Question: What about all these strange titles that appear not written in Latin or
English?
Answer: Well, then they represent some other languages. Go ask an adult. Because of overwhelming
popular demand, we offer them here alongside English translations.
- Lampaan Vaatteissa [Finnish] = 'In Sheep's Clothing'
- Metsänpeitto [Finnish] = To find oneself under glamour and become lost in the woods
by the actions of a mischievous forest-spirit.
- Myrrys [Finnish] = Shaman's trance-state / spirit journey.
- Duumipeikon Paluu [Finnish] = 'The Return of Doomintroll'
- Bathos [Greek] = [ba:tos] insincere or overdone pathos; sentimentality; anticlimax.
- Kivijumala [Finnish] = 'Stone God'; 'God of Stone'; 'Stony Idol'
- Kesäyö [Finnish] = 'Summer Night'
- Tohcoth [Enochian] = [to:koþ] "This name comprehendeth the number of all the fayries, who are diuels next to the state and condition of man" -Dr John Dee
- Dimwa Depenga [Ouranian-Barbaric] = 'Beam Faceless'
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Q: When and where will Aarni gig?
A: Short answer: we do not. Never have and perhaps never will. If this changes thou
shalt be the first to know.
Long answer: Aarni has chosen not to play live, because
its members have little interest in either giving concerts or attending them.
Try to think about it for a moment and consider this parallel: when a movie gets released,
its director, actors etc. usually do not get requests to embark on a tour of live performances
or stage adaptations of the film. Neither do painters, writers or most other artists.
Yet in the case of musicians this seems taken for granted. Just why this should be the case
has always been somewhat of a mystery to us. The demands of convention and base "entertainment" do not make much sense in
most instances, as thou probably hast already noticed if thou dost happen to live anywhere on planet Earth.
So, Aarni won't gig and pestering us about it only wastes everyone's time (and in the process makes
thee a prime target for our psychotic urge for violent astral/physical retaliation).
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Q: What do you consider as your influences?
A: Well, first off we can offer the self-evident platitude that everything we have experienced has influenced us.
But more precisely: in the past our musical inspirations involved the likes of Paradise Lost, Anathema and My Dying Bride,
while some of our both past and present favourites include Black Sabbath, Black Widow, Camel, Candlemass, Cathedral, Piirpauke,
Iron Maiden, Wishbone Ash, Clannad, Primus, Metallica, Joe Satriani, Lake Of Tears, Skyclad, Van Der Graaf Generator, Maudlin Of The Well, Opeth,
Amon Düül, Focus, King Crimson, King Diamond, Hawkwind, Pantera, Buckethead, various computer game and classical composers etc. ad nauseam.
Aarni's more or less evident non-musical (writers, ideas, artists, thinkers and so forth) inspirations: Salvador Dalí, H.R. Giger, Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Michael Moorcock, Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett,
Carlton Mellick III, Rabelais, Robert Anton Wilson, Aleister Crowley, Chaos Magick, NLP, Transhumanism, Timothy Leary, Shamanism, Fenno-Ugric folklore, Ancient Egypt, Taoism, Zen Buddhism, Dadaism, David Lynch,
William Burroughs, Moebius, Grant Morrison, classic (adventure) computer games, Aleksis Kivi, Eino Leino, John Dee, Hakim Bey, Wilhelm Reich, Carl Gustaf Jung, glossolalia, coprolalia, pareidolia and Discordianism.
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Q: What are your songs about? I lack basic education!
A: We think we have usually made the subject clear enough. At other times the
listener may need some basic intelligence, knowledge and learning to 'get the picture'.
However, some curiosities:
'Transcend Humanity' may appear naïvely misanthropic in sentiment and preachy
in style. MW got its lyrics in a kind of retarded epiphany in late August 2001.
Later, after the so-called "WTC terrorist strike", this song has gained a somewhat
prophecy-like reputation, whether deservedly or not.
'Liber Umbrarum vel Coniunctio's lyrical content and mental imagery came to MW in
a waking dream after intensively reading Jung. He has got better since. As
apparent to anyone even slightly familiar with Jung's ideas, the song deals with
the individuation process and more specifically with confronting and subsequently
assimilating one's Shadow and other Jungian key elements of one's unconscious. The
'Book of Shadows' and 'Book of (the) Youth' mentioned in the song's
title and lyrics obiviously refer to these archetypal images and to the works of
Jung himself, respectively.
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Q: Tell me about 'Bathos'?
(Taken from the "Song By Song" section of Metal Storm)
1. Ονειροσκόπος:
A short and mellow intro track. The Greek title translates as "dreamscope", in other words an instrument for watching dreams
and back in '98 numbered as one of the original band name suggestions for Aarni.
2. Squaring The Circle:
This song may be musically the most "traditional doomish" one on the
record. After the intro part it becomes literally a three-chord song. I included
the needless and tasteless outro guitar solo mainly as a misguided joke. The lyrics deal with
the individuation process using alchemical and magickal terminology.
3. Quinotaurus:
A shortish song about the origins and agenda of the EU...perhaps? If sought,
encoded information can be found in the lyrics.
