Grendel Diary

Recording vocals...

2009-03-07T17:53:00.006+02:00

Today we recorded some demo vocals to our new songs: "An Evil Eye", "AA Club 6" and "Bonebreaker". Mikko growled some evil shit on tape and I did few clean vocal parts. Here's few pictures:

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Dark Winter Festival

2009-02-23T11:47:00.011+02:00

Last Saturday we yet again packed our gear and headed towards Kotka. We played at the 3rd Dark Winter Festival, a charity concert for Kymeenlaakso's children hospital. Half of the band had a various levels of a common ailment known as "Hang Over" but that didn't stop us rocking. Thanks to all at the DWF!

Mikko presents the Spring 09 hair fashion:

Kari didn't have a hangover, he's just weird by nature:

Jarkko was very efficient at packing our gear:

Finnish Metal Expo 2009

2009-02-17T13:19:00.010+02:00

Last friday we played at the Finnish Metal Expo. As a first band of the day we were a bit nervous. Gig went fine however, and there was already quite a crowd of audience even though it was early.

Preparing for the gig:

Our technical crew:

Thanks to everybody at FME!

Red Neck, Jyväskylä

2009-01-19T13:14:00.016+02:00

Last Friday we warmed up the stage for Dark the Suns at Red Neck. As usual, we started our journey early at Friday afternoon. Kari started early too:

As we went north, it started to get colder and colder and when we arrived to Jyväskylä, it was -20 degrees Celsius:

Here's our survival kit. There's some muumilimu, jallu, tape, snacks etc ... and a coloring book, which we got as a christmas present (along with jallu and other things) from Maria (thanks!):

Jussi took artistic liberty and enchanced the pictures in the coloring book:

For some reason (probably the beer), Kari wanted to be a baker:

However, Jussi had other plans for Kari:

We'll be playing with Dark the Suns again this Friday at Club Liberte, Helsinki. Be there! (Or Mikko will haunt you)

Recording new material...

2008-12-29T17:46:00.004+02:00

On holidays Jussi and I recorded new Grendel songs. First one has kind of epic vibe in it so we decided to keep that name as a working title for the song. Second song has a working title named "Carcass". That should tell everything. We are also recording our own version from a old traditional song and checking where it takes us.

-mika/grendel-

With Poisonblack

2008-12-05T14:32:00.015+02:00

Last week we warmed the stage for Poisonblack at Klubi, (Tampere), Rytmikorjaamo (Seinäjoki) and Virgin Oil (Helsinki). The "tour" was fun and good times were had by all. Check out the photos:

Our healthy snacks at tourbus:

Ugh!

Mika was startled:

Kari long-faced:

Rockin all night long takes it's toll:

Waiting for something to happen:

Funny wallwriting:

You shouldn't interrupt Mika's texting:

We'll be warming Poisonblack once more at Klubi, Turku 17.12.2008.

Sputnik, Tampere

2008-10-24T13:27:00.013+02:00

Yesterday we had a gig at Sputnik with Omnium Gatherum. We started our journey to Tampere early and had time to stop for a coffee on the way. Mika was very happy about that:

Jarkko bought a sandwich, which had some weird propaganda on it's label (something about eagle owls - wtf?!):

That made Jarkko angry and he raised The Fist™:

We arrived happily to Tampere and after some "sightseeing" found the Sputnik. After soundcheck we went to eat at Plevna.

The gig itself went fine but Man-Boss Viitazaari wasn't impressed and gave us his opinion. Kari tried to joke about it, but Viitazaari was adamant:

Jussi dealt with the criticism in his own way:

After Omnium Gatherum's gig we packed our gear and headed for home - where we arrived at about 5am. Thank you Tampere and see you again next month!

-Juha

Some pics

2008-10-23T13:48:00.011+02:00

Sorry for the lack of updates folks. We're going to start writing more blog entries - promised! While we get our act together, here are some pics from past months. Enjoy!

