With:	Juhani Palomäki
Conducted by:	Drowned
Published:	07.09.2008
Band profile:	Yearning
Album info:	Merging Into Landscapes

01. Prologue: Nascentes Morimur
02. Kaleidoscopic Inscape
03. Sphere Of Disgust
04. Return
05. Datura Stramonium
06. October Rain
07. Lethean Waters
08. Merging Into Landscapes
09. Dead
10. The Dying Morn
11. Epilogue: Nemo Ante Mortem Beatus

1. Nascentes Morimur

I thought in the studio, that an acoustic opening would work nicely for this album. Luckily I had some neo-classical riffs in store and they worked out fine. We added some rain and thunder on the backround of the guitar and there we have a fucked up troubadour playing in the rain. "From the moment we are born, we begin to die" is the translation of the title.


2. Kaleidoscopic Inscape

I always try to find some interesting chord structures to the songs and that's a basis for everything to me. This songs begins in the vein of melodic Doom/Death, but slowly transforms into mid-paced and faster song with double-bass drums etc. Basic chords have been found from a keyboard, with the exception of couple of riffs. After the Opethesque acoustic part there's massive orchestral, fast part where the chords actually were found from an acoustic guitar and later re-arranged to the actual form. This song is among the best on the album, very versatile and massive. Lyrics on this song are really unusual and the reason is that they were influenced by Surrealist Manifesto by Andre Breton. They are a combination of automatic writing and sheer lunacy.


3. Sphere of Disgust

This song has an ominous beginning and it builds up to orchestral, progressive Doom. It also has a guitar solo that's worth mentioning, for it is good. The song is basicly about how the things tend to go wrong.


4. Return

This is a song where Arcturus, The Beatles and Finnish traditional music come together in Yearning style. It has strong neo-classical influences with guitars as well. It's an autobiographical song about being in love in my youth and how this painful teenage anguish is over. You tend to get older, but never wiser. Being sentimental is not rewarding after all.


5. Datura Stramonium

This is sheer ambient in the vein of Brian Eno and Tangerine Dream or something like that. There's some acoustic guitars as well besides the keyboards and effects. There's Finnish spoken words in the backround that show that a man who's been drinking too long can't think too clearly anymore. Actually i wrote the words in the studio while being in the sensitive state of a terrible hangover. It's basicly a poem about my relationship with a certain mild drug. It isn't too hard to guess what that might be, if we look at the title of the song.


6. October Rain

My fascination to the works (and most of all the subjects of them) of Finnish painter Kalervo Palsa is neverending, it seems. He suffered from depression, alcoholism, hallucinations etc. and was obsessed with death, perversions and death once again. Palsa being a mentor, I've thought for many years about making a quite beautiful song that would be dealing with a beautiful subject such as necrophilia. October Rain is a hit song and the lyrics must be read between the lines to notice what's really going on. It deals with necrophilia from a some sort of psychological view. Musically it's very catchy and progressive as well at the same time. It sounds very much like Yearning, but in the chord structures there's some surprising influences such as Wigwam or other progressive band from the 70's.


7. Lethean Waters

This is really a song with heavy pathos in it. Very melancholic doomy song that deals this time to my relationship with alcohol and to some people around me. The ending riff is quite hard to play and could be on the album of Strapping Young Lad for example.


8. Merging into Lanscapes

This must be progressive metal in the Yearning style, still attaining the melancholic atmosphere. It's one of my favourites on this album. It's basicly about my experience how it feels like when everything is not in its right place in your head. There's some interesting guitar solos on this track as well.


9. Dead

While we were recording the vocals to this song, the engineer said that the song reminds him of the Katatonia album Discouraged Ones. There might be some similarities, who knows. This is a very basic Yearning song about the usual depression. It's catchy, melancholic and once again there's a tasty guitar solo in there with some sweeping stuff.


10. The Dying Morn

This is orchestral Doom Metal in the Yearning style. It's massive, dark and deals with death and atheistic perception. What else do you need, really. I'm satisfied with the vocals on this track, there's some emotion in there. There's an eerie ambient episode at the end of the song where we float in the outer space.


11. Nemo Ante Mortem Beatus

"Nobody is happy before his death" says the title and this track is the perfect ending to the album. It's an instrumental track that's based on one riff alone, but that's enough this time. The songs sums up all the pain and suffering in this world and then there's THE END.