Reign Over Obscurity

 Terve,

Kiitos for letting us interview you. Let's begin with discovering a bit more about the band. How did everything start? What's the story of the band?

[JAAKKO] Ole hyvä (you are welcome).

 

[ROO] Thank you. The birth of a band is always a long story. We started as RooBand in 2010 (instrumental Rock trio) and gradually moved to heavier material until the opportunity to have a vocalist came.

 

[JAAKKO] We decided that a band with singer would find us a wider audience. Basically what we did was to find a singer and work on that. The four or us had played together for over three years and Elias has been with us for almost a year now.

 

Where does your name come from ? Is it wanted that the initial of it gives the word « ROO » ?

 

[JAAKKO] Yes, I came up with the name and maybe my mind played tricks and the initials spelled ROO. The name draws from the idea from us not being pulled under the blanket of nothingness.

 

[ROO] Jaakko suggested to form something out of ROO. Today i think it was somehow an unnecessary wink to RooBand or we could have picked something shorter at least[laughs]. Finding a band name is very difficult. I spent hours on bands names generators sites and eventually nothing came out so starting with three letters helped... I like very much Reign Over Obscurity, but i think it´s me who found it [laughs] hope you like it too!

On the 30th of March, your first album called "Time Distortion" got released. Tell us more about it. What was atmosphere you wanted to give on it ?

 

[JAAKKO] We wanted to provide melodic and not-so-obvious songs and song structures and at the same time incorporate some technical prowess in terms of solos and time signature changes. The music itself draws from sci-fi and 80's metal. The moods vary from song to song but overall the goal was to provide some food for thought.

 

[ROO] I believe the atmosphere on this very album is more the result of the many things that evolved during its making than a definite original plan. I remember i wanted aggressive guitars with some melodic parts in it and a lot of odds riffs without over lasting guitar solos. No or very few keyboards. In RooBand, the music is somewhat happy and a bit unpredictable.

I knew i could´t do that with progressive rock and metal so obviously the atmosphere is darker but the songs had to be short and get listeners to the point.

 

Are there any particular things that influence your music ?

 

[JAAKKO] Other players and great bands of course. Besides that I read a lot and watch movies, not any particular genres, mostly sci-fi but everything great goes. Usually my best ideas arise during some other activities such as jogging or taking a sauna.

 

[ROO] I like in particular the poetry of an abandoned earth, cities in decay, vanished civilizations. I like history and science fiction. This is what Reign Over Obscurity´s music is about.

 

From where do you take your inspiration (for your music and lyrics)?

 

[ROO] I´m very interested in metaphysics, underground sciences, legends, the unexplained things about human kind and it´s condition in general.

I find the moon and its mysteries fascinating. It inspired me the song “Hollow Moon”,

As previously mentioned, i like the visuals of worlds in decay, this inspired me the song “Empire Of Dust”. I like also writers such as E.A Poe and Nostradamus.

 

[JAAKKO] Lately I have been reading a lot about modern science such as quantum mechanics and evolution theory.

 

One of your influences is Dream Theater but the album doesn't contain any epic songs. Was it a way to stay accessible for a wider audience or just that you didn't feel ready for it yet ?

 

[ROO] Well, we didn´t claimed DT influences our music but some people did the comparison. It is not up to us to say who we sound like, you are the judge. On the other hand, we can´t say: “We sound like nothing you´ve heard before” [laughs], we have to give some references even if their influence doesn’t sound overwhelming.

To answer your question, yes we want to connect and share emotions with the audience, not to turn them off with dramatic, heroic, over lasting guitar-keyboards solo trades etc…

 

[JAAKKO] A 30 minute long epic song has to be extremely good in order to justify its existence. As I have grown older, it seems that the compactness of the song is maybe even harder to achieve than just let the song float with endless solos and part changes. But having said that, I really love long progressive songs such as Rush's Hemispheres or Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells. I think we'll see about that. Ultimately an album could have ten four minut songs and one long epic composition, just sayin...

 

You had to prepare the songs depending of another vocalist who had a total other way of singing. If they had to be done depending of your actual vocalist, how do you think they would have changed ?

 

[JAAKKO] Originally the vocals were only deep grunts and growls and after the change Elias was able to provide more melodic approach to the songs. But as the songs were already recorded the change was not easy to make but I think we more or less nailed it. Of course you will have second thoughts, but that the way it is [laughs].

 

[ROO] Elias would have been here since the beginning, the songs would have been more vocals oriented and a bit more melodic. A track like Inner Strength would not have been chosen to featured on the album. Ironically, it is precisely that track that triggered the whole vocalist idea.

 

Your vocalist can sing as much clear then with raspy vocals, do you plan to use more this type of way to sing in the future ?

 

[JAAKKO] In the future you can expect more of the same and some more of the extreme ends of the vocals.

 

[ROO] Let´s see. Elias is an amazing talent, for sure we will use and abuse his vocal range in the future! [laughs]

 

Do you plan to go heavier, epic or to find a balance between the two ? What do you plan for the future ?

 

[ROO] [laughs] I´m sorry that some would like us more epic. I personally find our material rather technical and filled with complex parts.

I honestly do not see any good making songs last four minutes longer. It is also our choice to play in standart tuning with moderate distortion levels so listeners are able to hear each single note. For the future, we aim to develop songwriting, consistency, musicality and energy.

 

[JAAKKO] As I said earlier, we'll see how new songs will turn out. No epic song planned so far, but I think the new songs will be a bit heavier but at the same time more melodic and catchier. However, I might have something progressive brewing up… [laughs]

 

If you need to choose one song in all the songs you made, which one would it be and why ?

 

[JAAKKO] Time Distortion, it has all the parts I like. It is very complex song regarding the structure, purposefully only few of the riffs are repeated during the song. The mood swings from side to side during the passage of the song, a lot of riffs and only one riff is 4/4 time. Basically, if you re-arrange this song it could be made into long prog-epic, you know.

 

[ROO] I would pick Wheel of Mind because it is simple and talks to the audience.

As a guitarist i like Cryptology because it is fun to play and i really like the mix of it.

 

Some of the people who will read this interview don’t know your music. What can you say for giving them desire to discover you ?

 

[ROO] An anecdote.

One of my guitar student, who was living in Seattle in 1990, got invited then to check out a local band that was kicking hard. For some reasons he passed that gig. Years later he became a huge fan of Pearl Jam... and found out that it was Pearl Jam that he ignored that night. True story!

 

[JAAKKO] We have been compared to Testament and Megadeth as well as Dream Theater and other more progressive bands. I think our approach in Time Distortion was more rock than metal oriented. Give the music a change, this is not your easy-listening muzak but will reward you in the end.

 

If you could recommend some Finnish artists to discover, who would they be ?

 

[JAAKKO] For the Imperium, Minutian and Waltari.

 

[ROO] Bät & Ryyd!

 

Thank you for giving us some of your time. Is there something you want to say to FI Musica's followers ?

 

[JAAKKO] May the force be with you!

 

[ROO] Yes, check out Bät & Ryyd!

 

 

 

(Interviewed : Jaakko & Roo  Interviewer : Isa)

 

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