It took Whispered ten years to return to the fray.
Active since 2004 (and since 2001 under the name Zealot), the band released its last studio album in 2016 before going quiet. This year, Jouni Valjakka (guitar/vocals) and Mikko Mattila (guitar/backing vocals/shamisen) are back, joined by Olli Paajanen (bass, Buried Within You, ex-Nerve End) and Filip Gäddnäs (drums, Vampiric Oath, Myrkblot), for a fourth album, Honorbound, released by Ranka Kustannus.
The album opens with Ikikaere, a track whose symbolic title is initially rather mysterious but quickly reveals the band’s identity, whether through the shamisen or their intense Melodic Death Metal roots, followed by visceral screams and occasional backing vocals. The fury is occasionally tempered by calm yet galvanizing elements before launching into Heavensbane, the next track, where the band adopts a different approach while enlisting Ukri Suvilehto (Abbath) on percussion, adding an effective martial touch. Another break through the tranquility comes with Shadowblade, which starts off very slowly but features an unsettling passage that casts a heavy veil over the entire composition; however, the band eventually moves past it to return to its luminous, epic touches, ultimately leading into Battlecry, where the band is joined on backing vocals by Jukio Kallio and Juho Pakkasvirta. The track remains fairly groovy while relying on piercing harmonics and guest vocals to keep it diverse, then the band comes back strong with A Warrior’s Dream, another highly contrasting track that showcases both its intensity and its softer passages dedicated to lively melodies. The journey continues with Gods of Rain, a fairly long track that opens with a dreamy intro marked by distinct Asian influences before building in intensity and delivering heavier riffs over which the vocal parts take shape. The track’s length allows it to lose steam briefly before naturally regaining momentum to reach Where the Spirits Thrive, a half as long but significantly faster track which channels the rage inherent in the screams, perfectly living up to what we’ve come to expect from the Finns. As usual, the band chose to close out the album with a long track, and while the length of the title track Honorbound may come as a surprise (since it’s by far the longest song in their entire discography), it feels like a story all its own, alternating at will between long instrumental passages and adding visceral screams when needed, then picking up the pace to reinvigorate the crowd, leaving us speechless in the face of such a masterpiece.
Whispered has been missing from the Metal scene for the past ten years, but to say the least, their return is a major one! Honorbound stays true to both its Finnish roots and its Japanese influences, creating the perfect album for the band’s fans.
85/100
A few questions to Jouni Valjakka, founder, guitarist and lead vocalist for the Finnish Japanese-infused Melodic Death Metal band Whispered, about the release of their new album, Honorbound.
Hello Jouni, and first of all thanks a lot for taking the time to talk with me! First of all, how are you?
Jouni Valjakka (guitar/vocals): Thank you for the opportunity! I’m fine, though busy as hell haha. After such a long hiatus with the band, the opportunities have been dropping on us very randomly while we’re getting ready for the album release.
How would you describe Whispered’s music without using the words “Melodic Death Metal” or any other subgenre?
Jouni: Imagine an epic landscape where one samurai army is attacking and dragons are meditating while four Finnish guys do their best to sound like Children Of Bodom on steroids. The official genre is of course True Finnish Samurai Metal!
The band was first named Zealot, then changed to Whispered back in 2004, what motivated this change? How do you still link it to the music you play now?
Jouni: I got the name Zealot from the game Heroes Of Might And Magic III, though I wasn’t even 100% sure what it meant back then. The music in the beginning was also more towards power metal, and Zealot reflected that somewhat. Whispered is something that came up in conversations, and I liked the contrast of it as a metal band name. And under that name, the band could also play anything at all; it didn’t tie us to any direction. Well, our early music had pretty much the same elements as our music now, though the Japanese folk influences & aesthetics came in on the first Whispered demo.
Whispered will soon release its fourth album, named Honorbound, how do you feel about it? How would you sum Honorbound’s identity up in only three words?
Jouni: We’ve been making the album for about 8 years, so I have all sorts of feelings towards it haha. The vast majority of them are positive, thankfully! The album was there during the pandemic, during some personal challenges and during so many different phases of life. For the first time, the whole album was created solely within the band by me and Mikko, from composing to mastering the final product, and that certainly brought challenges, but of course complete artistic freedom. I think the album has some of the best things we’ve ever come up with. If I had to choose only three words to describe the album, those are: the good ol’ epic, heavy and foolishly ambitious!
Honorbound happens ten years after the previous album, how does it feel composing with it? Are there any changes you noticed in the composition process?
Jouni: The whole process was extremely massive, and even in the last months before finishing the album, we still got one track done for it haha. The album has some things that are over 10 years old and some things that are much more current. What I’ve started to think lately is that in a way, this is like a new debut album for Whispered. It’s starting something after such a long time, and being in 100% control of everything for the first time, the whole process created some really awesome things and of course taught us so much. One thing that really helped us to finish the album was also Olli and Filip joining the band. That gave us the last push we needed to get shit done! Nowadays, I tend to write much more fully formed material right from the beginning, which is of course a natural evolution for a composer. But I think it wouldn’t hurt to go back to the MIDI-demo era every now and then. If it sounds awesome in its barebones form, it’ll sound extra-awesome when fully fleshed out!
Whispered’s sound is still rooted in Melodic Death, Power Metal and Japanese influences, which bands could you quote as influences, and did they change with time? What influences you to create music and lyrics now?
