黑暗时代降临 - 芬兰Progressive Melodic Death Metal / Metalcore乐队Echoes of the Extinct专访

今天采访到的是来自芬兰的Progressive Melodic Death Metal / Metalcore乐队Echoes of the Extinct，组建于2022年的Echoes of the Extinct乐队今年已经是他们成立的第三年，Echoes of the Extinct是一支很年轻的乐队，今年乐队才发表了他们的第一张正式专辑“Era of Darkness”，在第一张正式专辑发行之前乐队发表了三首单曲吸引了芬兰的著名厂牌Inverse Records的关注并且签约了Echoes of the Extinct乐队，今年乐队在这家厂牌发行了他们的第一张专辑，一张精彩的专辑由此诞生，经典，优美的旋律令人印象深刻，再加上一些Progressive的元素让这支乐队的在编曲方面更加的前卫，还有一些Metalcore的元素也让这支乐队再优美的旋律中流露着凶残，在第一张专辑发行之际，杂志通过厂牌与乐队取得联系进行了一次专访！

（V: 代表笔者 L: 代表 Juuso Lehtonen J: Jarmo）

Today's interview is with Finland's Progressive Melodic Death Metal / Metalcore band Echoes of the Extinct, formed in 2022, Echoes of the Extinct is now in their third year of existence. Echoes of the Extinct are a young band, having only released their first official album “Era of Darkness” this year, and prior to their first official release the band released three singles which attracted the attention of the famous Finnish label Inverse Records, who signed them to the label. Echoes of the Extinct released their first album on the label this year, and a great album was born, with classic and impressive melodies, plus some progressive elements that make the band's arrangements even more avant-garde, and some metalcore elements that make the band's beautiful melodies with a touch of ferocity. On the occasion of the release of their first album, the magazine contacted the band through the label for an interview!

(V: for the author L: for Juuso Lehtonen J: Jarmo)

采访对象：Juuso Lehtonen，Jarmo（Echoes of the Extinct乐队吉他手 / Drum programming）

采访时间：2025.04.03

V: 你好兄弟很高兴见到你，非常感谢你能参加这次采访，我想这是你们乐队第一次接受中国杂志的采访，首先向所有的中国歌迷问好，Echoes of the Extinct乐队成立于2022年，是一支非常年轻的乐队，你们是如何组建这支乐队的？Echoes of the Extinct这个名字的含义是什么？

Hello brother nice to meet you and thank you very much for participating in this interview, I think this is the first time that your band has been interviewed by a Chinese magazine, first of all say hello to all the Chinese fans, Echoes of the Extinct was formed in 2022, it is a very young band, how did you form this band? What is the meaning of the name Echoes of the Extinct?

J: 向中国所有的金属迷致敬！我们是Echoes of the Extinct，一个芬兰金属工作室项目，成立于2022年，由Juuso Lehtonen，吉他手和Jarmo Jääskeläinen，鼓手组成。是的，这是我们第一次接受采访！Juuso和我是朋友，我们的项目最初是以Juuso的旋律为基础的器乐演奏。起初，我们只是为了自己的乐趣而创作歌曲，但当Demo似乎开始受到关注时，我们开始认真对待我们的项目。我们很快就需要一名贝斯手，于是我们找来了Jarmo的一位老队友（Kalle Hautalampi，贝斯手）加入我们。寻找主唱的过程有点困难，但最终我们通过一个共同的熟人找到了主唱（Tero Ollilainen，主唱联合作词人）。这就是Echoes of the Extinct的由来。Echoes of the Extinct这个名字的灵感来自于我们歌曲的歌词，这些歌词通常涉及地球上人为的生态灾难。有时我们戏称自己的音乐为 “生态金属”。

