VALHALLA

Scorpio: Hello, Yohan! By the way, is Yohan Odinnen your pseudonym? And what's your real name, if it's not a secret? Ivan?

Johan: No, my real name is Alexey. Or Lyokha for short.

Scorpio: Let's dig into some history. As they say — who, when, what for, and why?

Johan: In the beginning of 1997, two friends (who aren't in the band now, by the way) and I — can't remember what for and why exactly — maybe it was to make drinking vodka more fun. At the same time we were learning to play instruments, with varying degrees of success. People would leave, but new ones would come in with more skill, if you can say that. We played concerts, but never further than Karelia and st. petersburg. In 2000 we recorded "Unholy Ancient Kings," which we'd been composing over all those years. It was recorded and mastered in roughly ten days. Of course the recording and playing quality could have been much better, but I still think the songs are great. And then the band fell apart. I spent some time in the army and came back to nothing. By that point I'd accumulated some ideas. So I decided to bring them to life and put my "rock star" career to an end. That's why the second album's name is so decadent. In fact, it was planned to be the last. But because of recent events, we'll possibly record one more opus. Everything depends on the success of "Hails."

Scorpio: Your band name VALHALLA is not exactly rare. Have you had any problems with bands sharing the same name?

Johan: I've only been in contact with the band from ekaterinburg. But only once, after "M" magazine mixed us up with them for the first time. I suggested we communicate, exchange recordings, and play some covers to keep from resembling each other. But they paid no attention, and it all ended there.

Scorpio: What do you think is the most popular band name? My pick is REQUIEM.

Johan: I couldn't say. Some nagging thought creeps in that VALHALLA is the most popular band name. Maybe "Grom" (Thunder) too.

Scorpio: "Black metal… slow and melodic… progressive and folk elements" — that's exactly what was written on the CD-Maximum website about the music of "Hail To The Fallen Majesty." What black metal are you talking about? Has whoever wrote that even listened to the solo in "Requiem to the Stars?"

Johan: When the people from the label asked me to write a press release, I spent a while thinking about how to describe our music, but couldn't come up with anything worthwhile. "I give up," I said. "Put whatever you think is right — after all, selling the discs is your job." They put that phrase, which I have nothing against. How accurately it corresponds to the actual content of the disc is up to the audience. As for the solo you mentioned, that's probably one of the progressive elements on the disc.

Scorpio: Who played the harmonica and flute?

Johan: It's clearly listed in the booklet — our keyboard player Grig. Though he played not a harmonica but a bayan. The flute sound was pulled out of a box with the scary name "synthesizer." It took some effort to extract it, along with the cello, violin, and pipe sounds, etc.

Scorpio: Was it really impossible to find live instruments?

Johan: Yes, except for the bayan. And why bother? You took the flute for a real one, didn't you?

Scorpio: The first album track is called "Karelia." Do you think you succeeded in capturing the atmosphere of your native land?

Johan: The intro appears on the album as our rendition of a famous song from the '70s — "Karelia Will Long Be Dreamt." I believe Anna German sang it. Nowadays the song is well-known because it's played at our station when trains with conscripts depart. Since I wrote the larger part of the album's songs while in the army, putting this track at the beginning of the disc felt like a good idea.

Scorpio: Yeah, now let me voice some criticism of the album's appearance. Very simple, and the booklet is too short. I wish there were more images and pages.

Johan: What, you'd like a 28-page booklet designed by Joakim Lutke? Or my post-hangover mug on the cover? At the very least, I know for sure the design is exclusive. The original artwork by Arsatan hangs in my home.

Scorpio: Exclusive is always great! Your logo is not very readable though. Any thoughts about a different version?

Johan: Haven't had any until now. Usually, when a band name is unreadable, people just turn the disc on its side.

Scorpio: Do you like CD-Maximum's work so far?

Johan: The disc was released on February 2nd. Two months have passed, and it's too early to say anything about the label's work. Besides, I'm not very well informed about it. They put out the pressing (how many copies — I don't know), posted some advertising online, and sent me a couple of free discs for friends. Since then, they haven't been in touch with me. I hope they're doing something else. Forgive me, I'm just out of the loop.

Scorpio: What do you mean? You got nothing for your music? And moreover, you probably don't even want to.

