“Tomas Lindberg built a huge legacy” – interview with Wolfheart

Finnish melodic death metal powerhouse Wolfheart has been carving its path through the metal landscape since 2013. With a string of critically acclaimed releases and an ever-growing global fanbase, Wolfheart continues to push the boundaries of melodic death metal. We caught up with Tuomas Saukkonen, Lauri Silvonen, Joonas Kauppinen and Vagelis Karzis to discuss their latest work, their creative process, and what drives their uncompromising sonic vision.

Hello guys, how are you doing?

Wolfheart: Hey! Doing really good! Great to be back on the road. 

Your latest release “Draconian Darkness II” features both orchestral and acoustic versions alongside the metal tracks. How did you decide which songs deserve these alternative interpretations, and what new dimensions do they reveal?

Wolfheart: We wanted to focus on the single/video songs of the previous albums. The most familiar songs to fans so that they would get the most out from the alternative versions and hopefully found new layers of the original songs too. 

With each Wolfheart release, you’ve always pushed your boundaries further. What creative risks did you take on “Draconian Darkness II” that you hadn’t attempted before?

Wolfheart: With the previous full lenght we pushed the music more into death metal style and certain songs like “Trial By Fire” are pure death metal songs with very minimal amount of melodies and more like blend of old school Swedish and American death metal. Overall the EP is standing on a safer ground and biggest experiences were done with the bonus tracks while the new songs are more into the core of Wolfheart style.

Your art is a perfect union of obscurity and meaning. Do you see darkness and poetry as naturally complementary, or is there tension between them?

Wolfheart: I think a certain complexity and contrast is needed in any art. You can’t just scratch the surface if you want to have deeper meaning for art. So yes it is naturally complementary which has a natural tension :)

If someone has never experienced a Finnish winter, how would you help them understand the emotional landscape your music comes from?

Wolfheart: I don’t think its would be possible. And just 1 week of a holiday in Lapland would not help much either. Would absolutely be a wonderfull experience for sure but to get complete understanding one would need to experience all the 4 seasons of Finnish nature. So basically move to Finland :)

What do you hope people discover about themselves when they sit with Wolfheart’s music?

Wolfheart: I hope our music takes the listener to a long journey coloured by their imagination that shows them grand landscapes, harsh but beautiful nature, the sense of solitude and gives a feeling of power and energy. 

2025 has brought many positive things, but it also took Tomas Lindberg of At The Gates. Can you share with us your feelings and reaction to losing such a fundamental artist in the melodic death metal scene?

Wolfheart: I have personally very bleak and blunt approach to death and we all die eventually and that is profoundly waiting for all of us. Hopefully we all would live to be old but nature is cruel to all forms of life. Tomas built a huge legacy and was one of the reasons I started to do metal vocals so the loss is fundamentally great in art. But in the nature it is just part of the cycle life.

Do you think it’s harder to be a woman in the music business?  

Wolfheart: Yeah I believe so. As a starting point there is a lot more to prove which is unfair but I see things getting better. There is a many grand main  female vocalists / leaders now days in bands like Jinjer, Epica, Nightwish, Arch Enemy etc etc. Also more and more strong female figures are working in the music business behind the scenes so I believe that now and in future it will mean less and less if you are a man or a woman. Being a professional and being seen as one should not be a matter of a gender.

Is there any particular song that you sing in the shower?

Wolfheart: I never sing in a shower :). I would just scare the neighbours

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview! Is there anything else you’d like to add to our readers? 

Wolfheart: See you all on the road !!