Admire the Grim is set to unleash their debut album Resist. Jani and Katri discuss its powerful themes of resistance, change, and the creative journey behind it.
1.
Congratulations on the upcoming release of your debut album Resist!
Can you tell us more about the overall theme and inspiration behind the album?
Thank you!
We just made some riffs! Just kidding, we wanted to make a more aggressive
sounding record and our aim was to write an album full of catchy melodies.
During the writing process Jani wanted to challenge himself, everyone and
everything we’ve got. Lyrically the album is all about themes of resistance and
change.
2. Your
first single "Crescent Moon" is now out, and you’ve mentioned it’s
about accepting change. How does this theme resonate with the band, and what
inspired the lyrics?
Katri likes
to write about themes like change and resistance and she also likes
metaphorical lyrics. ‘Crescent Moon’ describes an inner journey of a person
who’s lost everything, but finally finds the fire to start changing their life
for the better.
3.
You’ve had the chance to perform "Crescent Moon" live before
recording it. How did playing it in front of an audience influence the final
version of the song?
The first
demo of the song was quite fast. Also the first time we played this song live
our drummer Tommi didn’t use a click track at all, which meant that the tempo
was really fucking fast by the end of the song. Eventually we decided to try to
focus on groove rather than speed and now we are very happy with how it turned
out. In the end ‘Crescent Moon’ turned out to be a groovy piece without losing
its punch-in-the-face feeling.
4. The
album features a mix of familiar Admire the Grim elements along with acoustic
surprises. How did you decide to blend heavy melodic death metal with acoustic
touches on Resist?
Many of us
like the Gothenburg melodic death metal sound and many of those albums from the
90’s include acoustic tunes as well. The inspiration to include an acoustic
song comes from that music genre and era, but we also wanted the album to have
an acoustic medley song that is exceptional compared to other material.
5. You
worked on Resist for two years. What was the writing and
recording process like, and how did the band evolve during this time?
Jani wrote
all the demos and we recorded them at home with all of us. After that we
rehearsed the songs at our rehearsal place as a band and perfected the songs
during pre-production. We feel like we developed our sound to the direction
that we aimed for.
6. Antti
‘Hyrde’ Hyyrynen of Stam1na makes a guest appearance on the title track
"Resist." What was it like working with him, and what does his
contribution bring to the song?
Our local
dude Antti is obviously a professional vocalist and musician who is very easy
to work with. He gave us more ideas to lead vocals than we expected and it
worked out really well. His sound brings much more variation to ‘Resist’ vocal
lines.
7.
You’ve toured extensively in Finland and even performed abroad. How have these
live performances shaped the band’s sound and chemistry, especially leading
into this debut album?
We have had
the chance to play as a band quite a lot and we feel like we have learned to
play more dynamically together. The actual writing process of this album was
quite separate from the gigs since we took 6 months to only prepare the
pre-production and didn’t do any gigs during that time.
8. Your
2022 Rogue Five EP received great feedback. How did the
success of that EP impact the direction and expectations for Resist?
We wanted
to improve and unify our sound and we rehearsed our asses off to make sure that
the playing quality was going to be better on ’Resist’ than it was on ‘Rogue
Five’. There’s still room to improve, but we are happy with the results.
9. The
album cover art and single covers were designed by Anssi Kuivalainen, with
edits by vocalist Katri Snellman. How important is the visual aspect of your
music, and how does it complement your sound?
Actually
Anssi didn’t know anything about the song material when he started to draw the
cover art. We had an idea and a color theme ready for the cover and the rest is
Anssi’s creation. We want to mention that our friend Anssi is an exceptionally
talented artist and he captured this menacing feeling on the cover. He also
makes the best home-made pizza in town! Cheers!
10. As a
band formed in 2021, what challenges did you face starting a project during
such uncertain times, and how did those experiences shape the music on Resist?
In the
beginning of 2021 we mostly wrote demos and had parties as we didn’t yet have a
rehearsal place yet. Wiser from the ‘Rogue Five’ -EP times, we shared more our
own opinions about ‘Resist’ demo songs with each other and paid a lot more
attention to detail on every song.
11. What
can fans expect from your album debut gig at Nuijamies in Lappeenranta? Any
special surprises or moments planned for the hometown crowd?
It’s gonna
be an energetic show with all the new songs on the setlist! It’s cool to have
the album release party in our hometown Lappeenranta in the legendary venue of
Nuijamies - a former movie theater with a big stage. There are going to be two
other bands as special guests who open the night before us.
12.
After the release of Resist, what are your plans for the future?
Are there any upcoming tours, festivals, or collaborations we should be excited
about?
We want to
do as many gigs as possible after the album release. Later next year we’re
going to start preparing our second album that we already have ideas for. See
you at our upcoming gigs!
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