---[This was (and still is!) a huge deal for me at the time - what a classic band whose material holds up perfectly today, and were a huge influence on my earlier activities in Contaminated.]---
*Hey Jukka! I gotta say that it's a real honour to have you in TERRIBLE MUTILATION zine. ABHORRENCE were the band that originally destroyed what few shreds of sanity I had left and made me the sucker for Finnish death metal that I am. How are things with you right now?
- I’m quite well, thank you. Nowadays I’m a single parent for my 9 year old son and just as I write this, recovering from a crushing influenza, still coughing up green primal slime like a motherfucker.
*Ok, so going right back to the beginning... how did ABHORRENCE form? While I am somewhat aware of a connection with VIOLENT SOLUTION, did you guys all know each other already and was there any sort of collective vision for what you wanted to achieve?
- We more or less did know each other. Me and the other guys had some band-like efforts for a year or two. Just before Abhorrence, we had one called Rebirth, which played very basic speed metal with some thrash thrown in. When the idea of a new band with Tomi came up, it was already very clear that we would want to play death metal, but something that had our distinct vibe to it. We disliked bands who plain copy other bands sound and style, so we took inspiration from a handful of our favourites, while trying not to sound like them.
*How did you and the other members view the nascent Finnish scene at the time in comparison to the much larger movement in Sweden and the explosion of death metal in the US? While you can certainly hear traces of the early originators in ABHORRENCE, I have always felt the band immediately captured an incredibly dark and pervasive sense of morbid atmosphere, much more so than many others leading up to 1990/91.
- I don’t think the Swedish scene was all that big in 1989, but it was coming fast. Finnish scene was a mix of punk rock and hardcore, your basic speed/thrash metal and some grindcore. When we started doing gigs, the only death metal band were basically Funebre. While we did play a lot with Xysma and Disgrace, they weren’t really death metal at that point. We didn’t really compare the scenes, but to moan about things like “I wish we had more death metal gigs”. We did travel to Sweden on occasion, to see Morbid Angel and such.
*Can you describe what ABHORRENCE shows were like back then? I have seen some fliers of shows you guys played and was pleased to note that one (or more?) was with Rytmihäiriö! Would I be correct in assuming that ABHORRENCE shows were pretty rowdy and energetic? And was there much cross-pollination with other strains of extreme music and death metal at shows in Finland as a whole around that time?
- Like I mentioned, it was a mixed bag back then. I don’t think we cared who we played with at all. I mean, we’ve actually opened for Stratovarius and Rytmihäiriö to name a few! Usual gig was a chaotic, drunken bacchanal, with the audience in a similar state. While we didn’t go as far as the hardcore punk bands, who actually had members passing out on the stage, we did have our share of stupidity going on. As far as energy goes, it was very energetic for the most part. I basically zone out on stage, so unless something unexpected happens, I’m in a state of ecstatic hatred screaming my lungs out. Back then stage diving was a bit new, so local crews were confused as to what to do, but all in all, it was a good 30-45 minutes of sweating for the audience too.
*Do you have a favourite show that ABHORRENCE played? What made it so?
- There are few. From back in the day we always had great time at the Kino Sampo venue, where we played several times, along with Xysma and several others. From there recent reunion ones I have to say Tuska. It was a sort of a dream come true, since it is The Event most finnish metal bands want to play at. The whole band has been going to the festival on and off all these years, so it was awesome to experience it from “the other perspective”.
*I have seen a couple videos of ABHORRENCE’s live shows on YouTube. Would you ever consider releasing a DVD of live and studio (I think I read in another interview that some recording sessions were videotaped?) footage as a treat for us nerds?
- I don’t think we are that interesting to watch as far as a DVD is concerned, but the Tuska gig was professionally recorded and we are actually looking into releasing that as an album. Incidentally, that would be our debut full length album, so let’s hope it actually happens.
*I have heard before that XYSMA and FUNEBRE played an important role in inspiring quite a few young Finnish metalheads to push themselves further into gloomier and murkier territory. Was this the case with ABHORRENCE, given they came (admittedly only very shortly) before yourselves?
