IMPALED NAZARENE Interview

Killing all that stand in their path and taking no fucking prisoners along the way, Finland's Impaled Nazarene enjoys a great deal of experience in annihilating listeners in the concert arena. Overpowering, raw sonic destruction is what fans will discover on the group's latest Death Comes In 26 Carefully Selected Pieces, a recording that will literally blow you away. Recorded at the Tavastia Club in Helsinki, DCI26CSP is nothing less than a full fledged Panzer assault of pure nihilistic hatred, including all of the band's most popular and greatest anthems of abhorrence. Mika Luttinen plows his fully loaded Satanic death tank into The Gauntlet to talk about the new record and what the future holds for Impaled Nazarene.



The Gauntlet: The message of Impaled Nazarene has always remained extremely nihilistic. Why do you choose to structure your music around such themes?

Mika Luttinen: Because there is no hope, no light at the end of a tunnel. All the shit builds inside and this is where I let it all out. I am cynical and I am a nihilist. I question things; I question people and their actions. It is very consuming mentally, you feel so fucking drained. It makes more sense to me to sing and write about death, decay, destruction, people falling apart instead of trying to paint a picture of the world that does not fucking exist.


The Gauntlet: What inspired the cover art of the new live album, "Death Comes In 26 Carefully Selected Pieces?"

Mika Luttinen: A friend of ours, Ritual, sent the cover as an example of what he had done lately. Ritual has been our t-shirt and album cover design for some time. When our bass player Arcv666 saw it, he said to me immediately "That's it; this has to be our live album cover." It made suddenly perfect sense. Our soundman Tapio Pennanen has said lots of times that we are like a tank rolling over the audience. According to him, we are a huge wall of noise that just takes no prisoners.


The Gauntlet: Which moments throughout the new live record do you feel stand out the most?

Mika Luttinen: The album as a whole. Check out www.impnaz.com and biography from there for a full story how bloody hard this album was to get done. It seemed this album was cursed from the very beginning. I wanted us to do an album like Sodom's "Mortal Way Of Live" is. Raw, brutal yet with a good sound and without studio overdubs. And we bloody did it. It was recorded in front of 200 plus people. We fucking kicked ass. You can spot mistakes, microphone feedback, shit that happens during a live show. This is Impaled Nazarene live record; it would have been ridiculous to correct mistakes later in studio. The only thing we really did, we cut out most of the talking between the tracks as who the fuck wants to listen to Finnish bullshit.


The Gauntlet: Why did you decide to produce a live album at this point in your career?

Mika Luttinen: I wanted to have big enough back catalogue before doing it. And I am glad that we waited this long, all the touring we have done has made us bloody tight live band. We realized last year that in 2005 we are celebrating 15 years of Impaled Nazarene. So it was a good timing to do it now. Have something extra out.



The Gauntlet: Was it easy for you to choose which material to include on the live album?

Mika Luttinen: Yes it was. We did not plan any special live album set list, this is basically the "All That You Fear" tour set list we have been playing, plus a couple of Finnish-sang tracks as the gig was in Helsinki, Finland. Two songs did not make it to the final album, "Absence Of War" and "Nyrkill Tapettava Huora". "Absence Of War" just went so badly that it was better to leave it off from the album. "Nyrkill Tapettava Huora" was not played even though it was on the set, as our drummer had a cramp on his right arm and therefore, it was impossible to play it. We did a like, mega-long sound check, basically played the whole set on the sound check as well. And you can hear it on my voice too, I don't usually squeal like a 15 year old punk when I talk between the songs. It does add some character to the album I guess.


The Gauntlet: Do feel that this recording does a good job of conveying the band's live atmosphere?

Mika Luttinen: Yes it does. Of course it is not the same as being there yourself but it gives you a pretty fucking good idea of how we are live.


The Gauntlet: Did you shoot video of the concert that was recorded for the album? If so, are there any plans for a full blown DVD production in the works?

Mika Luttinen: You know what; we just wanted to have an old school live album out. Everybody is doing DVDs and most of them are just low budget crap (I am talking of smaller bands like us). Nice picture quality but awful sound quality, usually taken directly from the mixing desk. We will release a DVD one day but not yet. I wanna do at least two more studio albums before even thinking about a live DVD. And we need to film more extra shit for the DVD, who wants to watch live shit when you can see the madness behind.


The Gauntlet: Do you see the release of the live record as being an opportunity to expand upon the audience of Impaled Nazarene?

Mika Luttinen: One of the reasons why we did this live album, was to have some sort of "best of" record out, especially for the North American market as our back catalogue has not really been available there that well, apart from All That You Fear. I did not want to release just a typical best of record as the production of all our records vary between great and total crap. Live records sell usually less than studio albums, and now with DVDs, so I don't think that this will make us any bigger of a band than we are right now. I hope I am wrong though.



The Gauntlet: Will 2006 finally see the return of Impaled Nazarene upon American shores?

Mika Luttinen: I have my doubts. Lots of people ask about this and unfortunately I have to answer always the following. All the offers we have been getting so far are pay-to-play type. North American promoters expect us to pay our own plane tickets, gear rental, every-bloody-thing. I am sorry but it ain't gonna happen. We have rents to pay, car payments; some of us have families to feed. Things were much easier before 9/11; we could do shows there without bloody work visas. Now they require all that crap. Unless somebody comes up with a serious offer for a tour, Mexico is the nearest place where you can see us if you are living in the USA. We would love to have an extensive North American tour, but it seems to be impossible for a smaller band like us.


The Gauntlet: How satisfied were you with the response to your last studio album "All That You Fear?"

Mika Luttinen: I am satisfied with the album itself, kinda funny question in my opinion. Some people dig it, others think we suck shit. No big deal, we are used to it. Fact is that we have gained lots of new fans with our last two studio albums and any band that has had a long career like us, knows that it is essential to gain new fans as well. Some people get tired of metal (read: wimp out), and leave the scene for whatever reasons. I am happy new generations have found and accepted us.


The Gauntlet: Why have you chosen metal to express your attitudes and religion as opposed to an alternate outlet?

Mika Luttinen: Because suit and tie (politics) does not appeal to me. Because being a Satanic Cult leader seems to get you more into trouble (freaks gather around you) than make you a leader of the free world. Because our porn industry is not international enough (and our female "stars" are 99% fat and ugly). Because none of the whisky distilleries are actually promoting Satan as your personal savior. Therefore metal: free booze, hot chicks, travel around the world for free and do what you love the best, play live the music you grew up with. I have not regretted my choice for a second.


The Gauntlet: Have you started working on the new studio album as of yet? What can fans expect from a new Impaled Nazarene record?

Mika Luttinen: We will start recording our 9th studio album on 14th of November. We will record and mix the album at Sonic Pump studio with our soundman Tapio Pennanen. It is going to be extreme, fast and brutal Impaled Nazarene once again. We are busy writing and rehearsing songs and I am 666% satisfied what we have come up with so far. I cannot wait to get this fucker done and start the on-road-circus again. Tentative street date is late March, early April 2006.


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Tags:  Impaled Nazarene  , Mika Luttinen, interviews

ef    September 15, 2005