Highly popular in the 90s, speed/power metal didn’t age as well as other genres. But there’s no way to say it will never be back in fashion, just like glam did – after all, it’s still a young style. At any rate, Stratovarius is one of those bands that have managed to put new life in their career, through a series of experimentations, trials and errors.

Since their album Polaris, the band convinces the major part of their audience, even though said audience is less numerous than it once was. Stratovarius have been building upon the foundations that made them famous in the first place, while instilling new, darker and less accessible elements into it. Because Polaris and Elysium were written almost simultaneously, the true test will be the new album, Nemesis – the first since drummer Rolf Pilve joined the band. The 26-year-old, a childhood fan of Stratovarius, was asked to fill the shoes of an emblematic member, Jörg Michael. The result is a very diverse album, by a band that’s decided to try out new things after two rather similar-sounding albums.

We talked to Timo Kotipelto, the band’s singer, of the difficult genesis of the record, and of the way Rolf lived his integration within the band.

Radio Metal: Five songs, from the previous albums, have been remastered and feature on the Unbreakable EP: they aren’t the most popular Stratovarius songs, why did you choose to remaster them ?

Timo Kotipelto (singer): It’s a very good question. The reason is very simple: Jens Johansson (keyboards) wanted these songs on the EP ! (laughs) I think his idea was to have something else and not the most typical Stratovarius singles. The label is releasing this EP because it uses it as a promotion, as a sign for saying that the future album is soon coming. It’s not something that we wanted to do, but when the label asked for one new song and some old stuff, we decided to remaster some old songs to make them more interesting. I think that for the hardcore fans, who collect everything, it’s something very nice to have, and I’m sure that the record label isn’t making a lot of money with this EP: it’s only promotional.

Did you pick these songs because they’re close to what we should now expect from Stratovarius?

I don’t have any idea why we chose them! (laughs)

Let’s talk about your new record, Nemesis: there are more dark melodies and riffs on it. Where does this aggressiveness come from and what are now your influences?

This has probably something to do with the fact that we have a new drummer, whose style is different from Jörg’s [Jörg Michael, Stratovarius’ former drummer], who had a unique style and was a great person. Rolf [Pilve, the new drummer] is more flexible when it comes to playing, and therefore we had no limitations. Why is our new record darker than the other ones? Matias (Kupiainen, guitarist) produced it, mixed it, and his guitar sound was a lot heavier and darker: it changed the whole atmosphere of the album. Jens also had a new sound, so it affected of course everything. There are so many details that I can’t give you one reason why the album sounds like this. Maybe it has something to do with what happened in the band two years ago, with Jörg’s illness, and my vocal problems.

Can we expect the same musical direction in the future?

I don’t know. We don’t have a five-year plan: if you start planning, it just doesn’t work. If I knew how to write very successful songs, I wouldn’t be in this band, but produce songs for other bands. I heard Jens saying, in an interview, that maybe the next record will be happier, but it’s hard to say which direction we’ll take. Of course, it’ll depend also on what the fans will think of Nemesis, because we can decide to go back to the good old Stratovarius style. The new record is Stratovarius style, but with some new stuff on it.

Speed melodic metal isn’t a very popular style anymore. Stratovarius and some other bands, like Sonata Arctica, have made this genre really evolve with their recent albums: do you think that this will make people get interested in it again?

That’s a good question. I think that Sonata Arctica have changed more than us: I did some backing vocals on their last album, which is not really power-metal anymore. Nemesis is power-metal, but we’ve changed some things on it. I haven’t heard the new Helloween record, but I think they’re still playing what you could call power-metal. However, it is true that at the end of the Nineties, many more bands were around, but I also think that the situation was worse three or four years ago. I have the feeling that this kind of music is coming back, like glam metal did with Mötley Crüe for example. Trends go round in circles: I’m happy that we’re still here.

Speed melodic metal or power-metal are very positive musical styles: do you think, as we’re going through difficult times with the economic crisis in particular, that people don’t want to listen to them because of that?

I think it’s the opposite: when you’re depressed, I don’t think you want to hear depressing stuff. Power-metal is exactly the music which gives you the energy to face these bad times: that’s my opinion.

