Moonsorrow Talks: The Epic Heathen Podcast

Grilo do Demo

In the Epic Heathen Podcast, seven Moonsorrow fanatics talk about the music of this Finnish metal band. Each album will have a full episode dedicated to it, with an in-depth analysis of the concept, the songs, the lyrics, the melodies, the performances, the circumstances that surround it... and of course our personal views on it — we are quite an opinionated bunch! You can contact us on moonsorrowbio@gmail.com.

  1. 06/23/2025

    Ep. 13: Demos, part 1 (Thorns, Metsä, Promo) - Moonsorrow Talks: The Epic Heathen Podcast

    Today we're looking back at the first 3 Moonsorrow demos: "Thorns of Ice", "Metsä" and "Promo" (and if you thought they had only two demos, you should go back to the music-only episode we released back in February and listen to the first 5 minutes — then you'll understand. Spotify deleted it but it's on the other podcast platforms). Lots of stories about their formative years, when their roles in their own band weren't yet consolidated. Including words straight from the horse's mouth, taken from the interviews featured in the book "Home of the Waves: Conversations with Moonsorrow", now on preorder. We obviously couldn't go straight to the point and started the conversation discussing what we call a demo, how the concept has changed over the years and whether demos still matter. If you're interested in Moonsorrow demos and other rarities, stories and factoids, you should subscribe to the Moonsorrow fanzine Verisivut (in newsletter format). All the links you need are here: https://linktr.ee/moonsorrow.podcast Participants: Thomas from France, Sasan from the US, Francesco from Italy and Abel/Grilo do Demo from Hungary. Other song fragments used: Extremoduro - La hoguera. Emperor - Inno a Satana. Burzum - Tomhet. Emperor - Intro from Nightside. Immortal - Call of the Wintermoon. Amorphis - Castaway. Amorphis - Black Winter Day. Finntroll - Vätteanda. Mayhem - Silvester Anfang. And that Demoniac intro.

    2h 21m
  2. Moonsorrow book on preorder now!

    06/20/2025

    Moonsorrow book on preorder now!

    All the links you need are here: https://linktr.ee/moonsorrow.podcast The book "Home of the Waves: Conversations with Moonsorrow" can now be preordered at Cult Never Dies. The building blocks are interviews conducted shortly after the release of their latest album, "Jumalten aika", and covering everything you can imagine. Band history, of course, but also lyrical and visual themes, composition process (described in detail by Henri), ideological background, technical details about gear (Mitja loves these) and much more. You will even read what's probably the only interview you'll ever find with Markus! The book is divided into two parts. The first part is a choral narration of the band's biography, told by the members themselves. The second part contains everything else. Besides the band members, we also interviewed several other people who have worked with them through the years, including legendary mastering engineer Mika Jussila. The interviews were originally intended for a documentary that, due to a myriad of problems, hasn't yet been released. However, that documentary will only use 2 hours of material – but we filmed interviews for 13 days, several hours per day. You do the math! This book includes ALL of that material. In addition to the interviews, you will find out how everything worked behind the scenes. How we carried out the project, how we worked together with the Moonsorrow guys, the places they took us to and their significance, and much more. All of it accompanied by tons of photos from the sessions, both in black-and-white — and in full colour! Preorder it now at Cult Never Dies or Levykauppa Äx. Also available with a beautiful art print.

    6 min

  3. 05/12/2025

    May 2025 update: Verisivut fanzine, imminent book and podcast info

    A quick update about the newly launched fanzine (verisivut.info), the upcoming Moonsorrow book and a few notes on the podcast. Find all our links on https://linktr.ee/moonsorrow.podcast

    5 min

  4. 02/01/2025

    Ep. 12: The Complete Demos (music only) - Moonsorrow Talks: The Epic Heathen Podcast

    Lots of rare music today! In this bonus episode, you will hear all the demos: the released and the rare, the raw and the refined, the famous and the infamous — all of them in full. For two of them, there are two different mixes, so even if you are a lucky vinyl box set owner, you may not be familiar with the (in my opinion superior) remixes. Listen and judge yourself! There's a brief introductory explanation before each demo — you didn't really believe it would actually be music only, now did you? — to give context about when, who and why. However, those are short and it's just me talking; there's no discussion here. For that, you will need to wait for the next two episodes. Until then, familiarise yourself with this material, and if you are already familiar with it, enjoy it again! Below these lines you will find the timestamps for your convenience. We have also uploaded all the demos to YouTube, separately, with all the info written in the description. If you prefer that format, find the Moonsorrow Podcast channel and you will also find a playlist in chronological order of release. Lastly, if you wish to download the lossless files, google "Moonsorrow Bootleg and Demo Compilation" and you may find a treasure trove... 0:00:00 Introduction to the demos / 0:05:12 Thorns of Ice intro / 0:07:13 Thorns of Ice / 0:16:44 Metsä (remix) intro / 0:17:44 Metsä (remix) / 0:37:01 Promo '97 intro / 0:37:40 Promo '97 / 0:42:45 Tämä ikuinen talvi (remix) intro / 0:43:54 Tämä ikuinen talvi (remix) / 1:26:15 Vasaran viha intro / 1:27:07 Vasaran viha / 1:34:30 Metsä (original) intro / 1:34:51 Metsä (original) / 1:53:59 Tämä ikuinen talvi (original) intro / 1:54:19 Tämä ikuinen talvi (original) / 2:36:43 k thx bye