Johan: No need for sarcasm. The fact that an almost unknown band from the provinces was offered a release on a big label is worth something in itself. No businessman is going to pay royalties on sales until they've recouped their investment in the pressing. Prepayments aren't customary in our country. I wouldn't pay either, especially to unknown people. So let's wait half a year.

Scorpio: I guess CD-Maximum is currently the largest publisher of domestic metal music. And on the whole they release about 10 CDs a week. Is that a good thing?

Johan: It's always good when you have a choice. Besides, they do everything in high quality — I especially like their digipacks (friends gave me an Annihilator double live album for my birthday, and I still can't get over how nice it is). On the other hand, when you're released by a big label, you're just one of many and could easily go unnoticed by your potential audience.

Scorpio: What music do you prefer listening to? Metal only, or is there room for ambient/darkwave and related stuff for the open-minded metalhead?

Johan: Yeah, I suppose so. At the moment I'm writing these answers while listening to Ulver's "Perdition City." But I listen to metal music more often. Lately, it's mostly been old-school death metal. Among us, every other person in today's metal youth is an advanced goth. I have nothing against it, but trends suck.

Scorpio: I recently watched the Grammys on TV. And I came to the conclusion that pop music is degenerating. There aren't many new ideas, and the ones presented as brand new are just attempts to mix everything together. Your opinion?

Johan: I missed the Grammys (frankly, I had no particular desire to watch). My girlfriend was watching a reality show called "Hunger" on another channel. But I did listen to a disc called "The Grammy 2003 Nominees" or something like that. It was packed with R&B performers.

Scorpio: So what about "Hunger"? In Ukraine it's being broadcast with a huge delay, but I watched the show online, so I'm well informed.

Johan: Damn, you're a real fan, just like my girlfriend. Every evening she made me watch those freaks instead of a good film. I don't like those kinds of shows. As for pop music degenerating, I think you're mistaken. In the West, everything is actually fine with that. The real nightmare is happening in our country. Sha-la-la! Tra-la-la! Two claps, three taps. The same tune, but with a bass-drum hit on the first beat. Oonts, oonts, oonts. And about the lyrics, I don't even want to say a word.

Scorpio: Well, it looked like the show was oversaturated. The same songs were being performed by multiple artists. There was a lot of chaos. By the way, did you notice that the majority of nominees are Black artists? Can't the white folks keep up anymore?

Johan: Because R&B is primarily Black music.

Scorpio: And what would you say about the Ukrainian pop artists VIA GRA and VERKA SERDIUCHKA? They're extremely famous in russia. And TATU — in Europe and the US.

Johan: About VIA GRA I'd answer with my buddy's words: "Would do, could do." SERDIUCHKA is something like squeezing money out of gullible people of all ages. TATU: even with a decent sound, I'll quote a famous st. petersburg band's lyrics: "What does one have to do to go crazy? How many times have you heard this song about going crazy?" This music is definitely not my thing.

Scorpio: Is today's straightforward genre metal still interesting to audiences?

Johan: I can't speak for others, only for myself. I've been listening to metal since I was 13, which is literally half my life, and I still get satisfaction from records by the bands I started with — IRON MAIDEN, MANOWAR, HELLOWEEN, RUNNING WILD. Nowadays there are enough bands to choke on, and most of them play the same thing. That's why people search for something more refined and sophisticated. On the other hand, I've never understood people who listen to nothing except the full discography of, say, MOTORHEAD or ACCEPT. And they do exist — believe it or not.

Scorpio: I think you've already heard the latest CRADLE OF FILTH album. I like it a lot, though many people trash it. Why do you think the Englishmen are disliked? Weak-mindedness of the metal-fan masses?

Johan: Strange things happen. They all say they don't care, but everyone has it on a burned CD.

Scorpio: Yeah, burned indeed.

Johan: Probably listening on the sly and enjoying it.

Scorpio: One hundred percent.

Johan: CRADLE OF FILTH have their own style. You'll never confuse them with any other band (especially from photos). But I really don't know what makes you think the majority of the metal community doesn't like them.

Scorpio: Some conversations on metal forums make me think that. Dani Filth, the frontman, for example, gets accused of homosexuality. Here's a quote from our forum: "Scorpio: How do you like the latest Cradle? I consider it a masterpiece." And then it all started: "Cradle is bullshit, that's pop, not black." "They played black before Cruelty." "They never played black."

