E Konny - Sariola
Interview by Erwin van Dijk
Sariola is a German Black / Dark metal band and was founded in somewhere in 2005.
With their current album Sphere
of Thousand Sunsets and their
'debut' in Holland I think it is about time to an interview. This interview is with E Konny, who plays the guitar in Sariola.
You are the guitar player of Sariola.
Who are your favourite guitar players and to what kind of music do you listen yourself?
My favourite guitar player is Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins because of his song-writing qualities and atmosphere he creates by playing guitar. Besides I like very much the style of Ihsahn, Michael Amott, Jeff Waters, Dave Mustaine, James Hetfield, Alexi Laiho. I listen almost every kind of music - The Smashing Pumpkins, The Birthday Massacre, The Gathering, Emperor, Placebo, The Vision Bleak, Morbid Angel, Emilie Autumn, The Kovenant, Melissa Auf Der Maur, Tristania, Dismal Euphony, Imperia, Nocte Obducta, Samael, Die Toten Hosen, After Forever to name a view.
Did you have any bands before Sariola or are you currently in other bands besides Sariola?
Before Sariola I played in a band called Divina Nocturna / Spectra Selene since 1997. Musically seen, this was some kind of a forerunner of SARIOLA. We tried to combine Black Metal with atmospheric music and operatic female vocals. Unfortunately there
are no recordings of the band and due to the line up problems the band was disbanded in 2004. After that I experimented further in that direction with different musicians until I met Anagnorisis and we started SARIOLA.
What do you prefer: Electric or Unplugged?
It’s very hard to say. I regard Electric or Unplugged as a frame of the song. Sometimes the songs “looks” pretty in both of the frames. Sometimes it depends from the setting where the song is played. The right frame in the right setting gives the song optimal appearance.
And what kind of guitar and amplifier do you use onstage?
On stage I usually use two guitars for different tunings. My main guitar is a modified Jackson Randy Rhoads - basically it’s Jackson RR3 with EMG-81 pick up at the bridge and Seymour Duncan SH-8 at the neck. The other guitar is the seven-string Ibanez RG-7321 without modification. Concerning the amplifier, I use simple set-up including
BOSS GT-8- processor in combination with Crate Power Amp Head and Crate-4x12 cabinet.
What makes Sariola unique compared to all those other Metal bands? How would you describe your music?
The main difference is the combination between Black and Death Metal elements like blast beats, with clear female vocals. Also we do not have growls and “extreme vocals" in our songs. On the other hand we have a sort of dreamy atmosphere in a lot of songs. I think this combination makes Sariola unique.
And, what is the meaning of your band’s name?
The name is taken from the Finnish national epic “Kalevala”. It’s a land far in the north. It’s described as dismal and frozen, but also as the source of beauty.
A “German” question: how big is metal really in your country? We foreigners know Germany mostly from all those festivals like Wacken Open Air and this might give some the impression that one out of five Germans is into Metal. Is metal really that big in Germany?
From my point of view, the German audience is separated mainly into two kinds of Metal listeners. Almost everybody, even the people who usually don’t listen to metal listen for example to Metallica, Rammstein or Within Temptation and Nightwish... Those bands are often on TV-rotation. Also you can see advertisements for bands like Dimmu Borgir, Blind Guardian or Hammerfall in the public places, on the streets, in subway. The second type is of Metal-listeners are metallers themselves. They are usually dressed like metalers, they are interested in a lot of metal bands, go to the concerts. They have also bands by themselves, that’s why the undgerground scene in germany is so huge. All in all I would say that your impression is right. I even would say that one of five Germans is into Metal and additional one listen sometimes to Metallica or/and Within Temptation or/and Nightwish.
About your album "Sphere of Thousand Sunsets"
Does the album title have any special meaning?
Yes, it’s a metaphor and is free for everyone to interpret it on his/her own. It can stand
for everybody who feels inside that’s something ended and something new has to begin. And this feeling repeats and repeats a lot of times. So in the end everybody is a
sphere of thousand sunsets… Of course it can be seen deeper or different.
Is there one mastermind behind Sariola’s music or is song writing teamwork?
On the first album there was Anagnorisis and me who wrote the songs, with some exceptions, I wrote the base of the song and Anagnorisis wrote the rest. On the new album, Anagnorisis is also more involved in the basic songwriting. In addition, Morgan Le Fay and Ablaz have written whole parts of some songs for the new album. Loreley’s main task concerning sogwriting is to compose her vocal lines.
Can you tell us something about the songs on the album?
01. FLUVIA TENEBRA
Fluvia is one of the last songs we recorded for this album. It’s an atmospheric mid-tempo song with a lot of breaks. All in all it’s a good introduction for the album and is one of our hits. The live version of this song has almost no changes in compare to the one on the album.
02. DIVINA ASPHODELIA
This song combines black metal riffing with a chorus that rocks. Live we play the main riff with a difference between both guitars which makes it sound more like death metal
03. PALE VIOLET SCALE
An old song written shortly after disbanding of my pervious band. It has a catching combination of mid-tempo riffs between keys and guitars. The middle of the song has very atmospheric part, slow, almost doom-metal like riffing which ends in the live version with surprising blast-beats. It became one of our main hits.
