Bio: Edge Of Haze started as a small project called Damage way back when all of us were still kids. One member at a time the band kept on growing from two buddies kicking it with some easy metal goodness at a rehearsal place to a five-piece squad that it is now. When I joined the band in 2011 the final lineup was ready and we began focusing on our first album, later on to be named Mirage (2012).
Genre: We all listen to a super-wide range of music, metal being only one part of everything. Why we’re creating this kind of stuff as a band is a sum of a million things. It just happens naturally for us at the moment.
I think the charm in this specific genre is being able to deliver all the energy, and the possibility to express different feelings so vibrantly.
As a genre metal is definitely the most interesting one to play live – we love going crazy on stage.
Our music is very melodic and packed with a lot of atmospheric elements and flowing dynamics.
Evolution of the initial musical and thematic elements: For a long time it was clear for all of us that we wanted the second album to be a concept one.
The whole development was a huge process and we put a lot of effort into it.
Janne, who was the one to primarily write the lyrics, started experimenting with this certain story inspired by the book Escape from the camp 14.
The lyrics make up a story lasting through the album, and that creates a major part of the concept.
There’s also a distinctive ambience lasting throughout and a few small repetitive themes.
Lyrics, themes and concepts: The third album is still in a hazy point of development – no specific themes lyrically or musically yet. The creating process of everyone in the band is mostly driven by the music and we’ve already decided there will not be a continuous story behind the lyrics however.
We’re in a point where each of us is composing new music for the band and I’m very excited to see what that means for the final product. Traditionally all the lyrics have been written solely by Janne but I could imagine seeing a change in that too.
The music we get inspired of ranges all the way from classical to hip hop and from k-pop to grindcore. Seriously.
We love to experience with new stuff, constantly pushing our limits. Making music without barriers, not precisely thinking about whether a song would be successful commercially, is such a liberating thing to do.
We create music for ourselves – music we enjoy composing and playing. Of course we think about our audience too – not in a ”this is too (insert restricting adjective here) for the fans” but more like ”oh this will be fun playing live” kind of way.
Ideas about the album: We are very happy with the final product. Most of all I think creating such a big entity and keeping it somehow rational can be a huge challenge, and we pulled it off pretty well. We’re proud of not using any additional help even at creating the arrangements – doing all the ”creative work” in the music ourselves.I also like the fact that we paid so much attention to the visual side. The artwork made by the incredible Alex Pryle is spot on and we love it!
Reception: The overall reception has been amazingly rewarding. Knowing how much we had made progress since the first record, we knew the audience would like Illumine, but some of the great exposure we’ve been receiving has still been sort of surprising – in a good way of course. Especially the praise we keep hearing outside of Finland inspires and interests us the most.
Preference; live or studio: We definitely enjoy both being on the road and in the studio. Gigging is more about action and meeting new people, whereas studio time brings up the truly creative side of everyone. We spend a lot of time together outside music things too, so often these sides tend to get a bit mixed up too.
Looking back we’ve already done some astonishing things. As dull as it may sound I definitely feel creating two unique albums by ourselves is one of our greatest accomplishments.
Outside the studio, making it to play at Nummirock, one of the biggest metal festivals in Finland, via a competition is something we’re super proud of too.
Next step; live or studio: We’ll definitely try not to get stuck in place but to move on with our music. The direction we’re heading to seems to be in a way a bit more simplified and ”sensible”, yet more technical, as each of us makes progress as a player. The songs we have written feature parts that are both darker and lighter than anything we’ve done before. Basically there’ll be even more variety and I reckon catchiness too. Also we’re concentrating on songs more driven by vocals than before.
Future plans: This spring we’ll do live gigs and keep on writing material for the third record. We’re planning on a couple of small tours inside Finland, and of course we’re eager to do the same abroad if we get the chance. However there will be a slight pause starting from July since most of us are attending the mandatory military service.
It will take a year and yes it will be frustrating – especially for being at such a creative point in our lives – but the comforting side of it that all guys our age will have to deal with it too.
The future is exciting. There will be a lot of good music written, loads of good gigs played – generally, knowing that awesome things are going to happen is what keeps us striving forward. I personally think being in a band is not about success, but having fun, and as far as we’re doing that it’ll definitely be worth it. Growing big and getting lots of new fans is something to aspire but it’s not the whole point after all.
Greatest Accomplishment: I feel we’re currently only at the starting points of our careers, and thinking about all the great things we’ve gotten to do so far is extremely inspiring.
We’ll keep waiting for what’s yet to come.
Edge Of Haze is:
Markus Hentunen – Vocals, Guitars
Lenno Linjama – Guitars
Eero Maijala – Bass, Growled vocals
Janne Mieskonen – Drums
Akseli Savola – Keyboards
Want more of Edge of Haze? Visit their FaceBook or Official Website!
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