- The scene was very small, it was more mutual admiration that anything else or so I’d like to think. Before we got into either of the bands, we already had our own thing rolling and while we probably did follow their moves intensely, they weren’t that big of an influence on our music.
*Speaking of XYSMA/FUNEBRE, I read somewhere else that you were all good friends back when ABHORRENCE existed. Have you kept in touch with many people from those times?
- Personally I’ve seen Mr. Muurinen on occasion, we still exchange pleasantries on Facebook. Tomi is friends with drummer Teppo Pulli, who I’ve seen once in a while as well. Mr. Taskinen of Disgrace fame is someone I’ve seen and met through the years on a semi-steady basis. Most of the guys I see once every 10 years or so, so I wouldn’t say we’ve kept in touch. There are some people from the scene of the old we do keep in touch with, as friends, meet through work or at live gigs. I can’t talk for the other guys tho.
*In 2009 you recorded vocals on a cover of Vulgar Necrolatry by STENCH OF DECAY. How did that come about? What was like it going back in a studio and re-recording a song from so many years ago?
- The guys just emailed me out of the blue and asked if I’d like to do it. I was a bit hesitant at first and made them promise they’d pay my expenses, which I figured would be a bit of an assurance that they’re serious and they were. Nice guys, they had set up a home studio in their rehearsal room, which was this sort of mini cottage on the backyard. Reminded me of the places we used to rehearse in. Anyway, it was very familiar, with the small room and makeshift studio. I ended up screaming myself sore, since I had gone so long without practice. Without practice I tend to shout at the top of my lungs and that wrecks my throat. Later, when someone released that demo on vinyl, I went on to a gig of theirs to celebrate the release and do the track live. On that same gig Albert “Witchfinder” Hynninen did vocals for a Rippikoulu cover, it was a great night. I think this was in 2009...
*In 2012, SVART RECORDS released a comprehensive discography compilation of ABHORRENCE on CD/LP. What are your thoughts in regard to this (the remastering work in particular)? Personally, I love it and was stoked to hear it being announced as I had missed any chance of acquiring any original ABHORRENCE releases and for a long time had to subsist on the contents of a burned CD-R passed on to me from a friend.
- As far as remastering goes, it wasn’t. The whole process of remastering requires the actual master tapes and those were lost sometime around 90’s. Sami Jämsén, who experienced his share of death metal in the early 90’s with Messiah Paratroops (you can take a listen to them at SeraphicDecay.com), did excellent work with it. All he had was the best possible c-cassette version we could find and rips off the unofficially released CD’s, along with super crappy live material from here and there. We had versions of Morbid Angel’s Chapel of Ghouls and Bolt Thrower’s World Eater from a live show, but their quality was so low, we didn’t even bother looking into cleaning them up, let alone rights and all that stuff.
*Not too long after the discography reissue, most of the original members of ABHORRENCE briefly reunited to play a small amount of shows. How did they and the rehearsals leading up to them go? Are there any plans to play another couple of shows sometime?
- Rehearsals were a bit choppy, we had serious issues with getting this bunch of people together, since everyone has families, full time jobs and all that jazz. Raikku, the drummer we were lucky enough to get to play with us, labeled us “office metal” due to all this time management and calendar checking it takes to get us together. After the beginning, we rearranged some of the tracks, managed to make it sound rather compact set of songs and off we went. We organized one “unofficial live rehearsal” gig before the festivals at Bar Loose in Helsinki, under the moniker Bob Horrence, playing with Deathchain. It was a success and after that we felt mildly confidant going to biggest stages we have ever play at together. Both festivals, Tuska and Hammer Open Air, were a lot of fun and surprising amount of people came and reportedly enjoyed what we had to offer. As for any future outings, I don’t dare to promise anything. We are playing with the idea of making new music, but nothing is agreed nor done as far as that goes.
*Well, Jukka, that's about all I have for you. Once again, thanks for the interview! Any last words are yours. Cheers!
- Support the underground music scene, be it metal or hip hop or whatever. Buy records and shirts, from the band directly if possible. Make sure you understand that all that great music will vanish if you don’t. Enough ranting, listen to Cough and Caskets Open!