I At Last: Explosive Metalcore from Finland

Promo Picture by Joanna Suomalainen

I At Last: Explosive Metalcore from Finland

I At Last will present to the world their kaleidoscopic adventures in sound – the Magenta EP – on March 26th via Inverse Records.  From the sweeping hypnotic commencing of opening song Lillian to the fierce refrains of Divine and beyond, the Magenta EP by I At Last is a colorful, multi-layered introduction to a band that genre fans will want to revisit time and again.  Highwire Daze recently interviewed a few members from the I At Last brigade to find out a whole lot more about this dynamic band on the rise. And while we await the release of the Magenta EP, you can check out a video of the first single Wake at the end of the article.

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in I At Last, and how long the band has been together.
Hello! It’s Roope the guitarist, and Henry the vocalist of I AT LAST writing here. The band was formed in early 2018, after one of the founding members of our previous band quit. We all have been playing together since 2012, except for Juha, our second guitarist who joined the band in mid 2018.

Where are you based out of and what is your local music scene like there?
Most of us live in the region of Uusimaa, Finland. Fun fact: Finland is also known as the “heavy metal country” for having over 50 metal bands per 100,000 residents.

How did you wind up signing with Inverse Records?
We released our debut single “Launch Gone Wrong” in November 2019, and soon after that, Joni from Inverse Records contacted us and told how much he liked the song, and asked about our future plans. The timing was pretty much perfect because we already had the song “Mother” recorded at the time, and we were starting to record and finish more songs for the planned debut-EP.

Is there any overall story or concept behind the Magenta EP title?
Our guitarist Juha told us that he’s experiencing some degree of synesthesia, and after hearing the songs, the overall feel and picture of the album turns out to be in the colours of magenta, so we thought it would be cool to name the EP “Magenta“.

Select two songs from the Magenta EP and what inspired the lyrics.
Henry:
Divine and From Within.
Inspiration for Divine was simply the question: what if someone from the far reaches of space was behind our creation? As a movie junky and nerd I love the idea. And it’s up to us to show them that we are worthy of their presence and return. If they even exist anymore.
And the final track of the EP, From Within, is a journey into oneself, or more like my own journey inside my mind and to understand how our built-up emotional locks and uncertainties control us and our ways to act, think and speak.

What has it been like to record and release new music in the middle of a pandemic and so much social unrest in the world?
We had some adversities, for example some of us getting sick or being quarantined while recording, which delayed the release, because the top priority is to keep everyone safe and to not take any risks. Most of the parts we managed to record separately at our homes.

What is a live I At Last show like, and have you been able to play at all during the pandemic?
The best word to describe it might be energetic. We had to postpone almost every one of our planned shows because of the current situation, but when there was a safer period in Finland, we played in the Finnish semifinals of the international Emergenza Festival band competition, and managed to grab a spot in the Finnish finals, which will be held at one of the biggest venues in Helsinki.

If I At Last could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
Roope:
All of us have a wide and different music tastes, so there would be multiple answers, but if the choice was mine, I’d say Architects. The new singles they’ve been dropping from the new album are such bangers!

Are you involved with any other bands or projects?
Our bass player Roberto plays in a folk/black metal band ‘Marrasmieli‘, who released their debut album last year. Also, Juha has a duo-project called “Ajatuska”, that will be announced later this February, in which he is the lead singer and second songwriter.

What do you hope 2021 brings for you and I At Last?
We hope the current situation will get better soon, so that we would be able to play more live shows. Also some sort of management deals for future live shows/touring or recording deals for future releases (which we are currently writing) would all be welcome additions!

Any final words of wisdom?
Every single stream/like/follow/share means a lot for small bands like us, so keep on supporting your local bands and stay safe!

Line-up:
Henry Manninen – Vocals
Roope Lappalainen – Guitar
Juha Rantala – Guitar
Roberto Rivera Pöyhönen – Bass
Niko Haavisto – Drums

(Interview by Ken Morton_

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/iatlastband
https://www.instagram.com/iatlastband
https://spoti.fi/2KLnLtz
https://iatlast.bandcamp.com