TERHEN

The Finnish metal scene for years now constitutes an\r\nunceasing source delivering some of the most brilliant and interesting\r\nrepresentatives in the combatant fields of metal music. Terhen is a new\r\nup and rising band, formed in 2004 under the name Thamuz and “Eyes\r\nunfolded” is their first full length effort, a dark mixture of\r\ndoom/death/black introduction. We take the chance and have a short\r\nconversation with them to talk about their new album, their future\r\nplans and goals detaching a small insight on the band.
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\r\nMetalzone: First of all congratulations on your debut album “Eyes Unfolded”. \r\nBefore we continue with it please give us some info about the band for all those \r\nwho do not know you yet.
\r\nTerhen :Thank you! Terhen was formed three years ago in Middle-Finland under \r\nthe name Thamuz. Back then there were five band members, from which the\r\ndrummer has changed and a another singer has joined to the band. We play \r\natmospheric doom metal with some other musical influences too. Before \r\nthe debut album Eyes unfolded the band has released one demo in 2005. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: How different are things since the days of Thamuz?
\r\nTerhen: Many have understood that under the name Thamuz we played black metal,\r\nwhich is false. We made one song in faster tempo, and that’s all. Back \r\nthen things were unsteadier: the band members changed a lot and we
\r\ndidn’t have common opinion about the music style we wanted to play. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: You have a woman in your form. What’s the best thing about this? Do \r\nyou think that it is going to help you a little bit further as a band?
\r\nTerhen: Actually we have two girls in this band. We don’t think there’s \r\nsomething special in it and it barely helps us as a band in any way. Nowadays \r\nit’s quite common to have females in a band line-up. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: There’s also a new drummer. How did you come to be in touched with\r\nboth of them? Did you happen to know them long before they’ve been\r\nimported in the line-up?
\r\nTerhen : We just knew both of them played drums before asking them to join in\r\nthe band. After that we got to know them better.
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\r\nMetalzone: How long did it take to write and record your album?
\r\nTerhen: The writing part was done in a long period, from the year 2004 to the \r\nbeginning of this year. One song was basically made in the recording \r\nstudio. The recording also wasn’t a continuous period: we started in \r\nFebruary 2007 and finished in the end of March. We had to work mainly in \r\nweekends and holidays because of schools, works and our bass player’s \r\nmilitary service.
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\r\nMetalzone: Are you happy with the final result or are there any things at all\r\nthat you prefer you would have done otherwise?
\r\nTerhen: We are very satisfied with the result, but of course there’s something \r\nthat would have done better. To the next album we want to improve the\r\nstructures of the songs and cut the needless repetitions away. But we\r\nthink they are not serious issues in Eyes unfolded. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: What’s the general feedback from media and fans until now?
\r\nTerhen: The band has been really amazed by the amount of good feedback from \r\nboth media and fans. It seems so, that the best reviews come from Germany\r\nand the bad ones from US. But there’s also variety a lot. Those, who
\r\nthink the album isn’t good enough still sees a lot of potential in
\r\nTerhen. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: Are you satisfied with the promotion you’ve had so far?
\r\nTerhen: Yes, everything has worked fine with Firebox records. The band has also \r\ndone it’s best to promote this album; it’s not only the labels job.
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\r\nMetalzone: Your sound is defined as a doom/death/black metal with some gothic
\r\nedges. How would you describe it though?
\r\nTerhen: It’s good to see that there is variety in defining our genre. We would \r\nmaybe describe it as atmospheric doom, even though our music consists \r\ninfluences from other music styles too. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: Do you have any favorite songs from the album?
\r\nTerhen : Influences has always been our favourite, it’s one of the oldest songs \r\nof this band. We like also wandering, which was done completely in \r\nstudio. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: Is there a main composer behind your music or do you all contribute\r\nin the whole process?
\r\nTerhen: Our guitarist and key player compose the songs and whole band take part \r\nto arrangements. Also our studio crew has affected to the music quite \r\nmuch. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: What is the first thing you come up with, lyrics or sound?
\r\nTerhen: It depends on the lyric writer, who is a person outside the band\r\nline-up. Previously we have mainly done the music first, but now we have got \r\nmany lyrics beforehand to Terhen’s upcoming second album, so it can \r\nchange our working habits. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: Where the inspiration for your lyrics come from usually? What are \r\nthe most liked themes?
\r\nTerhen: You have to ask that inspiration thing from our ex-drummer, who writes \r\nTerhen’s lyrics, we don’t know. The lyrics tell for example about\r\nsituations and problems, that people have to deal with in everyday life. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: Do you change a lot the songs in the studio or do you have them \r\npretty much in their initial form?
\r\nTerhen: When making Eyes unfolded, we made several changes to the songs. But in \r\nfuture the band will step to a studio with more finished ideas. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: What are your main musical influences?
\r\nTerhen: The music tastes among the band members are so wide, that’s impossible
\r\nto name any certain bands. Everything we listen affects to us, and it’s
\r\ndefinitely not only doom metal or metal in general. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: There are lots of Finnish metal bands out there. How strong and\r\nvivid is the metal scene in Finland and how easy can it be for a band to \r\nachieve some further recognition?
\r\nTerhen: It’s quite surprising how strong the metal scene in this kind of little \r\ncountry can be. There are a lot of bands, gigs and festivals and for\r\nmetal bands it’s easy to achieve a place in a chart list. If the music \r\nworks, a band will surely be recognized.
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\r\nMetalzone: What are the band’s expectations for the future?
\r\nTerhen: Releasing albums, writing good songs, having gigs, the usual things. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: Do you have any plans for some gigs in or outside of your country?
\r\nTerhen: At the moment Terhen is practising the songs from Eyes unfolded and \r\nwriting some new ones. Now it would be difficult to organize gigs because \r\nof our bass players military service. But of course we want to perform
\r\nboth in Finland and abroad when the time is right. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: Do you all have a day job?
\r\nTerhen: Only our drummer has got a day job, we others are still studying. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: What are the best and worst things about playing in a band?
\r\nTerhen: Playing in a band is creative activity and it differs from the everyday\r\nduties. The worst thing is trying to find common practising time. \r\n

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\r\nMetalzone: What are the helpful or the destructive things of the internet’s \r\nutilization?
\r\nTerhen: Thanks to Internet, it;s much more easier to the bands to promote \r\nthemselves and find new listeners and be connected with labels, media and\r\nother bands than before. Unfortunately albums spread on the torrent sites
\r\nquickly, sometimes even before releasing date.
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\r\nMetalzone: Is there anything you would like to comment for our readers?
\r\nTerhen: After these questions you will have pretty good picture of us! Check \r\nout Terhen’s music and visit our home page: www.terhenband.com\r\n

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