COSMIC CHURCH 2004-2017
Cosmic Church is dead. The remaining process around finishing and releasing the final album does not require any true creative work from me anymore so I consider all my essential work for this band to be finished. The promise was made and now it is fulfilled.
This does not mean that there would´t still be quite a lot of different technical things to be wrapped up before the album is ready to be send to press. However, now that the end draws near I think it is a good time to take a look backwards to these 13 years I´ve worked with this band and write a some words about the whole process. A funeral eulogy of some kind.
I won´t go into details about why and how the band was formed and how it kept on going - you can read all about that for example in the book: The Devil´s Cradle which was just release awhile ago also translated to English. What I can write about is the following:
- THE END -
As soon as Cosmic Church began forming up there was this idea and vision about doing 3 albums with all of them having 7 songs, and a lot of that had to do with my obsession about the numbers and their symbolic meaning. The actual plans and timeline about how and when these albums would be released have naturally changed a lot during the years and I´ve also had moments when I felt I should either extend this plan or send the band to it´s early grave.
After I finished Ylistys there was a period of time when I felt that I could never “re-create the magic” like that again, the album contained so strong and clear ideological "manifest" about Cosmic Church that in a way it is a perfect album for it´s spiritual and ideological vision. And it is true, Ylistys will most likely remain the brightest and most focused creation of this band. The spiritual ecstasy I felt while I created that album was something which can never be replicated in my lifetime. Still, after the smoke was settled felt that I absolutely needed to complete the plan and also the create the final album, there was no other way forward.
After this decision I also felt that I had to do something not as exhausting in between these two big albums so the plan was put to motion to materialize "Vigilia" MLP before I focused into working with the final LP. Vigilia was an easier project for multiple reasons, for example I did not write the lyrics myself and also the songs were not put through as long creative process compared to the major albums. That is probably also why some people will think its the best one because it certainly had a bit more "freedom" and "flow" compared to the major albums around it.
Maybe the most critical thing is the fact that I´ve always very strongly felt the purpose of the band to be an ideological one – as I have expressed in all of my interview during the years. As soon as I truly decided to work on the final album it also meant that the process was a "spiritual funeral" on a personal level for many different things and ideas, and required me to change as a whole.
What this means is that at the moment I am not either willing or able to create or vision any more material to be created for Cosmic Church as my “inspirational source” to these things have been purposely closed. I am a different person compared to what I was when I created "Ylistys" and instead of high spiritual ideals my focus is now towards more down-to-earth ones. From this long process of dying things have returned to a "blank slate" and I am again free to build anything on top of that.
- THE FULFILLMENT -
The last album is called "Täyttymys" which translates into "fulfillment" or "attainment" - the name speaks for itself. As I knew while starting to work on the album that it will be the last one I wanted to write about everything there was still left to process after Ylistys was done. Also the process of dying described above was very strongly present at the creation process. Musically people have described it sounds like a mix of different elements from 90´s black metal combined to softer elements and that is probably true because I´ve personally felt giving a tribute to bands which have affected me a lot during the years; there are clear nods to at least Enslaved, Dimmu Borgir, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Isengard and Burzum on the record.
So, what is left to be done before the album is finished: The mixing process is at the final stages which means we are still tweaking the details before the album goes into mastering. Also the pictures for the layouts are taken but we still need to assemble it. So it is most likely going to take at least 3-4 months before the album is finished from technical perspective.
“Täyttymys” will contain 7 tracks with a runtime of approx 43 minutes.
I - Aloitus (Beginning)
II - Armolahja (Charism)
III - Sinetti (The Seal)
IV - Huuto (The Scream)
V - Vangittu (Imprisoned)
VI - Alttari (The Altar)
VII - Täyttymys (Attainment)
We will most likely do a CD version first and vinyl later. I´d say the CD will most likely be out autumn 2018 and LP early 2019 but these timelines can change as always.
- FAQ -
People have been asking mostly about the following so finally, here are the answers:
"Will the old albums ever get repressed?" & "How about cassette versions?"
- Maybe in the future. We have no plans to do that at the moment. Wait 2-20 years and they will probably get (re)pressed at some point.
"Can my label re-release this album in format [X]?" & "Can my label release any of your other bands?"
- No. I work with Kuunpalvelus only at the moment.
"Will you quit making music?" & "What about band [X]?"
- Frozen Graves is active, we just released an LP (you can listen to it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkzmNBcCp0c), we will most likely do more at some point.
- Asymmetry is hibernating. We have one unreleased MLP which will probably come out some day. No other future plans at the moment.
- Aura Saturnal is not active at the moment but might regain activity at some point.
- I am also doing a completely new black metal project, first demo halfway there. No other information available about that, it will be provided later if needed.
"Will CC bandcamp / this page remain active?"
- Bandcamp will remain active, I might also add some older material there at some point.
- This page will most likely remain active until the vinyl version of Täyttymys is released.
Please do not send me messages, I won´t answer them.
- FINAL WORDS -
I started this band in 2004 when I was 15 years old and I´ve spend working with it nearly half of my life. I feel like I have achieved everything I set to look out in the beginning and can now happily descent the coffin to the grave. The birth, existence and death of this band also defined a lot of my personal journey during these years and now I am finally free from this process and can start everything from anew.
I also want to express my gratitude to all the people who helped me to materialize my vision during the years. Even though this has always been my vision I could have not been able to do these things without great help I have received, and for this I salute you!
Luxixul Sumering Auter 31.12.2017
(q: fb)
