The Metal Wrath of Babylonfall

The Metal Wrath of Babylonfall

Babylonfall is a melodic death metal group from Finland ready to bring their intensive music to a worldwide audience.  Collapse is the name of their latest magnum opus of pure sonic devastation, now available from Inverse Records.  Highwire Daze recently interviewed two members of the Babylon Fall brigade to find out more about the making of their absolutely mesmerizing album, releasing new music in the middle of a pandemic, favorite science fiction movies, and other topics of auditory wrath and intrigue…

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Babylonfall, and how long the band has been together.
Okko: I am Okko Solanterä, and I’m the lead vocalist.

Ossi: I’m Ossi Viren, I play guitar and do some backing vocals live. Babylonfall was formed in 2016.

Where is the band based out of and what is the local music scene like there?
Okko: We are based in Kouvola, Finland. I think that the most known local bands that come from Kouvola are To/Die/For and Peer Günt. Many smaller bands as well, Mostly rock and metal I think.

How did you wind up signing with Inverse Records?
Ossi: We sent one song to them by email, and like 5 minutes later they replied and said YES. We also had discussions with few other labels outside of Finland, but they just went nowhere. The fact that we share the same language and we’re free to do whatever we want, is what convinced us to go with Inverse. And, they have been great!

Is there any overall story or concept behind the Collapse title?
Okko: Storywise, no. There is the concept of collapsing, yes. Many songs talk about collapsing on different levels, both personal and societal.

Select two songs from Collapse and what inspired the lyrics.
Okko: The first pick would be ‘WRATH‘, which is purely about how I hate a person whom I will never name to anyone.
The second pick is ‘Distant Call Of Innocence‘, and that song deals with my depression that I thankfully overcame a few years ago. I was in a dark place and that was my outing.

Who did the cover art for Collapse and how much input did you have on it?
Ossi: Cover art was done by Finnish artist Petri Lampela. We had an idea for the album and single covers, and Petri basically did what we asked of him. Plus he made our ideas even better. I think the album cover looks like what the album sounds like. Kudos to Mr. Lampela.

What has it been like to release a new album right in the middle of a pandemic? Have you had any shows or tours cancelled because of it?
Ossi: The title “Collapse” seems eerily fitting for these strange times, but I’m so happy that we finally get to release our debut album. Our album release show at our hometown Kouvola was postponed though, which is a HUGE bummer. Some gigs for the summer and fall were on the works but we don’t know what will happen to them. We’ll see.

What could one expect from a live Babylonfall show?
Ossi: Raw live show, no metronomes or backing tracks. The tempos can change a bit, but we compensate it with volume. Hopefully lots of screaming and headbanging in the audience.

Okko: Simply put; a damn good metal show

If Babylonfall could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
Ossi: Pantera, because they were more than a band. They were a force of nature.

Okko: I want to say Lamb of God, because they are kinda the modern-day Pantera and a big influence as well.

Since some of your lyrics deal in science fiction themes, what is your favorite sci-fi movie and why?
Ossi: ‘ALIENS‘ by James Cameron. It is just the ultimate 80’s sci-fi/action/horror movie with great characters and memorable quotes.

Okko: ‘THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK‘. The best ‘Star Wars‘ film, and no one can tell me otherwise. It also includes possibly the most misquoted line in movie history.

Are you involved with any other bands or projects outside of Babylonfall?
Ossi: Nope.

Okko: I do vocals in Horizon Ignited, another melodeath group.

What’s up next for Babylonfall?
Okko: Gigs, hopefully as soon as possible. After that, new songs and new gigs maybe? We’ll see what the future will bring us.

Any final words of wisdom?
Okko: Stay safe, stay home and wash your damn hands! Also, listen to our songs!

Line-up:
Okko Solanterä (Vocals)
Esa Viren (Guitar)
Ossi Viren (Guitar)
Matti Huopainen (Bass)
Mikko Huopainen (Drums)

(Interview by Ken Morton)

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/babylonfallband
https://www.instagram.com/babylonfall
http://www.babylonfall.fi
https://babylonfall.bandcamp.com