First, let me thank you for this great new album "Hope", that will be released on February 7th. Do you already get reactions/reviews for it? And how are they?

Pasi:   So far the reviews have been really great, mainly 8/10 to 10/10 scale. And we've played a few new songs live, and they seem to work just great live, too.

  Are you for yourself fully satisfied with your work? Or do you yet think, that there are some things, you could have done in a better way?

Pasi:   After hearing the album now over and over again for some ~100 times and playing the songs live, I really can't say I have an objective point of view towards it, so I'd say some little things could’ve been done differently.

  Who's responsable in the band for the main songwriting? Do you share the work?

Pasi:   The main composer is Juha, but we share our duty in a way; everyone composes/arranges their own parts in the songs f. ex. keyboards, bass, drums. Aleksi has also written one song for "Hope".

  In which way did you record this album? How much time took the process from the beginning to the end?

Pasi:   The traditional way: First drums (2 days) then bass (a little over one day) the a whole lot of guitars. The keyboards were recorded in Jyväskylä by Aleksi and Matti's brother Hannu. Then finally Mikko did the vocals and we started the mixing process.

  Can you please tell us something about the story behind "Hope", means the lyrics?

Pasi:   The lyrics are printed on the sleeve. I haven't even read them, so I am the wrong guy to comment this subject. I guess sorrow, loss and women are still present in them.

  In January you released the single 'Don't fall asleep' and succeeded to enter a high ranking in the Finnish Charts (as you reached with 'Forgive her...' in 2005, too). Are you proud of this?!?

Pasi:   Of course it's great and unbeleavable when something like this happens. Still the main focus is, that the album is available worldwide, now that we work with Spinefarm. We hope to get better attention abroad, too.

  In the German Top Ten Doom Metal songs would never be possible. What do you think, why are the Finns obviously so open-minded concerning extreme Metal music?

Pasi:   I really don't know. It's a cliché to say, but there's a long and dark winter here, so maybe it does affect the peoples mind here. Or not. Weird country this is, haha.

  To come back to 'Don't fall asleep' and its additional title '(Horror pt 2). Is it correct, that it is a sequel of the song 'Swallow (Horror pt 1)' from the album "The morning never came"?

Pasi:   Yes that's true. Everyone can listen and read the lyrics to make their own conclusions.

  You shot a video for 'Don't fall asleep'. In one scene the woman gives the guy her key with the inscription "St. Sun 070207" on the tag. And on the door we can see these numbers, too. It seems to be a kind of allusion to the release date, isn't it? Who had this idea?

Pasi:   There's no illusion, it's the release date of the album. There's also the website, 070207.com. I think the idea came from our manager.

  Will you release another single, too?

Pasi:   At this point I don't know. Maybe.

  At the end of march you will start the European Tour together with MOONSORROW. I think, you didn't play often here in Germany. Why?

Pasi:   We've played in Germany only once so far, but now this will change. The reason for us touring very little outside Finland is, that it cost so damn much, and we had a very little tour support so far. Now we have a new label and management which have helped us lot concerning everything.

  Are you happy about playing more shows here?

Pasi:   Hell yes!

  SWALLOW THE SUN is also confirmed for the Wacken Open Air. Will this be your first big festival?

Pasi:   We've done some big festivals in Finland's scale, like Tuska Open Air, Provinssirock, Ilosaarirock, but not abroad. And WOA is bigger than any of these I believe.

  Do you intend to appear at other Open Airs/festivals, too, this year?

Pasi:   Sure, I think our management & booking gent are working on the subject as we speak.

  Will you already start working on new stuff after the tour or will you have a well-deserved break?

Pasi:   I think a break, a short one anyway is more than welcome.

  Anything you want to say to your fans?!?

Pasi:   Thanks for supporting us, see you on the tour!

  THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!