Lying down is an artform

Kari just wants to be close to you

And, like, I told him that, you know, it's down there and stuff

Mika is confused at the backstage - was there an error in our gig rider?

Mmm ...

General Mikko inspecting his troops

...with Metsatöll @ On The Rocks

2008-04-21T11:46:00.005+02:00

Last Thursday we had a chance to play with Metsatöll (EST) at On The Rocks, Helsinki. Night was a treat and even it was thursday, quite few people still managed to show up.

Karilla on Mikolle asiaa...

Nothing new what comes to arrangements for the gig. Simply it was just waiting and waiting. We did our soundcheck and waited some more. Grendel hit the stage at 22:30 p.m. Here´s the set list (song order may have been slightly different):

1. Another Link In The Chain
2. One Desire
3. Dialog With Pain
4. Forsaken Shell
5. Drifting Away
6. Quicksand
7. Dedication
8. A Chance Through Destruction
9. Trapped Inside

Who the hell is this dude again?

Juha Juha minkä teit...

After the gig We drank some Jallu and beer (thank you BECKS!!!) and some blessed soul even rewarded us with "minttu-liquor" while playing on stage. Thanks ;D

Karhu and Becks side by side...

Mikko´s drinks beer for the very first time in his life...

Jarkko is quite excited...

That´s about it. Next Wednesday we will hit the stage at Rocktown, Helsinki together with Elenium and Adamantra. Show up or we will saw your heads off!!! ;D See ´ya...

Mika "mä lähden himaan" Kivi / Grendel

Sauna and beer

2008-04-12T11:01:00.014+02:00

Okay, here I am at home wondering what the HELL have I done yestderday. We thought it would be nice to have somekind of "Grendel Summer Opening Party 2008" with our few chosen friends. First I went to Kari with Osku and we drank few beers to get our mood rising ;D. After few selected drinks we took our lazy asses to sauna. Then I got the call from Jussi. Shortly his message was that he was going to be late (f*cking marvelous!!!). His excuse was that he was at..... ***a"#%&/€("#€)"(/&€

.........THE HELL WITH THIS. Just check the photos below ;D

Mika "so tired guy from Grendel" Kivi

"Bludgeoned by life"

"Under the Influence"

"Pillilippa"

"Ape Rage"

"On your knees, bitch"

"Private Dancers"

"Satanic Overlord"

"Designated Driver"

Sauna, beer and new album...

2008-01-05T23:02:00.001+02:00

On Friday 7.12.2007 we gathered at Sonic Pump Studios to celebrate our 2nd album. Our intention was to listen it through and drink few beers to go with it. After everyone came to studio we first listened our first ever made demo from 1999, Crimson Sky's "CrosSection". It was also recorded and mixed by Nino and we came to conclusion that even now it sounds good what comes to balance and dynamics of the sound.

Mikko and Jussi looking pissed after someone interrupted their "private time"...

Then we moved on to our latest work. At this point I have to say that we recorded this album straight in 16 days. We've never worked this fast and I have to say it was quite rewarding even though we all were bit tired after this session. So we started to listen what we had done in past two weeks...

Ville shows his sexy t-shirt...

After listening album one time through we focused our minds to sauna and beer. We had few friends with us too. Eero and Ville joined us to celebrate our finished album. We also listened album at the sauna. Something I've never done before. It sounded grrreat ;D I don't actually recall when I left the studio but I remember it rained like hell then.

Eero the mighty handsome one

Well that's that. I have quite decent hangover now too so I won't write more than this.

Over and out:
Mika Kivi / Grendel

Semifinal, KY Klubi and Vernissa + Studio

2007-11-05T17:53:00.001+02:00

Hello.

After Hämeenlinna -gig we've played three shows. First was Semifinal (Helsinki) whit our Estonian friends House Of Games. HOG was preparing for touring with WASP and we were invited to warm the audience. In my opinion that gig went straight to TOP 5 gigs I've played with Grendel. We had such a fun and I also remembered to use the saying "vielä on kesää jäljellä" ;D I also blowed my nose on the stage HAHAHAHAAAAAROCK'NROLL!!!

