Wolfheart’s Tuomas Saukkonen Discusses ‘Wolves of Karelia,’ Gardening, and His Favourite Place in Finland

Finnish melodeath group Wolfheart is masterminded by frontman Tuomas Saukkonen, whose very own sub-genre of ‘winter metal,’ a heavy yet atmospheric blend of melodic death, black and doom, has produced four acclaimed albums. With their latest offering, Wolves of Karelia (out 10^th April from Napalm Records), Wolfheart keep their core sound while branching into new and epic concept territory. We caught up with Tuomas to chat military history, gardening, and Wolfheart’s exciting virtual gig upcoming on the 9^th of April. You can purchase tickets here!

Hi Tuomas, thank you very much for answering our questions! Firstly, congratulations on a stunning new album. Wolves of Karelia is inspired by the Winter War between Finland and Russia. Can you tell us more about why you decided to write an album about this?

Tuomas Saukkonen: “My father’s family line comes from the Karelian region, and I was born there and spent my entire childhood there. My father’s family farm is only seven kilometres from the Russian border and there are still many monuments and signs about the Winter War in that village. On each of Wolfheart albums, there is a song or two about the Finnish wars or my home village. The debut album had a song called ‘Ghosts of Karelia’ and an intro track of Tyhjyys called ‘Shores of the Lake Simpele’ which was the lake I grew up near, just to give few examples.”

What sort of research did you do in order to write the lyrics?

“I read and listened a lot of interviews with war veterans, and all the lyrics are based on those stories, memories, feelings. I did not want to take a Sabaton approach of just documenting great battles or soldiers, but rather, dive into the individual experiences of the chaos of war. Naturally, I could not avoid certain heroic points of view. After all, I was writing about stories of our nation’s heroes. A hugely outnumbered army including mainly farmers, against a huge army of Russians; war machinery with centuries of experience of invading and fighting great wars.”

What do you hope that listeners take from the theme? Do you think the story has any lessons for today?

“I am not a teacher. I just wanted to tell a story. The biggest lesson to learn would be to avoid wars, but as we have seen in our current times and history, it would be very unlikely and as grim as it sounds… against human nature.”

Do you have a favourite song on the album?

“‘Reaper’ probably. To me, it is an embodiment of the achievement of the Finnish army. Those few months of the coldest winter of those times is pretty unique in the general war history. I do also really like the energy of ‘Hail Of Steel’ and ‘Hammer.’ If it would be possible I would do a video of all the songs.”

Tell us a little about the creative process for Wolfheart. Do you tend to start with a concept, a riff, the lyrics? And how much does a song change when you go into the studio to record?

“It always starts with a riff or a melody. Lyrics will always come as a last element. I write most of the lyrics while recording the album but the concept builds up usually after the first song has been written. I always leave certain tracks open when I start recordings and most of the guitar melodies I write at the studio while doing the final recordings, so songs will get their final form literally during the final recording moments in the studio.”

Artwork for ‘Wolves of Karelia’ by Wolfheart

This album has an ‘epic’ sound, appropriately enough for evoking battles. Although Wolfheart’s ‘winter metal’ music touches on several subgenres this is a thematic and musical development. When composing, are you ever worried about the expectations of fans and what people expect Wolfheart to sound like?

“Never. Each fan has their own pair of ears and ability to build their own opinion, people change and their taste in music might change so it would be impossible to please our entire fanbase or even separate individuals. All a songwriter can do is follow his/her vision fully and stay honest to the art. I believe that is the only way to put a part of one’s soul into the music and by doing that create something that will touch people, instead of just providing background noise or plain entertainment.”

You are a professional gardener. I imagine that allows you to dedicate the long frozen winter to your music. But how else does your job influence your music, in terms of being so connected to nature and the environment?

“The nature connection is very strong but the biggest impact is the short work season and long winter, and that cycle gives me the ability to have a big part of year dedicated only to music, but also gives me a yearly break from the music business. Over the past few years, I have not been able to work that much as a gardener/landscaper because tours in the summer and festivals, but I still take at least a few projects for this summer just to keep the mental balance.”

There are a number of metal bands that write nature-inspired metal (e.g. Wolves In The Throne Room), and others that promote environmental issues (e.g. Gojira and Heaven Shall Burn with their Sea Shepherd connections). How important to you are environmental issues and sustainability, and do you think that the music industry could do more?

“Honestly, I don’t think the music industry could do much more. I would love if it were possible, but we need to be realistic. Art can inspire people and open up many eyes, but everything that is hurting the environment is in the hands of big corporations and businesses, and I doubt they care about anything else aside from their profit.”

Who were your musical influences growing up, and what do you listen to nowadays for pleasure?

“Nowadays, I don’t listen to much music. My biggest childhood metal heroes were bands like Dissection, Dawn, At The Gates, Dark Funeral… a lot of Swedish melodic death/black metal. One huge album I have to mention is The Black Album by Metallica. My neighbour happened to be the singer of the only death metal band in our small village and I got introduced to growling vocals at a very young age.”

This album is set in the region of Karelia. Do you have a favourite place to go in Finland?

“I love the Karelian area, but my favourite would be Lapland during the winter. Northern lights, huge amount of snow. Freezing, but still really beautiful. A lot of space and nature and not that many people.”

Finnish metal of all subgenres incorporates a lot of folk influence. I notice folk-inspired melodies in Wolfheart too (for example on the new album, the beautiful guitar melody in “Reaper”). Do Finnish children learn traditional folk music at school, or is this particular sound something that is simply innate within the culture?

“Finnish folk music is actually pretty cheerful. More like Korpiklaani-style drinking songs. The melancholy side in melodies from the likes of Amorphis, Swallow The Sun, Insomnium or Wolfheart does not come directly from basic folk music. It is more of a built-in melancholy that a lot of metal musicians write into their songs. Gloomy people of Finland!”

Your upcoming U.S. tour with Rotting Christ has been postponed, and instead, you are putting on a virtual concert on April 9th, allowing fans to buy virtual tickets. It’s clear how devastating coronavirus has been for the music industry. How have you personally handled the disappointment and financial worries? Do you think that adaptations such as virtual concerts may become a long-term solution? How can fans help?

“I really hope these virtual/streaming, etc… gigs do not become the new normal. The whole point of playing gigs is the energy between the audience and the band. We took a big hit but also got a lot of support from our management and label and we are already prepared for the scenario where all our summer gigs will get cancelled too so we are pretty far with damage control. At least our U.S. tour did not get cancelled but moved to the beginning of 2021, and we have a headline tour of Europe coming in fall which we are hopefully able to make happen, so there are still good things to look forward to.”

You are a very busy musician, with another of your projects, Dawn of Solace, currently active too. What can we expect from you musically in the future? Any goals you wish to accomplish on the horizon?

“I guess now I have a lot more time to write new music so I would not be surprised if there is another Dawn Of Solace album coming out in 2021, and maybe some special projects too.”

Wolfheart’s music has a very cinematic quality, and I also notice that you direct, edit and produce your own music videos. Have you ever thought of composing music for film?

“I have. Even more so, I have been thinking of making a short horror movie with my trusted camera guy and composing a soundtrack for that. Like an extra-long music video with a horror story and no band headbanging and messing up the story!”