Interviews : “Finntroll is about freedom to do whatever you want” – An Interview With Mathias “Vreth” Lillmåns

Finntroll are one of those names that everyone in the metal community seems to know. Birthed as the brainchild of the late Teemu “Somnium” Raimoranta after a night of too much drinking, Finntroll have over the years firmly inebriated the masses with their unique and undeniable blend of folk metal that incorporates the ‘humppa’ style of Finnish polka (a Central European dance and form of folk music). Metal Obsession recently had the pleasure of speaking with long-running vocalist, Mathias “Vreth” Lillmåns (who is currently in his eighth year with the band, and is thus their longest serving frontman). We discussed his relationship with the band and how it’s evolved over the years, the people who inspired him both in his personal life and continue to do so to this day, as well as what Aussie fans can look forward to with Finntroll’s upcoming Australian tour this June.

Mathias Lillmåns, or “Vreth”, the stage-name he is most well known (a stage-name of which Lillmåns claims to have been a type of “word-game” he entered into upon his induction into Finntroll; one which saw him create the name “Vreth”, an amalgamation created using the word ‘wrath’ and its Swedish equivalent, that being vrede. In jest, Lillmåns commented the name “stuck” from then on out), has in many ways become the quintessential ‘face’ of Finntroll, not only for the fact he is the band’s frontman, but also for the reason his charming, whimsical, and at times, downright menacing presence (the old video clip for the brilliant track that is “Solsagan” off 2010’s Nifelvind is evidence of this) quantifies the tapestry which forms the band. Vreth’s persona – both onstage and off – seem to perfectly complement and bring together all the elements that make up Finntroll’s unique sound in a way that is both satisfying to fans and to newcomers. “Finntroll is about freedom to do whatever you want,” Vreth went on to say later, “so I think that [attracts] people. You don’t have any boundaries or limits. You can do whatever you want, and I think that keeps Finntroll interesting also. We’re not just strictly doing old-school black metal or death metal.”

Despite their origins in folk and black metal music, the Finnish metallers have always come across as surprisingly accessible. This is in part due to the ‘humppa’, polka style of their folk-laden tunes, but it can largely be thanked also to Vreth’s charisma and overall intrigue. He seamlessly steers the mighty folk-engine that is Finntroll. Every member in Finntroll can find their place, and thanks to a complete sense of non-ego in their fold, unlike some bands you find, while Vreth is undeniably captivating onstage, he never seems to overshadow the others when you watch a live performance of theirs. And it’s in that nonchalance and lack of narcissism that translates wonderfully to Lillmåns personally.

One of the first things we discussed was his association and relationship with the band, and how over eight years, Vreth can confidently say that his band mates are definitely like a second family to him, and how even since really early on, they just clicked and things worked. Whilst they can’t always hang out together due to the fact guitarist Samuli “Skrymer” Ponsimaa currently lives in Germany with his girlfriend, while Henri “Trollhorn” Sorvali lives south in the countryside, when the Finntroll guys are at home and have a spare moment between life and other commitments, Lillmåns noted how in their downtime he and the others enjoy hanging out. Interestingly enough, on a weekly basis, Lillmåns, bassist Sami “Tundra” Uusitalo, guitarist Mikael “Routa” Karlbom, and keyboardist Aleksi “Virta” Virta loved “going out and playing golf together”. When I joked I wouldn’t have picked him for a golf player, Lillmåns laughed it off stating, “Yeah, nobody ever really does!” before mentioning how him and Virta have a penchant for a bit of good ol’ fashion golfing.

Blodsvept – out now via Century Media

For all those Finntroll and Vreth trivia enthusiasts out there, it’s likely already known to you that Lillmåns has keept himself thoroughly busy over the years with a number of different musical projects and bands, old and new alike, such Chthonian, Twilight Moon, The Iniquity Descent, DecomposteR (with fellow Finntroll band mate, Samuli Ponsimaa), and so forth. While noting his most recent band, Magenta Harvest, have a short European tour currently in the works, when questioned about how he finds time between so many different bands, Lillmåns made the comment, “Well, I don’t have something like a day job, so when not at Finntroll, I can concentrate on my side bands.” Lillmåns also made note of how because many of the members in his other bands are also part of bigger acts, scheduling-wise, on his part it is often booked around Finntroll’s touring dates, whilst taking into account the busy touring schedules of the others, as well.

While he favours no particular band over the other and enjoys them all, Lillmåns stated how these bands “draw a different crowd than Finntroll” and don’t have that “theatrical element” to them. But in no way is this a bad thing. In fact, these side bands are a form of therapy for Mathias; something of which he adores the extra creative freedom and expression it allows him.

