浪漫主义 - 芬兰Progressive Post-Metal乐队Sargassus专访

Volcano Magazine
2 days ago
15 min read

今天采访到的是来自芬兰的Sargassus乐队，他们是一支成立于2020年的Post Metal/Progressive Metal乐队。2020年，Sargassus发行了他们的首张EP"The Giant"，主唱Matias Stenman的嘶吼以及乐队成员们精彩的乐器演奏编织出了Sargassus独特的声音。乐队接下来的两张EP"The Albatross"以及"King of the Sun"在质量上不断突破，在经典Post Metal的基础上融合了Death Metal，Melodic Metal等等流派的元素。2025年6月13日，Sargassus即将发行首长全长专辑"Vitruvian Rays"。在新专辑发行前夕，杂志与Sargassus乐队取得联系并进行了这次专访

（V: 代表笔者 S: 代表Sargassus乐队）

The band we interviewed today is Sargasus from Finland, a Post Metal/Progressive Metal band founded in 2020. In 2020, Sargasus released their debut EP 'The Giant', in which the vocals of lead singer Matias Stenman and the band members' brilliant instrument playing wove Sargasus' unique voice. The band's next two EPs, "The Albatross" and "King of the Sun," will continue to break through in quality, incorporating elements from classic Post Metal genres such as Death Metal and Melodic Metal. On June 13, 2025, Sargasus will release his full-length album "Vitruvian Rays". On the eve of the release of the new album, the magazine contacted the Sargasus band and conducted this exclusive interview

(V: representing the author S: representing the Sargasus band)

采访对象：Sargassus（Sargassus乐队）

采访时间：2025.05.22

V: Hei! 首先非常感谢您接受这次采访，向乐队的所有人问好！这应该是Sargassus第一次接受来自中国的金属杂志的采访，可以先向大家介绍一下Sargassus乐队吗？

Hei! First of all, thank you very much for this interview and hello to everyone in Sargassus! This should be the first time Sargassus is interviewed by metal magazine from China, could you please first introduce Sargassus to everyone?

S: 非常感谢，这是我们的荣幸。2020年，Sargassus乐队成立之初是一支前卫后金属乐队，其中加入了一些死亡金属和黑金属元素。多年来，乐队更倾向于现代黑金属，强调在音乐中融入氛围和前卫元素。我们更喜欢激进的声音，与歌曲中干净、沉思的部分形成激烈的碰撞，我们会创作任何我们喜欢的音乐，只要它具有挑战性、侵略性并且属于金属。

Thank you very much, the pleasure is all ours. Sargassus started out as a progressive post metal band in 2020, with some elements of death and black metal. Over the years the band has veered more towards modern black metal, with an emphasis on atmospheric and progressive elements embedded into the music. We prefer an aggressive sound that clashes violently with the clean and meditative parts in our songs, and we’ll make any kind of music we like, as long as it is challenging, aggressive and metal.

V: Sargassus这个名字有什么特殊含义吗？Sargassus这个词语是你们自己创造的还是另有来源？

Does the name “Sargassus” have a specific meaning and is the term Sargassus something you guys coined or does it have another origin?

S: 这个名字是鼓手在睡梦中说的梦话。乐队决定不再寻找其他的名字建议，就用这个名字，因为它很独特，不像乐队成员以前听过的任何名字。

The name was revealed to our drummer in his sleep. The band decided not to look any further for other name suggestions and just went with it, as it was unique and didn’t sound like anything the band members had heard before.

V: Sargassus是你的第一支乐队吗？在Sargassus乐队之前，乐队成员们有作为乐手在其他乐队的经历吗？

Was Sargassus your first band? Did the band members have any experience as musicians in other bands before Sargassus?

S: Sargassus的创始成员多年来一直在各种小型乐队和项目中创作和演奏音乐。正是通过 Sargassus，创始三人组（Rokio、Leskinen 和 Stenman）在2020年找到了他们音乐创作的最终出口并开始真正创作音乐。

The founding members of Sargassus had been composing and performing music for a number of years in various small bands and projects. It was through Sargassus that the founding trio (Rokio, Leskinen & Stenman) found their ultimate outlet for musical creativity in 2020 and started to churn out music for real.