Hail to all metal fans in China! We’re Echoes of the Extinct, a Finnish metal studio project formed in 2022 by Juuso Lehtonen (guitars) and Jarmo Jääskeläinen (drums). And yes, first time ever with an interview, actually! Juuso and I are friends and we first started our project as instrumental music based on Juuso's riffs. At first we built the songs for our own fun and pleasure, but when the demos seemed to start getting attention, we started to take our project a little more seriously. The need for a bass player became obvious pretty soon, so we got an old band mate of Jarmo's (Kalle Hautalampi, bass) to join us. The search for a singer turned out to be a bit difficult, but eventually we found a vocalist through a mutual acquaintance (Tero Ollilainen, vocals, co-lyricist). This is how Echoes of the Extinct came into being, a name inspired by the lyrics of our songs, which usually deal with man-made ecological disasters on Earth. Sometimes we playfully call our music "eco-metal".

V: 你们都是乐队的第一代成员，彼此非常了解，知道对方需要什么来创作，能描述一下你们的创作过程吗？你们没有使用真正的鼓手，而是使用Drum programming，为什么不用真正的鼓手？

You're all first generation members of the band and know each other well enough to know what each other needs to create, can you describe your creative process? You don't use real drummers but Drum programming, why don't you use real drummers?

J: 创作新音乐总是充满灵感，但也很耗费精力。我们歌曲的核心是带有哥德堡金属影响的经典Death Metal，这也是我们两人的心声。我从上世纪 90 年代中期开始打金属鼓，但因为找不到志同道合的乐队成员等原因，我放弃了打鼓。我想我可以说是在2010年代末有点音乐倦怠而退出的。此外年龄的增长也不适合极限金属鼓的演奏--身体的局限性成为了现实。但是在Juuso的带领下，我们的旧火种再次燃烧起来，我们的创作受到了Modern Metal和Metalcore的影响。我兴奋不已，各种新的部分和复杂的插曲开始出现。随着时间的推移，对我和Juuso来说，共同的作曲和编曲方法帮助歌曲形成了今天的形式。从一开始，我就被我们构建歌曲的各种方式所吸引--歌曲并不总是从吉他旋律到编曲、贝斯和鼓声，有时也会在歌曲中使用吉他，而这些歌曲的结构和节奏一开始都是由鼓声来完成的。我们并不急于求成，而是安安静静地做自己喜欢听的音乐。如果别人也喜欢，那就更好了！

Creating new music is always inspiring but also consuming. The core of our songs is rather classic death metal with Gothenburg metal influences, which is close to both of our hearts. I have been metal drumming since the mid 90’s but I had given up playing because, among other reasons, I couldn't find any bandmates who were on the same wavelength. I guess I could say I had a bit of a musical burnout in the late 2010’s and quit. Also aging doesn't suit well with extreme metal drumming - physical limitations become reality. But the old flame caught fire again with Juuso leading the compositional work towards modern metal and metalcore influences. I got excited and new kinds of parts and intricate interludes began to emerge. Over time, for me with Juuso, a shared approach to composition and arrangement helped songs to take shape in the form they have today. From the very beginning I was also attracted by the variety of ways in which we could construct songs - not always did they go from guitar riffs to arrangements and bass and drum tracks, but sometimes guitars were also used in the songs that were structurally and rhythmically created with drums alone at first. There was no rush, but in peace and quiet we made music that would be nice to listen to ourselves. It’s only a bonus if others like it too!

V: 你们的Logo设计非常简单，但这种设计形式是我个人最喜欢的，因为我很容易就能记住你们的名字，这个Logo是谁为你们设计的？你们的专辑封面设计得非常漂亮，这是谁为你们设计的？它有什么含义吗？

Your logo design is very simple, but this form of design is one of my personal favorites because I can easily remember your name, who designed this logo for you? Your album artwork is beautifully designed, who designed this artwork for you? Does it have any meaning?

J: 是的，我们也喜欢简洁的Logo。我们的Logo和专辑封面设计是通过Fiverr应用程序找到的。阿根廷数字艺术家Nicolas O.仔细聆听了我们的愿望、歌词和专辑主题，最终完成了这张专辑的封面设计。

Yes, we like simplistic logos too. The creator of our logo and album artwork was found via the Fiverr app. Argentinian digital artist Nicolas O. listened carefully to our wishes, our lyrics and the theme of our album and the result is the artwork for this album.

