"All About The Album - 15 Questions" - a brand new section at the RockUnited site where a recording artist with an recently released CD is confronted with 'album'  questions (15 of them, duh!). If you'd like to have your material up here, email: urban "at" rockunited.com (simply replace "at" with your standard @ )

SCYTHE OF ORION: "Sun-Dial"

The Finnish band SCYTHE OF ORION and their debut long play album 'Sun-Dial' -  melodic Prog/Goth and symphonic  rock influenced by epic sounding acts of the genre as well as folk-rock? The lyrics tell about greed, the use of power and the state of nature. Mastered by Mika Jussila at the famous Finnvox studios, expect a rather "original" sounding platter, definitely something out of the ordinary -female fronted- acts as of lately. Find out more about their album, here's ANU and PEPI from: SCYTHE OF ORION...

How has the reaction to your latest CD been?

*PEPE:* I think the promotion of the album has started quite well this time. We have already got good feedback from a few reporters and from some radio stations. Even people who hadn't liked this kind of music before but who had given some time to our prevous release were impressed by our music and are now anxiously waiting to hear the album SUN-DIAL.

How long did this CD take to make from start to finish, recording-wise?

The whole project took 18 months from start to finish. Mainly because we have paid the production with our lunch money. Since it is a fact that hunger keeps coming back every day it took some time to finance the production. On the other hand, time is money, and we didn't waste any time while being in the studio. We worked with strict discipline and for the progress of the work we are indebted to our studio producer *Jori Haukio*, who directed the recordings with great professionalism.

We had everything carefully rehearsed and thought through before entering the studio. Each of us went there to record in his and hers own turn, which we had scheduled beforehand. Except for our former bassist, who couldn't find time to go to the studio. Fortunatelly our friend Pasi Jokinen, who is an excellent and multitalented musician, was available for the bass recordings , and he adapted the material just like that. Finally the bass and vocals were both recorded in shifts during the final visit in the studio. The album has been recorded at AnsaStudio in Ulvila, Finland in 9 days between February and May 2011.

What kind of 'sound', production wise, did you have in the back of your mind, prior to entering the studio?

Sound is one of the areas on which we wanted to focus especially. Jori Haukio, who recorded and mixed the album, was also our studio producer, and the sound of this record is mostly created by him during the recordings. Prior entering the studio we decided to have the album mastered outside the studio in order to have a "pair of fresh ears" to work on the sound. We wanted the sound to have volume without having the music played in your stereo as loud as possible. The album is mastered by *Mika Jussila *at Finnvox Studios, Helsinki, Finland.

What kind of input did the producer have during the process?

ANU:* Jori directed friendly but firmly each of us to achieve the best performance, and he even encouraged me to reach beyond my comfortable zone. Between the takes he did point out the things that needed to be done better and in the process I learned to hear more carefully myself. In order to
emphasize some parts of the songs he suggested different ways to use my voice and also some harmonies for vocal and guitar.

And are you pleased with the final outcome? (sound - production wise)

PEPE:* Yes, I´m quite happy with it. Sound-wise this album is the best of our releases so far. That is a good direction to go to.

Did the producer (you) use any (weird) experimental miking and/or recording techniques?

PEPE: *It may not be right to the point but your question led me to think about one song. There are some sound effects used to emphasize the subject
of the song *Ice Soldiers*, and the vocal sound turns to be unnatural. At first we just played with the idea to exaggerate, but in this case it
turned out to be a very good idea. It was very fun to record that.

How did you go on about capturing your 'live sound' in the studio, or perhaps you didn't

PEPE: *As I play, I breath in very loudly, and this for example can be heard in acoustic and silent parts of some songs. It is intensional, that the album is not overproduced, and maybe that brings a little live feeling
to it.

Please inform us about your favourite songs and lyrical highlights and why?

PEPE: The Storm* is one of my favourite songs. It has some kind of strong and dark feeling about it. Songs structure is easy, only two parts, A and B, but it still keeps its hold on you until the end. At least I think so. Also *From the Beyond* and *Ice Soldiers* got some catchy moments, which can hook you up.

ANU: *The lyrical highlights for me are the songs *Power Invested in Money*and *Now and Forever*, because they manage to tell about the big issues with a few words.

Any overall theme of mood that you're trying to capture while writing songs?

PEPE: *What I try to reach when writing a song is a psychological suspence which keeps bothering you even after the song is over. I also try to bring a glimpse of light into the music.

ANU: *The first time I've done some lyrics is for this album. The lyrics have grown out of my personal anguish, but also out of love. My style to write is not poetic, but realistic. And for me there is also a technical point of view; I try to make the words fit to the music, so that the lyrics would be easy to sing.

Does your vision for coming up with music get affected at all by time?

PEPE:* There are at least three ways to look at this: 1. No. When I'm writing songs I don't think what kind of song would hit the jack pot. I don´t follow trends. I just write out the songs in a way which is natural for me.

2. Yes. The strenghts of the band have become clearer in time, and that inspires me as a songwriter. In addition to us the original members of the band are *Jani Lahnavik*/drums, *Kristian Wrang*/keyboards and *Maarit Koivisto*/violin, and we have worked together since 2006.

3. Yes. As I was younger my song writing based more on inpiration. I'm not so easily inspired anymore. Nowadays I try to work on the songs regularly.

Did the record company interfere with anything on your "sound" and songs?

No. This is an independent production, so we had totally free hands with everything.

Are there any 'crazy' behind the scenes anecdotes from these sessions that you can share with us?

ANU: *During our recordings each of us in his / hers own turn stayed at the lovely little apartment located at the studio. As I went there to stay with Pepe and Pasi during our final recordings, we could not enter the apartment because of the AWFUL mess! As Pepe and Pasi left to record, I had to start cleaning the place up! *Rock´n Roll*! I thought this was not what I came here for.. [geez, that's so typical, leave the woman to clean up things - Ed's note]

How would you describe the sound of your new CD to any potential new fan? 

It can take a little time to get into this album, but after that you might become a Scythe-Metal fan, who wants to hear more.

Who are your influences and heroes? (music-wise)

PEPE: *I like music with strong feeling, which can take you to whole other world. Arjen Lucassen's Ayreon-recordings can do that. To mention one.

ANU: *Lyric-wise my idol is the Finnish rock band Eppu Normaali.

If there's anything you'd like to add, say, please do:

The release date of the album SUN-DIAL is the 15th of May. After that the music is available for purchase. Keep an eye on the websites www.scytheoforion.com for more news.
Greetings to all from Finland!
Anu & Pepe/ SCYTHE OF ORION

Interview by: Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
Photos from the band's websites   www.scytheoforion.com
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