Freternia are a guarantee when it comes to Swedish Power Metal, and their new album, "The Final Stand", confirms that. We talk about it with Tomas Wäppling, whom we had already welcomed on these pages for the release of "A Nightmare Story".
But we certainly haven't forgotten about their singer, Pasi Humppi, our interlocutor at the times of the release of "The Gathering", who sends us a greeting of his own... and on video, as you can see by scrolling through the interview.
Hello to you all, it is once again a pleasure to have you for a conversation with Metal.it online Magazine, how are things going on your side?
Hello Sergio, thanks for having us here once again at Metal.it. It´s always a pleasure. Well things are great, not very much happening as its almost Christmas and a new year closing in. For the moment we are just taking in all the positive feedback from the Metal community and the positive energy that it brings to us.
I would like to start of your album that was recently released. I think you have made a very good album and "The Final Stand" is probably one of the best records I have heard in late 2022. How satisfied are you with the final product? What feedback are you receiving so far?
Thank you so much! We feel humbled by all the kind words written about “The Final Stand”. After the release of “The Gathering” we had the feeling of “well that was fun and what we wanted to do for this album, what to do now?” We realized that we wanted more melody and simplicity for the next one, a glimpse back to how we wanted our music to sound in the very beginning. So that resulted in “TFS” and we are really satisfied with it. Kind of a mix of the two first albums with a hint of “The Gathering” to it.
In the past the evaluation of music was exclusively in the hands of (more or less) influential columnists, today with the Internet phenomenon (blogs, YouTube, more social networks...) the music user has many (too many?) sources of information to guide his purchase. What do you think about?
The internet opens a lot of possibilities but it is also something that I am not so fond of in all aspects. I remember a question from an old interview where I got asked “Why do you think there are no real masterpieces released today” and I answered that I remembered being a kid searching for new music in vinylstores and on the radio etc but today we are drowning in the never-ending stream of social media. We are fed with stuff that we never asked for and probably don´t even like. Music today is for consumption and in that stream we forget and miss those releases that actually are true masterpieces.
Your previous album "The Gathering" came from a long break of about 17 years since the excellent "A Nightmare Story," but this time for "The Final Stand" we had to wait much less. What/who do we have to thank for such a short wait this time?
“The Gathering” was supposed to be released in 2018 as a 20 year mark from when we started Freternia. And we actually thought that would be the last thing the world would hear from us but we realized that it was great fun doing that and with all the positive feedback it just kept us going and writing the songs that ended up on “TFS”.
This is your fourth album, and Freternia, although with different peculiarities from album to album, have always been sincere and true to their origins and the style of their music: in creating and recording the album, did you make any substantial changes from the more recent past?
Most things are made the same way when it comes to the writing and recording part.
Was "The Final Stand" recorded in a traditional way, or did you, like so many other artists, also switch to the remote instruments provided by current technology?
The music industry today looks so much different from when we started and because of that we have been forced to adapt and use some of the tools necessary.
So where did you record the album and how long did it take you to make and finish it? Congratulations on the result, unfortunately nowadays it is very fashionable to have a very fake and plastic sound...
Besides the music industry part in the answer above several members have family and small kids so we have recorded “The Final Stand” in our own “Studio Nightmare”. If not it would probably have taken another 17 years or so until the kids was old enough to take care of themselves.
We leave the “sound thing” to those who knows what to do. Of course, there are differences today in the sound but isn´t that a fact with everything today? “Better? Sound in music”, “better picture on tv”, “better? Effects in movies” etc etc Mankind needs new and better everything and in that some elements are lost.
How long did you need to rehearse to feel comfortable with the songs before recording them?
Hard to say, when family life allowed. But long enough I hope.
The song "Friends in Enemyland" was actually featured on your debut album, "Warchants & Fairytales", and here we have it again. What can you tell about the difference between the new version and the one 22 years older, of 2000? From what it looks like, this song has quite the importance for you guys, does it?
We were talking about re-recording an old song and Pasi asked us to do “Friends In Enemyland”. It was the first song we sent to him when asked if he wanted to join Freternia so it really has an importance to him and of course we all really love that song.
As I have already written in my review, if I had to bet my two cents on a recovery operation, however, I would have bet them all on the always emotional "The DragonSong," which I believe is one of your best-known songs, is there any chance that you will reprise it in the future?
I personally would never go that way because I think even if the original may not be perfectly executed it has that authenticity that cannot be re-created without loosing what I actually consider being the song.
On "The Gathering" you had had as guests Johannes Nyberg of Zonata and Mikael Dahl from Crystal Eyes, were there guest appearances on the new album as well?
We only had a guest appearance in David Åkesson, we wanted to update our choirs and David got free hands to do his thing so he did the choir arrangements and it turned out just perfect.
After more than two decades of Freternia, and you are still going strong, not letting go. Being out there for so long requires quite the energy and motivation. What has been keeping Freternia back and around, other than the will to spread the word of Metal?
I´m a quite creative soul and the songwriting gives me the opportunity to express that creativity in a way that keeps me motivated. I write music for myself, what I like, and personally want to listen to and if that is appreciated by others it makes me really happy and sometimes also proud.
Uhm, aren't we supposed to understand the title of the record as a message of goodbye from Freternia, right? Just now that you are finally giving continuity to your musical proposal!!
“The Final Stand” is referred to a lyrical theme that was supposed to involve all songs on the album. We felt that we wouldn´t make it this time for the album but some of the songs are linked to each other by the lyrics.
Please, now you must give our readers three reasons to buy "The Final Stand" and-why not-maybe recommend some of the previous ones...
1. If you like what you hear, buy it!
2. Elvenstar
3. The two above mentioned reasons.
Thank you so much for your time and for all these of metal music together: if you want to add something, this is your time. A big hug and stay metal forever!
Big thanks to you Sergio and Metal.it for kind words & support. It´s really appreciated! Keep The Flame Burning!