Next we played at KY Kubi (Helsinki) at Halloween party. And that was also huge success. Sadly, we had to play Paranoid just to get some "jallu" after gig.

And last we played another Halloween -party gig at Vernissa (Vantaa). This was private party and all I can say is that we DID'T drink "jallu" there.

Now we are forced to have a little break what comes to playing gigs. That's because we are about to record our second album and drums parts will be recorded next week. This takes place at Sonic Pump Studios (as usual) and our beloved friend Nino Laurenne will handle the engineering and mixing duties (as usual). We are very excited to hear how our new stuff really works at studio enviroment. You'll here new GRENDEL music next year but before that remember to check our new video "Quicksand" at YouTube or download it from our Homepage

From here to downstairs:
Mika "pissamika" Kivi / GRENDEL

PS. I'll post some pictures here right after our Jussi posts them to me. Hurry Jussi hurry!!!

Hannibal Metal Marathon

2007-10-10T14:00:00.001+02:00

Last weekend we visited Hämeenlinna to play at Hannibal Metal Marathon. Our journey started, as usual, from our rehearsal place where we gathered all our shit together and packed them into our van. Then our mad driver (and bass player) Kari took us to Kontula where we bought some Jallu and food.

Mikko couldn´t eat his second pizza so he taped it into safe place.

We arrived Hämeenlinna and carried our stuff into Hannibal. After quick soundcheck we headed towards Jarkko´s place. Jarkko was our host and he kindly gave us some food and place to hang out before the gig.

Our gig went fine although the stage was quite small but you know us. We don´t really care about these sort of things. After the gig we carried our stuff back to van and Kari and I were ready to go home but our mighty knights in the night wanted to take a look Hämeenlinna´s night life so we waited, waited and waited. After few moments we headed home.

This trip was cool excpet one thing: Mikko gave us so bad smelling farts that it almost ruined our happy mood... HAHAHAHA!!!!

"Vielä on kesää jäljellä".

Mika Kivi / Grendel

KYLLÄ!!! Selviytyjät Fest...

2007-08-31T17:52:00.001+03:00

We´re back and still little bit drunk MUAHHAHHAHHAH!!! "Selviytyjät Private Metal Fest" was such a blast and I can say that our gig went straight to TOP-3 gigs I´ve ever played with Grendel. We got many new friends and ate many Camping and Wilhelmi -sausages (except I didn´t put my fingers on those "Wilhelmi-sinihomejuusto-whattheshit"-sausages). Only minus was that somebody bought this tube of "Turun mieto sinappi". In my opinion only real mustard is "Turun vahva sinappi", that´s the red one...

Our weekend started on saturday at 10.00 o´clock in the morning. We decided to play our set once through and then pack ourselves in this old ambulance. We stopped few times and everything went just fine. Except we idiots forgot to visit ALKO but happily we had tons of booze with us. So, we arrived "Selviytyjät Metal Fest" and started to wait our turn (read = drinking booze and eating sausages with that horrible mustard).

We went on stage about 21.30 and played like 45 minutes and it was such a fun. Huge surprise was that "Selviytyjät"-CREW gave us bottle of "Jallu" to drink. The thing was that we nobody was allowed to leave the stage before the bottle was empty. Well, this wasn´t so hard mission for Grendel to accomplish.

After our set we started serious drinking and we met some great people. Our ambulance was very popular place to drink and greet.

Kari, Kimmo (our driver) and I slept at ambulance. Allthough my dreams were quite short thanks our bass-emperor who banged the doors several times in the night ;D Rest of the crew slept inside the house. Jarkko woke up from the stage in front of the drums.

