Oskari Räsänen is the mastermind behind Iron Griffin, an endeavour originating from Finland, renowned for its captivating blend of raw sound intertwined with a diverse array of influences.

TheNwothm: Hey there just as a quick introduction for our readers who have not heard of you! Can you tell them the name of the band, where you are from and who is in the band?

Iron Griffin was born at 2016 in Kuopio, Finland. Project started as a solo project by me, Oskari Räsänen, basically just to get better and practice different instruments and producing music. And it still is a big part of this project, to experiment and get “better”. Amazing vocalist Maija Tiljander accepted my request to do vocals in 2018 when I recorded the first full length “Curse of the Sky”, and since she’s been part of the band. Right now Iron Griffin is going to perform live for the first time soon, and line-up for live is: Maija Tiljander – vocals, Tuomas Iskanius – guitar, Heikki Kosonen – bass, and me, Oskari on drums.  

TheNwothm: Before we get into discussing the band, we would love to know more about the place you are from – Kuopio in Finland and what life is like there generally?

Kuopio is about 117k residents city in northern Karelia region, Eastern Finland. We are surrounded by the most stunning lakes, and there is plenty on nature around here. Life here tends to stay pretty slow and quiet, which fits me perfectly. I work my day job at Kuopio Music centre, we have a 1000 people concert hall here, and I take care of the venue, artists and customers. I also work with Kuopio symphony orchestra, who is our concert hall’s main attendee. Working with full symphony orchestra has been a great deal for me music-wise, and I’ve learned a lot about different instruments and procedures. You can spot many traditional and exotic instruments, especially on “Storm of Magic” album!

TheNwothm: Finland has given the world many great bands from all different genres but what would you say the music scene is like there? Was heavy metal for instance something big in your local area, or did other styles of music surpass heavy metal?

I think the general orientation of metal bands here in Finland is more into death- and black metal. Which is is fine of course. There is a lot of bands, although I feel like the peak was somewhere like ten years ago… More traditional way of heavy metal is also greatly represented: Chevalier, Lord Fist, Nightstryke, Emissary, Ranger, Rapid, Chalice, Legionnaire… And of course my another band, Mausoleum Gate. I love my “scene” and people around it. I just want to contribute to my beloved “scene” by taking action and taking the art towards the direction which I feel is the ultimate one; epic metal infused with folk. But everyone does as they see fit, and most of the time we true heavy metal worshippers are a minority, haha… I stand my ground, and it is the underground.

TheNwothm: Finland, and the surrounding region, boasts an abundance of stunning natural landscapes. Do these sights and surroundings serve as inspiration for composing music and writing lyrics? Do you sense that they have an impact on your creative process?

Of course. Nature is my temple, and it all plays a great role in my esoteric studies. Music and art in general is a big part of all that. I try to create something beautiful to the world, and hopefully contribute even a bit to ease the suffering in the world. Yeah I’m a hippie in that matter!

TheNwothm: I’d love to know about your earliest musical memories. In the background what kind of music did your family play and did it help shape your musical tastes from child to adulthood?

The roots of my musical journey are in Finnish schlager music called “iskelmä”. Melancholic and melodic music, usually about love, adversities and despair. You know, regular finnish stuff, hahaha… I was born in 1991, so I lived my childhood in middle of grunge, nu-metal and all that nineties and early ’00 stuff… Gladly I found Judas Priest in early age, starting from Painkiller, and soon after that I got Sad Wings of Destiny (my first real cd, back then it was all about self burned mp3 cd’s), and that was it. Since then I’ve been searching through all kinds of music, and 70’s stuff was (and still is) the ultimate stuff for me. In my teens when internet really took off here I deep dived into prog, folk and psych stuff, and I’m still on the same road. I feel like all music can be good, but making it heavy metal just takes it even better, because there really is no limits. Symphony orchestra can be only as loud as the acoustic instruments allow; add distorted guitar and drum kit – BOOM – we have a plenty of more dynamics in the play. Metal bands should learn to play quiet also, haha. But yeah!

TheNwothm: Growing up in Finland, did any local folklore become of interest to you and if so would you say that it played a big part in Iron Griffins lyrical themes?

Yees of course, but I’ve never really dwelled into those themes in my music, because I tend to keep it more personal. But the subconscious influences surely are there!

TheNwothm: When exploring online, Iron Griffin have been put under the banners of Epic Metal, Doom Metal and cover themes of fantasy, swords and sorcery, battle and glory! Looking at the current direction of the band would you say you agree with these terms or do you feel that these are limiting and do not reflect the bands overall sound?

I really don’t care, haha! Humans want to categorize things and put labels on them, no problem, but I just do my art and keep on studying. I have been thinking, if I’d need to say some genre for Iron Griffin, it would be; “epic doom folk”. Or just “epic metal” or simply “heavy metal”. People do their own interpretations, I make my own, and world goes on.

TheNwothm: There is a rawness to your music which gives it a level of character and charm. So when you approach recording music, do you like to keep things simple and really focus on the instruments and vocals? Or do you prefer something that is more polished and refined?

I want to keep it simple and real, try to use real instruments instead of digital instruments, and to keep the productions in old school way. Especially REAL DRUMS with no triggers or processing. Vocals and songwriting is the most important. My preferences in sound is in 70’s style, dirtier and organic sounds.

