Finland has seen its share of female fronted metal bands, from Sinergy to Lullacry.  While neither have had the success of other Finnish bands, the influence is there.  One band that is ready to carry the torch is KATRA.  Fronted by Katra Solopurro, the band brings a blend of rock and metal to the table in the same manner as Lullacry.  With a new album in Out of the Ashes, bassist Johannes Tolonen took some time to offer a few words with Metal Psalter about the band.

Peter: For those who would like to know about KATRA, would you mind saying a few things about the band?

Johannes Tolonen: KATRA is a female fronted metal band hailing from Finland.  Out of the Ashes is our latest and greatest album and though it's only the third album of KATRA, the band members have been around in the metal scene since the 90's.

Peter: What are some of the band’s influences?

Johannes: Well, we all were born in the 80s so the trio Metallica, Megadeth, and Sepultra were bands we listened to when we started to play, so the roots are there. Later, of course, we've been listening to all kinds of music from black metal to musicals.  I think it's fair to say KATRA is made from metal riffs, rock choruses, and strong vocal melodies.

Peter: The third album Out of the Ashes was recently released by Napalm Records and according to the biography on the band’s website, the first as a band.  What were some of the things that led to Katra going from as the line says, “hired guns to a real band?”

Johannes: In the beginning, the members were hired musicians, but during the 2007 tour, we felt we had really good chemistry and started making music together. So Out of the Ashes is the first KATRA album where the songs are written by all of us.

Peter: What are some of the things that you can say about the album as far as production and the album cover art?

Johannes: The album was recorded at Fantom-studio by Samu Oittinen. Fantom is a great studio and Samu is one of the godfathers of Finnish metal, so the production is as good as it gets. We wanted to keep the sound real so you can hear all the instruments; there's no massive wall of instrument tracks or super processed vocal sound. The album sounds like us.  When it comes to the cover art, Napalm records wanted Katra on cover, so they got her.

Peter: Along with a new album came a video that was shot for “One Wish Away.”  What can you say about the shooting of the video and how was that experience?

Johannes: The experience was really nice, though the days were really long.  It took two days and nights until we had finished the shooting.  I wanted to bring my other passion - fire -  in this video, so there are fire guys from my fire group (Flamma) performing also. 


Peter: Are there any plans on touring in support of Out of the Ashes?

Johannes: We are burning to get on the road, so let's see what happens.  There's no schedule yet, but I guess we're going to do some gigs in Europe.  I don't know what kind of support we have in the US, but it would be great to tour there, too!

Peter: Are there any words of wisdom that you would like for readers to think about?

Johannes: Keep listening to music and hope to see you at the gigs!

Katra's Johannes Tolonen

Interviewer: Peter

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Formed 2005
Tampere, Finland
Label: Napalm Records
Genre: Symphonic/Gothic Metal

CURRENT LINE-UP:

Katra Solopuro: Vocals
Teemu Mätäsjärvi:  Guitar
Kristian Kangasniemi:  Guitar
Johannes Tolonen:  Bass
Matti Auerkallio:  Drums

DISCOGRAPHY:

Katra (2007)
Beast Within (2008)
Out Of The Ashes (2010)

November 2, 2010

(Click on Photo to Enlarge)