V: 你们的风格是后金属，但并非传统的后金属。在你们的音乐作品中可以听到许多来自其他流派的元素。可以说说在你们的创作中，对你们最大的有哪些乐队吗？

Your genre is post-metal, but not traditional post-metal. Many elements from other genres can be heard in your music. Can you tell us about some of the bands that have influenced you the most in your music career?

S: Sargassus的主要影响者可能是Opeth和Mastodon等乐队。在Sargassus的早期作品中，这一点可能非常明显，但后来乐队又受到了Gaerea和Der Weg Einer Freiheit等现代黑金属乐队的影响"。另一支对Sargassus的声音影响最大的乐队是Akercocke。

The prime movers for Sargassus were probably bands such as Opeth and Mastodon. In Sargassus’ early production that might be very apparent, but later on the band has adopted influences from modern black metal bands like Gaerea and Der Weg Einer Freiheit”. Another band that has shaped the sound of Sargassus the most is Akercocke.

V: 目前为之你们一共发行了三张EP。每一张EP都保持着很高的编曲水平和制作水平，你们的歌曲都有很鲜明的后金属风格，同时在不同的歌曲中又融合了黑金属，前卫金属等不同流派的元素。我想知道乐队成立以来你们是如何把控每次创作风格的？乐队不同成员之间在创作和录制的过程中是怎样配合的？

You've released three EPs so far, each of which has maintained a high level of songwriting and producing, and all of your songs have a distinct post-metal style, while incorporating elements of different genres such as black metal and avant-garde metal in different songs. I'd like to know how you've managed the style of each of your compositions since the band's inception? How do the different members of the band work together in the song writing and recording process?

S: 乐队几乎所有的音乐创作都是在即兴演奏中完成的，没有任何想法会被认为是错误的。之后，乐队可能会对音乐素材进行一些修改，但很多时候都会保留最初的想法。这种直观而又混乱的方法创作出了许多介于黑金属和前卫先锋之间的歌曲，乐队也不知道为什么这种方法会如此奏效。

The band composes almost all of their music through jam sessions, where there are no wrong ideas. Later on the band might do some revisions to the material, but oftentimes the initial ideas are kept intact. This intuitive yet chaotic method has yielded many songs that balance between black metal and progressive avant-garde, and the band has no idea why it seems to work so well.

V: 在2022年你们发行了一张叫“The Albatross"的EP。在这张专辑的Bandcamp页面你们介绍说这张专辑的主打歌"The Albatross"，歌词来自一则叫"Jonathan Livingston Seagull"的70年代寓言故事，尽管写完歌词后你们并不理解这则故事在讲些什么（你们在bandcamp留下的文字总是很幽默！）文学作品好像是你们的重要灵感来源之一？可以聊聊为何乐队的创作总是和这些元素息息相关吗？

In 2022 you released an EP called The Albatross, and on the Bandcamp page of this EP you describe the album's title track, “The Albatross”, as being derived from a 70's fable called “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”, even though you didn't really understand what the story was about when you wrote the lyrics (the words you left on Bandcamp are always humorous!). Literature seems to be one of your main sources of inspiration? Can you tell us why the band's work is always related to these elements?

S: 稍作更正：我们的主唱在写歌词时阅读了整篇寓言。是Rokio和Leskinen建议将这本寓言作为EP的主题，原因很简单，他们觉得这个名字很有趣，主题也很奇特。我们的主唱只是懒得问他们自己是否读过（或确实读懂了）这本书。Stenman至今怀疑，他们的主要目的只是在浪费他的时间（值得称赞的是，Stenman在这一探索上浪费了很多时间）。文学作品为乐队提供了几乎无穷无尽的语言表达和灵感，几乎可以涉及任何主题，因此乐队不需要只选择一个主题作为歌词。撰写歌词的Stenman发现，从作家和诗人中寻找灵感是创作出有趣、有层次的歌词的最佳途径。毕竟，他们是文字的高手。

A slight correction: our singer read the entire fable in order to write the lyrics. It was Rokio and Leskinen who suggested the fable should be the main theme of the EP, simply because they found the name funny and the subject matter rather trippy. Our singer just didn’t bother asking whether they had read (or indeed understood) the book themselves. Stenman suspects to this day that their main goal was to just waste his time (to their credit, Stenman wasted a lot of time on this quest). Literature offers the band a nearly endless supply of verbal expression and inspiration about almost any topic, so the band doesn’t need to pick just one subject matter for lyrics. Stenman, who writes the lyrics, finds that by looking for inspiration among authors and poets is the best way to come up with interesting and layered lyrics. They are the best with words, after all.

