Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Often regarded as Finland’s first doom metal band, Spiritus Mortis have justified that reputation. They combine heavy metal’s intense guitar riffs with slow, somber tempos characterized by Kimmo Perämäki’s deep vocals. The band formed in 1987, before doom metal was widely recognized as its own subgenre, describing their style as heavy metal with a melancholic edge. Over more than forty years, Spiritus Mortis have established themselves in the Nordic heavy metal scene, weathering lineup changes and record label shifts as Finland transformed from a local scene into a major metal hub. Their music captures the melancholy and journey of Finnish metal, as seen in recent albums and compilations. We spoke with the band’s founding “fathers,” Jussi Maijala and Teemu Maijala (guitars and bass), before embarking on new European and North American tours. Our conversation focused on sustaining a band’s longevity, the evolution of Finnish metal, and their upcoming projects.
Hello and welcome to Chaoszine! Thank you so much for your willingness to take part in this interview. How are you guys doing? What have you been up to?
Jussi Maijala: Hello, thanks for having us. We’re fine, we’ve been working on new music for our sixth studio album. We’ve already recorded drums, bass, guitars, and all lyrics have been written too. The next step is to record Kari’s lead and rhythm guitars and Kimmo’s vocals. Creating an album always takes time, and right now we’ve got this one rolling. If everything goes as planned, it’ll be out this autumn.
Let’s start with the basics: Who are Spiritus Mortis? What inspires you to create the band’s music?
Teemu Maijala: We’re Jussi Maijala and Teemu Maijala, the founding “fathers” of Spiritus Mortis. The current lineup also includes Kari Lavila on lead guitar, who has been with the band for about 20 years, Kimmo Perämäki on vocals for around 10 years, and Markus Kuula on drums, our youngest member, who joined five years ago.
We started Spiritus Mortis because we wanted to create the kind of music we wanted to hear. It was really that simple. We wanted it to be heavy, whether fast or slow. Our main influences were Venom, Black Sabbath, Celtic Frost, and other heavy bands from the 1980s. Over time, our sound gradually became slower, although we never originally set out to play doom metal. In the end, we naturally moved in that direction, shaped by influences such as Candlemass along with the heavier bands we already loved. Spiritus Mortis became a blend of both styles.
As for the lyrics, we are not the main writers, but we draw inspiration from many different places. I usually look for ideas online. For example, our previous album focused on religious fanaticism, while the upcoming one explores madness in war. The themes change from album to album. We develop ideas and pass them on to Marko Ylä-Häkkinen (Masquerage), who writes the lyrics together with Kimmo. Kimmo also makes sure the words fit the vocal arrangements. Since both of them play in Masquerage and are more fluent in English than we are, they give the lyrics their final form.
You have been very active recently by releasing a full-length album, “The Great Seal” (2022), the compilation “The Spiritism 2008-2017” (2023), and “The Great Live” (2025). Do you think all these releases signal your status as an influential band in your genre?
Jussi Maijala: Our latest releases show how our career path has evolved over the years. We’re especially proud of “The Great Live.” It’s truly all live; not a single note was recorded in the studio. Four or five concerts were recorded, but there was no additional work while editing the final result. It was really nice to revisit all of Spiritus Mortis’ repertoire in a live format, and that may be our favorite among the band’s latest releases.
Spiritus Mortis is frequently named as the first-ever doom metal band from Finland. Is this a label that you like to carry with you? If so, do you feel a certain responsibility to leave a legacy for future generations in the genre?
Jussi Maijala: Well, we didn’t even know we were playing doom metal back in our early years (laughs). We appreciate having that label because there’s so much variation in the doom metal genre. You can play slow songs and fast songs. It’s also useful to be classified as a band in a certain genre because it works as an introduction to our music. As for being named a band with a legacy, we wouldn’t be sure about that, because we’ve always seen Spiritus Mortis as a lifestyle and a hobby, so that would be a big word. We want to make good music, and that’s it.
For us, it’s not pleasant when musicians try to tell people how they have to think or when they speak about politics. We don’t see ourselves as preachers; we just want to have fun, so we haven’t really thought about being a band that wants to influence people.
Alright, so you started the band just for fun without even realizing its further impact.
Jussi Maijala: Yeah, basically. If you had told us 40 years ago that we’d be having an interview today with you and embarking on a tour to play in Europe and North America, we wouldn’t have believed you.
The band’s lineup has evolved several times, including three vocalist changes before Kimmo Perämäki. While other bands could have disappeared with all these ups and downs, you remained in the metal scene. What do you think is the formula to keep going as a band despite the obstacles?
Teemu Maijala: We like to think of Spiritus Mortis as a living organism. As it grows, it sometimes has to be chopped up, and eventually something new emerges. Every now and then, we change alliances and band members. A band’s ability to evolve is a key foundation for long-term sustainability. Although Spiritus Mortis has gone through various lineup changes, we’ve always surrounded ourselves with great musicians. We try to incorporate each new member’s musical style to keep the band’s personality fresh and to see how they could contribute to our creative evolution. That’s also very important to keep a band alive: always take the best from your colleagues and see the band as a collective effort.
“The Great Seal” is the album that, in my opinion, has the heaviest sound out of all your recent works. How did you manage to create a heavy record that could still hold the nostalgic doom atmosphere?
Jussi Maijala: Having experimented with so many different styles over the years, we’re very aware of what direction we want to take while recording an album, and that’s what makes Spiritus Mortis sound so well-balanced. My arrangements are inspired by blues rhythms, and I like to take a bit of inspiration from them. Additionally, the band’s current lineup works very well together, so we can record albums that are slow and heavy while balancing our different styles.
In your experience of playing in Finland across various decades, what have been the most significant changes that helped the country establish itself as the leading heavy metal hub it is today?
Teemu Maijala: I’d sum it up in one word: the internet. Today, it’s easy to discover bands from all over the world. Back then, discovering new music meant trading tapes, so everything moved much more slowly and mostly stayed local. Now, technology makes it far easier for heavy metal bands to reach audiences beyond their own region, and Finland has clearly benefited from that visibility as more people recognize Finnish talent. It also changed how local listeners saw us. Thirty or forty years ago, people struggled to classify our music because it was both heavy and slow. We didn’t sound like Iron Maiden, local rock & roll bands, or jazz. Some even described us as heavy blues. Only later were we labeled doom metal, and by then the internet was already widespread in Finland. We simply thought, “Alright, so that’s what we play.”
Jussi Maijala: Heavy metal has truly become part of Finnish national culture. I remember when Lemmy Kilmister died, my brother told me that on his way to work that morning, he heard three Motörhead songs on the radio. That says a lot about how normalized this music is in Finland.
Spiritus Mortis will play Candelabrum Festival in Mexico this year. How do you feel about performing in one of the most important events for extreme music in North America? Do you have any expectations for this festival?
Jussi Maijala: We’re very excited about this festival, and we surely cannot wait for it! European bands generally describe Latin America as a very welcoming region, and we know that audiences over there get super excited at concerts. It’ll be a new experience for us as we’ve never played outside Europe.
Are there any plans for Spiritus Mortis soon?
Teemu Maijala: We’ll be having a European tour this year, including a few Finnish gigs in November. Some additional dates are under construction for next year. Hopefully, the album will be out in the autumn, so lots of things will be happening soon.
