Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

Hateform released their first album ”Dominance” in 2008. It was a strong opening and the band won the “Newcomer of the year” award in Finnish metal awards. I expected that Hateform would have broken its way straight to Finnish death metal elite club. For one reason or another the band didn’t get as popular as it deserved. And recently was released the second new weapon called “Origins of Plague”.

Metal Shock Finland’s JM Helmi recently had a chat with Hateform’s Tom Gardiner.

1. Hello Tom! Hateform released the second full length album “Origins of Plague” few weeks ago. We wrote a review of that album but now you have a chance to describe the album. So, what kind of piece of art have you made?

Our cover art? In the booklet, there is all these sewn up “holes”; ears, mouth, and if you look closely there is a sewn up vagina, heh heh. But the most noticeable is the front, where the sewed up eyes start to open! One eye is open, while the other is still closed.. The idea in this comes from us (people) keeping too much stuff locked inside. So put on the CD, and you’ll hear all the rage packed within us bombarding out as a “vulgar display” of musical madness.. Other way we think of our cover art is the meaning behind the title, Origins Of Plague. We’re not about dragons and magic or any of that dark age shit, but the tittle is kind of a summary of the basic thoughts behind our lyrics, between the lines! If you start to think where did the “plague” come from that consumes you and paralyzes you inside, all you have to do is look in the mirror when you wake up! So the cover art goes nicely with the title, I think!

2.What are the main differences between “Origins of Plague” and your debut album “Dominance”?

Well I think the songs themselves have matured greatly, and that’s just a natural evolvement. It would have been disappointing to many if we had done all the same things all over again. Then again, the musical ground that we cover is so vast, that one album can’t possibly display everything we are about! That said, there is some similarities and some differences, but it’s definitely recognizable as Hateform. In the production side, we took a major leap forward, I think! Also, we have a new drummer, Tuomo Latvala, who brings the game to a whole new level! I’m so glad to say that with Origins, we just got started! There’s a lot more to be heard of us.

3.All the members of Hateform are extremely skillful musicians. How difficult it is to concentrate on writing good songs instead of total instrument porn?

Well, it’s not like we are “laptop-metal”? Are we? Fuck NO!
I think it’s fair to say that Hateform isn’t exactly as technical as you can get, so we don’t write music based on technical skills. We’re just fortunate to have the capacity to make it happen! It’s also only fair to say that we write stuff that is supposed to resemble “music” and “songs” to us, our selves! Surely it will be over the top for some, but it will be merely average stuff for others! Occasionally there is space to display some personal craft in there as well, but the “songs” are still the main focus! Maybe this will enlighten the readers a bit: First lets acknowledge that all of us are about 30 years old right now, that will put our early youth to the golden era of 8-bit video games! Fortunately all of us took up instruments before thrash was overthrown by grunge. Next thing you know, it’s the mid 90’s, and we’re all dying to form our first bands but with who?? There just weren’t any players in that generation. I grew up being the only kid in school playing metal guitar! Take a look at today’s youth, see the picture? Anyway, thanks to bands like Death, Cynic, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel for keeping the flag up in those dark ages of metal! So if you and your music are officially the outcast of the school, the looser with long hair and leather jacket, what else is there to do but practice, practice, practice!?! And Death Metal is technically demanding to say the least, so if that’s your cup of tea, then you might not even notice it! Lots of practice will naturally throw your musical taste towards new territories; so comes the Dream Theater/Meshuggah phase.. Next up, we’re young adults at the change of the millennium. Now the worst part of the dark ages of metal is behind us, but all of a sudden there are thousands of bands, and the competition is strong! Finland at the time was full of these “bodom/keyboard/nintendo” wannabe’s, and that has permanently raised the level of players. If you wanted to be in the elite of the underground, it was REQUIRED to be a good musician; so thanks to all that hard work, that wasn’t a problem for us. I’m not trying to sound like we’re the best of the best or anything stupid like that, just pointing out that if you want to perform your music, you’ll have to be ABLE to perform your music! There are no two ways around that; you can’t fuckin’ download technical skills from the fuckin’ internet, hence the expression “Laptop Metal” =)…