One of the things I found most interesting during our interview was when I asked Mathias to tell me a bit about his musical influences and those that have inspired him in his career. Noting something I wasn’t aware of beforehand, Lillmåns went on to describe how he grew a passion for rock and metal music from a young age, thanks to the influence of his father who was a pop-rock musician in the late-80s, performing in shows around Finland as part a Swedish-speaking minority (similar in respect to original Finntroll vocalist and current lyricist, Jan “Katla” Jämsen). Growing up, Lillmåns got into death metal in its early-to-mid days of conception before later moving into black metal music soon after. As such, music – with hard rock and heavy metal in particular – has always been an important of Lillmåns life since he was very young. I thought that was pretty neat, especially considering the same can be said of me. While my own father isn’t a musician as such his love of rock music, coupled by my eldest sister’s love of metal, was what got me into those genres of music at a young age too. And like Vreth I’ve loved it ever since.

Going back to an earlier point though on Swedish-speaking minorities in Finland, I found out Lillmåns himself falls into this category, and amusingly enough, while he himself is technically Finnish by birth, due to their location, Lillmåns grew up speaking Swedish with his family and friends and found that the hardest part upon entering into Finntroll as their new vocalist was actually learning Finland’s native tongue. Before this, Lillmåns had never had any real reason to learn Finnish as where he lived it wasn’t required, but as he said, the band “communicated in Finnish”. Upon becoming a member of Finntroll, he suddenly found himself surrounded by individuals all naturally speaking this language. It was a bit of a crude awakening to him, but he has since become fluent in it.

Listening to Lillmåns talk, he was such a fascinating and welcoming man. He’s clearly led an interesting and influenced life and one that continues to be enriched to this day. However, one thing I didn’t expect was what he mentioned next. Around June 2006, Lillmåns was introduced to Finntroll by Jan “Katla” Jämsen himself (a man who still to this day writes lyrics for the band when the band was seeking out a new vocalist and keyboard player, but funnily enough, prior to this Lillmåns was only partially aware of their music thanks to an old mate of his.

Lillmåns first bit of exposure to Finntroll was through one of his friends who made the remark to Lillmåns, “you can’t live in Finland and not have heard Finntroll!” before passing him a copy of Midnattens Widunder (Finntroll’s debut) around the time it was first released. “I sort of liked it,” Mathias noted, but when he came to Helsinki, Finland the first time to try out for the vacant vocalist position, interestingly enough, Lillmåns mentioned how with Finntroll’s second and third albums, Jaktens Tid and Nattfödd respectively, “I wasn’t even aware they existed!” We both had a small laugh over this one. But listening to the new music – the music that would later make up Ur Jordens Djup, Lillmåns first outing as new frontman – “I really liked the sound of it,” and having already been warmly received by the band by this point, “it made it really easy to say ‘yes’”.

It’s been three years since Finntroll’s last venture down under, and Lillmåns said he and the Finntroll are “really excited to be coming back down here. We just loved Australia last time we were here!” Planning to set aside some time for a bit of sight-seeing also, the Finnish lads plan on spending some quality time checking out what our lovely country has on offer. Having previously done this Brisbane and Perth back in 2011, Lillmåns mentioned how he and his fellow band mates spent a whole day just soaking up the sun on Perth’s acclaimed Cottesloe Beach. “That was really nice,” he said. Albeit, Finntroll are hoping for some better luck with the swimming side of things this time round (since last time the beach was shut down due to a shark attack the day before).

When asked of the way Finntroll’s lyrics are constructed and in how Jan “Katla” Jämsen’s presence is still felt strongly in the band today (namely for the fact Jämsen continues to this day to write lyrics for Finntroll), I went on to mention how Finntroll can at times be light and fun music, but at others can also be quite dark with hefty lyrical content. After questioning him on why he thinks people resonate with Finntroll’s music the way they do, Lillmåns then made the clever point, “[Jämsen] knows his stuff. He’s studied the folklore and he’s got all the terms correct, and so I think it speaks to people. All of the lyrics are more like fairytales from the beginning to the end and so I feel they are easier to absorb that way.”

For their upcoming tour, Lillmåns says fans can look forward to a great array of tracks from their most recent release (last year’s Blodsvept, which peaked at number 10 on the Finnish charts and was awarded numerous high ratings around the metal world), but can expect also to hear a range of songs spanning Finntroll’s diverse career, with Lillmåns promising music “from the beginning of our career until the really new stuff. There’s going to a little bit of everything. We’ve developed the stage outfits too. It’s going to be more theatrical this time. It’s going to be really cool!”

Finntroll Australia Tour 2014

Related Posts

• 

  HJELVIK – Welcome to Hel
• 

  AC/DC – Power Up
• 

  Depravity – Grand Malevolence
• 

  Pioneering Aussie metal drummer Matt ‘Skitz’ announces 2021 national tour.