Ukri Suvilehto, Finnish-born drummer and member of the well-known Norwegian Black Metal band Abbath, formed in Bergen, in 2015, by former Immortal guitarist and vocalist Abbath Doom Occulta. So far, the band has released three full-length albums; Abbath (2016), Outstrider (2019) and Dread Reaver (2022) through Season of Mist; and is already working on the next one. Ukri surprises with his studies of music technology at Pop & Jazz conservatory in Helsinki, although it is not surprising at all once you know that he comes from a very musical family. It was a pleasure to talk to Ukri and discover some interesting facts about him and Abbath.

INTERVIEW

OBNUBIL: Hi Ukri! Thank you very much for taking the time to answer some questions. To start, I wanted to ask you about Abbath, you became part in 2018 and you are the most stable and durable drummer the band has ever had. Tell us, how does someone who has studied for years music technology at Pop & Jazz conservatory in Helsinki end up playing black metal on Abbath's drums?

UKRI: When I finished my music technology studies, I had one goal in mind. To become a full-time touring musician which was always my plan and dream. Six years later, here we are with a couple world tours under the belt.

OBNUBIL: How did you become involved with Abbath, and what was the audition process like? Can you tell us about your musical background and how you became a drummer? Do you come from a very musical family? What led you to study music at the conservatory?

UKRI: I took my first steps toward being a professional drummer in 2006, when I formed my drumming oriented YouTube channel. YouTube as a platform was started in 2005 so I was a very early bird on the social media artistry game. Further down the road, my name was out there on the international music field in my teenage years. This partially led into many great things along with a lot of work and networking. Becoming the drummer of Abbath in 2018 was one of the results of life-time of work on music.

Basically I was on touch base with Abbath’s previous drummer Emil Viksten who suggested me to his old band Aeon back in 2017. Actually Aeon had reached out to me for tours already in 2010 but this tour neither touring in 2017 happened. Emil had started to follow me when I released some drum covers in 2009. When he had to step back from Abbath’s touring schedule in 2017 he suggested that I’d play with Abbath. Also Abbath’s previous bass player King ov Hell had simultaneously found me through YouTube. Early 2018 we agreed that I would play all the shows of the year with Abbath and possibly on an album as well. I ended up becoming a full time member of Abbath and so far I’ve played on two of the latest studio albums and toured around the world.

My parents are multi-instrumentalists, my dad is a now retired music teacher who plays concerts and my mom is currently involved with a couple different lineups and music is also involved in her long university career with drama and early childhood education. I was always involved with music and would play around different instruments since I was a baby. I got seriously into rock and metal around the age of seven and have played guitar and drums since. I’ve followed the same dream for more than twenty years now, to perform heavy music on stages around the world and the hunger hasn’t withered.

I studied music technology at Pop & Jazz conservatory in Helsinki during 2014-2017. I wanted to expand my music production and technological skills so studying was a natural step. Even though I became a full time professional musician, I’m also involved in music production with my bands and projects, plus it helps in being a touring musician as well.

OBNUBIL: Are you currently dedicated exclusively to Abbath or do you have more side projects?

UKRI: Currently I have another band I am involved with, called IA from Helsinki. We have shamanic metal concept where we bring musical and conceptual influences from different shamanic traditions around the world, blended with modern metal. On our live performances we use UV-paintings, lights and decorations, a hint of electronic music culture as well.

OBNUBIL: Abbath's last album “Dread Reaver'' was released in 2022. Now, after playing at summer festivals and the “Return to the Raven Realms Tour”, do you already plan to compose and record the next album? What are the next steps for the band?

UKRI: "Return to the Raven Realms", a full tour performing only Immortal songs is finished now and it was a success on many parameters. Currently we don’t have tours booked yet, but next year should be busy. Some new Abbath material is in the works as well and a new album is slowly shaping into form.

OBNUBIL: How does the songwriting process work in Abbath, particularly when it comes to creating drum parts? Do you have a specific approach or philosophy when it comes to composing your drum tracks for the band's music?

UKRI: Usually Olve ‘’Abbath’’ Eikemo writes music at home and does pre-production at a studio in Bergen with our long-time colleague and friend Dag Erik Nygaard, who also played live keyboard with us this Summer. Olve usually has some ideas of drum arrangements and when he and Dag work on pre-production, Dag programs rough arrangements on drums according to Olve’s vision. I take it further from there, usually respecting Olve’s original mood or pulse on drum arrangements and bringing my own touch into it.

OBNUBIL: Can you share any memorable moments or challenges you've faced while on tour with Abbath? What has been the most surreal moment you've experienced while on tour with Abbath?

UKRI: I have to say that the "Return to the Raven Realms" tour was a great experience and it felt like a pinnacle of my personal music career and also Abbath band’s music career. We learned eight songs we had never played before within two weeks before the tour and had a two-day pre-production in Bergen before the tour as well. We brought on the road the biggest live production we ever had. Getting on the stage for the first time this Summer in Utrecht, Netherlands with the full production including the stage setup, lights, pyro, backdrops and fire rain falling from the ceiling felt very exciting, fresh and in a way surreal. It was such a huge step forward from anything we have done before live-wise”.

OBNUBIL: How do you feel about the band's fanbase, and what’s been the most impactful interaction you’ve had with a fan?

UKRI: I can’t point out any particular interaction that was the most impactful. But in general, I love our fans, metal fans and the scene in general. I think within the metal community there are some of the most intelligent, sensitive and friendly people I’ve met. It’s a blessing to me to be part of the community and perform music live for thousands of people.

