all the riffs or whole songs someone introduces to rest of the band goes through the ' SM grinder and it turns out to be SM song! We play and play until it sounds like a rhino running... Inspirations to lyrics comes from daily life's shit which always comes ahead and movies are another good source for me. The other side and, you know, everyone has a darkside in their minds so .. that's very interesting.. SM can't sing about " boy meets girl under the moonlight..." ..well ... if the moon suddenly explodes then it's more SM!



Hellride Music: Vesa, you have a tremendous voice, I'm sure you've heard that before. It has a "Classic" feel to it. Who do you consider inspirations vocally?

Vesa: Thanks Chris! You know, I keep hearing that day after day.. Hah ha ha .. Seriously speaking my style might be slightly different comparing to bands nowadays. I mean those growlers in black metal and so on bands and those M. Kiske clones. I have always thought myself being a blues/rock singer and that's my strong part, I guess. I always try to include some theatrical feel to vox lines. I don't do vocals, even in studio, strickly keeping in mind was it excactly the right note but if it sounds good and has a right feel to it then it's good! My all time favorites are I.Gillan, R.J.Dio and J.Morrison... well I have to add that everybody doesn't like me!


Hellride Music: On that same subject, how do you feel about so many of the bands in metal today using the "cookie monster" vocals? Do you feel they are in danger of sounding all the same and thus becoming interchangable?

Jussi: If I want a sound of rottweiler, I buy a dog.

Vesa: Cookie monsters indeed! Everyone has right to do whatever they like but I don't like that style. Yes, they really sounds the same, song after song! Band after band! I believe that they try to sound dangerous and threatning and so on but , sorry guys, I'm not afraid! Ha hah .. They make me laugh every now and then. But as I said, do what you want, main thing is to make music from your heart.



Hellride Music: Who do V-P and Jussi consider as inspirations for their approach to guitar playing?

Jussi: I stopped listening music 1995 so I don't know or play fashion stuff. I'm doing my own shit, which sounds good to me. Inspirations? Remember that Königstiger.'eh?

Vesa: VP has blown his head off with such heavy stuff like Beatles, ELP... well of course I've seen Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin CDs in his hands..
I'm glad you didn't ask what Veli-Matti listens!



Hellride Music: How do you guys feel about the Doom scene worldwide? Who do you currently admire out there? Also, give us your feelings on your Doomed countrymen, Skepticism, Reverend Bizarre and Minotauri.

Vesa: In generally speaking I think doom scene is very honest and creative Worldwide. Just think about those mainstream bands and that bullshit what they make just for money! And one after one there comes worst and worst clones .. Good business for labels! So little to do with music alone. I haven't heard Skepticism's music at all, I'm sorry to say! I must check it out some day. You know, we have done "The Friends of Hell Tour" with Reverend Bizarre and Minotauri and we had some good times... I can't remember for sure but I've been told so! Ha ha ha.. What can I say about them . crazy muthas.. Reverend Bizarre is the doooooom act! God damned, once I thought SM would be the slowest playing band in Finland but then I heard RB and after that SM songs felt like speed metal. They have that kinda dedication to the doom scene that it must be admired. Everyone who thinks, for example that Stratovarius is heavy metal, should listen RB's debut! That's HEAVY.


Hellride Music: I never hear about the females of Finland. No one ever says, "Oh, Finnish chick are the hottest!!". Once and for all, give us your feelings on Finnish chicks. Hot or not?

Jussi: Königstiger is more beautiful. No, just more bad humor.. Northern beauties are the best. Gentlemen prefer blondes!

Vesa: Don't you know why Finnish chicks ain't the hottest? Well .. Because here in Finland is always so cold! Hahh ha . more bad humor! Well .. They have some hot parts.. organs.. and . you know . . the fireplace where to throw a log... in Winter when it's cold.. outside I mean... How bad humor can be?


Hellride Music: How will Spiritus Mortis finish up 2002 and what are your plans for next year?

Jussi: Conquer Mars before Russians do it. Well, I think that we play more heavy metal. I mean we do not have so clear plans what to do, to me rock `n` roll is for fun, not planned by Soviet-style 5-years plan.
Vesa: Some festival gigs on summer but the calendar is empty after those ones. Gotta get some more! We have connections to some Finnish record labels but we'll see what will happen . debut CD maybe. Also a couple of foreign labels have shown some interest but we'll wait and see, I'll let you know what happens! If we don't get a decent deal this year we'll certainly go to studio and make some earthshaking new demo!


Hellride Music: Thanks for the interview!! Any words you'd like to leave us with?

Jussi: Vorwärts, Panzers!

Vesa: Jussi are you drunk again?... World changes, Spiritus Mortis won't!


Read the Hellride Music reviews of Forward to the Battle and Demo 2000

Purchase Forward to the Battle or Demo 2000 at the Hellride Music Super
Store

Listen to a Real Audio sample of All the Words Were Spoken

Visit the Spiritus Mortis website at www.metalprovider.com/spiritusmortis


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