“We had a clear vision about where we wanted to go musically with this album” – interview with Toni Cano from Midjungards

Finnish folk metal band Midjungards will be releasing their second full-length album prepare to launch “When Empires Fall” on January 26th through Dark Rail Records. Drawing inspiration from historical goths and fantasy their second album is set to be as energetic as their first one. Chaoszine interviewed the bands frontman and founder Toni Cano.

Happy new year Toni! How has your year started so far?

Toni Cano: Happy new year Arto! The year has started good so far, let’s see how it continues…

The year 2024 is here so it has become time to also wrap up the year 2023. How was it for Midjungards? What were your personal highlights as a band for last year?

Toni Cano: Well year 2023 was very special for Midjungards, it was the first year that we started seriously playing lives, we had very great experiences like playing in a big festival with bands like KISS, but also it was a year full of challenges. At the same time that we were touring, we have to compose “When Empires Fall” and also two members of the band decided to leave. So we had to replace the old members, continue touring and preparing for the release “When Empires Fall”. The band was not bored at all…… ha ha ha

You are about to release the second album “When Empires Fall” on January 26th via Dark Rails Records. What kind of process was it to make the album this time? Was it more relaxed than making the debut album and did you have a clear vision where you wanted to go musically with this album?

Toni Cano: The process of composition of “When Empires Fall” is an evolution of the compositon of “From Scandza”, basically we continued with the same way of composing, but we are learning new techniques and improving our ways of doing things. 4 hours by day are used always in the composition of our albums.

This album was less relaxed than the first one, we want from now on to release one album by year, so after the first album that was composed for 14 years, having to compose this in 9 months has been a challenge, but we are very happy, because we think that this second album is better that the first one.

We had a clear vision about where we wanted to go musically with this album, that is basically continue with Midjungars sound by trying to improve the composition and quality of all aspects of the album.

If you compare this upcoming “When Empires Fall” album to the debut album “From Scandza” are there some big differences musically?

Toni Cano: I think that the second album is much better. Composition is different, but preserving the identity of our sound. I would not say that there are big differences sound wise, but there is huge improvement musically. Style-wise “When Empires Fall” has sound more similar to melodic thrash / death metal.

Where did you find the inspiration to the album’s music and lyrics? Is there a theme within the album or is it just separate songs? Are they connected still somehow?

Toni Cano: Both albums as the band itself is inspired by the historical Goths. The songs are not connected in the sense of speaking about the same history, but most of them are close to the tittle of the album “When Empires Fall”, this talks about the fall of Roman Empirium but the lyrics can be applied to any other Imperium in history.

What kind of topics does this new album focus on lyrically?

Toni Cano: As I said before, the songs are inspired by the historical Goths, but sometimes we put some fantasy or modern problems in the lyrics to give more variety.

You will be playing some shows in Finland in April with Spanish melodeath squad Rise To Fall. How much are you looking forward to the shows and what can fans expect from it?

Toni Cano: Yes, we were planning to present the album with the band Grave, but finally it seems that the band had some problems, so the presentation of the album will be with Rise To Fall, and very good melodeath band with clear influences from In Flames. We are really looking forward to play with them and share this new album with our fans.

Thanks a lot for your time and all the best for the release of the upcoming album. Anything you want to say as a closure to the readers of Chaoszine / Kaaoszine?

Toni Cano: I just want to say thank you to you for this interview and thank you also to the people that supports Midjungards.