Arched
Fire, the Finnish metal band reborn after a 30-year hiatus, reflects on their
journey with the release of Northbound Train. This hard-hitting track
showcases their evolution, nostalgia, and bold future.
1. "Northbound
Train" has been described as a tribute to your roots and a potential end
of an era. What inspired you to bring this older song back to life now?
Ari: It’s
originally a hardcore punk song that Mika wrote years ago… Kristian did the
original metal style demo of it, anyway. When we were working on this version,
Mika wasn’t happy with the original structure and added a new middle-part.
Personally, I find it very inspiring to take a song and transform it into
something different. “Northbound Train” still has that original punk
aggression, but its tightness and the heaviness is very metallic. Thematically,
it fits our current mood well. I guess you could say the train is right on
time.
2. Arched
Fire has come a long way since 1989. How has your approach to music and
songwriting evolved over the decades?
Ari: The
approach is probably the same, it’s just that now we know what we’re doing. The
first songs we wrote for this band in the late 80s were among the first songs
we ever wrote, as we were just kids, barely big enough to pick up guitars. So,
we’ve all evolved a lot. We’ve all played in bands through all this time, and
it’s not always been metal.
I found it
very rewarding to start playing metal again and writing new riffs that suit
this band. I actually started writing again after a long time of just playing
other people’s creations. More than trying to move on and grow, I was trying to
get back to the same state of mind I was back when we started. I suppose it’s
not as instinctive now as it was decades ago when we didn’t yet have the
perspective we now have.
3. What
motivated you to reform in 2019 after a 30-year hiatus, and how has the band
changed since your early days?
Ari: There
was always the question of what could have been, musically. We had some good
ideas back in the day, it was just that we didn’t have the know-how to make
them work. Much later, the internet and the new technology made it easy for us
to re-connect with each other and start working together again – we live far
apart from each other. As musicians, players and writers we’ve evolved like
hell. As people, we’re pretty much the same. Same personality traits and
issues, which is kind of funny.
4. The
lyrics mention spending a life on a "northbound train." How do these
themes reflect the band's journey and personal experiences?
Ari: That
was actually what fascinated me about this song the most. Kristian is a
fantastic lyricist. I can really relate to what he wrote here. To me, the title
“Northbound Train” means the whole band rebirth experience we’ve had in the
2020’s. It’s been a sort of homecoming for us, I guess. The train ride is a
metaphor, or an allegory, but also a concrete thing. Whenever I actually go
“back to where it all begin”, I literarily spend a night on a northbound train.
And sometimes it feels like a lifetime. Time goes by so fast you sometimes just
wonder what the hell happened to all these years.
5. The
cover art for "Northbound Train" has been likened to "Thomas the
Tank Engine from hell." What was the vision behind this artwork, and how
does it complement the song?
Ari: Haha! That’s just what I thought when I saw the cover for the first time. The theme was pretty much given… When a heavy metal band sings about a train tearing up the tracks, it kind of dictates what the cover art should be like. A demon engine, of course! There’s something really endearing about the whole metal aesthetic. It complements the song by looking cool and unreal and fun. We’re serious with what we do, but not in a morose way.
6. Could
you tell us more about working with Umar Setiawan for the artwork and Jussi
Hevander for the lyric video? What was their creative input in shaping
this release?
Ari: Jussi
Hevander is a fabulous video artist we found when we needed some visuals for
our first single “Remote-Controlled End” (2020). We were just in awe when we
saw what he can do. Jussi has done a lot of great stuff for us over the years.
He’s a musician as well, so he really knows what he’s doing with music videos.
He has a unique vision and his own style. We may have some ideas for the
imagery, but creatively it’s all him. Hevander.net!
Kristian: Umar
Setiawan is a professional level artist and has the exact style we need for
this kind of music. He always delivers and exceeds the initial ideas we have.
He’s easy to work with and I can very well recommend!
7. "Northbound
Train" is described as thrashy, old school, and borderline
chaotic. How does this track stand out in your discography?
Ari: It’s
not just a coincidence that we decided to make a single out of it. I think it’s
a standalone track. I find it hard to imagine it being on the albums we’ve made
so far. We’ve always had strong lyrical themes in our releases, and “Northbound
Train” is such a powerful statement in itself that it has to be thrown into the
world on its own. My favorite part of the song is towards the end. There’s this
point where I always feel like the song is actually going off the rails and
we’re all gonna die.
8. Ari
mentioned that this might be the last release with the current line-up. Could
you shed light on what changes the band is anticipating in the near future?
Kristian:
There are some line-up changes going on. Some members don’t have time and
interest for this band at this moment. However, we have moved on and written
new songs. I personally like that bands are more than their members and can
live even if the members change. The first song without the previous line-up
will be released soon as a single. I think we can shed light on the situation
more then.
9. Arched
Fire originally formed in Finnish Lapland. How has the northern environment
influenced your music, both then and now?
Ari: I’d
find it way too clichéd to start talking about how the northern nature and
winter darkness inspired and affected our songwriting because truth to be told,
it never did. But Lapland definitely left a mark. I was just talking to someone
I knew back then, and he told me he’s just lately realized how remote and
secluded the area we grew up in actually was back in those ancient times of no
internet. It’s hard to explain it now, because the world has changed so much,
but Lapland was far from everything in all possible ways, both good and bad.
The song “Escape” on our first album is about that, although Kristian didn’t
know it when he wrote the lyrics.
Ari: I
didn’t think about it back then, but I’m pretty sure writing and playing music
was a way of trying to get by, to find a way out, and to connect with the
world. In a way I still feel the same when we write new Arched Fire songs. And
it comes from the same place, from that same heavy metal kid that once was. I
have a strong love/hate relationship with the place. The older I get, more love
it is.
10. Looking
back on Remote Control (2021) and Trust Betrayal (2024),
what are you most proud of, and how do these albums represent the band’s
growth?
Kristian:
There were a lot of decades old songs in the first two albums. We have learned
a lot by doing those. I appreciate the cooperation with Tim “Ripper” Owens and
Esko Valtaoja. There are lots of good stuff. I think we will be polishing the
next releases a bit further.
Ari: I’m
the most proud of having done those records with the line-up we had. Against
all odds, we finished what we started a long time ago. Thinking about it makes
me happy. The growth from our early days was immense, and there was some
growing going on between the albums, but for me, they’re almost two halves of
the same whole. Who knows, maybe now’s the time to start growing again… I
happens in spurts, they say.
11. How
have your fans reacted to "Northbound Train" so far, and how do you
think it resonates with long-time followers versus new listeners?
Ari: I’ve
heard some nice things, thank you. Those who liked our previous efforts will
like this one too. It’s the same band with the same vision. I suppose any new
listener who’s into old school metal may dig us. And those who don’t, can go
and f… ind something more suitable for their tastes.
12. With
"Northbound Train" potentially closing this chapter, what lies ahead
for Arched Fire? Can fans expect new music, tours, or a different direction
entirely?
Ari: We
have another single in the works. It still needs some more mixing, and a video
and stuff, but it’s definitely coming. The song in question has a lot of
familiar elements, but also something new, as the line-up is not the same.
Kristian: New music is on its way and who knows, maybe we can actually get a line-up that is able to gather and play live.
ARCHED FIRE (@arched_fire_official) • Instagram photos and videos
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