Sunday morning. Everyone´s feeling like shit. When we woke up we decided to grap some breakfast from Juustoportti and then pack our things and leave. Everything went smooth until we noticed our car battery was empty, both of them. We kept ambulance´s lights on all night, I mean how can you drink without them? To our luck some nice fellow helped us to get our ambulance start so we could drive safely back home. We gave our album and T-shirt for him.

That´s that. Thank you Selviytyjät Crew and everybody we met. Thank you and sorry ;D

Weekend´s word:
KYLLÄ!!! - Jussi "Juza" Kraft & Mika "Kiven Miksu" Kivi

From here to here:
Mika "Kiven Miksu" Kivi / Grundell

Beer, Spanish fans and few Chewbaccas...

2007-08-16T20:18:00.000+03:00

Grendel is back (with massive hangover). Last saturday we had gig at London Pub, Helsinki. It was cool night except weather was very hot. We drank lots of beer with our Spanish friends.

I introduced you Grendel´s softer side few weeks ago. Now let me introduce you Grendel = GRENDEL goes Chewbacca. Again, we took some new promo pictures:

Bizarre things also happened and I think few pairs of blue vinyl gloves were also used. However, I assume that no-one wants to talk about it ;D

Täältä tähän:
Mika Kivi / Grendel

Liikuntaolympialaiset

2007-08-11T18:09:00.000+03:00

Few weeks ago we had gig at Jokela. There was this event called Liikuntaolympialaiset and we were asked to play some heavy shit there. Not much audience but that didn´t bother us much as you can see ;D

That´s that...

Today we will play at London Pub, Helsinki. See ya´ll there.

Take care:
Mika Kivi / Grendel

Koivu Klubi

2007-07-28T09:48:00.000+03:00

On Friday we had a gig at Koivu Klubi, Vantaa with great Tunes Of Dawn (GER). We arrived to the Koivu Klubi and after Jarkko did his job with drums (placing cymbals and other shit) we headed towards "Pizza Service" to crab some pizza.

Jarkko´s pizza:
Tunafish
Skinka
Cybil
White cybil

Mika´s & Juha´s pizza:
Skinka
Änänäs

Kari´s pizza (bass emperor special)
Double cheese

Jussi´s pizza:
Änänäs
Auracheese
Kananos

Mikko just drank beer.

Then with full stomaches Jussi and Kari started to look for their instruments. But there were no instruments available. With hopeless looks on their faces Jussi and Kari started to blame Jarkko for not bringing instruments to Koivu Klubi. After few phone calls we found out that those instruments were still at London Pub ;D MUAHAHHAHHAHHAAA... Happy taxi-fellow brought instruments to Koivu Klubi and so we started our souncheck.

The gig was a success. I´ve never been so sweatty after gig. We didn´t play New Kids On The Blocks´s "Step By Step". Although we did play Rainbow´s "Tarot Woman".

Day´s motto:
"Juodaanks puokkiin" - Jussi Kraft

Over and out:
Mika Kivi / Grendel

London Pub + something else...

2007-07-25T15:06:00.000+03:00

Okay, yesterday we had a gig. Or maybe we should call it rehearsals. Or should we call it rehearsal gig. Well the thing is that we borrowed our backline for a band competition which was held at London Pub, Helsinki. We had to have rehearsals before friday´s gig so we decided to play few songs yesterday. Everything went just fine. After rehearsals we stayed for couple of beers. As the evening went on and on we decided to change our musical style into something softer. So right away we took some new promo pictures. Here´s Jussi´s and Mikko´s new hair styles:

By the way. If someone haven´t still seen our "Dedication" -video here it is:

Cheers and sorry:
Mika Kivi / Grendel

Mood=Doom

2007-07-23T20:59:00.000+03:00

I recorded my final guitar tracks for "Doomipeikko". Mikko kindly helped me with recording these guitar parts. Mikko and I also discussed about the mood that this song should bring forth. "Doomi" is by far the most longest track we´ve ever made. Over 7 minutes long masterpiece ;D

Mikko also introduced new ideas for new song. It sounded something new that you haven´t heard from Grendel yet. We´ll see where it goes...