V: 你们乐队的音乐主题是什么？为什么选择这个音乐主题，想通过它表达什么？你们还创建了歌词部分，这些歌词是谁写的，他的灵感来源是什么？

What is the theme of your band's music about? Why did you choose this musical theme and what do you want to express through it? You also create lyrics sections, who writes these lyrics and what are his inspirations?

J: 你可以在其他问题（主题、歌词等）的答案中找到这些问题的答案。

You can find answers to these questions in answers to other questions (theme, lyrics, etc.).

V: 你们今年的第一张正式唱片是由贵国最著名的唱片公司Inverse Records发行的，你们是如何与该公司取得联系并进行合作的？你对唱片公司的工作满意吗？

Your first official release this year is on your country's most famous label, Inverse Records, how did you get in touch with the label to collaborate? Were you satisfied with the label's work?

J: 我们对自己的首张专辑感到非常兴奋！我们是在主唱Tero的推荐下找到Inverse Records作为我们的出版合作伙伴的，Tero之前曾在另一个项目中与Inverse Records合作过。与Inverse的合作非常顺利，我们对合作成果很满意。我们是一支新成立的小乐队，对未来没有任何奢望。但如果我们的音乐能被全世界听到，那就再好不过了。音乐是一种很普遍的东西--金属将世界各地的人们联系在一起！

We are very excited about our debut album! We found Inverse Records as our publishing partner on the recommendation of our singer Tero, who had previously worked with them on another project. The collaboration with Inverse has gone very well and we are happy with the result. We are a new and small band and we don't have any megalomaniacal hopes for the future. But it will be nice if we can get our music heard around the world. Music is a pretty universal thing - metal connects people everywhere!

V: 你们的乐队成立于2022年，但所有作品都是在今年发行的，是什么原因让你们选择在三年后发行作品？

Your band formed in 2022, but all of your work was released this year, what made you choose to release your work three years later?

L: 起初我们并没有发布歌曲的时间表。大部分歌曲都是在2022年创作的，但我们花了很多时间来打磨原始的想法并没有急于推出歌曲的打算。现在三年过去了，我们对最终结果感到满意并准备发行专辑供大家欣赏。

At first we did not have a schedule for releasing our songs. Most of the songs were written in 2022, but we took our time to polish the raw ideas and had no intention to rush the songs. Now, after three years, we are happy with the end result and are ready to release the album for you to enjoy.

V: 首先祝贺你们乐队今年发行了第一张正式专辑“Era of Darkness”，优美的旋律，激烈的节奏，你们的编曲非常多变，看来你们的技术非常娴熟，对于鼓的演奏，你们选择了鼓编程，但我不知道我是否愿意看到这样的情况。我不认为你们使用了鼓编程，我认为是是用了真正的鼓手来演奏，你对自己的作品有什么评论吗？

First of all, congratulations to your band for releasing your first official album “Era of Darkness” this year, beautiful melodies, fierce riffs, your arrangements are very varied and you seem to be very skilled, for the drums you chose drum programming, but I'm not sure if I'd like to see that. I don't think you guys used Drum programming, I think it's time for real drummers to play it, do you have any comments on your own compositions?

