This article by Maria Paldanius was originally published in Finnish in Lapin Kansa, a newspaper in Finnish Lapland.

Arched Fire Returns

Arched Fire, a metal band born in Kemijärvi in the 80s and 90s, continues where it left off 30 years ago. The songs on the debut album Remote Control are based on ideas from their middle school years, and they are loosely connected by the theme of power. The current line-up is completed by singer Kristian Herkman.

Diamonds are formed under pressure, in intense heat over a long period of time. Something like this also happened to the metal band Arched Fire, founded in Kemijärvi 30 years ago. The band, which was active for only one year in 1989-1990, reactivated in the fall of 2019 and released a video single called Remote-Controlled End in April 2021. The single forms the basis for the debut album Remote Control, which will be released in June 2021.

– The music we play is the kind of stuff we would have liked have played when we were young, had we known how. That was when we got into thrash and speed metal. Over the years, everyone in the band has become a more skilled player, says Ari Väntänen, the band’s rhythm guitarist and a music journalist.

In three decades, people and their know-how have time to develop in many directions. Despite the fact that the band’s name is the same and most of the songs are based on old ideas, everything is different now. The Helsinki-based vocalist Kristian Herkman is a newcomer to the band.

– Actually, you can’t even say that there was a break in between. When the band was founded, we were 14–15 years old, it can’t be compared to today. We play late 1980s speed and thrash in the old school style. The closest point of comparison is somewhere on the Metallica axis, explains Jyväskylä-based drummer Aslak Purojärvi.

Separation and reunion

Let’s go back to the late 80s. Back then, the promising musicians Purojärvi and future bassist Mika Rytilahti were sitting on the floor of a terraced apartment in Kemijärvi, mesmerized, listening to Metallica’s demo, which Purojärvi’s mother had bought from her trip to Paris. Compared to what was happening in the outside world, their hometown felt boring and embarrassing. You had to get out of there – and you had to learn to play music like the bands did out in the big world.

– There was nothing going on in Kemijärvi, people had to leave town after high school. However, the band had already broken up by then. Before that we had olenty of time to get into all the records released by the metal’s “Big Four”. We had our minds set to what was happening elsewhere. I think Metallica was my biggest inspiration. That was the kind of music we wanted to make, Purojärvi says.

The Big Four is a general name for the four most famous soeed/thrash metal bands of the 80s: Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth. Arched Fire drew inspiration from them, and although the band stopped for several decades, the attraction to old school metal music has remained an integral part of everyone’s life.

– I stayed in Kemijärvi and played in bands there, until I moved away in 2017. The other guys were involved in some of them in the early 90s, remembers Janne Särkelä, the band’s lead and rhythm guitarist, who now resides in Raahe.

– We’ve had all kinds of bands over the years and made a lot of records. When we re-formed Arched Fire, some of the guys I hadn’t seen in 30 years. Made me cry to meet them again, says Purojärvi.

Songs about escaping and power

Their hometown wasn’t consciously present in Arched Fire’s music before, and it still isn’t. But the Lapland theme also shines through its absence, and the band members still have connections to the north. However, there is one song on the new album that can be indirectly interpreted as referring to the home region. It’s called Escape.

– The name Escape was already there when I started writing lyrics. Later I heard that for the others in the band, the song specifically means escaping from Kemijärvi. I guess there’s some small-town angst in the lyrics, Herkman laughs.

Finding a singer who also writes songs was like icing on Arched Fire’s flaming cake. The band was looking for a singer already in middle school. The collaboration started through Herkman and Rytilahti’s other bands.

– Kristian’s way of thinking fits well with ours. Although at first I was a bit annoyed that he changed the lyrics I had written. But as I read through them, I realized that he can articulate things better than I did when I was 15. The album was made in collaboration and everyone had space to realize their vision, Purojärvi enthuses.

The English-language songs of the new album are loosely connected by the theme of power: different aspects of the use of power, power over one’s own life and future, and getting out from under power. The album’s first single, Remote-Controlled End, is about smartphone addiction and the revolution of artificial intelligence, as well as the power of algorithms in modern people’s lives. They have old and new ideas for several albums.

– All of our old songs had something good in them. When I was young, it was frustrating not to know how to refine them. Over the decades, the idea arose that it would be nice to get those tunes recorded with a little more know-how. Fortunately, we were able to reform the band, Väntänen says.

– We’ll see where we end up. I don’t imagine that you can buy a Mercedes with this record, but you never know. The world today is pretty much remote-controlled. Our first tour could start from Kemijärvi and end up in Los Angeles like they do in the big world – as soon as the covid times are over, Purojärvi plans.

Arched Fire

A metal band originally founded in Kemijärvi in 1989.

Played a handful of gigs in their hometown and one in Savonlinna in the 90s.

Released the three-song Remote-Controlled End demo, which was reviewed in Soundi in 1990.

The band reactivated after a 30-year hiatus in 2019.

Current line-up: Kristian Herkman (vocals), Aslak Purojärvi (drums), Mika Rytilahti (bass), Janne Särkelä (lead and rhythm guitar) and Ari Väntänen (rhythm guitarist).

The band members live in Helsinki, Vantaa, Jyväskylä, Raahe and Lahti.

The Remote-Controlled End video single was released in April 2021.

Remote Control, the band’s debut album will be released in June 2021.

For more information: http://www.archedfire.com