4. Name “Hateform” describes your music very well. Which are the elements that hate is made of?

It’s funny that you mentioned our name. Not long ago, we were all laughing at our name over few beers. If we were to form (pun intended) the band now, none of us would “okay” such a generic name as “Hateform”, hehe, as it is kind of silly.. But in the long run, it’s a perfect name. It’s easy to spell, easy to pronounce, anybody anywhere can understand what it’s all about, and it looks good on a T-shirt! It doesn’t really mean anything specific, but it somehow binds every little negative “element” in one word! Be it anger, rage, confusion, grudges, etc… all of us have those, and music gives a great way to resolve those elements, both to the artist and the listener!

5.You have been on tour promoting your new album. How has it been?

It was a long “weekend-after-weekend” kind of tour. It lasted for two months and we covered a good chunk of Finnish soil. It’s not a good idea, nor is it very realistic to be on tour all the time, so we will have a month or two off for now. Hopefully we will do another multiple weekend tour in the spring, followed by some festivals, I hope! As for the previous tour, it was loads of beer, farts, bad humor in the tour bus. Some great moments on stage and off stage!

6.Do you have any plans to hit the road outside of Finland too?

We have hopes and intentions, but not any plans at the moment! Outside of Finland would be the ideal ground to cover next, since we have played just about every major town in Finland in the last 5 years. Touring outside of your country costs a ton of cash, and the amount of preparation is enormous.. So if and when this will happen, it will be very well announced on our behalf.

7.What kind of gear do you use on stage?

Tuomo, our drummer is endorsed with Pearl drums so he uses them exclusively. Tomy and Joni have an Ibanez endorsement, so they play exclusively Ibanez instruments! I also use some Ibanez stuff, but I also have some handmade instruments by Amfisound.  I didn’t take the endorsement because I simply can’t afford to play anything EXCLUSIVELY (man I hate that word). See, I play a ton of stuff outside of Hateform, and I would hate to play an Ozzy Osbourne tribute (for instance) with my Ibanez, when I have a great Les Paul and a great Strat!.. As for amps, Tomy has a rack with some Engl and VHT gear, and I have been switching my rig lately. I used to have the Engl/Vht combo, but decided to down scale my rig to just a head with a simple pedalboard, nothing special..

8. If “Origins of Plague” was a soundtrack what would be the movie for it?

This is a tough one. If you could combine the following movies (perhaps some director will go for it..): Fight Club, Highlander (the first part), Boondock Saints, Total Recall, Any 007 film with Roger Moore on it.. Combine that with a “Sin City” -type of graphical content, and we are getting closer..

9.And what would be a suitable theme song for Hateform’s tour?

This is easier. Actually I will give you a whole playlist:
-in the morning, “Suicide note Pt. 1” by Pantera, depending on how and where you wake up
-in the afternoon, “Blessed Hellride” By Black Label Society will surely get us open the first can of beer
-during travel, “I stay Away” by Alice In Chains, the most calm time of the day
-during load in, “Fight Fire With Fire” by Metallica will keep us busy as little bees
-During sound check, …Hmm, anything from the early Sonic Youth demos.. Horrible noise..
-Just before gig, “I’m So Excited” by the Pointer Sisters will surely get the adrenaline going for the show
-just after gig, “Living After Midnite” by Judas Priest. Will surely keep the adrenaline pumping after the show.
-last 30 minutes in the bar, “Easy” as the Faith No More version, since we’re all actually pretty easy..
-last minutes before sleep in a hotel, or tourbuss, “Eternal Flame” by the Bangles. Now it might get very sensitive so next morning will surely start with that Pantera Song…

10.Thank you for the interview. Feel free to say your greetings to the readers.

Thanks for reading! Check us out on the web, look out for some gigs, and remember to vote for us at the FMA (Finnish Metal Awards)!

Interviewed by Juha-Matti Helmi – Photos: http://www.hateform.net

To read our “Origins of Plague” -review, click here.