It took you three weeks to record the vocals for Nemesis. Your guitar player, Matias Kupiainen, who produced the album, declared: « I have more or less lived in the studio for four months, fixated on every detail. » It really looks like this album needed some special attention: is it true ?

Yes, you are completely right. Matias even slept on the studio’s sofa! He would work like 20 hours, and then would sleep 5 or 6 hours, and then would work again for 20 hours, so I’m very happy he survived, because he had a tough time. But he wanted to do it, because he loves to be in the studio. When I had to record my vocals, I didn’t want to record them in this studio, because I don’t like its atmosphere, which was too clinical for me. I’d rather spend more time and go to some private place to do my job, and that’s what we did: we were the two of us recording the vocals in the afternoon and the evening, and then we would have a few beers, so it was a very relaxing atmosphere.

Could you tell us more about the auditions you did to find your new drummer ?

Jörg’s last gig was in January 2012. We then went back to Finland and put an advertisement on our Facebook page. I was very surprised to see that hundreds of drummers sent us their videos: it took our three months to choose, because we wanted to see every video. We decided to audition four drummers in the studio. We started jamming with them, and when Rolf came, it was immediately clear to me that he was the guy. His drumming skills were awesome, you know. We didn’t want to find another Jörg Michael, because his playing style is unique, like his personality. We wanted a drummer who could play old Stratovarius material, but also more complicated stuff.

Did some well-known drummers applied for the job?

Actually, two drummers, touring around the world with their well-known bands, contacted us. But since they were touring, we wanted a Finnish guy who would be there and rehearse with the band. We couldn’t even ask those drummers to join us, as we had to make a decision very quickly, because of the studio rental.

Who were these drummers?

I can’t tell you, sorry! (laughs)

What was Rolf’s involvement in the writing of the new record?

He didn’t write anything, but what was different in a way to Elysium, is that as Rolf lives in Helsinki where the studio is located, he and Matias could test out during three weeks different things and had time for new arrangements for the songs. Rolf gave some ideas to Matias, so even if he didn’t compose, he did a lot of arrangements.

Rolf’s drumming style on the record is very similar to Jörg Michael’s one. Did he have to adapt his playing or was it natural for him?

Rolf, when he was young, was a huge Stratovarius fan. He used to play along with some of our albums: it was his dream to be in the band one day and of course, he couldn’t believe it until it actually happened. Therefore, he plays some songs in the way Jörg played some old stuff, but I think his style is different, at least to me.

Since there’s a solo part on almost every Stratovarius show, can we expect a drum solo from him?

Well, that would be nice, but I’m not sure we’ll have time for solos on our next tour, as we’re playing something like 75 minutes. Maybe later, we’ll see.

Rolf is vey much younger than the rest of the band, isn’t he?

Yes, he’s 26.

Could that be a problem (laughs)?

No. Of course, Jens and I thought about it: a young guy joining a band, and who’s so excited that after the show, that he would start to drink a lot and act like a stupid rock star. Rolf’s totally the opposite: he’s a very calm and down to earth guy. Even if he looks very young, he’s more serious in his attitude than sometimes Jens and I! He’s bringing so much energy to the band that it’s really easy to be on stage when someone can drive the car so well.

Are you still in touch with Jörg Michael?

Of course. I got an email from him last night. He’s a good friend of mine and he still books shows for the band. Maybe he might come in March with us to Russia, to play some shows.

Since you have a lot of solo projects, like for instance the Blackoustic record you released last year with Jani Limatainen, could you tell us what you’ll be doing in a near future ?

Since Blackoustic came out, we did a lot of shows with Jani, basically every week. We’ll play some shows before the Stratovarius tour starts, but we haven’t booked any after the beginning of the tour. Maybe during the summer: it’ll depend on how busy the band will be. Stratovarius is my priority, but it is so much fun to work with Jani: we also composed two songs on the new record together. We have some new ideas, but I don’t know what will come out of it: I don’t consider it as a job.

Interview conducted by phone on January, 24th, 2013
Transcription: Jean Martinez – Traduction(s) Net

Stratovarius’ official website: www.stratovarius.com

Album Nemesis, out since February, 22nd, 2013 via earMusic/Edel