Finnish Melodic Death Metal band Shade Of Sorrow are set to release their very first studio album entitled Upon The Fields Of Grief on June 28th. Mika Kankainen, the mastermind himself behind Shades Of Sorrow took the time to talk with Metal Express Radio about their upcoming album, writing and recording the whole album himself, work with his previous bands, and more. Check out the chat below!
Metal Express Radio: Your band, Shade Of Sorrow will be releasing their debut album entitled Upon The Fields Of Grief on June 28th, what can you tell everyone about the upcoming release?
Kankainen: This will be a massive debut album with a lot of different emotions and feelings. It has a great variety of styles and contrasts and is very multi- layered album. If you’re a fan of melodic death metal like Insomnium, Wolfheart, Be’lakor, Dark Tranquility etc, you should definitely check this out! I promise you, that it’s super heavy, fierce and savage, but also very beautiful and melancholic. A rollercoaster of emotions!
MER: How did the formation of this project come about?
Kankainen: I started write my own material after we put Warceremony on hold, it was somewhere around 2011. For many years I did music for my own joy, but in 2017 I had some pretty decent demos and I sent them to Tuomas Saukkonen (Wolfheart, Before The Dawn, and more) since I’ve always liked his approach to metal music and I thought it would be awesome if he could produce my solo project. He said yes but it still took couple years to really get it going since he was very busy with his own bands. That was actually really good thing since I got a chance to further evolve my music and the brand around it. Then, in 2020 we got a chance to record my two first singles No Return and Fabricated hope and I released them myself. That’s where it started officially. The journey has been long and slow, but now I got the gears on full steam!
MER: How was the writing and recording process having this being your first album as a solo artist?
Kankainen: Great question! It was really liberating and made me feel free. I was able to do the stuff that I’ve always wanted to, having the freedom to express myself authentically. Of course at the same time it was challenging, since I have to write the music for every instrument and I’m not actually master in everything, but I’ve learned a lot. But overall I feel that it all came down rather easy.
MER: How is it playing all instruments yourself as opposed to working with band mates during the writing and recording process?
Kankainen: Well, it’s a huuuuge amount of work for sure, haha! Instrument after instrument you have to be able to grind out the best result possible. Writing itself is easier I think, since I basically compose all the music with drums and guitars first, then try to arrange other instruments to complete the composes. There were times I was hoping to have band mates help me out for sure, but then again I’m very happy that it is how it is and will continue to write and record music solo.
MER: What do you see as plans for yourself after the album release?
Kankainen: Fierce marketing and promoting campaign, try to put out as much content as possible. There also will be alot of merch available, I will definitely try to spread the word to every corners of the world. I’m also training hard for the live shows, touring will be on the schedule as soon as possible.
MER: If you could put together a touring band, who would it consist of and why?
Kankainen: I allready have plans for touring and live shows and have asked couple very talented musicians to be a part of Shade Of Sorrow live line-up. I want this to be a surprise, so I can’t reveal the line- up just yet, but there will be familiar faces for sure.
MER: What band would you hope to tour with and why?
Kankainen: Excellent question! Of course it would be a dream come true to be on a same tour with Insomnium and Wolfheart, since they have been a really big influence for me and they are super professional at their craft. But I’m ready to tour with anyone and will do my best to make tour nice experience for everyone.
MER: Where do you hope to play live and why?
Kankainen: Festivals would definitely be the best place to play live. Nummirock and Hellsinki Metal Fest in Finland, then Wacken outside of Finland. Festivals always has this unique atmosphere and people usually are in a great mood and very open even for a new bands like Shade Of Sorrow.
MER: Do you feel fans of your previous work in Soul Terror and Warceremony will enjoy your work with Shade of Sorrow?
Kankainen: I have no reason to believe that they wouldn’t. There are a lot of similar elements in the music, so it would be very natural for them to listen Shade Of Sorrow as well. I hope I’m right!
MER: How would you compare Shade of Sorrow to your previous work in other bands?
Kankainen: I think that Shade Of Sorrow has more variety and contrasts and musically, it’s more melodic and atmospheric. Warceremony example was old school death metal and trash influented, very technical and fast, Shade Of Sorrow is more mid tempo and example drums are not that complicated. On the other hand, as a whole, Shade Of Sorrow is much more professional. The sound and the arrangements are more evolved, and so on.
MER: Where do you hope to take Shade of Sorrow’s future?
Kankainen: To the big arenas definitely! I want Shade Of Sorrow to be super succesful, I want my music to help people when they have hard times. Live shows will be next step and I’m looking forward to play as much as possible. I also continue to practice like crazy, make even better songs and albums and connect with the people as much as I possibly can. This is only the beginning of a great journey!
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