DEAD TALKS will seem to you that it is a new band from Finland, but the members are not. All of them have a history in previous acts and have been in the scene for some time. This is like a Death metal Finnish Dream Team, I’d say. Antti Astrom, vocalist, answers our questionnaire and introduces the band: “…We are from Lohja, Finland. Lohja is a small city about 50km from Helsinki. We formed somewhere in late 2019. We had a band called CORPSE MOLESTER CULT and it was active since 2007 or so before. When Juki joined our ranks, we decided that CORPSE MOLESTER CULT had nothing more left for us. We wanted to expand our musical horizons and felt that our previous band had too long of a history to make that jump forward. We have been playing together for a long time. Old friends, similar interests. The scene in Lohja was pretty strong back in the 90's and we all knew each other from those days already. Tomi, Juki, Tipi and Joni played in this killer band called KÄSI and I was one of their pimple- faced fans back then, playing in my own bands. We have history, so to speak. Antti Åström: vocals, Tomi Joutsen: guitar, Tipi Vainio: guitar, Juki Veiksola: guitar, Joni Laakso: bass and Henkka Åkerlund: drums…”

Veneration of the Dead is the septet’s freshly baked album. They have been spreading some singles and a promo video of the song “The End of the Tunnel” on YouTube. This cold and somber Death metal offering will be released shortly on August 18th via Apostasy Records. However, let’s read what Antti Astrom wrote about it: “…Covid-infested. We had to reschedule recording dates many times. It was straight working when we got to the studio and Jan “Snoopy” Rechberger did an excellent job keeping us focused. When we wanted to do something that Snoopy knew would not work, he let us test it and then he explained to us why it did not work. Don’t know how he kept his cool with us. Sometimes he would say to me after a take, that “do it less Norway, or do you want this to be comedy?”. Referring to my screams…”

“… My personal highlight is to get this album out. We have always been slow doing things and the fact that these songs are finally released is a trophy for us. For me, “508” or “Trigger/Religion” are pretty good achievements. Some old-school stuff and a little bit of that Northern melancholy…”

The band’s moniker and album title suggest that the Finnish six-piece enjoys bringing out the dark and twisted corners of the human mind. Veneration of the Dead is a blend of mid-pace Death metal riffs with a gloomy and pestilent atmosphere, the perfect nighttime bed musical story in a nutshell, but Antti expands: “…Death metal is therapeutic. Six old bastards who gather once a week to burst aggression through death metal. We all fell for Death metal bands in the 90’s. Bands like GRAVE, ENTOMBED, DISMEMBER, BOLT THROWER etc. We just play music that makes our minds just a bit clearer and takes the edge off from this grinding wheel we call life. There are some personal themes, some social criticism, religion, crimes etc. Most recent lyrics have been focusing on old Finnish crimes and humanity’s sick hunger for apocalypse. If you can’t learn from your history, then you are doomed to repeat your mistakes. Respect the dead, listen to them and try to hear what they are trying to teach. Also try to live in a way that makes future generations respect you and try to learn from you. Every stone in a cemetery has a story to tell…”

Veneration of the Dead will be such an interesting debut album release in fourteen days. I wonder if the members will keep the band as a full-time priority or a side project to come back from time to time. If you love the Swedish and British bands’ music named in the previous paragraph and some of the darkest Finnish early doom AMORPHIS energy, don’t hesitate to give DEAD TALKS a listen. This record has a lot of personality and mature and well-written Death metal songs, of course. Antti is a Finnish metal enthusiast and ends this dialogue talking about his metal scene, hopes, dreams and upcoming plans: “…Scene is filled with great new bands. GALVANIZER, GORECAUST, CRYPTIC HATRED, just to mention a few. I think that in two past years, younger generations have found death-metal and now you can see awesome bands where 18- to 20-year-old guys blast their ass off and show us scene boomers how things are done. More venues are needed in Finland for sure. Covid took down some venues and if we want new bands to arise, we need some places for them to play. DEAD TALKS is without a doubt a full-time band. When we do this, we give it all we have. All of us have different bands and lives outside DEAD TALKS, but this is something we have been doing together for a long time now…”

“… We are currently rehearsing and demoing new songs and trying to keep old ones in our minds. We are promoting Veneration of the Dead as much as we can. The album is out on August 18th, and we are trying to hustle some shows around autumn. As a band we hope that we get to play some awesome shows and maybe make some visits abroad also. New songs are already in the melting pot and let’s see if we get a chance to do a second album soon. We do things slowly and without any pressure. We are old and boomers do things their own way. We are ready, but are you?

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063636515633

https://www.instagram.com/deadtalksig/ …”

By Alex Sanchez