Finnish Prog Metallers FIREPROVEN Talk About Coverart of Farewell Album “Epilogue”!
Finnish Prog Metallers FIREPROVEN will release their farewell album “Epilogue” on May 27th. Today the band tells more about the album stunning coverart and its background + inspirations!
Petri Lampela (www.petrilampela.com), who created the coverart, had this to say:
“The album cover is basically about ends and beginnings. It depicts a scrap dealer in a post-apocalyptic setting who has stopped to take a look at a city on the horizon. The city consists of five skyscrapers that represent the members of the band and their future. It’s both sunset and dawn.”
Band’s guitarist Janne Väätämöinen adds:
“The post-apocalyptic world seen in cover art has always fascinated me from cult films like Mad Max. Petri designed a magnificent cover, which is a work of art in itself, but also has symbolism hidden in it. Each viewer understands the image in their own way and it is hoped that the future does not look like what appears in the image.”
Earlier the band unveiled the in-depth track-by-track:
THE MAZE
Nuutti: The lyrics of the song are based on my experiences of school bullying. I have unraveled the feelings I experienced as a teenager and what insights those experiences ultimately led me to. All bad events may not be bad, although at that moment they may be incomprehensible painful. Some things are never forgotten and carried through life. However, there is a perspective on them in constant motion. It is important to note that every human being is capable of the extreme cruelty but also goodness.
Nuutti about the composition of the song: In The Maze’s composition, I combined elements familiar from video games with progressive metal, and a shark also influenced by the direction of melodic death metal. I created contrasts between the different parts in order to the listener’s ears would not become numb to repeating the same mood for too long. I feel that music needs to address the widest possible spectrum of emotions. These influences are born with strong musical experiences from my life all the way to elementary school from songs of Nintendo games.
THE ADDICT
Nuutti: The idea for the lyrics came to me after analyzing my daily activities. Where do we draw the line between everyday habits and addiction? Many things have the potential to improve your life, but alternatively might lead you in the wrong direction. It’s always about the perspective and whether you’re working consciously or are driven by impulses. Addiction is often seen as a negative phenomenon, but underneath you might find what your subconscious is trying to tell you. Is there something in the shadows that wants to be seen or heard? The Addict was originally a fully electronic song. We pulled the whole package through a prog metal filter and found ourselves creating something completely new. The song combines synth wave, djent and shamanistic atmosphere which eventually transports the listener to a trance-like state. It feels like the song itself had told us which form it wanted to take.
KING
Janne: There is, in fact, quite a number of different approaches when it comes to the story behind this song. So, it’s kind of a survival story, but I won’t reveal more because I want the listener to be able to understand it the way they hear it. Sanna and Nuutti assisted with the songwriting, and Ilari’s tense keyboard parts brought the distinctive Fireproven sound to the song. In addition, there’s an awesome guitar solo, which was super fun to play.
HAUNTED
Janne: Needless to say which band influenced the main riff of the song. So, I’m a huge fan of Metallica but I was actually listening to Cirice by Ghost when the songwriting process started. However, I wanted to bring in a new perspective with elements of some groovy djent in the bridge. In the verse you can hear some influences of Slayer’s riffs, but I added ambient guitars to create a more atmospheric sound, and Ilari added some pretty great synth tracks in it. The vocal harmonies of this song might remind you of Alice in Chains songs. As for the lyrics, there are many angles on how they can be understood. Together with Sanna, we got to create these amazingly visual lyrics, the atmosphere which emphasizes the name of the song, ‘Haunted’.
TIME TO HEAL
Janne: I wanted to write a thrash metal song in an odd time signature. Time to Heal is a pretty funny song as its main riff is a Slayer type guitar riff which goes to nine and the drums go to four, so the first beat of the bar always changes its place. The lyrics take a strong stand on the current situation of the world, that is, wars and the climate crisis. Pressing pause and giving our home planet some time to breathe would be the only deliverance of mankind.
DREAM CATCHER
Nuutti: Dream Catcher is a combination of groovy, even blues-like soundscape with pop nuances that are joined together with a Gothenburg metal style arrangement. The lyrics cover an immigration crisis by way of a fictional story. It’s been a while since it was written but from one point of view you can see how it portrays the crisis in Ukraine, and the people forced to leave their homes.
