The cult Finnish black metal stalwarts Korgonthurus seem to be unstoppable now, after 2 decades of existence with a rotating line-up due to various undisclosed reasons, the band have now hit their stride and the results are 2 excellent full lengths, an EP, and live gigs to boot. And today we have the band's co-founder and multi-instrumentalist Kryth sharing some details about his band and their most recent LP "Jumalhaaska".

Fernando

Since your new album, "Jumalhaaska" just came out, we'll start with that. Beginning with the decision to bring back the long compositions reminiscent of your debut.

As we wrote the songs we noticed that they had a lot more to offer than just the normal 5-8 minute formula we used to do years prior. In a way we were initially making some sort of cross section and evolution of our past material and as we realized what we were doing we embraced it. Letting go of any restrictions we have once set for ourselves and making whatever sounds good to us.

Between "Jumalhaaska" and "Kuolleestasyntynyt" there was the "XX" EP, was this release a factor in what became "Jumalhaaska", or was it a tangent you had to take before undertaking the new record?

XX consists of material we wrote in the very beginning when we started to write Kuolleestasyntynyt. 'Demonipaimen' and 'Sieluja Saatanalle' were written alongside the track 'Kuolleestasyntynyt' as the first three songs for the album. As we kept writing more material we noticed that the album was going in a very different atmosphere. We scrapped the two songs and decided to release them sometime later. Since those two were in a style sounding a lot more like what we did in the beginning on our demos and EPs we decided to record and release those as a tribute to our more primitive sounding past.

The band's current line-up has certainly yielded excellent results since 2020, both on record and live. Do you feel this is the case, or how is the current lineup different from previous ones?

Our every line-up has done the best work at the time, but at this time I feel that we're at our peak. The dynamics are finally perfected. Every instrument is balanced and working together perfectly. You can also hear that on Jumalhaaska.

Now that the album is out, what are your plans for the foreseeable future? As I understand, you're not planning any tours outside Europe, or would you change your mind if the right circumstances were to be met?

We have a steady live line-up and we're ready to play wherever we're wanted. We don't have a booking agent, nor are we actively trying to book shows ourselves, so that limits our appearances a lot. A bunch of shows in Finland are coming for 2024, but that's all for now.

Back to "Jumalhaaska", tell us a bit on how the album was conceived, is all the material brand new or did you resurrect older ideas and rework them?

Jumalhaaska was built around 'Lankeemus', which was the last song we wrote for Kuolleestasyntynyt. Its length and overall style differed so much from other songs on that album, that we decided to leave it for the next album and record Kuolleestasyntynyt without it. We rewrote half of 'Lankeemus' and then started to compose the rest of the songs.

Was there any significant difference in the making of "Jumalhaaska", or was the process the same as the album before?

This was the first time since Vuohen Siunaus that we made the album as a full band. Kuolleestasyntynyt was fully written by Corvus and me. XX had a few ideas from Insanis Xul and Incisura, but was still mostly Corvus and me. On Jumalhaaska Corvus and I wrote the core majority of the songs, but this time Insanis Xul and Incisura wrote all their own parts. Their input is what raised the compositions to a whole new level.

What would you describe as the most important goal you set for yourself with this new album?

Catharsis. Kuolleestasyntynyt was a huge emotional release for us and for a while we didn't think we could even top that. We were very wrong.

From your point of view was there something you wanted to avoid while making the album, or in general for Korgonthurus?

Actually this was the first time we decided to avoid avoiding anything. The songs sort of started to write themselves at some point and we let them come out just as they needed. The same goes for the band too. No point in restricting ourselves and just doing what feels natural.

After so many years have your sources of inspiration changed?

Korgonthurus has always been and still is all about praising our Lord, Satan. That hasn't changed and never will.

And finally, do you feel Korgonthurus is at a place you feel proud or is there more that needs to be accomplished?

Personally I've more or less accomplished everything I've had in my sights in Korgonthurus. That doesn't mean that the passion has diminished in any way. Now I just want to keep making albums and make each one better than the previous.

Once again, thank you for your time, is there anything else you'd like to say to close off?

Thanks for the interview. Check out Jumalhaaska and keep the black flame burning!