enkElination (enkeli – meaning Angel in Finnish) was formed in November 2011 by the classically trained, former opera singer Elina Siirala. In 2012 she started working with a guitar player Shadow Venger (ex-Empyreal Destroyer) and since then they’ve been joined by Ben on drums and Alasdair on bass. The band’s debut album ‘Tears Of Lust’ is due to be released in July 2014…

1. Brief history of how the band came together…

Elina: I started writing some music for my voice back in 2011 after some rough time and the idea of a band came later in the year.

Shadow: I was enkElination’s first fan and went to few shows and eventually found myself in the band luckily. Alasdair (bass) and Ben (Drums) we found from a music school in London.

2. What have you got planned for the next few months e.g. recording, touring etc.

Elina: We’re releasing our debut album ‘Tears Of Lust’ on the 21st of July and the album launch show will be on 28th July at The Underworld with Imperia and Ex Libris. After that we have another gig in York with Imperia and some exciting news to follow soon…

Shadow: We’ll also be playing at the Valkyrian Fest in November and hopefully will be doing some shows around that.

3. Can you take us through the songs on your debut album ‘Tears Of Lust’? e.g. stories behind the songs, recording process etc.

Elina: Tears of Lust, is one of the most important tracks for me. Making music or doing anything you’re passionate about is the best thing in the world but can also bring a lot of pain and frustration. The whole process of making this album has definitely been a big rollercoaster, so that’s why I wanted to name the album ‘Tears of Lust’ as well.

Last Time Together was one of the first tracks I wrote alongside with Changeling and Never Ending and you can hear I wasn’t in a very good place. But I really love those songs and I’m sure many people can relate to them.

Reborn and Abyss were actually inspired by two different films and Chimeras by my fear of spiders :)

Higher Ground is a cryptic one but I might like to keep it that way… ;)

What Have You Become is about body dysmorphia, the mirror and yourself being your worst enemy. And trying to live with the “devil” inside you.

I wrote Lullaby, the other ballad, a while ago to my mum who’s been the biggest support and my absolute rock throughout everything!

Insane is about insomnia, the horrible feeling when you lay on your bed and see the shadows on the wall and just can’t sleep.

Recording process was a bit of a rollercoaster as well and some of the bits are done actually in my room.

4. How important is it to have a YouTube video/presence and does it bring in new fans?

Elina: People are very visual now days so It’s really important! I was never expecting to have so many views on my Nightwish cover, so that alone has probably made lots of people find enkElination that otherwise wouldn’t have. And now we have our own music video out which has definitely helped promoting the band and opened new doors for us.

Shadow: Youtube and the music video have been really important. I noticed within a week or so of putting up the video, we had a lot more fans and I think people took us more seriously, like webzines or radio shows that weren’t interested before were taking notice now. It’s been very important for us

5. Given the limited budget the band must have recorded under, how did you create such a rich, symphonic sound? Do you think the market place is top heavy with female fronted symphonic/melodic metal bands?

Elina: To me, enkElination isn’t really symphonic music. I use quite a lot of keys and sounds but not in a typical symphonic way. But it was important for me to have enough keys to support my voice and maintain the melodic sound contrasting the guitars and drums. At the end it all comes down to a good mix so a huge thanks goes to Mark Williams who mixed the tracks and Mika Jussila, who mastered them.

Shadow: The sound came from a lot of debating and hard work between us and Mark.

Before enkElination, I was pretty much into all Metal styles except the female fronted, symphonic stuff and knew little about it beyond Nightwish and Within Temptation and a handful of others. enkElination was the first band that got me into this stuff before I was in the band. I have quickly found out that there are crazy amounts of female fronted metal bands, maybe more than metalcore bands now!

The scene is extremely supportive, so I’m hearing about new bands almost daily via Facebook and such. This wouldn’t be a problem if the scene was bigger but it just seems disproportionately small compared to the number of bands. I still think enkElination is unique amoungst all these bands though, simply because Elina has that voice with so much heart and soul in it, that very few singers can achieve in any genre.

6. How did the support gig with Van Canto go back in April?

Elina: It was an amazing opportunity and experience for us! We had a lot of bad luck though, with our drummer breaking his toe a week before and lead guitar not being audible etc. so it wasn’t quite what we had hoped for. But a lot of people still enjoyed our set which is always the most important thing at the end :)

7. If you had the chance who would you like to tour with and why?

Elina: It would make sense to tour with another female fronted band or at least in some way similar band…so I would tour with Within Temptation, Nightwish or Kamelot

Shadow: I’d Love to tour with Slash, Dragonfroce, Machine Head or Metallica just because I’m a fan but it in terms of benefiting the band, Within Temptation or maybe even Babymetal would be much better.

8. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time away from music?

Elina: I’ve always loved sports of all kind so I try to keep active. Otherwise I like all the normal stuff like watching films, reading, going to clubs to rock out and enjoying food and drink :)

9. Message for you fans…

Elina: Without fans there’s no band so a huge thank you to all who support us! All your kind words and messages have really lifted us up during challenging times! We hope you all enjoy our debut album!!! :)

Shadow: The female fronted Metal scene has been overwhelmingly kind to us, so a big Thanks to you all!

http://facebook.com/enkElination
http://youtube.com/enkElination
http://twitter.com/enkElination
http://enkelination.com

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)