Jouni: I draw influences from many places like game soundtracks, movie scores and multiple metal genres. There are many great Finnish metal bands that have always inspired me like Children of Bodom, Moonsorrow, Finntroll, Wintersun, Ensiferum. Outside of Finland, Blind Guardian has always been a big thing for me, and lately I’ve been very drawn to some fresh discoveries like Lorna Shore, Orbit Culture, Saor and Cân Bardd, for example. And of course Havukruunu though I’ve been listening that for a while! I think overall Whispered has been going in a bit darker & somewhat more atmospheric direction, and the rock aspect has stepped aside a bit. Then of course there are songs like Battlecry on the new album which are very much rooted in classic Heavy Metal (Manowar!). I think you will always hear many types of influences in Whispered‘s music because I enjoy so many different approaches to Metal.
Which song is your personal favorite on Honorbound? And which one was the hardest one for you to complete?
Jouni: My personal favourite is the title track Honorbound. I think I managed to capture the vision I had for that track pretty well. There are many tracks I love, and some I’ve learned to love, which brings me to the hardest track to finish, which was A Warrior’s Dream. I think the version on the album is version 26 or something haha. It’s the oldest track on the album, and I thought of it as the opening track back then. Then years went by and the approach & preferences changed. I wasn’t even thinking of adding the song to the album, but then Mikko dove into the archives, took the dust off the thing and we finished the song. And I’m glad that happened, since now we have a short and very melodic breather on the otherwise quite massive album.
I noticed the final song, called Honorbound, is definitely the album and even the band’s longest track of all time. Even if it’s usual to see a long song at the end of all albums, how did you manage to keep it going for almost 25min?
Jouni: Honorbound is something that I’m quite proud of as a composer, and I really hope people will enjoy it too! I’m easy to inspire, and one day Mikko wrote to me, « It would be so cool to have a goddamn big song for Whispered! » and I think it was the same day I started to cook something haha. I really enjoy huge epics like Moonsorrow‘s Tulimyrsky and Symphony X‘s Odyssey, and writing something like that is so freeing, since for a big part you can just ignore all the rules and regulations that might distract you. For a really long time I didn’t have any clue what the song would be about, and it was nearly finished when I got inspired by a classic Japanese revenge story of the Soga brothers. To my surprise, many aspects of the story & tone fit together with the composition like a puzzle piece, and after some creative freedom I was able to finish the song. The whole thing has been around for about 8 years and seen some changes, but I think I managed to create something interesting and diverse which unfolds nicely and redeems its length.
Do you think you improved yourself as a guitarist and vocalist with this new record?
Jouni: As a guitarist, yes, I think so. I think I’ve found an overall more relaxed approach to playing, and I try to cultivate that. I’ve never thought of myself so much as a guitar player, more like a creative thunderstorm where the guitar is just one of the tools with which I try to express my vision. The vocals & guitars of the album, due to the circumstances we had (zero euros), have been recorded all over Tampere over many years, which I feel didn’t give the process the proper conditions to evolve. It’s cool that you can do those things almost everywhere nowadays, but for the next album I really want vocals to be recorded in the same place within a reasonable timeframe haha. That way, when you’re concentrating on only one thing at a time, you can come up with really cool things. Lately I’ve been getting into different techniques a bit, and I’m just very eager to start doing vocals for the next album!
Let’s talk about live shows now, how do you live a Whispered show? What happens inside of you, and in which mindset do you jump on stage? Maybe you have some rituals or habits before or after a show?
Jouni: I think putting on the paint is very much the ritual, and the more time there is to do it, the more it feels like a ritual. When the paint and the outfits are on, you have to be worthy to wear those, so I become the character. It’s still Jouni: but more Battle-God Jouni than gamer Jouni.
I unfortunately never see the band on stage for now, would you like to play more shows around the world? I saw you once play in France while supporting Wintersun, do you have any memory about the show in Colmar?
Jouni: Yeah, for sure! We’re aiming to get to Japan again, and going to the US and South America would be awesome, but for a band of our size it’s still extremely expensive. Hopefully someday.
You recently did a few shows in Europe back in May, how were those shows? How did you build the setlist between the new album coming and older songs?
Jouni: Those were a blast, and it was awesome to get to do some touring after quite a while. We met many fans, some of whom were actually quite moved that we are back, and it was great to see that there are still people out there who really want to hear more of our music. Touring with our buddies Torchia was awesome, and we’ll be playing together again soon at our album release show on September 18th. We wanted to create quite an essential Whispered set for the EU shows, so there were maybe 2 new songs revolving in the set.
What comes next for Whispered after the album release? Do you already have some plans?
Jouni: Now we’ll do all sorts of things regarding the album, like videos etc. I’ve been writing new material for the next album already for some time, and we can promise that you don’t have to wait 10 years for that! Next year we aim to get some festivals booked, and there might be some surprise releases this year still..!
Have you ever heard of the French Metal scene? Are there any bands you know and like?
Jouni: I’ve listened to some great Black Metal from Les Légions Noires, and Alcest plays some really cool moody stuff.
Are there any bands you would love to play with? I let you create your dream poster with Whispered headlining and three other bands, even unrealistic answers are accepted.
Jouni: Well, Children Of Bodom has always been one, but if we need to get wild, the poster would have Whispered, Blind Guardian, CoB, Havukruunu and Sodom. We can all headline the same time.
Last and funny question: which dish or drink would you compare Whispered’s music with?
Jouni: It would have to be something that mixes Finland’s and Japan’s love for alcohol. So let’s try to make the sweetness of sake and sahti work together. Sahtisake!
That was the last question for me, so thank you very much for your time and your music, last words are yours!
Jouni: Thank you for the interview! Stay heavy in honor, and we’ll see you at the battlefields!