GRACE
Nuutti: The first version of Grace was very different from its final form. We edited the song quite a bit and in the end it became a collaborative composition of me, Janne, Juha and Sanna. In the song there are elements from melodic death metal to a more progressive expression. You can even hear a hint of classical minimalism in the verses. The lyrics tell a story about an inevitable death and the fragility of life, as well as the urge to avoid thinking about these subjects.
WAVES OF EXTINCTION
Nuutti: The writing of the song started with a mainriff, where I was interested in combining a video-like atmosphere with a cadence in odd meters. I managed to make many versions of the song before as it turned out which direction I want the atmosphere and structure to carry. The song is very story-like in structure. After the initial explosion, one travels through the electronical parts towards darker moods
and eventually the tension is released in the chorus. The key to the song is the power of collaboration. Sanna rewrote most of the melodies and Janne also put his spoon in the soup, after which we all made the song look Fireproven together.
Nuutti about the lyrics: Climate change and its effects serve as a strong inspiration for the lyrics of the song. The recitation takes place in two timelines, in the first of which the great destruction has already taken place and is lived in a post-apocalyptic world. In another timeline, we are in a moment where we idealistically want to save the planet, but action for great change is insufficient. The song is not intended to entice the listener into gloom or to lose faith in change. It is only a review of the current topic in a storytelling form.
Sanna: The variation in the moods and dynamics of Waves of Extinction, combined with odd meters, seemed to be heard at first glance. The topic of the song is also very important to me. Nuutti composed a masterpiece that made it easy for me to compose vocal melodies for the song. I’ve certainly never used my voice in this way in a single song before. At times in the recordings, we laughed at this banging from the delicate mood through the low growls to the high clean vocals and from there to the even higher screams, but the end result is definitely worth it. The song sounds 100% to us.
UNITY
Nuutti: Unity is a story about whales’ journey around the ocean. Whales are unique beings that have their own diverse language. Sanna wrote some of the lyrics. Whales are close to her heart, too, so our co-operation worked seamlessly. The journey of the whales is a metaphor for the chance of freedom we all should have no matter the circumstances.
“Epilogue” -tracklist:
1. The Maze
2. The Addict
3. King
4. Haunted
5. Time to Heal
6. Dream Catcher
7. Grace
8. Waves of Extinction
9. Unity
PRE-SAVE the album at https://show.co/qZuN95h
Just recently FIREPROVEN teamed up with BraveWords to premiere exclusively worldwide their new lyric video ‘King’, taken from “Epilogue”.
Watch ‘King’ via BraveWords at here: https://bravewords.com/news/exclusive-fireproven-premiere-king-lyric-video
or via YouTube: https://youtu.be/UisLRzinid0
In January 2022, FIREPROVEN announced that after this album they will be disbanded, thanking their loyal fans releasing “Epilogue” which will remain their last effort, as a band.
“Hello everyone! We hope that 2022 has started well for you guys.
Sadly, we have to announce that Fireproven will no longer continue. There are number of reasons that led us to this decision but we’re all still good friends, and will continue to keep it that way. We’re going to release our last album later this spring but all shows will be cancelled. We want to thank you all for your love and support during these years. None of this would have been possible without you guys listening to our tracks and showing us your love. Peace and love! Stay healthy!”
Check out the earlier released singles from the album:
‘Waves of Extinction’ (2021)
– YouTube – https://youtu.be/bHQPDmeOjhY
– Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/track/2qtXsEIgJW5fvSIDfXu1jO
‘The Maze’ (2021)
– YouTube – https://youtu.be/vsdPkGz62-s
– Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/track/5CRxJ4mp7RRYdLbnAOu2NI
‘The Addict’ (2020):
– YouTube – https://youtu.be/9XLC6X8n_34
– Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/track/52mdGLISaja3fO8fFeXxJt
“Epilogue” Album line-up is:
Sanna Solanterä – lead singer
Janne Väätämöinen – guitar and backing vocals
Juha Väätämöinen – bass and vocals
Ilari Hannula – keyboards
Nuutti Hannula – drums
FIREPROVEN is a progressive metal band from Finland. The band is known for their long, imagery songs, as well as their energetic live shows. Their first album ‘Future Diary’ got great scores in multiple reviews, and International Music Video Contest rewarded their music video Shine for the best director of photography. The band’s unique sound has already inspired people in Europe and overseas.
The band decided to take things to the next level by hiring a new lead vocalist Sanna Sola back in December 2019. Fireproven pride themselves on their technical abilities and musical versatility, breaking boundaries with their uniqueness.
More information at:
https://www.facebook.com/fireprovenband
https://www.fireprovenband.net