TheNwothm: Looking at the music that you have put out so far, were there any particular songs that you wrote that have always remained close to your heart? For instance did you draw influence for a song from a dark or happy period in your life?

I find them all quite important, of course for me they work as a diary or journal. I don’t listen to them much, but when I do, I like to do it alone, haha.

TheNwothm: Could you provide additional details about Maija Tiljander, your band mate who is responsible for lead vocals of Iron Griffin? Has her contribution to the band played a pivotal role in realizing the visions and goals of Iron Griffin?

 I’ve composed all Iron Griffin songs so far alone, because of the “solo-project” mentality I’ve had with the project. Hopefully in the future we can work more together. Maija is one of my absolute favorite vocalists, and she’s given so much for both albums. I am really happy we finally can do some live gigs!

TheNwothm: Your artworks and music present some amazing imagery! So I am curious that if Iron Griffin were to have a tapestry made to capture the overall magic and essence of what you are about, what would be on it?

Warriors, otherworldly creatures, mushrooms, pyramids…. All kind of good stuff!!!

TheNwothm: Your most recent album “Storm of Magic” was released in 2022 and features 5 tracks, one of which is the 15 minute epic by the same name. According to multiple sources it comes in four chapters. What can you tell us about each chapter and the overall story behind the song?

1. Birth and beginning
2. The events, the struggle
3. Prayer
4. Confrontation

Other than that, it is out of my hands!

TheNwothm: Looking further into the album, how do you feel it is different to what you have previously written. Did you have a goal in mind for what you wanted to achieve with this record or were you more relaxed with its approach?

“Storm of magic” was composed to be a album only, not to be played live. Song were made pretty much in singer-songwriter fashion with acoustic guitar. Guitar and a voice should be enough when making songs. The production of the album itself was an experiment of restrictions, I used only one Shure sm57 microphone to record the whole album. Laying stone upon stone…

With “curse of the sky” i kept things much more simple instrument-wise, because i wanted those songs be played live too. Eventually I’ve come to conclusion that live Iron Griffin is anyways and always going to sound really different than albums, so I think I’ll continue making albums completely free from worrying about live performances. I think that suits me best. Live is live and we’ll see what happens!

For the most time of iron griffin i’ve been trying to find the “optimal” way of working, but I’ve come to conclusion that constantly changes, and all I can do is to give in and try out different methods. I’ve been just recently reading a book by legendary music producer Rick Rubin, The Creative Act – A Way of Being, and it is stunning book, deep-diving in creativity, much recommended.

TheNwothm: With regards to style of music you make, do you feel that there has been an evolution in the genre or has a lot remained mostly the same? How do you see the future for the style of music you make?

Heavy metal is so broad concept, at least for me, it is difficult to say. Heavy metal is life, life is heavy metal. I hope everyone who feels this way, does the thing and takes action. I am not saying that everyone should be making music, but living their fullest metal life in their own way. As long as there is real maniacs, music will evolve and live on. I believe our generation has the best baseline in music, because we have access to all of it pretty easily, finding your own “niche” in music is easier than ever. Some people tend to sink in that endless sea of options, and even think that “everything is already done”, but I feel we have to harness our own interests, dive deep in those exciting aesthetics and musical inspirations and use them to make our own work – in our own terms. Everything may be done already, but it is not done in your way. Humanity is still very young, and so is music, and heavy metal is just taking baby steps!

I think best music is heavy, progressive and beautiful. And often epic. Thats what I’ll stick to. It is more about aesthetics and the way you do things, other than drop tunings… And such….

I see the future of heavy metal really bright. There is many artists and colleagues around the globe I am personally super interested in seeing and hearing where they are going with their studies in arcane heavy metal. To namedrop a few: Chevalier, Legendry, Mamorlis, Grendels Syster, Hercules (Gre), Ezra Brooks, Tales of Medusa, Tarot (Aus), Riders of Rohan… There is a plenty going on, and I love to immerse and surrender myself to the flow of passionate heavy metal stream!

TheNwothm: Now we are we in 2024, where will the band be heading next musically? Are you working on a new music currently?

Yeah new album is “almost ready”, so it will take, umm, maybe a year or so… It will be at least as strange album as “Storm of Magic”, but you’ll hear eventually! My other band Mausoleum Gate is also working on it’s third full length, it has been a long process, but it’ll come eventually… I have also new epic doom project called “Meduusa” and we are soon releasing our demo, and a split release with great new Italian band… More of those soon! I’ve also contributed to international project called “Dungeon Shaker” and that demo is also coming out soon.

TheNwothm: And what other plans do you have for the new year? Will you be collaborating with any other artists or performing live?

Iron Griffin is hitting the stage at Life after Death festival in London. This is a baby step in live action, we’ll see how this gig goes, and decide how to proceed after that. Live Iron Griffin will be really different from the albums, and I love that. My plan for this year is to keep going and keep doing, I have many projects these days, so progress is pretty slow, but things take their time. Been also doing more artwork lately, been really fond to drawing

TheNwothm: And where can fans buy your music and merch?

Digitally from Bandcamp. I am planning to launch my own webstore for merch, more about that later on!

https://irongriffin.bandcamp.com/album/iron-griffin

TheNwothm: Is there anything else you would like to mention?

Peace and love, friends.