BREWTAL TRUTHS: Featuring Finnish death metal mob Wrathrone

They might be all steely, iron-willed discipline in the studio, but when not slaving away creating some of the sickest riffs known to humanity, these lager-willing Finns have drunk many an unsuspecting tour mate under the table. But can they withstand the ultimate alcohol-themed confessional that is Brewtal Truths? Judging by the picture below, most probably, yes...

First off, what are your favourite beers and/or spirits?

Matti: Most of the guys in the band are frequently exploring new special beers and whisky tasting is somewhat popular amongst Mikael, Lauri and Pekka. I’m not that interesting, you’ll make me happy with regular good-tasting lager when you keep it coming in crates. At first I thought I’ll answer this with just: “Yes, please.” It pretty much sums it up for me.

If Wrathrone was a beer (or other form of alcoholic refreshment) what would it be and how would it taste?

Matti: Although the other guys like to try out specialities, the sheer amount of lager beer consumed on the road would definitely point at that direction. Other possibility might be the so-called “Finnish breakfast”, Finnish gin-based long drink. On the road, it’s sometimes too hard work to start up the new day with beer, but with a few long drinks, you’ll be soon functioning again and ready for the next crate of beer!

While out on tour, who are your favourite bands/people to drink with?

Lauri: Mostly we stick to ourselves for some reason and seem to have a good time. You should check out our video “Sea of Sickness” from YouTube.

Matti: The same morbid humor connects us in the band (plus the drinking habits) so we surely have fun with our own band. At the same time, it is almost always really fun to drink with fellow bands on the road, though they rarely rise up to our standards drinking-wise. Some have made a contest out of it though. On our last longer trip to Poland and the Baltics we were touring with our Polish friends of Lacrima and they challenged us one evening to a drinking contest. I must say they fared well, although we were victorious in the end (by that time I had also fallen off the bench for few times).

Any favourite/regular drinking establishments?

Matti: On tour, there is quite a bit driving from the last venue to the next, so I think one of our favourite (or at least most frequented) places is the bus we travel with. Put on another surprisingly bad album (another of our hobbies on the road), crack open the next one, ahhhh!

Let’s talk drunken misadventures. You must have quite a few good anecdotes.

Matti: There really should be these in numbers, trouble is we can’t remember even half! I think I can conjure up some though. On one longer tour to the Baltic countries, after many days of constant drinking, I came to a point that I felt so goddamn bloated that I told the guys: “I don’t think I fit in my face.” I really couldn’t down any alcohol that day. Or that’s the way I remembered it, guys corrected me that come that evening, I was happily gulping down again. Also one time, we stopped on some beach with quite high sand dunes. Our younger bandmates, Vili and Mikael started jumping off those. I was pretty full (surprisingly!) again and thought I show the youngsters how it’s done, despite the fact that I’m not that nimble and weigh quite much more than the other guys. I ran like the wind to the edge and leaped airily like a stone and crashed down with straight feet and sprained my leg at it. There was still two gigs to be played and it was pretty painful to walk. Bright ideas!

And finally, are there any forms of alcohol you’d desperately avoid at all costs?

Matti: As you can guess by now, we can (and will) down pretty much everything! During the few last years, we have had this other amusement in the bus, where one of us brings a surprise bottle to drink up. The worse the better! There have been some mistakes though, sometimes the surprises have been really enjoyable to drink. On a happy note, that doesn’t happen all that often!

Lauri: Tequila never brings any good news to me.

Wrathrone's new album 'Reflections of Torment' is out now on Satanath Records