Well,Friends Of Aristocracy!
Lurk Line UP:
Kimmo Koskinen On Vocals
Kalle Nurmi On Drums
Arttu Pulkkinen On Guitar
Eetu Nurmi On Bass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhHY2BRcuMY
We speak again of our newsroom, where in a little while, we will follow, in all its emotions, the interview 121 of the Aristocracy.This time, we return with a band that already knows our ways. We are talking about a Finnish band from Sludge. A band that seeks intensity, ferocity and the ability to cause fear without it being something traumatic. We are talking about the sensational band Lurk .In a short time, they will release their fourth album titled as Aegis. A response, as strong as their last work titled as Fringe.Again, we thank the band for talking to us and the owner of their Indian record company called Kunal. Transcending Obscurity always brings works with very high slats, lurk is also part of this select group and with a lot of capacity. Let's go to the interview with Kalle , the band's drummer. Something we did again, because when we wanted to know about Fringe, he was our guide so to speak. He returns to that role!Kalle Nurmi Words now:
Hi, Felipe.This is Kalle, the drummer of LURK and I will be answering you today. I co-write our songs and I am behind some of the lyrics in finnish. I have recorded and mixed all our albums. Just for some background.
A1:Let´s talking about the composition work in Aegis?
Kalle Nurmi:We worked on the songs for maybe a year, while also working on a couple of extra songs that didn’t make it on the album. One of them was a decade old composition, so you could say we were shaking some coffins, seeing what would fall out. The goal was to incorporate the doom-y atmosphere of our debut album with the more “advanced” feel of Kaldera and Fringe in a natural way, making the songs flow like a current. Our love for black metal should be also evident on Aegis.
A2:What´s the idea behind artwork´s album?
Kalle Nurmi:Our singer Kimmo had a vision that he conveyed to Paolo Girardi, who then grabbed the vision and painted magnificantly. We wanted a heavy metal cover with a Boschian twist, akin to the likes of Celtic Frost and Cathedral. It is, I would say, one of the upmost triumph.
A3:What ´s the lyrical theme for Aegis?
Kalle Nurmi:There are many themes but one could easily argue we mainly operate on the darker side of life. Life/death cycles, despotism, human malevolence and some inhuman malevolence thrown to the mix! The failure of religion as a ways to control. The overwhelming forces of nature that gnaw our bones after our demise. The cold black of the uncaring void.
A4:Is there realism or pessimism in Aegis' songs?
Kalle Nurmi:I would say both, but add that I also feel there’s optimism. Thou maybe, not strictly from a human angle… Humanity is not the be-all end-all of life, so it burning to a crisp might only be a step on the evolutionary ladder. A necessary step one might argue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE_aHf3nFmc
A5:This album is conceptual?
Kalle Nurmi:No, not as such. There are multiple concepts running through it, but it is not a concept album per se.
A6:Some literature or film inspire the band?
Kalle Nurmi:There are multitudes for this gategory! Cormack Mccarthy’s work like “Blood Meridian” or “The Road” immediately spring to mind. “The Gulag Archipelago” hits you with some real-life tragedy from the soviet union, on a scale so massive it’s impossible to comprehend properly. I have to admit I cannot remember what I was reading back at the time of making the album, as it’s been a few years already and I read a whole lot. Movie-wise, “Annihilation” is a good one with the concept of supernatural (or extraterrestrial) nature usurping humans - it also works fine in a book format.
A7:Why is the evil so seductive in Lurk's sound?
Kalle Nurmi:It’s a complicated issue. The description of evil on a scale concerning the whole species and that of the individual differ somewhat, we tend to go for both. There is also the universal horror, evil only to us mortals, brought to vivid imagination in the mind of H.P. Lovecraft. This band is made to confront these apparitions, to resonate with them.
A8:Are Hauta and Kehto songs only understood through the eyes of a Finn?
Kalle Nurmi:You can get there with a translator app I guess, but it might be easier for a Finn, for sure. Kehto is completely instrumental so maybe it is the most approachable song of them all!
A9:Can the fourth album be indicated as the second part of a band that will always grow?
Kalle Nurmi:I think we grow constantly, I can’t say this is the second part, as I feel this is at least the fourth part! Maybe even more parts have been crossed over the years, not worth to mention. Growth is inevitable and when we cease to grow, we also cease to exist. A10:What´s bands influence Lurk?
Kalle Nurmi:Well I can only speak from my own behalf but here’s a few: Eyehategod, Neurosis, Acid Bath, Emperor, Nile, Scott Walker, King Crimson, Entombed, Burzum, Type O Negative… And maybe a gazillion others that seep through the cracks and into the music.
A11:What's the most inspiring dark upsurge in society for Lurk?
Kalle Nurmi:There is certainly no lack of those dark risings! The war in Ukraine for starters. Our grandfathers fought Russia not a hundred years ago, so it really hits home. You can still feel some remnants from those times lingering. Other than war and there are plenty of them maybe, the mass-manipulation of media and global crises stemming from lawless abuse and Wall Street crime. Our current times are as peaceful as ever, you have the least chance to get killed violently, but people are taking their own lives in desperation. Hopelessness is aggravated by social media, as people have not been acclimatized to such surroundings. We live in a completely different world to what was just twenty years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIln8r5lq6M
A12:Is Philosophy necessary in Lurk's sound?
Kalle Nurmi:Very much so. Maybe not a certain philosophy, but thinking in general. It would be numbing and uninteresting to work on music and concepts without that conscious thought.
A13:How is Lurk different from your previous bands?
Kalle Nurmi:Different people, different chemistry, different ways to operate. Music is very much the greater sum than its parts, but each part brings an organic flavor to the whole. Just the way Arttu plays a sawing guitar lead is different than how I would do it or Kimmo or Eetu for that matter. Or anybody else. There is just something unique.
A14:The label gives you freedom. But what kind of music can Lurk never make because it would be against you?
Kalle Nurmi:That’s a good question. I guess we just naturally deter from using parts that don’t fit the overall mood. I don’t think we will ever incorporate programmed machine parts for example. We just haven’t written in a way that would make it happen. I’m talking MIDI or time-mapped stuff. Our playing is more loose and what comes comes.
A15:Fringe and Aegis are do they complement each other or are they very different?
Kalle Nurmi:I wouldn’t say completely different. There have been bigger jumps, from the first to second album for starters. I think it’s now more of refining the sound than making a massive stylistic movement, but we always try to better ourselves in writing and there is also great care shown in arrangements. I do believe we are getting there!
A16:Even in an intense style, the joy of playing it just as intense? Justify your answer!
Kalle Nurmi:The intensity is just the thing that draws people into this kind of music. The deep, pulsating bass and ripping guitars, forceful growls and pummeling drums. What’s there not to like? It is power in musical form.
A17:A message from Lurk 2022 to Lurk 2008?
Kalle Nurmi:Buy Bitcoin! Otherwise, just keep at it.
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