Vermilia Interview

Many times we are subject to observe those new waves that, from a conglomerate and tumultuous sea, give us new sensations of freshness. The inevitability of knowing us discoverers of new sounds that intercede and penetrate deep in our spirit, perhaps relieving pain, or elevating our consciousness to unexpected places. Every year we find ourselves before artists who are a revelation, but very rarely before talents as pure and consciously transcendental as Vermilia. From Finland, the land of impious cold and magical forests, a young woman, who is releasing her debut album, “Kätkyt”, right now, arrives. I have the pleasure of being able to exchange some words with her, to be able to know a little more about an artist that is destined to leave a mark in the current metal scene.

Vermilia, thank you very much for agreeing to do this interview. It is truly an honor for Blessed Altar Zine to be at one of the most incredible revelations of this year.
I particularly wanted to meet you a little more, and I think it’s a feeling shared with many people who have been listening to your singles for several months. I would like to start by asking: who is Vermilia?
First of all thank you for doing this interview. Vermilia is a creative woman and a free soul, coming from Finland who has a vision and passion for music in her head and  she want’s to let it out.

From what I could hear, in your first four singles, your style is clearly influenced by Atmospheric and Pagan Black Metal. Is this correct? What does this music represent for you?
On personal level my biggest inspiration and “influencer” is nature and all kind of feelings and I always do what I feel at the moment. So somehow it just came out this way. But yes,   musically I would describe that it’s influenced by those categories, but also influenced by folk music, even it’s not that big part of my music. This music represents  freedom of art and freedom of mind.

Another thing that surprised me is that such a remarkable contrast between harsh vocals and the most pristine vocal melodies that you perform. Are you the one that performs both styles? (please say yes)
Yes I do every single vocal by myself. There is no other vocalists on the album. But for example in the live shows I can’t do all at the same time, so there needs to be some compromises,  Like someone to double the growls in some parts of the songs when I do the clean vocals . We will see..the time will show.

I’ve already been listening to a lot of people who compare you to Myrkur, although I think you have a totally different style. Your music has a certain melancholy that does not sound false. And at the same time it sounds very aggressive and dynamic. It reminds me of Ulver’s early work. Do you mind these comparisons?
I understand why people are compering us. We are doing music in same genre but I think that our music is still very different.  I  think Myrkur is amazing multi-talent with voice of an angel, so no I don’t mind of these comparisons.

You are a few days away from releasing your first album, “Kätkyt”. How did the idea for this project come about? Did you compose all the songs by yourself?
There was no idea at the beginning…hahah.. there was one night when I just realized  this is what I have to do right now and then in the next morning I started to compose and write lyrics right away.  I asked Somnia  to join me with the compositions and he also became a producer of this album. So all production work is done together with Somnia.-

The lyrics are totally sung in Finnish, right? Particularly I think it’s a good decision, since it’s an incredibly musical language. Really beautiful. Do not you care that singing in English you could have more exposure in other countries?
Yes lyrics are in finnish.  Finnish language is very rich and there is so many metaphoras in my lyrics that it’s kind of hard to translate these songs.  I have done some lyrics in english in the past before Vermilia, but I am so much better writer in finnish so at this point I will keep doing this in Finnish because it fits perfectly to this, but you know..never say never.

What plans do you have to support the release of the album? Do you plan to do a tour?
At the moment I don’t have any tour dates available but yes.. the plan is to start to plan a live tour and starting to find a live musicians very soon.
So all the musicians stay tuned hahaha.
But for the support the release of the album I guess I just keep doing this the same way as I have done so far. Trying to promote album as good as  I just can. So every help is more than welcome.

In my opinion, Finland was always the epicenter of the best heavy music on the planet. My favorite bands of Doom, Death or Black Metal are from there. How does it feel to have grown up in a place with so much musical culture? And when did you realize you wanted to dedicate yourself to this?
I guess I decided in a minute when I was born.
I grew up in a very musical family so I started to do my first songs when I was maybe 10 years old and I have always done something with music..played flute and sang in a folk group and rock band etc. and always been trying to find my own way. But when I graduated from audio engineer school I guess that was the most biggest thing for me because I learned to record and mix the songs and that’s when I really started to compose a lot of songs by myself.
I love finnish music in many genres, not just metal. I guess it’s so cold and dark here that we have to be creative and keep our brains warm by doing metal, haha. For me Finland is a calming place where my mind is clear and my soul is resting. We have so many forests and lakes that you really don’t have to see other people if you don’t want to..  peace of nature is inspirational.  I love to write and compose here.

Are there musicians from your country that you admire a lot and with whom you would like to share the stage someday?
I admire so many of my friends who are musicians and I am lucky to say I have already shared the stage with people who I admire and love to most.

Finally, is there something you would like to tell the people who are reading this interview and are about to meet you through the launch of “Kätkyt”?
I really want to thank all my supporters and fans.  Without you this album wouldn’t see the daylight.  And now the journey has just  begun.
I really look forward to play shows and meet new people.  “Kätkyt” is available on CD through https://vermiliaofficial.bandcamp.com
Keep reading Blessed Altar Zine and support the art. Thank you for the interview.

Vermilia, I say goodbye and I want to thank you deeply for having  agreed to carry out this interview. I wish you all the best with the album and with your future projects. Thank you very much!

Best Regards. 

Interview by Sergio

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