Cheers:
Mika Kivi / Grendel

Drums

2007-07-21T19:54:00.000+03:00

Today we recorded drums for two new songs. These songs are: "Mättöajo" and "Doomipeikko". First Jussi and I set microphones and other stuff in their places. Then after short soundcheck we were ready to go.

Jarkko started with "Doomipeikko" which is slow song and like I´ve said before it has very doom-ish kind of feeling. Two takes and song was done. After "Doomipeikko" it was time to record drums for "Mättöajo" which on the other hand is very fast and energetic song. In these recording sessions we have low budget equipment. We have two SM58´s for 4 toms, AKG C1000S for snare, tBone SC-450 for two kick drums and tBone SC100 II StereoSet for symbals and other shit. We also used:

Behringer Eurorack MX2004A
Behringer MDX 1400
M-Audio audio interface
...and also laptop PC and iBook...

Oh, I almost forgot. Here´s dude who was present at our "studio". He was quiet and didn´t say a word. Nobody knows who he is or what he was doing. It was very scary. I hope it doesn´t happen again.

Days motto: "Jos se on siinä niin se on siinä". - Mika Kivi

Cheers:
Mika Kivi / Grendel

Promos, promos, promos...

2007-07-13T18:19:00.000+03:00

After "On The Rocks" -gig our friends of Morian took Kari´s bass with them by mistake. But no harm done. Few days later Kari got his bass back ;D One day I went back to our rehearsal place and what did I see? Nothing but pure disorder. I think all our stuff was thrown inside from the door. It was terrible... HAHHAHHAHH ;D

OK, take a look how massive load of our latest promos I have at my home. I don´t think people understand how much work I have to do for to pack and send them all around the world. Well, on monday I´ll send them and then we will wait, and wait, and wait if some label would kindly response to us.

Take care:
Mika Kivi / Grendel

On The Rocks

2007-07-06T16:00:00.000+03:00

On Tuesday we headed towards "On The Rocks", legendary Helsinki-based Rock-bar to perform with another band called "Morian". Like usual, we arrived early so after carrying a massive load of equipments we went straight to "Picnic Cafe" to have something to eat. Gig itself was a success. We got new listeners and we also sold many albums and T-shirts.

Setlist:
Drifting Away
Dedication
Dead Sun
Fall From The Top
Half Life
Tears & Sorrow
Dialog With Pain
The Times Of Agony
Quicksand

Joke of the day:
"Poliisi laittoi Maijan vilkkumaan" - Jussi Kraft

PS... By the way, here´s picture from WC at our rehearsal place ;D

Guitars...

2007-06-26T21:18:00.000+03:00

On Sunday I recorded few guitar tracks with our singer Mikko. These new songs are being called: "Mättöajo" and "Doomipeikko" ;D "Mättöajo" is quite fast song for us and it has more parts than any other song that we´ve composed. On the other hand "Doomipeikko" is slowest song we´ve ever made. It has very "doom-ish" kind of atmosphere...

Now Jarkko can play his drum parts among these guitar tracks.

Mika Kivi / Grendel

Summer studio 2007

2007-06-24T21:27:00.000+03:00

We have composed new tunes for our upcoming album and all I can say is that these new tracks sound FUCKIN´ HEAVY. Our intention is to record these new tracks at our rehearsing palace at Helsinki, Finland. Because of this we re-arranged our rehearsing room by first throwing all our instruments and other shit out and then bringing them back in ;D We needed some extra place for computers and other recording equipments.

This summer we will use:

- laptop computer
- mics for example SHURE, IBANEZ and CAROL ;D
- LaCie external hard drives
- lots of empty CDr´s
- Digidesign´s Mbox2 and Pro Tools LE
- Behringer´s mixer

These may not impress you but what the hell. Our intention is to make these demos for ourselves so this is pretty important part of making our next album.

Enough for today. I´ll report more later.

Maybe...

Cheers:
Mika Kivi / Grendel