Hi Jukka. Congratulations for the “Resurrection”. How has the feedback been so far?
Thank you Lex, we're really happy about the new album. It sounds just like we planned! The feedback has been really positive so far, metalheads really seem to want Thrash Metal back! The only negative comments have come from people who don't like Thrash metal anyway, so you could say the album is doing great!
 Let’s talk about the band: Maybe we start with a short introduction of the band and it’s members!
Ok, on the guitars Markku Jokikokko and me (Jukka Kyrö), on bass Tero Nevala, drums Jari Kaiponen and on vocals Ile "Törky" Järvenpää.
In which other bands are you active members?
Jari plays drums for Burning Point and Tero plays keyboards in Catamenia. Markku is concentrating on NNS. I used to play guitar in Burning Point and it looks like I will go to studio with them and play on the third album, but otherwise my future in Point is blurred. It depends on what happens with NNS.
By the time you founded the band, wasn't your moniker quite provocative?
Yes it was, we're originally from a small very religious town and our band became a target for all the bible bashers and narrow minded bastards. We didn't really give a fuck what they said about us, we were a metal band, not a political organization or bunch of antichrists.
Where is your band located now? I found this passage in you biography quite amusing: "Since they were the only long haired guys in town". Are you still the only Headbangers in town?
Yeah, that was the case, we were the only five guys with long hair and Slayer t-shirts. We moved from our old hometown in 1990. Nowadays we are located in Oulu. Oulu is a metal town, for example Sentenced and Impaled Nazarene are from here. So we're in a good company, lot's of Headbangers and metal bands!! You should come over this summer and I'll show you the best hang-outs!
What made up your mind to reunite the band after so many years?
I have always loved this kind of music and I missed the fast tempos and heavy riffs. We started to write riffs and songs with Markku and suddenly we had half a dozen songs written. That was it, National Napalm Syndicate was reborn.
Is the NNS of today somehow comparable with the band signing the EMI-deal back in 1989?
There are some same elements, when you listen to the albums back to back you'll notice that the overall sound is still kinda same. Of course we are much better players than back in the day, but the feel of the band is still there. I guess it's because Markku and I wrote all the music in the old days and we wrote most of the material for the new album. The main difference is that the new songs are shorter and maybe we don't have as many parts in our songs than we used to.
All the songs still have a authentic 80ies-feeling. Are they all new or are there some relicts of the early NNS?
90% of the music is new, the only relic is the main riff in "Sleep At The Wheel", that one was supposed to be on our 2nd album in 1991. Now we finally got it together! Otherwise it's music from 2002-2005.
Don’t you feel somehow exotic, as your are a Finnish band and you are playing pure Thrash?
No not really, we had a strong Thrash scene in Finland in the late 1980's - early 1990's, so we crew up with this music. It runs in our blood. Of course we're a bit exotic as we come from north, long cold winters and so on.
Please name three bands, that had the biggest impact on your sound!
OK, first of course Exodus, Bonded by Blood blew my mind and changed the way I thought about metal in general. Kreator with Endless Pain & Pleasure To Kill, those albums kicked some serious ass!! Last but not least Slayer, Reign In Blood came out when we had just started the band and it had a HUGE impact on us!!
Do you know our German thrashers Paradox? You sound reminds me a bit of them.
Yeah I know them, I have the first album "Product Of Imagination". Cool stuff, they never really were an influence to us but I listened a lot the album. Are they still around?
They recently came back and played a remarkable show at our Keep It True. But how would you describe your music to an Martian?
Terve, we play Modern Thrash Metal from northern Finland. Now I'll take you to our leader...
 I find the lyrics of "The Undertaker" and "Iron Horse" quite remarkable. Please tell a bit about them?
This is a question I'll have to give to our singer Ile.
Undertaker: That's about how I see the world has turned cold and how the western way of life is all about creed and money. I think it's weird that there is this new class society. Weird how 10 % of the world population uses
the 90 % of worlds resources...
Iron Horse: That's about US foreign policy. In my opinion the market laws and businessmen are the real head of state there. The term Iron horse comes from the way Indians called trains and how they symbolized the end of their
civilization in some way. The song is about how the US loves flex it's military muscle, Imperial son in the end is George W...
There is a quote of Aleister Crownley in your booklet ("If one were to take the bible seriously one would go mad. But to take the bible seriously, one must be already mad"). Why did you choose it and what does he and his works mean to you?
I have been interested in Crowley for ages, I think that he lived a very colourful life and the writings are interesting. He had a point in some of the stuff he said and wrote. I've had a tradition to put some Crowley writings to all the albums I've made, the two first Burning Point albums have quotes and now NNS have. The quote on "Resurrection.." pretty much sums up what I think about Christianity and religion in general.
A question for almost every TRHK-band: How did you get in contact with Soni and his label?
I found TRHK through Patrick / Old School Metal Records, then we started to e-mail with Soni and soon I noticed that Soni is a real metal guy with sincere love for the metal scene and metal bands. It's cool to find people who truly support the scene because of the music and are not only in it for the money.
Did you have any doubts signing to an Asian label?
Not really, we released the album through Poison Arrow Records here in Finland and Soni does good job with album elsewhere. It's better that the album is released by a fan of the band than a faceless "business" man.
I just saw Lordi perfoming at the Eurovision song contest. Wouldn't it be fun for you to perform at the preliminaries?
Sure, we'll do it next year! Or maybe not... Thumbs up that Lordi wins. Eurovision have always sucked, maybe they can change things.
 You are going to play some gigs in Germany. Do you already have confirmed dates?
No not yet, we're trying to get everything together a.s.a.p. it looks like we'll come over in autumn. I'll know more soon!
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. The final words are for you!
Check out the "Reurrection Of The Wicked" album and support the underground. Thrash Metal is alive and kicking!!!! Eihän saa poika herätä?
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