Even though their latest album „Elegy“ has its flaws, FINNR’S CANE are in many ways one of the most remarkable black metal bands of recent times. The American trio uses a cello instead of a bass guitar and effortlessly blends influences from black metal, doom metal, post-rock, folk and ambient. In the following interview with The Bard and The Peasant you can learn more about why the band perceives itself as traditionally orientated, the progress that shows on the new album as well as how electronic music can make you reflect on certain things.
You have chosen quite unusual pseudonyms – The Bard, The Slave and The Peasant. Can you tell us what they are about?
The Peasant: The members of FINNR’S CANE have participated in a number of bands over the years. We wanted this musical project to be appraised as a stand-alone entity; not simply as a side project of this band or that member. For this reason, we chose to use pseudonyms as a means of staying (somewhat) anonymous. My pseudonym serves as a personal reminder to strive for simple pleasures in life.
In metal there is often a difference made between traditional and modern orientated bands. Where would you put FINNR’S CANE in this matter?
The Bard: I suppose you could call us a traditionally oriented band. We are heavily influenced by the black metal classics of the 90s as well as rock music from the 70s and 90s, however I think we have crafted a unique sound that differs from any of those bands and is perhaps informed by a more modern sensibility.
One of your unique characteristics is that you use a cello instead of a bass guitar. How did you get the idea to approach your music this way?
The Bard: The atmosphere of the guitar is important to our sound and it is more eerie sounding without bass guitar added to the mix. For certain parts where a deeper tone was required, we decided to incorporate an instrument we were learning at the time, the cello. We felt it gave our music a more orchestral and distinguished sound.
It’s been five years between “A Portrait Painted By The Sun” and your current record. What was the reason it took rather long for you to release a new album?
The Bard: The members of the band lead busy lives and there isn’t always a lot of time for us to dedicate ourselves fully to the project. We do all of our own writing, recording, mixing and mastering, and a lot of those things are done mainly by myself, so it can take a while for us to produce an album.
In which aspects do you think “Elegy” differs the most from its predecessor?
The Bard: The predecessor, “A Portrait Painted By The Sun” was in some ways a musical homage to the season of summer – lush, emotional and poignant minor and major chords with a rough, warm production. “Elegy” is a more sophisticated sounding album with a darker and more progressive sound to it, and the production is clearer and crisper. There is more distinct use of the cello. The end result is a more Autumnal sounding album, in my opinion.
With “Elegy” you have chosen a short, concise title. What was your thought behind it?
The Bard: The theme of the album was loss and healing, so the title “Elegy” seemed quite fitting to us. It’s also a nice sounding word.
In the lyrics you often seem to speak about nature. Do the songs relate to each other in this respect or do they stand alone in terms of their lyrical content?
The Bard: There’s always a motif of nature in our lyrics, so as a whole, the songs are connected to each other in that way. Nature imagery is used literally and metaphorically in our lyrics to represent the seemingly divine manner of our earthly existence. That being said, most of the songs on “Elegy” do have their own specific theme that isn’t necessarily connected to the others in any sort of narrative way.
The production is quite rough and unpolished. Was that your intention and if so, for what reason?
The Bard: It wasn’t necessarily our intention, but subconsciously I suppose that’s how we like to hear our music. I think it comes back to us being a traditionally oriented band. A lot of our favourite albums had a rough, unpolished sound and I think this made them very unique and interesting. And since we do our own mixing and mastering, I think this preference manifests itself in the production characteristics that you hear on our albums.
The cello only rarely seems to appear up in the mix. Is there a specific reason why you didn’t put the cello in the foreground more often?
The Bard: Actually, on “Elegy” you’ll hear the cello in the foreground more often than our previous albums. The cello is a difficult instrument to incorporate as it competes with the guitars in the same sonic space. We added cello where we felt it was appropriate, we never try to force it in.
Looking back, are you still completely satisfied with how “Elegy” turned out or would you change some things about it now?
The Bard: As an artist you will always find things that could be improved upon in your past works, but I am still quite happy with this one. It’s very enjoyable to listen to.
How did the general feedback to your current album turn out, in your perception? And are the reactions of any importance to you?
The Bard: We’ve been doing this for so long, and we’ve always done it solely to satisfy our own desire to create music. The reaction is not necessarily important to us, but it seems to have been received quite well and we’re very happy about that.
The songs on “Elegy” are quite different from each other – “Strange Sun” is very intense, while “Empty City” sounds earthy and folky. What is in your opinion the thing that connects the tracks?
The Bard: I think our “sound” permeates every song we write, whether we like it or not, and I think these particular characteristics (whether it’s note choices, guitar tone, drumming style, etc.) will always inevitably sound like FINNR’S CANE and so our songs are always consistent in that way.
If you could just show someone a single song from “Elegy” to give an insight into the album, which one would you choose and why?
The Bard: If I had to choose a song that was representative of the entire album, I think the opening track “Willow” is a good choice. However, I will show the title track to most people as it’s a very powerful song that people seem to connect with, even if they are not fans of metal.
The artwork looks very picturesque this time. Who created it and what was the thought behind it?
The Peasant: The artwork was created by Dustin Panzino of Inkwell Illustrations. It’s a self-portrait. We felt that Dustin’s work was a visual that paired well with the sound and themes of the album.
You generally don’t play any live shows, do you? Is there a particular reason for that?
The Peasant: FINNR’S CANE was formed with the singular goal of creating music that we would enjoy listening to. Accomplishing this mission only required the use of the studio environment, not the live environment. I live several hundred kilometers away from The Bard, and in fact lived in a different country for the previous three years. This distance would make playing live difficult.
Do you already have ideas for another album? And will you take a lot of time for it again?
The Bard: Yes, we are just finishing the demos for the next album and they are sounding great so far. I’m confident this one will move along more quickly and will be our best album yet.
Next, we come to our traditional Metal1.info brainstorming. What comes to your mind with the following terms?
City – countryside: Different worlds.
Electronic music: An interesting way to musically reflect on our tendency towards ever-advancing technology.
Justin Trudeau: The Canadian Prime Minister.
Lo-fi: A very poignant aesthetic when done properly, which isn’t easy.
Environmental protection: We need to take realistic means to protect the environment. You could argue that it’s essential to the survival of the human race, but aside from that, I think it’s worth preserving the Earth close to its natural state so that future generations can feel the same mystical interconnectedness and humbling awe that we feel when we immerse ourselves in nature.
Current favourite album:
The Peasant: I find myself returning to “Shadows Of The Sun” by Ulver every few weeks, although I must admit that it has been a favourite since it’s release date.
Finally, a big thank you again for your answers. Would you like to say a few last words to the readers?
The Bard: You’re very welcome. Thanks very much to you and to the readers.
31. Dezember 2018 Stephan Rajchl
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