4. Kivijumala:
A lengthy Fennougric folk instrumental done in the best/worst Kalevala style.
The Finnish title can be translated as "Stone God". The track and its
booklet art were inspired by the esoteric correspondences of element Earth and by
the human-shaped cliff in Eastern Finland, where the composer Jean Sibelius
discovered the first known Stone Age rock paintings in the country.
5. V.I.T.R.I.O.L.:
A very relaxed Twin Peakish and old song of mine featuring alchemical/Jungian
lyrics, flute and clean guitars.
6.The Thunder, Perfect Mindfuck:
The only song on the album with growled vocals, perhaps also the most clichéd
in a metal sense for the main part. The lyrics were largely inspired by the Gnostic
texts discovered at Nag Hammadi. I meant the outro part to have a jazzy/progressive/spaced-out
feel to it. Ride the snake...
7.Mental Fugue:
Another instrumental, with embedded spells and flamenco-like/neoclassical experimentation.
Truth be told I wrote this track rather quickly to replace a 20-minute song I originally
inteded to include, but ran into album space restrictions. Maybe we'll hear it on
the next record...
8.Niut Net Meru:
Translates as "City Of Pyramids". This track deals with initiation
and illumination veiled in Ancient Egyptian, Thelemic and Discordian imagery. I
have made the verse riffs intentionally arhytmical, meaning that the instruments
play in concert but not to a fixed tempo. This feature I wish to further implement
in Aarni's future material. I sung the song in Old/Middle Kingdom Egyptian as befits
the Oriental-style music...drawing the booklet hieroglyphs felt like the biggest
single task in the making of the album :)
9.Kesäyö:
The Finnish title translates as "Summer Night". A long-winded and trippy Kalevala
instrumental, intended for listening in an expanded state of bodymind or when thou really dost not have anything better to do.
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Q: Tell me about 'Tohcoth'?
The album may represent a one-off experimentation effort for Aarni with prog and Krautrock stuff...normal(?) service will be resumed.
MW's track-by-track comments taken from an interview in Nocturne Magazine:
1. Coniuratio Sadoquae:
The inspiration for the music came to me during a "morning after" and I recorded the stuff in a single day. I had wanted to make a song related to the Cthulhu mythos entity Tsathoggua since about 1998 e.v. and now finally did it. The Latin lyrics are by Lovecraft from the fictional tome De Vermis Mysteriis with some additions by myself.
2. The Hieroglyph:
Perhaps the most coherent and "mainstream metal" song on the album, based on an old riff idea of mine. I thought the Qabalistic lyrics (from some obscure text on the subject, I forget which) would fit with the medieaval-style melodies.
3. Riding Down the Miskatonic on a Dead Thing:
Despite the title, musically not very Cthulhoid in my opinion, but rather a homage to Camel at least for the first part. Melodic harmonies abound and blah blah...
4. Arouse Coiled Splendour:
Another more or less coherent track with some harmonies constructed according to the principles of Pythagorean/Masonic/Hermetic 'sacred geometry'. The lyrics deal with the "Qabalistic fairytale" of Tetragrammaton formula according to the Hermetic/Alchemical/Jungian etc. version. The title is an Aleister Crowley reference.
5. Λογος:
Ambient levitation with sung Crowley lyrics, cleaned original 1920's recording samples and reversed Christian chanting. Music otherwise wholly done with synths. Again also the title points to Crowley.
6.All Along The Watchtowers:
After the Hendrix beginning, the song musically slows down mostly to a lagging funeral doom dirge with polyrhythmic parts and other such gimmicks. Lyrics in Enochian, the grammar and syntax of which have been carefully gleaned from Dr John Dee’s original texts and pronounciation guidelines, but reworked into new sentences by myself. The English translation for this song can be found as usual on the Lyrics page.
Some sound effects/instruments have been included to imitate the sounds reported by Dee and Kelley during the Enochian workings/manifestations. Interestingly enough some of these sounds are also mentioned in modern reports on poltergeist activity and other paranormal phenomena.
7.Chapel Perilous:
Another track starting as a 70’s prog piece and turning into something else as befits the title. A soundtrack to the chaotic & sometimes unpleasant state of being lost in the Chapel Perilous aka the dark night of the soul. Hence the unpleasant music :)
8.The Sound of One I Opening:
Fucking about musically with jazzy and more obscure styles...sitar-influenced electric guitar jamming and less bearable stuff. Lyrics a not-entirely-serious running commentary on the dangers of religions aka ignorance with heavy quotes from Crowley, Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson, Hakim Bey and so forth. A kind of "spot the quote" exercise for the listener. Very artistic, I'm sure.
9.The Battle Hymn of the Eristocracy:
The keyboard has a classic Moog lead sound...the gliding whistling sound used by the likes of Pink Floyd, Camel and Hawkwind in their heyday. I tweaked the sound somewhat to be sillier and closer to a tinny Casio home organ or such.
The song is simply the anthem from Principia Discordia, which I expect every listener of Aarni to be fully familiar with. A hymn to Eris by a born-again believer. All hail Discordia!