04. MELISSA BY CANDLELIGHT
One of the slowest songs on the album with an impressionistic piano-solo in the
middle of the song. On our live performance, this part is changed by Morgan Le Faye, so the live version is more “danceable” and invitation to waltz.
05. THE SPHERE OF THOUSAND SUNSETS
The fastest song on the album with tones of guitar riffs and a symphonic layers and arrangements driven by blast beats and a lot of double bass. Anagnorisis wrote additional lead guitar riff which is until now played live only. In general, very atmospheric song which represents our blast-metal side. That’s why we plan to make a video for this song.
06. A MADAME LA COMTESSE D'AGOULT
After a fastest song – the slowest one. A Madame is a special song on this album because it’s based on a Waltz by Frederic Chopin. Anagnorisis re-arranged it and composed the additional instrumentation. The result is a song with a floating atmosphere to dream by. Unfortunately, we didn’t play it live until yet.
07. DECEMBRE'S EVE OF SORROW
One of a few songs which basically composed by me on keyboards first instead of the guitar. I especially love the dreamy-melancholic atmosphere in the verse of the song which is created between moony keyboards and cold, harsh guitars.
08. HER FLYING
The very first song we started to record with Sariola, which so to say summarizes what our music is about to the point of recording – blast-beat black metal based music with clear female vocals and a lot of paying attention to atmospheric aspects of our music. Not many bands let their female vocalists sing on blast-beats with clear voice. It’s also maybe the only song on this album with a thrash metal part. It makes a lot of fun to play it live.
09. JULIA
Maybe the most surprising song on this album. Originally it was an atmospheric EBM / Industrial song based on electronic beats which became due to additional guitar riff more to Industrial Metal. A lot of people who usually don’t listen to electronic music at all like that song.
10. HOPE LIES BLEEDING
In the very first version played on acoustic guitar, this song developed a lot until it was ready to appear the album. In course of times there where made a lot of different versions with different vocalists.
11. LENA
The song Lena is a hybrid between goth and black metal base. It has a dark atmosphere intensified by harmonic riffs and a lot of sadness. This song was not often to be found in our live set list until yet.
12. IN STARLIGHT AND IN DUSK
The oldest song on the album, written in 1997. It changed a lot in compare to the first version. This song is saturated by moony melancholy and fades away on lyrical and musical level. So it’s a very good conclusion of the album.
This is your debut album. A second one, From The Dismal Sariola (working title) is in the works according to your bio. What are you going to done different compared to Sphere of Thousand Sunsets?
From The Dismal Sariola is on one hand a typical Sariola album. On the other hand it provides a lot of changes. The main change is that a lot of thongs are written by Anagnorisis from the very the beginning. He wrote a lot of very good material. It’s a pleasure to see how fast and far he has developed his own style of guitar playing. His riffs are more melodic than mine, there will be a lot of great guitar solos. There will be a lot of diverse symphonic moments, layers and arrangements with a wide spectrum of keyboard playing reaching from harmonic-atmospheric to (Neo) Classical and melodic. The other main change is the vocal style which will be unlike the one of Silenia.
The songs themselves are typical Sariola. There will be a lot of fast songs with blast beats, on the other hand we have enough place for slow, atmospheric songs.
The methods and the way of song writing are different now. Sphere of Thousand Sunsets was directly recorded, for the second album we make a demo first. While Sphere was recorded with a band consisting of three musicians, the new album benefits of six musicians who have played as a complete band together for a lot of time. And of course the sound of the recording will be also different. But in general, I think everybody who liked the first album will enjoy the next one as well as we hope to gain new listeners.
And how much does LORELEY differs as singer from former singer SILENIA TYRVENIS?
In the first line Loreley and Silenia are different personalities and interpret the songs differently. Musically seen, Silenia’s voice can be described as soprano and Loreley’s is more in mezzo-soprano and alt.
About the Band:
Can you tell us something about the other members of Sariola?
Band Members:
LORELEY - Winter Scales (vocals in plain English)
The newest member of SARIOLA. She got very quick soon involved in the band
MORGAN LE FAYE - Spectral Shapes And Shades (synth)
Morgan Le Faye is a very creative person with her own view of things and she’s a very good keyboard player who understands and copes with a lot of different playing-styles.
E. KONNY - Asynchron Eternity (guitars)
(Editor's Note: I don't care if it was in the text of the interview, I am NOT just putting a smiley face here.)
ANAGNORISIS - Chemical Engeneering (also guitars)
Anagnorisis is one of the founding members and of main song writers of Sariola. He made Sariola possible. He is a very talented multitask personality. For example on Sphere of Thousand Sunsets he plays every instrument (except guitar parts of mine) and wrote the arrangements. He also has a lot of experience with sound engineering and producing.
ABLAZ - Abysmal Progression (translated from Transylvanian to English: bass)
Is famous for his work as guitar player and model. He has for example his own mode collection. Besides he is a very good person to work with.
MORBID - Blastbeats And Double Bass (drums)
One of the best drummers I ever heard. He is the quietest one of the band. He is very talented and besides drums he also plays guitars and piano
What are Sariola’s ambitions for the future?
We want to go with Sariola as far as possible. But first we’re looking for a better label.
And, the last question, is there anything the reader should know that I have not asked?
If there anything the reader wants to know, there is a possibility to contact us via e-Mail on MySpace. The site is visited by members of Sariola who surely will reply.
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