RIIVIN BY TUOMAS KESKIMÄKI
Hiidenhauta is a folkish black metal band from Satakunta, Finland, founded in 2012. Between 2013-2018 the band released two EPs and two full-length albums. Winter 2019 saw the beginning of the recording sessions for the third full-length “Riivin”. Album was released in September 2020, and its theme is: ”The Devil in the Finnish Folklore.” The lyrics of Hiidenhauta are written in Finnish, abiding by the poetic Kalevalametre. Folklore, history, nature and mythology are among the prominent themes of the band’s lyrics.
Our roots as a band are in black metal; it has always been obvious. But we never want to be stuck in it. We have always made anything we want in our albums; we never thought that we couldn’t because something is not “black metal etc.”. There are many different genres around every band member: death metal, folk metal, classical, doom metal, alternative rock, psychobilly etc. And that’s our strength and makes Hiidenhauta’s music as it is. But what comes to the new album, we wanted to do more raw, more straightforward songs than before. I think it was the spirit when we made it.
The first four-song ideas of the new album were already composed at the same time when our last album, ‘1695’, was still waiting for its release. I think it was fall 2017. And those songs came from our guitarist Otto. They showed us some kind of direction. Then we almost broke up; there were a lot of issues and problems. But we got over them, and in summer 2019, we started to write more new material. Our bassist Henri composed four songs also, and I composed one song. And then I found a great theme for the album: “The Devil in the Finnish Folklore.” I wrote lyrics as songs came ready, and when winter came, we had all material in our hands and went to the studio.
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