Bassist Jarkko Aaltonen of Finnish folk metallers KORPIKLAANI was interviewed on the latest edition of "Rich Davenport's Rock Show". The program can be streamed using the Mixcloud player below. (Note: The Aaltonen interview begins around the 21-minute mark.)

KORPIKLAANI's eighth studio album, "Manala", was released on August 3 via Nuclear Blast Records. The cover artwork was created by Finnish artist Jan Yrlund.

Commented KORPIKLAANI vocalist Jonne Järvelä: "On the album cover, our band mascot Vaari represents Väinämöinen, who is one of the main characters in the Finnish national epic 'Kalevala'.

"As most of the lyrics on 'Manala' are based on the 'Kalevala', Jan Yrlund decided to draw his inspiration for the cover artwork from the beautiful but yet brutal depiction of the underworld in Finnish mythology."

The limited digipack edition of "Manala" comes with a bonus CD containing the entire album with English lyrics.

Limited digipak CD:

01. Kunnia
02. Tuonelan Tuvilla
03. Rauta
04. Ruuminmultaa
05. Petoeläimen Kuola
06. Synkkä
07. Ievan Polkka
08. Husky Sledge
09. Dolorous
10. Uni
11. Metsälle
12. Sumussa Hämärän Aamun

Bonus CD:

01. Honor
02. At The Huts Of The Underworld
03. The Steel
04. Soil Of The Corpse
05. Predator's Saliva
06. Dark Side
07. Ieva's Polka
08. Husky-Sledge
09. Dolorous
10. Dream
11. Off To The Hunt

The "Rauta" (English-language title: "The Steel") Markku Kirves-directed video can be seen below.

Jonne Järvelä previously stated about KORPIKLAANI's new album, "'Manala' is the realm of the dead — the underworld in Finnish mythology. Tuonela, Tuoni, Manala and Mana are used synonymously. This place is best known for its appearance in the Finnish national epic Kalevala, on which many of our new songs are based. In the 16th poem of Kalevala, Väinämöinen, a shamanistic hero travels to Manala to seek for knowledge about the dead. On the journey he meets the ferrywoman (similar to Charon), a girl, Tuonen tytti, or Tuonen piika (Death's maid), who takes him across the river of Tuoni. However, on the isle of Tuoni he is not given the spells he was originally looking for and he barely manages to escape the place. After his return he curses anyone trying to enter the place alive."

"Manala" marks the recording debut of the band's new fiddler, Tuomas Rounakari.



"Manala" track by track – part 2:



"Manala" track by track – part 1:



"Rauta" video:



"The Steel" video:

Photo by Harri Hinkka