Johan: I think roughly 15% dislike them, assuming 30% of the audience abstained (never listened, which is unbelievable, or simply don't care).

Scorpio: Or they reply "same as the rest."

Johan: So you, me, and a couple more — that's almost a million people making up the remaining 55%.

Scorpio: And what grade out of ten would you give "Damnation And A Day"? Which songs did you like the most?

Johan: It's certainly not my place to hand out grades, but if I had to, it would be pretty high. Around an "8" or maybe higher. I especially liked "Hurt & Virtue," "Better to Reign in Hell," and "Serpent Tongue." I have a couple of buddies who are true CRADLE OF FILTH fans. They've got all the discs in official digipacks. Even the ones released in different editions (bonus versions or the coffin-shaped "Dusk..." edition). So I wouldn't have the heart to call myself a COF fan. But that didn't stop me from attending their st. petersburg concert in March of last year. I saw Dani from less than a meter away before the press conference. Everyone just scattered when they were told that all who came could get autographs and take photos.

Scorpio: Could your city lay claim to a name change — from Petrozavodsk to Petrovodsk?

Johan: We have a few excellent distilleries in the city, and we regularly sample their products. Our favorite vodkas are "Karelia," "Epos," and "Sedoy Valaam." How could we not play epic music after that?

Scorpio: Yeah, those names are the best. What about vodka advertising? In Ukraine it's everywhere: on TV, on big billboards at every turn. All the sports broadcasts and New Year's shows like "Ogoniok," "Zolushka," "Snezhnaja Koroleva" are sponsored by vodka producers. Brands like Shustov, Myagkov, Het'man, Pisnia, Soyuz-Victan, Medoff, Bilen'ka, Khlibnyj Dar, Blagov, Stolychnyj Standart, and Olimp are never going to leave the TV screens. Sooner or later we'll have to pick "Vodka" as the final category in the famous word-guessing TV game.

Johan: We've got the same situation. As far as I recall, vodka advertising on TV is forbidden in russia. But they sometimes show spots with the "Flagman" logo and a hollow, ominous voice saying: "Flagman — you have the right." And five seconds before the end, tiny text appears reading: "Candies." That's it. But I thought the most popular Ukrainian vodka was Nemiroff. Isn't it Ukrainian?

Scorpio: It is Ukrainian, but they're so well-known they don't need the advertising. When are you going to get your own website? These days even the most obscure band has one.

Johan: The website situation is pretty funny, since our drummer works as a programmer at a web design company. Maybe it would be a good idea to ask him to deal with it, especially since, with the album release on CD-Maximum, we've become part of the CIS metal scene. Hehe.

Scorpio: In your area there must be quite a few Finnish people wandering around, like we have Moldovans here?

Johan: Yeah, loads of them. But it doesn't bother anyone — it's actually cool. Because generally it's Finnish young people. We've had a "Rock Bridge" festival running in our city for two years now. It's a kind of friendship bridge between russian and Finnish youth. It's held twice a year, and once in Joensuu, Finland. Last year the headliners were CHILDREN OF BODOM. I nearly burst with envy that we didn't get to perform. Who's going to headline this year I still don't know, but the Finnish part will take place in April. Our part of the show already happened in February, and I still haven't recovered health-wise.

Scorpio: And now I'm going to quiz you. What secret musical weapon is VALHALLA developing at the moment? What stage is it at — conceptual, design, or testing?

Johan: Right now we only have 6 songs in progress. We've even tried recording some parts of selected pieces. The most important thing is to figure out which direction to take. The new work will be quite different from what we've done before. The main distinction will be that these will be proper songs. And I will sing in the traditional sense of the word. Screaming vocals will still be there, but more sparingly and not on every track. Also, the overly long pieces are off the table (nothing longer than 5 minutes). And the live drums will most likely be properly recorded. Alex has just learned how to do that right. The lineup is going to change a bit as well. So everything depends on money and CD-Maximum. Because I'm not putting my own cash into the recording for a third time.

Scorpio: Wishes and a parting word?

Johan: I wish your site prosperity — it really is very informative. By the way, while browsing it I found out that LAKE OF TEARS are far from R.I.P. and are recording a new album. I was glad to read that. Keep surprising me with stuff like that. And many other metalheads too. Good luck.