Pakkanen - Frost

 

Wax crayon / wax on paper. Rinta-Perälä, 2024.
Drawing 436.

Secret Music by Siegfried Sassoon

 

Horror comedy #4

Starring Greta Thunberg.

Ink drawing by Rinta-Perälä, October 2024.

You Gotta Wash Your Zombie Ass

The Silence of the Slaps

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mambo Number Five

Iron Ore Irises

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c4iDZefgWU

From Endtime Bestiaries, out January 1, 2025.

Carnatical Powers of Recall

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fixwK-0RbbQ

Endtime Bestiaries is the first Fornax Ferrea album and the 36th by Rinta-Perälä.

This project pays respect to the origins of death metal and celebrates 40 years of the genre.

As it was with my previous metal projects, I'm excited as hell about Fornax Ferrea. One album isn't enough when it comes to exploring these concepts, so this festive bash was expanded into a death metal trilogy.

Endtime Bestiaries will be out January 1, 2025.

Perimurha - Original Murder

 

Wax crayon / wax on paper. Rinta-Perälä, 2024.

Drawing 435.

Vengeful Semblance - Black Classical - Volume II

2022-2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skKWtL736jQ

Tracks from the last six Vengeful Semblance albums, the grey trilogy and the final three.

Gnossienne was the last recording.

https://vengefulsemblance.bandcamp.com/

Ohjaa minua - Guide Me

Wax crayon / wax on paper. Rinta-Perälä, 2024.

Drawing 434.

Vengeful Semblance: Black Classical - Volume I

 

2019-2021

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es28ME-VQhc

https://vengefulsemblance.bandcamp.com/

Sotkuinen - Messy

 

Wax crayon / wax on paper. Rinta-Perälä, 2024.

Drawing 433.

Rashomon (1950) Audio commentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A6gy1_ZLxw

Rashomon is now officially in my top 10.

My last metal project - Fornax Ferrea

Fornax Ferrea is thunderous death metal and the first album is called Endtime Bestiaries.

I've never done mute picking before, so I wrote an intense and pissed off album to show how I feel about the current state of music.

The album will be out on January 1, 2025. One of the intentions is to celebrate 40 years of death metal (not just because of Possessed.)

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in it."
Shakespeare: Hamlet

Two songs from the album will be released this year (October & November). There will also be a Vengeful Semblance compilation called Black Classical on my Youtube channel.

FUCK THE OPPRESSIVE SELLOUTS!

Fuck record labels

 

I hate record labels.

I hate the way they promote things, how they maintain the cult of popularity, how much they need mindless cheerleaders and followers.

It's all a bunch of bullshit.

Don't tell me I'm "insulting record labels." Go fuck yourself. What kind of backwards bullshit is that? Are record labels all of a sudden sacred? When did that start?

Artists should always lead the way. Without musical ideas the entire artform wouldn't exist. You listen to it with your ear holes and you feel something. That's what it's about. Everything else is extra crap.

Having my own record label is out of question. I can barely support myself. I don't know how many Bandcamp accounts I'm eventually going to have, but this I do know: music is in my DNA. I'm here to raise the bar, I'm here to take risks. All that mind-numbing compromising with labels is a waste of time.

Never lose your individuality and curiosity.

Jumalatar - Goddess

 

Wax crayon / wax on paper. Rinta-Perälä, 2024.

Drawing 432.

A story about my radicalised friend

When I was a teenager I knew someone who was radicalised by certain metal bands and their supporters. He had two sides. I always preferred his humane and comical side.

He basically fell into the old "Blasphemy and Burzum" trap. Around 2001, when we were 16, he started talking about "Aryans", racist stereotypes and clearly promoted bands with fascist inclinations. The third band was Graveland. I was aware of the racism in some areas of metal, but I usually only heard the music. "Heaven Shall Burn" by Marduk featured the Waffen-SS sign but I didn't know anything about it.

Marduk has been using the Waffen-SS sign in their artwork since the mid-90s. It's incredibly specific. They can't always use the World War II excuse. If you're only listening to mp3s and don't look at the artwork, the connection might seem too obscure. Throughout the years Marduk's Nazi obsession has become more and more obvious. I've never been a fan of them.

Waffen-SS was not voluntary. Young people were forced to swear oaths and no one could criticise it in any way. Young people are looking for a direction these days. I've seen racist graffiti and stickers everywhere.

Many bands in the early 90s were clearly reading about esoteric Nazism. Savitri Devi wrote a book called "The Lightning and the Sun" and she claimed that Hitler was the incarnation of Vishnu. If you go to Twitter right now, you will find far-right people who are writing that exact same crap. Impaled Nazarene was one of the first Finnish bands to include fascist references without discussing them in an intelligent way.

Almost everything my friend used to recommend musically had some sort of connection to neo-Nazism. I always thought those bands were incredibly stupid and didn't reinforce his initiations. But I wish I had explained my views more. You can't just blame his descent into extremism on stupidity and laziness. Our interactions ended 20 years ago. As far as I know my friend never became a neo-Nazi.

This has to be an ongoing conversation in the metal world. You can't just ask, "Are you a Nazi?" People can always say no. The key question is this: how would you criticise the far-right, the fascists or the Nazis? If you're denying all connections to these groups, you should also criticise them. Critical thinking is vital. If they refuse to express any kind of disapproval, you should always have a follow-up question.

Much like some autocratic politicians, some of these far-right bands frequently have the same safe interviewers who don't challenge anything they say. Neo-Nazis would love to be mainstream, but as they slowly creep towards their goal, it's important to remember this: they also love silence.