• Ok!Shade Empire is a new band from Finland. Whilst reading this interview, you'll understand that these guys like simple, true, straight words. So, this doesn't leave any space to me to write huge, pompous prologues in order to attract your interest, but a simple invitation to read...

• Well there haven’t been that many important moments so far since we aren’t that big yet. But I could say that the most important moments for Shade Empire have been the release dates of our three demos and the few gigs we have played. Shade Empire has always consisted of six members: Janne Niiranen and Juha Sirkkiä as guitarists, Eero Mantere as bassist, Olli Savolainen as keyboardist, Juha Harju as vocalist and I, Antti Makkonen as drummer.

2. WHY HAVE YOU DECIDED TO CHANGE YOUR FIRST NAME FROM "ENRAPTURE SILENCE" TO "SHADE EMPIRE"? WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU AND HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU THINK IS FOR A BAND'S CAREER THE CORRECT CHOICE OF A BAND NAME?

• Enrapture Silence was a band with four members, and three of those play currently in Shade Empire. Since we got three new members we obviously changed the name as well. For me the name isn’t that important, but of course it plays a role in the band and it’s career. Anyhow, it is the music that matters!

3. WHICH ARE YOUR INFLUENCES? WHICH BANDS DO YOU LOOK UP TO AND WHICH DO YOU THINK DAMAGE HEAVY METAL MUSIC?

• I can’t mention any common influences for Shade Empire. Of course everyone us of us listens approximately the same kind of metal music and bring up their own point of view into ours. I have to say that I really dislike these NU-METAL bands; I’m not going to mention any of them. They are just stereotypes of each other for me, but they do (hopefully) play the kind of music they want and like their selves.

4.  HOW MANY DEMOS HAVE YOU RELEASED? TELL US SOME THINGS ABOUT EACH ONE (THE MSUIC,. TEH PRODUCTION,ETC..). ARE YOU STILL SATISFIED WITH THEM?

• As I said earlier, we've released three demos so long and hopefully don't need to release another one. The first demo 'Throne of Eternal Night' really sucked ass and no, I didn't like it at all. The two previous ones are from completely different world. They are both recorded at Studio Perkele, here in Kuopio under the 'surveillance' of our great mixer/engineer S. Jämsen. Especially the latest demo 'Essence of Pain' really sounds professional and even better than the higly praised 'Daemon'! First one's always a first one and no one can help it. I like the two previous ones.

5. IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN YOU ARE PLANNING TO RELEASE SOON A NEW DEMO. TELL US SOME THINGS ABOUT IT...

• Oh, we released just last week and have already sold about half of the 200 press. The sounds are richer than ever before and we used over 50 tracks for each song! There has never been this much orchestral bits in our music and I have to admit that I really like the demo. Check out our site (http://www.shadeempire.cjb.net) for samples of the three new songs.

6. WHAT ARE YOUR LYRICS TALKING ABOUT? REAL LIFE OR FANTASY THEMES?

• Our lyrics are from this place called  'Shade Empire' and they are mostly an adventure to the human mind and it's mysteries. Some of them are fiction and some from the real world, but there's always a meaning and saying in them.

7. WHICH WERE THE REACTIONS OF THE EZINES, MAGAZINES, FANS AND LABELS ON YOUR PREVIOUS DEMOS?

•  We've got only positive reply from around the world. Sometimes it surprises me how much the reviewers like the 'Daemon' demo. I'm really satisfied with the response.

8. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE METAL SCENE OF FINLAND? WHY DO YOU THINK AFTER SOME ALBUMS MOST OF THE BANDS (NO MATTER GENRE) SEEM TO SOUND SO CLOSE?

• I think the Finnish scene is fairly good. There was this in the mid-nineties time when all the bands sounded the same. Nowadays there are new bands emerging, who dare to be unique and I think that's very important. The problem with sounding the same after a few albums is only dependent on the band, they stick to the same base that they did last time and then we hear that nothing has changed.

9. IF SOMEDAY YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET THE CREATURE THAT CREATED THE UNIVERSE, WHICH WOULD YOUR BIGGEST QUESTION BE?

• I don't have any major things to ask from Him or Her, but at the moment I would ask: "Why do men have nipples?"

10. WHICH IS MAN'S BIGGEST TEMPTATION?

• This is a tricky one, and I'm not sure if I can answer this properly...Well, let's say that every single person and I mean everyone, turns out to do something bad to other people either physically or mentally. I can't mention what it is, but I hope you got my point.

11. IF TIME TRAVEL WAS POSSIBLE, WHICH HISTORICAL PERIOD WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT AND WHY? WHAT WOULD YOU MISS THE MOST FROM OUR TIME?

• I've always wanted to wander the streets of Victorian London, I guess 'cause I've lived in there, and I can't say that I would miss anything from this time, well maybe modern instruments.

12. WHAT PROLOGUE AND TITLE WOULD YOU LIKE THIS INTERVIEW TO HAVE?

• Simple enough: A word with Shade Empire

13. WHICH SONG OF YOUR DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST IDEAL TO REPRESENT YOUR WORK?

•  I like the third song 'Pain + Pleasure' from our latest demo best to represent our work, it's the longest peace of song we've ever composed and I like the two 'stages' of it.

14. HOW ARE YOU PLANNING TO PROMOTE YOUR MUSIC?

•  We just sent our promo packets to twenty record labels around the world, mostly to Europe anyway. The package included the two latest demos, live footage and 17-page documentary about us. Hope this package will catch someone’s interest.

15. IF YOU HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO MAKE A VIDEO CLIP HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT TO BE?

•  We would use loads of different kinds of effects (lights etc., etc.) and with the help of these factors would create it to be as massive as possible. We do already have ideas for a possible video, but I would be stupid to give all the details wouldn’t I…? :)

16. WHICH IS YOUR MOST BELOVED MOVIE YOU'VE SEEN LATELY AND WHICH BOOK YOU ENJOYED READING?

• Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Rings is probably the greatest movie I’ve ever seen. It feels so real and yet so unreal, it is absolutely fantastic!!! The book…hmm…I don’t read that much, but I can mention that Hannibal was a great piece of art.

17. IF YOU WEREN'T INVOLVED WITH THE MUSIC, WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO?

• I’d definitely like to be in the movie business, which I hopefully will be involved with after my school and a few years of hard work. I can never think that we could get our money from this band, but you never know…

18. THANK YOU!HAVE I FORGOTTEN TO ASK YOU ANYTHING AND YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?

• Thanks for your time and the interview, I’ve got nothing else to say.