OBNUBIL: What’s your favorite song to perform live, and why?

UKRI: This Summer, I particularly enjoyed playing some of the old school Immortal classics live, such as "The Sun no longer rises", or "Blashyrkh". Those songs are a bit more straightforward classics than some of the later productions of Immortal or Abbath band. They just feel powerful in their simplicity, some true original Norwegian black metal from the 90's.

OBNUBIL:  What were your major top five influences growing up, and how did they shape your drumming style?

UKRI: I have many influences from different styles and instruments. But here’s some of my drummer heroes:

• Lars Ulrich from Metallica. A very distinctive style and genius level arrangement work with his band
• Dave Lombardo from Slayer. One of the godfathers of extreme metal drumming, blended with grooves from funk and latin music. Dave is a Cuban born man and he has explained recently how even the double bass drumming break in ”Angel of Death" was influenced by latin music
• Joey Jordison from Slipknot. Very unique style to live performance, musical aesthetics, songwriting and overall style in drumming
• Tomas Haake from Meshuggah. Metallica and Meshuggah are probably the most impactful bands in my life since I was a kid. Meshuggah basically laid the foundation for many of modern metal’s various subgenres and fusions. I’ve become friends with some of the band and they like our band and my drumming, it means a lot to me

My mom is not a drummer but I probably learned a lot from her in an intuitive and sort of effortless way of playing and learning music. My dad is great too, he’s a bit more technical and academical in music. I learned something from both worlds, I suppose.

OBNUBIL: Do you have any special techniques or practices you follow to maintain your drumming skills? How do you approach the distinctive drumming style required for black metal compared to other metal subgenres?

UKRI: I don’t practice too much these days between tours. I can easily have breaks and my body probably needs it to some extent as well. Touring itself seems to be something that keeps me growing and learning as a musician. My drum tech Matteo Bassoli, who is also a lead singer in Me and that man band, said to me recently that he sees my drumming improves on each show and tour. That’s nice to hear.

Tomas Haake was watching our show in Bloodstock last year and we met after the show. He said to me "Ukri, that was fucking awesome! You don’t play like a black metal drummer. You play more like a hard rock/metal drummer". This was a big compliment to me and I felt that I was seen. That’s true, I don’t particularly approach playing in a black metal band totally from black metal drumming’s aesthetic view. I always thought that Olve’s music was often referred as black metal as he is one of the genre’s pioneers. But also his music always included influences from hard rock, classic rock and heavy metal. I’ve tried to elevate these aspects of the music. I suppose I also have my own sound in drumming, which is actually quite a fusion from heavy metal, prog, death metal and even some jazz and latin influences. I can’t help but to be myself as an artist and I’m very glad my bands allow me and want me to do my own thing. They trust my work and vision.

OBNUBIL: What are your thoughts on the evolution of black metal drumming techniques over the years? Can you discuss any particular albums or songs that have had a profound impact on your understanding of black metal?

UKRI: I think death metal and black metal drumming technically speaking share a lot. Death metal has generally probably advanced to be more on a technically oriented side, and in black metal you can see a lot of "emotional drummers", who go more by the feel. I try to mix both worlds in my own playing. Dimmu Borgir’s "In Sorte Diaboli" was quite an impactful album to me back in the day.

OBNUBIL: What’s your opinion on the current state of the black metal scene? Do you think the fusion of black metal with other genres (e.g., blackgaze, post-black metal) has been beneficial or detrimental to the scene?

UKRI: I think black metal is quite fascinating in the sense of how fusioned it has become with all the mixing with other subgenres. I think there’s everything for everybody. I don’t see anything detrimental in that. Old school black metallers still have a lot of bands as well.

OBNUBIL: How do you balance the demands of being in a prominent band with your personal life? Do you have any hobbies that don't have to do with music?

UKRI: Past few years, the balance between professional and personal life has been working a lot and also traveling a lot on my own. From January until mid July I was on the road almost non-stop. I do a lot of backpacking on my own, often traveling into other continents and exploring other cultures and countries. I have a bond to Latin America and I’ve been there seven times now. I’ve also traveled a bit in Asia and North America and I’m looking forward to going to places I’m yet to visit.

OBNUBIL: Looking back on your career, what are you most proud of, and what do you hope to achieve next? What are your long-term goals as a musician, both within and outside of Abbath?

UKRI: I think some of the things I’m most proud of are some personal and professional difficulties that have turned into personal growth and personal level balance in professional life. To me being a musician is a never ending path, I don’t think I’ll ever be fully satisfied and I want to grow more and more as a human and artist. With Abbath I’d like to be able to tour more, release a monumental album on the next one and have bigger tours with bigger production. On a personal level I just aim to have a long and successful music career.

OBNUBIL: If you had to choose just one piece of your drum kit to take to a desert island, what would it be and why?

UKRI: Probably bass drum, I could play some tribal grooves with my hands on the bass drum haha!

OBNUBIL: And, if you could pick any musician in history (dead or alive) to play a jam session, who would it be and why?

UKRI: John Bonham. He blended so many influences and styles into his own and I’d love to witness that live.

OBNUBIL: It has been a pleasure talking to you and getting to know you a little more! Thank you so much for taking your time answering the questions! Is there anything that you would like to say to the readers and to your fans?

UKRI: I want to thank everyone for all the support and hope to see everybody around the world soon!

Interview done August 2024. Cover photo and live photos been taken by Artur Tarczewski and promo photo with raven by Francisco Munoz Photography.