    2h 38m

  5. 09/29/2024

    Ep. 11: Hävitetty, part 2 (Tuleen ajettu maa) - Moonsorrow Talks: The Epic Heathen Podcast

    Today we're discussing "Tuleen ajettu maa", the second half of Hävitetty, an apocalyptic album which we couldn't agree if it's completely nihilistic or leaves space for hope, but Sasan described it best with the sentence: "it's like caressing the dog's head while you're putting it to sleep". You will discover lots of small details you never noticed before (it happened to all of us during the conversation) and you will find out which part of the song the guest is ACTUALLY on! Besides our silky voices, you will hear some little snippets from interviews with the band, as a teaser for the upcoming book Home of the Waves: Conversations with Moonsorrow. I can't believe that it's been 18 years since this album came out and I discovered Moonsorrow. I'm an adult fan now. Participants: Francesco from Italy, Abel from Hungary, Mikkel from Denmark, Sasan from the US, Thomas from France. Fragments from other songs: Jean Michel Jarre - Oxigène 1 Deep Purple - Highway Star Uriah Heep - Easy Living  Marduk - Baptism by Fire Atlantean Kodex - The Innermost Light Tuleen ajettu maa live in Annecy, France, April 2007 All our links are here: https://linktr.ee/moonsorrow.podcast

    3h 2m

  6. 05/26/2024

    Ep. 10: Hävitetty, part 1 (Varjojen virta) - Moonsorrow Talks: The Epic Heathen Podcast

    I'm sure at this point nobody is surprised by the title and the length of this episode. That's right, we talk only about the first of the two songs of Hävitetty, and yes, for over two hours. Although, in fairness, we also spent a sizable amount of time discussing the album as a whole, because it turned out to be very special for all of us... except for one! Did you know there's a book about Moonsorrow coming up? You'll hear some information about it in the first few minutes of this episode. Participants: Sasan from the USA, Aleksi from Finland, Thomas from France, Mikkel from Denmark, Francesco from Italy, Abel from Hungary.

    2h 42m

  7. 02/22/2024

    Ep. 9: Verisäkeet, part 2 - Moonsorrow Talks: The Epic Heathen Podcast

    The second part of Verisäkeet is finally out! Here we analyze Pimeä, Jotunheim and Kaiku in more detail than anyone ever needed. You'll find out which song disappointed Mitja — in his own words, you'll hear very different versions of Kaiku and Pimeä and you'll discover the relation between Pimeä and grunge! We continued learning about Finnish folk instruments that are present in the album (in the previous episode we identified the jouhikko, now is the turn of the kantele) and realized that, even though Verisäkeet is less shiny than Kivenkantaja, it's not as raw as it may seem and there is no shortage of layers. If you want even more detail about Verisäkeet, we really recommend you to check out the Henri interview we released some episodes back, as he spoke in great detail about the songwriting for this album. We didn't reference that interview in this episode because we actually recorded it earlier than the interview — yeah, quite long ago, but hey, this podcast is TIMELESS! Guest star: Shiva from the US. Team members: Sasan from the US, Thomas from France, Mikkel from Denmark, Francesco from Italy, Aleksi from Finland, Grilo do Demo from Hungary. Follow us on all these social networks and podcast platforms: https://linktr.ee/moonsorrow.podcast Songs from other artists: Helheim - Jormundgand Pauliina Syrjälä - Church Bells Yömyssy - Moonsorrow medley Sebastian Penner - Pimeä (orchestral version)

    2h 33m

  8. 07/26/2023

    Ep. 8: Verisäkeet, part 1 - Moonsorrow Talks: The Epic Heathen Podcast

    We are back with the album episodes, this time talking about Verisäkeet. As usual, the conversation turned out very long and we split it into two parts, so this is 2h20' talking about Karhunkynsi and Haaska only. You know you wouldn't like it any other way! Guest star: Shiva from California, team members: Sasan from California, Thomas from France, Mikkel from Denmark, Francesco from Italy (who had to start late), Aleksi from Finland (who had to leave early), Grilo do Demo from Hungary. Songs from other artists: Mayhem - De Mysteriis dom. Sathanas; Enslaved - Vetrarnott; Finsterforst - Urquell; Helheim - Dualitet og ulver; Arkona - По сырой земле (Po syroi zemle); Antimony - Ending I.

    2h 27m
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About

In the Epic Heathen Podcast, seven Moonsorrow fanatics talk about the music of this Finnish metal band. Each album will have a full episode dedicated to it, with an in-depth analysis of the concept, the songs, the lyrics, the melodies, the performances, the circumstances that surround it... and of course our personal views on it — we are quite an opinionated bunch! You can contact us on moonsorrowbio@gmail.com.

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