V: “The Albatross"这张EP的乐器演奏已经演唱都让人印象深刻。Matias Stenman的人声表演让人惊叹，我很好奇，在加入乐队之前你有经过专业的训练吗？在人声演唱方面哪些乐队或者音乐家对你的影响比较大？

The instrument performing on the EP “The Albatross” is very impressive, and Matias Stenman's vocal performing is really amazing, I'm curious, did you have any professional training before joining the band? Which bands or musicians have influenced you more in terms of vocals?

S: 感谢您的赞誉！在组建Sargassus之前，乐队的所有成员在各自的乐器/人声方面都有大约 10年的经验，而且我们都有很好的老师来指导我们。至于人声，我认为来自Wintersun的 Jari Mäenpää可能对我们启发最大。他的嘶吼清晰嘹亮，是整个金属乐界最具侵略性和愤怒的声音。我力求达到同样的清晰度。在过去的几年里，我也更多地钻研低沉的咆哮声，这主要是受到来自Shadow of Intent乐队的Ben Duerr的启发。当然，我达不到像他那样低沉的声音，但我尝试将它们与（例如）Mikael Åkerfeldt（Opeth）的明亮的嘶吼结合起来，以获得适合Sargassus 的声音。

Thank you for the kind words! All members of the band had some 10 years of experience with their respective instruments/vocals before forming Sargassus, and all of us have had great teachers to guide us. As for the vocals, I think Jari Mäenpää from Wintersun might have been the biggest inspiration. His growls are so clear and articulated, yet some of the most aggressive and downright angry in the entire metal scene. I strive to reach the same level of articulation. In the past years I have delved more into low gutturals as well, mostly inspired by Ben Duerr from Shadow of Intent. Of course, I can’t get nearly as low as he can, but I try to combine them with the clarity of (for example) Mikael Åkerfeldt’s (Opeth) growls for something that fits Sargassus.

V: 2023年，你们发行了一张EP"King Of The Sun"，这是一张非常悦耳的后金属专辑。在你们的专辑介绍中写道，这张专辑的歌词受到the epic of Lucien的影响。我想知道，你们为何决定以这本科幻小说做为创作主题？可以展开聊聊这张专辑的歌词吗？

In 2023, you released an EP called King Of The Sun, which is a very pleasant post-metal album. In your album description it is written that the lyrics of this album are influenced by the epic of Lucien. I would like to know why you decided to write about the science fiction? Can you tell us more about the lyrics and the theme of the album?

S: The epic of Lucien"在主题上是一部荒诞不经的虚构作品，因此必须在这张EP中进一步探讨。我们还没有完全想好我们的音乐要关注什么主题和话题，所以我们一直在古老的文学作品中寻找灵感。我们制作这张EP的唯一标准是，主题必须兼具诗意和迷幻色彩，而"The epic of Lucien"恰好符合这一要求。我们对迷幻主题的迷恋是2020年乐队成立之初就有的特质，这很可能是因为我们创作的歌曲有时非常地非传统。

The epic of Lucien was thematically a work of fiction that was so ridiculous that it had to be explored further on the EP. We had not quite made up our minds about what themes and topics our music would focus on, so we kept looking for inspiration in old literature. Our only criteria for the EP was that the themes had to be both poetic and psychedelic, and to that end the epic of Lucien was perfect. Our fascination with psychedelic themes was a trait the band started out with in 2020, most likely because the songs we composed were at times very unorthodox.

V: 在六月十三号你们即将发行专辑"Vitruvian Rays"，这应该是你们的第一张全长专辑，可以讲讲这张专辑的名称有什么含义吗？关于这张专辑的内容，可以提前和我们说说这张专辑相较于你们以往发行的EP有哪些不同吗？

On June 13th you will be releasing your album Vitruvian Rays, which should be your first full-length album, can you tell us about the meaning of the album's title? Can you tell us in advance about the album's content and how it's different from the EPs you've released in the past?