10.Barbelith:
Another attempt to convert the listener into alternative reality-tunnels. Sociopolitical commentary, reality criticism. See 'The Sound...' above, once again "spot the quotes". The title hopefully relevantly refers to the masterpiece comics series The Invisibles by the magus guru Grant Morrison.
11.Iku-Turso:
The most epic song on the album, maybe. Also the one I wrote first if I recall correctly. The lyrics are a poem by Finnish poet celebrity Eino Leino. They deal darkly with the personal problems of an immortal thurisaz or 'eternal sea-giant'. Again, for the translation see the Lyrics page.
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Q: Tell me about 'Omnimantia' EP?
The first four songs comprise new studio recordings while the last three represent different masterings of tracks appearing on various tribute albums. Join the war against the loudness war! Meaning that thou mightest want to crank up the volume of thy audio player, because we have applied only light compression at the mastering stage to preserve natural sound and dynamics.
1. Rat King:
This song has it all: 16th century Prague, rats, a golem, Dee and Kelley, pwning Christians and death metallish clamour...
2. Dimwa Depenga:
A mellow tune sung in Ouranian-Barbaric, the ritual language used mostly by practioners of Chaos Magick. Expect to be "healed" whilst listening.
3. This Is Not A Mask:
A charming, thought-provoking mishmash of musical parts alluding to Jung and The King In Yellow.
4. Hypnagogia:
Take this track as a personality test. Thou canst learn much about thyself from the reaction this true-to-the-title freestyle tune causes in thee. Art THOU a mediocretin or a glorious starfaring futant?
5. "Untitled":
Skepticism cover song of the fourth track from their 'Farmakon' album. Aarni's version features lyrics from the German online edition of Principia Discordia amongst musical scatomadness. The original version of this track is included on the Entering The Levitation Skepticism tribute album.
6.Verivaikerrus / Hurmehanki:
Thergothon cover song of their "Crying Blood / Crimson Snow". Aarni's version has the lyrics translated into Finnish. The original version of this track is featured on Rising Of Yog-Sothoth: Tribute to Thergothon by the label Solitude Productions.
7.Lovecraft Knew:
An original and maddening Aarni song, another version of which appears on Yogsothery - Gate I: Chaosmogonic Rituals Of Fear by I, Voidhanger Records.
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Q: Tell me about 'Aarni/PiM Split'?
Of Aarni's songs on the Split:
First off, we have '49 Angeli Boni', which gives thee a nice exercise in basic numerology. In this case the number seven. As thou canst deduce from its title, the song concerns the De Heptarchia Mystica of Dr John Dee and the lyrics consist of the list of "49 good angels", whose names all begin with the letter 'b'. For an insight into this matter, study the Tongue Angelickall a.k.a. Enochian. Interestingly enough, many important words in English also begin with this letter, for example 'booze', 'butt', 'bud', 'boobs', 'bubonic', 'bathos', 'Babalon', 'Bob' and 'blather'.
Musically this song repeats the same pattern of seven power chords for seven verses, and has the danceable (especially if thou art epileptic) time signature of 7/4. Despite its brevity, not necessarily a radio-friendly song...maybe an aquired taste to fully enjoy. But as the old Aarnian adage goes: live and learn, die and teach.
The second track is 'Emuu', a "kalevala" folky instrumental. The Finnish title seems hard to translate into inferior languages, but could be rendered as "the genitor spirit/god of a species". In this case the species is Man, alluded to by the swan calls present in the song. See Fenno-Ugric mythology on the role of waterfowl in the creation of the world and all that resembles it.
The third track 'Land Beyond the Night' may come across as needlessly mainstream, but is highly autobiographical in nature, detailing a typical day on the Astral plane for us. The lyrics also contain a number of references to more or less classical songs by influential bands. Genius Albert Frankenstein once again guest stars on the vocals.
The mostly Swedish-language 'Lemminkäinens Tempel' serves as the fourth song and deals with the palaver of Ior Bock, the late great lunatic of pot's creation and scion of pre-Atlantean heritage. The track's musical content has been intended to reflect this, in a somewhat Black Sabbath fashion.
The fifth and final Aarni song, 'Goetia', deals with...well, a true Inept of the Ars Magica calling up Goetic spirits - all in God's name, of course. The Latin lyrics present a dialogue/battle of wits and willpower between the two parties. Guess who wins?
Musically speaking, this song has "dissonance" or wossname, groovy riffs and not-so-groovy ones. The schizoid doominess should make for a charming transition into PiM's half of the album.
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Q: Alleviate my impatience, tell me about your new album?
A: Aarni's third full-length album (to be released in 2022 e.v.) bears the title of 'Lovecraftian'. A serious(?) theme album dedicated to the 20th century horror's dark and baroque prince H.P. Lovecraft. Song titles so far: 'Nemesis', 'Yule Horror', 'Azathoth', 'Celephaïs', 'The Strange High House In The Mist', 'Nyarlathotep'.
Azathoth have mercy on us all...
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