Vorum – Interview with guitarist M.J.
Interview and live pics by Arto Lehtinen
Death Metal is alive and well in Finland as Vorum, hailing from the small island Åland, proves the facts straight on the new nihislistic and barbaric output called POISONED VOID. The four piece has created utterly lethal hymns on their new album giving ultimate vibes to the die hard death metal fans. No fakes, no gimmicks, just pure hate and nihilism from the beginning to the end. Therefore Metal-Rules.com conducted the interview with the guitarist of Vorum M.J ,to talk about POISONED VOID
Hail how’s it going there on Åland and above all in the Vorum camp?
It is silent for the moment due to everyone being elsewhere. So we’re waiting to get together again for rehearsals and to make new stuff and also looking for gigs to play on in the summer.
POISONED VOID
Congratulations for the new murderous and vicious outburst, of course the mandatory question; are you utter pleased with the achieved results on the album after all?
Yes. 
The album was recorded under the control of Afshin Piran in Sweden, but obviously the recording process didn’t go as planned due to some parts got lost, what exactly happened?
Yes we faced all kind of problems as if the whole thing was doomed to fail by some asshole thing. Absolutely everything fucked with us. The traveling fucked with us as the people in general and so on.. It was very frustrating and annoying when summed up. Satisfying in the end though.
You used the analogue technique while recording the album, did you want to reach the more authentic sound and even a bit dirt to the soundworld by using the old school tech instead of the modern day digital technique?
Yes. We think the analogue way gives a wider sonic image and more richness compared to digital.
How long did you work on the album in Sweden and were you given good hints of some parts or leads should sound or did you stick on your own by not giving up any inch?
I don’t remember exactly how long it took but it took a while because it was spread to small recording sessions due to every members availability and there were long breaks between them. No we were not given any hints or ideas from anyone on what could be done here and there.
Why on earth did you decide to record the full length album in Sweden, did you find the know-how to produce the vicious sounding death metal in Finland is unprofessional or was Afshin Piran more like a right man in the right position to work on the album?
It was the most sensible alternative. Our drummer lives in Sweden for example so it would been to complicate things if we decided to record it in Finland with the long ferry traveling added to it. And also we knew Affe and we’re familiar with his earlier work. So he was the right choice in every way.
Are all the songs completely new ones, just created for POISONED VOID, not any leftovers from the past?
No leftovers used so they are completely new and acquired to Poisoned Void. The song Evil Seed was previously released in a different version earlier, but was still a part of the building of the record.
The previous ep titled GRIM DEATH AWAITS blew the metal crowd away and got a lot of positive feed back. Did the rising and encouraging a positive response bring more pressure amongst you to raise the bar a bit higher on the POISONED VOID album?
There was surely a certain expectation from people after GDA I believe. We did get psyched to reach higher (or perhaps lower) with the new effort, that’s what we always strive for.
The album will be reviewed in different media, how carefully do you play the attention to all the feedback and criticism toward the output?
As little as we can, being on the internet and constantly flooded with the waves of it.
IMPROVEMENT
Vorum has improved the sound as well as the stage presence. Has the never ending rehearsing in the rehearsal chamber paid off how the band’s sound has evolved within these years, and how often do you gather to your rehearsal chamber to unleash the deadly sounds?
We don’t get to rehearse that much because again, we all live on different locations. But when we do gather we rehearse very intensively and everything has to be top notch no matter what.
Do you find the writing of the songs in a way of more challenging nowadays as bands need to attract to the metal crowd with the vicious catchy as well as ripping riffs and songs?
The most important thing to us is that we are satisfied with the material we make and that it feels legitimate to attraction with a steady course to the point.
What’s is Vorum’s asset by being the original in terms of sounds, brutality compared to other bands of nowadays ?
We do what we feel like, and what we need to do.
How hard was it for you to get the band started in the first place in such a small island, and did you know each other when forming a band or did you have to look for members for Vorum?
It wasn’t hard at all because we felt a good bond from the very beginning and shared the same musical taste and interest that brought us together in the first place. 3/4 knew each other since childhood and the last one came to place the way mentioned earlier.
How did you get fascinated about the obscure brutality of death metal, which bands literally spell-bound you to play the extreme brutal form of metal ?
The core bands for us were Nihilist and Entombed, Morbid Angel and Repulsion when starting out.
Death metal bands have also had the identified soundworld to be easily recognized, which are the main aspects in the sound world of Vorum making the band so unique and different from other death metal outfits seen from your point of view ?
It feels kind of strange and hard for us to dissect our own “sound”. Don’t really know what to tell you. A combination of us all bringing our effort to the table. It would surely sound different if only one of us were writing.
How do you usually start creating songs – Do the music come first before the lyrics or vice versa?
We all have instruments around us so when we are not able to play as a unit so often for the time being, the creating is limited to making riffs. These are then put into action and tested and further worked on when we gather.
GIGGING AND BEING ON STAGE
When Vorum got on the stage for the first times, the band sounded tight and brutal, but within these years you have put some effort on the way how the band looks on the stage, not having the standard look. How important Is the visual and the image for you when performing on stage, you seem to have some kind of dress code on stage nowadays ?
Yes the blood, bones and garments are a must. It justifies the music and the presence of being on stage playing it. Our need to express it has come over the years and we can’t be without it now.
Do you view performing live is definitely essential for Vorum for getting promoted and can you estimate how much you have drawn the attention and interest toward the band when playing gigs ?
Yes it certainly brings a lot to perform live and we’d do it a lot more if things were different. Hard to say how much but I think it has contributed to a fair amount of attention at least in Finland.
VORUM could have been witnessed at various Finnish metal festivals leaving the people to gaps for the air after the show. But I can’t help asking when Vorum will unleashed the vicious deadly assault in other countries or have you been offered to play else where ?
That is definitely one of the next goals to be set. We have been twice to Denmark and that’s it outside of Finland. In a future not to far away we hope.
What can be expected from Vorum on the stage ?
Madness.
All right I thank your time and interest in doing the interview
Thank you!
The official VORUM sites :
http://www.facebook.com/Vorumdeath
http://www.vorumdeath.com/
http://www.myspace.com/vorumdeath