S: 这张专辑比我们之前的作品更具哲理性，因此有时会显得有些模糊。Vitruvian Rays是Stenman在为整张专辑选择主题时提出的一个概念，与古罗马建筑师兼工程师Vitruvius有关。在"Vitruvian Rays"中，他的理想比例理论象征着人类需要控制生活的方方面面，就像太阳发出的光芒一样，他的影响遍及地球的每一个角落。这张专辑关注的主题包括：自然的混乱与秩序的对立，以及以被剥夺公民权为代价的控制之争和僵化的社会结构。简而言之，这张专辑批判了人性以及政治和宗教中存在的短视教条，而之前发行的EP则侧重于文学作品中的小故事。

The album is much more philosophical than our previous material, and as such it gets a bit vague at times. Vitruvian Rays is a concept Stenman coined while choosing the themes for the entire album, which relates to Vitruvius, an ancient Roman architect and engineer. In ‘Vitruvian Rays’ his theories of ideal proportions symbolize humanity’s need to control all aspects of life, and like rays of light from the sun, his influence reaches everywhere on earth. The album focuses a lot on themes like natural chaos versus order, and the battle for control and rigid social structure at the cost of disenfranchised people. In short, the album critiques human nature and shortsighted doctrines present in politics and religion, while previously released EP:s focus on smaller stories from literature.

V: 新专辑中的两首歌曲已经上线Sargassus的Bandcamp页面，分别是"Spirit of Gravity"和"The Lone Idunn Grows in Shade"我想问问这两首新歌的创作过程是怎样的？新成员Mertta Halonen在加入乐队后也是否参与到了这两首歌曲的创作中来？

Two songs from the new album are already on Sargassus' Bandcamp page, “Spirit of Gravity” and “The Lone Idunn Grows in Shade” I'd like to ask what was the writing process like for these two new songs? Was new member Mertta Halonen also involved in the writing of these two songs after joining the band?

S: "Spirit of Gravity"和"The Lone Idunn Grows in Shade"都是为专辑创作的首批歌曲之一。这两首歌的能量截然相反，一首极具攻击性，另一首则近乎冥想。然而，两首歌都非常黑暗，主题都是神秘主义和宗教。它们共同塑造了专辑其余部分的整体声音和氛围。"Spirit of Gravity"是专辑中修改幅度最大的一首歌，因为乐队成员最初对这首歌并不十分满意。经过修改后，我们立刻意识到，这张专辑将比我们之前的任何作品都更具侵略性、更加黑暗。Mertta可以说是金属乐队中受放克音乐启发的贝司手，她为歌曲带来了自己的品味，使其与Sargassus的欢快风格保持一致。当我们寻找新的贝斯手时，我们发现她的演奏风格非常适合乐队，她很快就融入了乐队。我们对她的贡献非常满意，她在所有与乐队有关的事情上都表现出无穷的动力。

Both ‘Spirit of Gravity’ and ‘The Lone Idunn Grows in Shade’ are among the first songs composed for the album. They are polar opposites in terms of energy, as one is super aggressive and the other almost meditative. Yet both songs are very dark and share themes of occultism and religion. Together they shaped the overall sound and atmosphere for the rest of the album. ‘Spirit of Gravity’ underwent the heaviest revisions of any song on the album, as the band members weren’t all exactly happy with the song initially. With the changes made we knew instantly that the album was going to be very much more aggressive and darker than anything we had previously done. Mertta, who could be described as a funk inspired bass player in a metal band, brought her own flavor to the songs that kept them in line with Sargassus’ groovier side. When we were looking for a new bass player, we found her style of playing a perfect fit for the band, and she integrated into the band in no time. We are very happy with her contributions and endless motivation to play her part in all band related things.

目前为止，乐队的EP以及单曲封面都是Matias Stenman的手绘作品，这些作品都很赏心悦目，也很契合Sargassus的音乐风格。我想知道绘画是你的本职专业还是你的一个爱好？

So far, the band's EPs as well as single covers are all hand-drawn by Matias Stenman, and they are all very pleasing to the eye and fit Sargassus' musical style. I would like to know if painting is your true profession or a hobby for you?

我大概从6岁起就开始画画，从那时起，画画就成了我的一个爱好。我主要用铅笔画，但几年前我改用炭笔画，现在我的大部分作品都是用炭笔画完成的。这也是为什么Sargassus新的艺术风格比以前更黑暗的原因。

I have been drawing and painting since I was maybe 6 years old, and it has been a hobby ever since. I have mostly drawn with pencils, but I switched over to charcoal a few years ago, and most of my artworks are done in that medium nowadays. That’s also why the new art style for Sargassus is much darker than previously.