J: 谢谢你的赞誉！我们都有很长的音乐史。有些人曾参加过不同的乐队和项目。因此我们对金属音乐有着共同的热爱并且已经在金属音乐领域摸爬滚打了很长时间。这一点在我们的专辑中得到了很好的体现。我认为尤索绝对是一位出色的吉他手和作曲家，能与他一起创作歌曲是我的荣幸。除了鼓的作曲，我还开始为这张专辑作词。这是一个有趣的新挑战。专辑中有六首歌曲，一半歌词由Tero创作，一半由我创作。之所以在我的名字后面写着drum programming，是因为我先将鼓的音轨制作成midi文件，然后再用采样录制，就像在录音室使用模拟鼓组一样。因此大部分鼓声音轨都是用鼓垫和/或midi控制器演奏出来的。这种方法非常有效，而且成本低廉，可以制作出在现代金属唱片中听起来不错的鼓声音轨。除了人声之外，我们自己录制了专辑中的所有曲目。这也有助于降低成本，因为我们不是专业音乐家。有几支金属乐队虽然有鼓手，但出于某种原因，在他们的一些唱片中使用drum programming（如Meshuggah、Tesseract、Devin Townsend等）。这是一种制作致命鼓点的现代方法，但与使用鼓机仍有很大不同。

Thank you for your kind words! We all have a long history in music. Some have been in different bands and projects before. So we share a love of metal music and have been around it for a long time. This is certainly reflected in our album. I think Juuso is an absolutely amazing guitarist and composer, it's a pleasure to build songs with him. Besides composing the drums, I started writing lyrics for this album as well. It was an interesting new challenge. There will be six songs on the album, with half of the lyrics written by Tero and half by me. The reason why it says "drum programming" after my name is simply because I made the drum tracks into a midi file first and then recorded it with the samples as you would in a studio with an analog drum kit. So most of the drum tracks are organically played with drum pads and/or with midi controllers. This is a very efficient and inexpensive way to make drum tracks that sound good on a modern metal record. We have recorded everything but the vocals for our album ourselves. This also helps with the costs since we’re not professional musicians. There are several metal bands that have a drummer but for one reason or another use drum programming on some of their records (like Meshuggah, Tesseract, Devin Townsend etc). It's a modern way of making killer drum tracks, but still quite different from using a drum machine.

V: 除了发行新专辑，你们乐队今年还在忙什么？我想你们会参加一些音乐节来宣传新专辑，能透露一下吗？

What else is your band working on this year besides releasing a new album? I think you're going to be playing some festivals to promote the album, can you shed some light on that?

L: 很遗憾，我们目前还没有现场表演的计划，但如果有机会，这可能会改变。现在我们正集中精力发行首张专辑。虽然我们一直在创作新的乐曲和歌曲，但目前还没有进一步的消息。

Unfortunately, we have no plans for live performances at the moment, but this could change if the opportunity arises. Right now we are concentrating on the release of our debut album. Although we are always working on new riffs and songs, there are no further announcements.

V: 虽然你们是一支很年轻的乐队，但你们是一支很有潜力的乐队，我会一直支持和关注你们的乐队，也希望通过这次采访让更多的中国歌迷关注、支持你们的乐队，最后你们有什么话要对中国歌迷说吗？

Although you are a very young band, but you are a very promising band, I will always support and pay attention to your band, I also hope that through this interview to let more Chinese fans to pay attention to, support your band, in the end you have something to say to Chinese fans?

L: 非常感谢大家的喜爱和支持。我们很高兴能参加这次采访并有机会分享我们的想法。作为听众，你支持我们的最好方式就是与你的金属乐朋友们分享我们的作品！

Thank you so much for all the love and support. We are excited to be a part of this interview and for the opportunity to share our thoughts. The best way you can support us as a listener is to share our work with your fellow metalheads!

Echoes of the Extinct乐队主要作品：

Echoes of the Extinct - Era of Darkness（2025）

Echoes of the Extinct乐队官方Bandcamp网站：https://echoesoftheextinct.bandcamp.com/album/era-of-darkness

Echoes of the Extinct乐队官方Facebook网站：https://www.facebook.com/eoteband/

Echoes of the Extinct乐队官方Instagram网站：https://www.instagram.com/echoes_of_the_extinct/#

Echoes of the Extinct乐队官方YouTube网站：https://www.youtube.com/@echoesoftheextinct

Echoes of the Extinct乐队官方Spotify网站：https://open.spotify.com/artist/5rzTZcmRbsHK6rw1y4rGFo