23.03.2019

IMPALED NAZARENE interview: «Remember to drink Vodka and be free!»

Forever nihilistic, blasphemous, politically incorrect force from Finland, IMPALED NAZARENE are going to play on Metal East – Nove Kolo festival warm-up show in Kyiv, the 13th of April. So I decided to reach Mika Luttinen and find out what’s going on with the band whose Vigorous And Liberating Death album (2014) was the last time we heard from the guys.

First, let us know what’s going on in IMPALED NAZARENE quarters these days? Are there any new songs in the works? And what are your plans for the nearest future?

We have been working last 18 months on new songs and we are really close having all the songs ready for the new album. It will be out this year, cannot say exactly when but we have set the goal and it is 2019. Our plans are simple: finish writing songs, record the album. Also we have shows lined up for the whole year, so busy times ahead…

Concert-wise, is it possible for you to get to the major festivals or bigger venues nowadays? Everyone’s got too sensitive, too caring, even within metal stage, so the controversy or intolerance of any kind becomes a good reason to get rid of the band.

We have done anything from Hellfest to Summer Breeze to Tuska to Party-San during last ten years. This year we are again playing in Hellfest. We had problems back in 2006 but that is water under the bridge. Basically we have done all big METAL festivals except Wacken. They did offer us a slot years ago, but the offer was so miserable so we said no thank you. We can thank internet for all the nonsense that is going on today.

I live in Belarus, and it’s not that easy to get a metal band playing here. We have a censorship committee approving artists and all this old-school soviet kind of bullshit. And we have always been jealous, looking at the Europe as a place of freedom where everything’s possible unless it’s banned by criminal laws. It’s clearly not exactly the case these days, neither in EU nor in the USA, where religious or/and left-wing groups seem to get more and more power. TAAKE, MARDUK and other bands get banned, and that’s a disturbing sign for me personally. How do you think this dangerous trend can be stopped? Do you think you can fight it as an artist?

When you have local army storming your hotel and they tell you not to play or you go in jail, how do you fight back?? You don’t, you take the plane and get the fuck out. I have no real solution for this, I guess we just have to wait that times change again to more normal. In Finland there has been bands/shows cancelled as well. In certain towns here… we have to check out that the club is private owned, that the club is not owned by the town. Because if it is not private owned, you can be sure the show will be banned. We don?t play live that much anyway here so I don?t really care. And we also will not play in certain countries because we know we will just end in trouble so why bother.

Speaking about IMPALED NAZARENE, let us say, 25 years ago and nowadays. That was a long way, and what are the main highlights of it you can think about? What are the main changes you experienced on the personal level since that time? Are you still the same horny slut as you’ve advertised yourself earlier? ;)

Why 25?? We are celebrating 29 years this year, big 30 coming in 2020. Too many highlights to list. We never imagined when we started that we could get signed. Then we did and rest is history. We have toured pretty much everywhere (minus South-America and Africa). We have met and partied with lots of great bands and people. I have met basically all my «idols» and played with them. I am also proud that we have stayed with Osmose since the beginning. We have had our ups and downs but we are stronger than ever. If I would be exactly the same person as 29 years ago, that would be very saddening because if you don?t progress at all, then you can just throw yourself under the bus. I am so much more full of hate and despise than when I was 19. When you get older you get wiser, that?s a fact. I remember I laughed at that sentence when I was younger but if I look back, I knew jack shit compared to what I know now.

Can you please describe your usual day (while you’re not playing gigs)?

Wake up at 6am, go to work, come back home around 5pm. Make a dinner, read or watch Netflix and go to sleep.

What are the most irritating ills of the modern society for you personally?

The general idiocy of people: Flat earth believers, anti-vaccine moms, the list endless. It is like people are mentally slowing down or degenerating at alarming speed. Most likely this anti-vaccine madness will spread even more and eventually new black plague or something will again wipe out half of earth. We have had fucking measles and tuberculosis breakouts here in Finland. Diseases that were pretty much extinct. Or the fact that people still, in 2019, believe in god.

Mmmm… let us stop thinking of grim stuff for a while. Can you please tell us about the things that make you happy and smile?

Animals in general, I have four cats, they are the best. I visit animal farms every summer and now that Easter is getting closer, new lambs are born and I will go and visit this special farm where you can hang out with new born lambs and feed them. That is the best fucking therapy in the world.

What are your main associations with the Ukraine? And… well… I know you’re interested in politics, so kind of a tricky question: would you accept proposition to play in Crimea if invited?

Apart from Chernobyl disaster and Russian invasion of Crimea I knew pretty much zero. Then we played a show at Carpathian Alliance in 2014 and got to see a bit, meet local people, absolutely great country. Great food, great vodka and beer. Mountains were amazing and it is still to date the most unique location where we have ever played. We would not play in Crimea.

Can you please share your fave receipt of an alcoholic cocktail?

Tear of a Reindeer: 4cl ice cold premium Vodka, 4cl Vermouth Rosso. Add frozen cranberries. When nothing else goes down, this will.

You always say you don’t listen to new metal stuff, preferring the bands you grew up with. And are you interested in the music these old guys (VENOM, SODOM, TERRORIZER) are doing these days?

Sure, I do check out their new albums, some I like, some are not that exciting. From time to time I listen to new bands and for example B?TCHER from Belgium kicked my ass totally.

…Just anything you might want to add…

Thanks for the interview and remember to drink Vodka and be free!

(Russian version of the interview is here.)