V: 在Youtube上可以看到你们的最新MV"Spirit of Gravity"。我想问问乐队的拍摄体验如何？这是乐队第一次拍摄MV吗？你们是在什么时候拍摄的？新专辑还有给其他的歌曲拍摄MV吗？

Your latest music video “Spirit of Gravity” now can be watched on Youtube. I would like to ask the band how was the filming experience? Was this the band's first time shooting a music video? When did you shoot it? Are there any other music videos for other songs on the new album?

S: 为"Spirit of Gravity"拍摄视频确实是我们第一次制作音乐视频，总的来说，这次拍摄经历非常鼓舞人心，也非常有趣！负责拍摄和剪辑视频的Joona Muistola对这首歌和乐队非常熟悉，因为他正是与我们一起录制鼓和给专辑混音的人。真是多才多艺！他对视频的构思与我们的想法不谋而合，最终的效果让我们大开眼界。我们在2025年1月至2月期间分多次拍摄了视频，因为视频中墨水片段的准备和拍摄需要大量的计划和拍摄工作。之后，我们在家乡坦佩雷的拍摄地花了两天时间，完成了视频的其他部分。除了《Spirit of Gravity》的音乐录影带之外，我们还为随后的两首单曲制作了两个歌词视频。

The video shoot for ‘Spirit of Gravity’ was indeed out first music video production, and the filming experience was all in all super inspiring and fun! Joona Muistola who filmed and edited the video was already very familiar with the song and the band as he was the very same guy who we recorded the drums with and who mixed the album. Talk about a multi-talent! He had a great vision about the video that matched our idea and the final result blew our mind. We filmed the video in January-February 2025 in multiple occasions, as the preparation and filming of the ink clips in the video required quite a lot of planning and filming. We then spent two very long days in the filming location in our hometown Tampere where the rest of the video was filmed. We complemented the music video of ‘Spirit of Gravity’ with two additional lyric videos for the following two singles.

新专辑将会由哪一个唱片厂牌发行推广？这张专辑将会制作成实体专辑发行吗？在新专辑发行后，你们是否有演出的计划？

Which label will the new album be released on? Will the album be released as a physical album? Do you have any performance plans after the release of the album?

这张专辑由芬兰Inverse Records唱片公司发行，自“King of the Sun”发行以来，他们一直给予我们很大的帮助。我们强烈推荐大家购买实体专辑，因为里面有更多独特的艺术品，这在网上发行的专辑中是找不到的！我们计划在2025年尽可能多地演出，现场演唱整张专辑。我们也已经开始预热新的音乐素材，并计划立即着手为第二张专辑创作素材！

The album is released via Finnish Inverse Records that have been of great help for us since the release of ‘King of the Sun’. There will be a physical album for the release which we can highly recommend for people to get for themselves as there is a lot more unique artwork in it that you cannot find anywhere in the online release! We are definitely planning to play as many shows as possible in 2025 where we play the entire album live. We also have our eyes on the new material already and we plan to jump right to composing material for our second album!

V: 非常感谢接受这次采访。Sargussus是一支非常独特的乐队，你们有非常非常优秀的作品。希望通过这次采访能让更多人关注你们的音乐。最后，我会继续关注并支持你们，请问乐队有什么想对中国的乐迷们说的吗？

Thank you very much for this interview, Sargussus is a very unique band and you have amazing metal music. I hope this interview will bring more attention to your music. Last but not least, I will continue to follow and support you, is there anything the band would like to say to their fans in China?

非常感谢你们对我们的赞誉并在百忙之中抽出时间采访我们！对于我们在中国的歌迷和目标受众，我们想说的是，我们非常感谢大家在网上对我们的每一次点击和关注，只要有人想让我们去中国演出，Sargassus就会立刻跳上飞往中国的飞机！请关注我们的新专辑，并告诉我们你的想法666！

Thank you so much for the nice words and taking the time to interview us! For our fans and target audience in China we would want to say that we appreciate every single stream and following people give us online and that Sargassus will jump on a plane to China the second some wants us to perform there! Check our new album out and let us know what you think 666!