Iron Griffin Pt I
Responsible for one of the best albums that were released in 2019, and with a new one being recorded right now, the forgotten steel of Iron Griffin seems to be as hot as ever. Hinsides Magazine had no choice but to meet up with the visionary force behind this lost legion to know more about the coming reign of thunder!
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Cover of the debut Lp “Curse the Sky” - By Oskari Räsänen.
Hello there Oskari, and welcome to Hinsides Magazine! Please introduce yourself and Iron Griffin and explain how the two of you relate to each other?
Hi, and thank you for having me, It’s a pleasure! My name is Oskari Räsänen, born in 1991 in Tuusniemi, Finland.
I’ve been playing in different bands since I was a teenager, and Iron Griffin is my channel of doing that kind of music that I love. It’s my own project entirely, so no compromises needed in any way. I’ve wanted to create and release my own music since my youth, and Iron Griffin is what happened when I had enough experience to make it happen.
Is it possible to recall when, where and how the inspirational flame behind Iron Griffin started to tickle your creative nerve? It would also be interesting to know what you consider to be Iron Griffins most important sources of inspiration?
I started my musical ”career” somewhere in 2005 with my school mates and my instrument was bass guitar. Soon after I also got myself a guitar, but in 2009 I changed to drums. It seemed like there was a great lack of drummers in Kuopio when I moved there so I bought my first drum kit and played pretty much drums exclusively until 2016. Then I got myself a guitar once again, which resulted in the birth of Iron Griffin. I´ve always been pretty lazy to practice cover songs, so starting to create my own stuff was only natural.
Greatest influence back then certainly was Warlord. I practiced quite a lot playing the songs from ”Deliver Us”. But that´s about it. Then I started working on my own material. William J. Tsamis is still one of my favourite guitarists, but nowadays I find Lordian Guard more inspiring musically than Warlord. Actually, the song ”Journey to the Castle of King” in my first EP, is a story based on the cover art of Warlord’s ”Thy Kingdom Come” compilation. Iron Griffin is pretty much a mash up of my general interests: heavy metal, progressive/folk rock, medieval and fantasy stuff… In a dark fashion of course.
Warhammer is my oldest on going hobby. I literally grew up painting fantasy miniatures and listening to Judas Priest, and I´ll never going to give that up. Wargaming and heavy metal has been in my life since I was very young, so it’s very natural for me to combine these elements in my music and art. Reading through old Warhammer books are still as inspiring as ever! 90’s Warhammer and 80’s metal, what a combination!
…And another thing is video games. Oh man! I could ramble all day about Castlevania, Final Fantasy, Star Ocean, Suikoden, Wild Arms… I’m a huge fan of PS1 jrpgs!
So yeah I admit it, Iron Griffin is complete and total nerd music, made by a nerd. I find endless inspiration from tabletop wargaming and video games.
“Sad Games of Destiny” - Collage by Hinsides.
Both you and your bands resides in Kuopio, one of the bigger cities in Finland, which has housed a lot of other more or less known metal bands. What´s it like to live in this area, and what do you think someone from outside would react upon as typically ”local habits” in Kuopio?
Oh man, ”local habits” of Kuopio metal scene! Hahaha! Maybe to take off your pants and drink a shit load of booze! Kuopio is a funny place. People here are real and straight-forward. We really don’t give a fuck about outsiders opinions, haha. We do what we do and are just being ourselves. There has always been a lot of metal bands in Kuopio, but not as much like it used to be, sorry to say.
The lyrical themes used in I.G are built around the same concept as a lot of elderly heroic tales about bravery and strength. Do you find such stories inspirational and relevant in your everyday life as well or are they merely a celebration of a traditions?
I see myself as a very average lyricist. I usually compose the melodies first, and start building lyrics into those melodies. Lyrics should sound good when sung, thats the main priority. I love vocals over all, I am not a fan of instrumental music. I want my music to be epic, so the themes you mentioned come to me naturally. Lyrics must fit to the music and have a common thread. In my opinion they can be abstract, and have many meanings, it’s better that way. Vocals are a crucial part of my music, but it’s still only one ”instrument” among the others. So, about traditions in lyrics; I really don’t care. I just write things that I feel suit the music, and like to give the listener a lot or room for interpretation.
Speaking of traditions; What´s your general view on the battle between tradition versus progression, and how do you relate to those opposites while building the world of Iron Griffin?
I love heavy metal and it’s traditions. I like to think that heavy metal is more like a way of life, and there is still a lot to discover in the musical world of traditional heavy metal. It’s not about ”riffs” or ”exceptional drum fills” or even ”vocalist with golden throat” or anything like that. They are just a mere little pieces in the whole musical adventure, where moods and melodies come together and immerse the listener to a another time and space.
I’ve noticed that there are many different types of music listeners. For some, it’s almost all the time only background noise for doing something else, and that disgusts me personally. I want so sit down, pay my whole attention to the music, and thats when you REALLY can tell which album is worthy and which are not. That leads us to one of the biggest problems in today’s heavy metal; songs and albums are too long. There’s way too much repeat and too much songs. I usually gets bored during a lengthy song. If I’ve already heard the chorus for three times, why the hell do I need to hear it more? Please, dear composers, think about it! It’s better to leave listener wanting more, than over do it. Listeners can always listen to the album again. If the songs is so long that I have to struggle to listen it through, it’s really hard to start to listen to the album again. This is what separates great albums from mediocre. You want to hear great albums over and over again!
Maija Tiljander and Oskari Räsänen. - Photo by Antti Kasurinen
So about the question; progression is needed, and there’s so much still to discover. But many bands are progressing in totally opposite direction, and it saddens me. I really don’t mean that Iron Griffin has made something perfect, it surely is not that. But Iron Griffin albums are still that kind of albums which I could listen to almost any time, and let me tell you, I’ve listened to them a LOT.
I think tradition and in metal is something that everyone should invest in. Listen to 70’s heavy metal and progressive rock. I personally think that the best productions and best sounding albums were made in the 70’s. Why? Because they sound real. I need that, I want to hear the cymbals chiming, the natural feel of acoustic drum kit and space. Dynamics; heavily distorted guitar should sound loud and wild, not sterile and flat. Of course todays recording equipment is totally different than in the seventies, but it does not mean you couldn’t produce good sounding albums. I honestly can’t understand why some bands make their albums intentionally sound digital and thin and overly compressed.
In Iron Griffin I have a clear vision; I want the albums sound real and organic. But musically, I want to progress, in more progressive style, because that’s where the real treats are hidden. To think outside of the box, and avoid all the most generic solutions. I don’t make my music to be listened in car or shitty headphones. I make my music to be listened in fully focused state with real audio equipment. It’s always a compromise to ”make album sound as good as possible in every listening environment”, and it’s poisonous for the music. I have learned it the hard way, and today I trust only my own ears. Fuck off all those who talk like ”this album should sound like this or like that”, NO, IT DOES NOT! Your opinion matters nothing. Period.
You´ve just read the first part of a longer chat with Oskari that will be featured in the next physical issue of Hinsides Magazine. Part II of this interview will be published here at the site next week. Sign up here to not miss any of our news!