The Finnish melodic death metal outfit Insomnium are issuing their latest album Netherworlds. I had the opportunity to chat with guitarist Markus Vanhala about the new record, a lineup change, his other bands, A.I. and other topics.
Chad Bowar: Your touring guitarist Tomy Laisto is now a permanent member. How did you guys find him in the first place and what led you to promote him?
Markus Vanhala: He was an old friend of mine. I’ve been knowing Tomy for 25 years and we’ve been friends. He filled in for Omnium Gatherum, my other band, on one tour we did in Europe with Amon Amarth about ten years ago. It’s always been fun with him and we’ve always been speaking that someday we should do something real together, band-wise. And then, three years ago, our old guitarist, good friend of mine, Jani Liimatainen, he disappeared. He actually just disappeared and was found months later in Brazil. So that was weird things happening. But then we had to get a new guitar player for filling on tours and Tomy was the first person I thought of. He immediately said yes. He was playing one year of tours with us and everything was nice and smooth and having good times. So now he’s a permanent member and everything’s fine.
Have you learned that when you’re finding new members that how you get along is maybe even more important than how good they are as a musician?
Yeah, exactly. And of course we are Finnish people. We are anti-social. We don’t want to meet any new people. (laughs) Also in that sense, it was really easy to get Tomy on board, because also another Insomnium guy knew him from the past and he was really easy to get on board. But yeah, that’s true. As important as it is to be a great musician and good player, it’s as important to be a great guy and get along with other guys and keep your sanity when you are touring and playing festivals. And that’s not always easy.
For example, Tomy is 46 now. He’s a bit older than me. And getting that kind of old guy straight on tour with a successful band, it’s not easy. Everyone could not do it, because it can fuck up your mind, but he could. And that’s exactly pretty much what happened with our old guitarist. So even he was like a experienced alley cat, been playing in a band for ages. But then same happened with Sonata Arctica back in the day. His sanity melted, alcohol included in the melting and then he again disappeared. So he’s used to doing these disappearances, which is sad. But we’re still friends and now he’s again answering my texts. We met in Brazil and everything was cool.
For the last couple of records you’ve been shouldering a lot of the songwriting load, writing at least half the songs. How did the distribution for this album go as far as the songwriting?
I think I did four songs to this album and then one bonus song. Now Ville was waking up and he did a lot of writing for this album too. But I did four real songs and one bonus song, which is in the art book. And then I co-wrote the intro, “The Cold Song.”
Do you find it easier to write songs these days because you’ve been doing it so long? Or is it harder because you have to avoid repeating what you’ve done before?
It’s never easy. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been writing hundreds of songs. It’s always difficult. And that’s how it has to be. If you are doing things that have any value, then it has to be difficult. And you always have to have this creative process of pain and going through the needle to find something new. And with this new album, we decided to go a bit back on the Insomnium catalog. Anno 1696 was way darker album and concept album. This was album number 10, so we wanted to take a step back and do an older style Insomnium album. And it’s not easy either, because it would be easy to copy your past doings and stuff like that. But it would be too easy and too cheesy. So we have to reinvent the old sound and invent new tricks to make it interesting for the fans and for ourselves too. Because I don’t want to repeat myself too much. But it’s a fine line to not repeat yourself, but still keep your fans happy that the band is not changing too much.
How did the appearance of the Amorphis guys on “The Hour Grows Late” come about?
By accident, actually. I wrote that song and there’s this really acid, trippy keyboard solo. I did that on the demo with my magical keyboard abilities, which are limited. So immediately when I was composing that song, I already thought about Santeri because we play in the same band Cemetery Skyline. And he’s my really good friend. So I immediately thought I want to get him doing this keyboard solo on the album. And then when we were recording the album with the producer Miro Varjus, he then said to me that he’s been thinking it would be really cool to get a guest feature for both Amorphis singers. Both Tomis on this album. So Tomi Koivusaari would do the growling and then Joutsen would do the cleans. And I was immediately like, yes, I buy that. Because I was thinking already Santeri. So it would be 50 percent of Amorphis featuring on the same song. Luckily they were in and that’s what we need. And I think that song became a really amazing one.
Can we anticipate you guys doing that song all together on the upcoming tour?
I don’t know yet. I haven’t dared to ask those guys because we are having over 50 shows together. First a North American tour and then a European tour. So it’s quite a lot if we do every night. So I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not, but that would be cool. And I’m sure it’s going to happen somewhere at some point.
You shot several videos for the album. Is that something you enjoy or is it a necessary evil for the promotion process?
Definitely we are not enjoying that. Making music videos is the worst in the cycle of doing a new album. I hate playback playing and posing on camera. So that’s definitely not our enjoyment why we did actually four videos for this album. Our label wants to get three or four music videos. It’s about streaming platforms and single releases and stuff like that. Actually, music videos are really important nowadays. I’m an old school guy and I’ve been thinking like there’s not any more Headbangers Ball or no music television or no music channels at all. But YouTube and streaming and all social medias, they insist to get some visual content from the bands. So we’re doing it.
The album is being released on vinyl. Are you a collector?
I’m a music nerd. I collect vinyl and CDs and guitars and old American cars. That’s my thing on tour, vinyl wise. That keeps my sanity going. I check in every city’s secondhand shops. And then I have my daily routine of jogging or walking to the record store and then check what they have. And then I always buy way too many vinyls on tour. And then I’m fucked when I have to fly back home and I have like 50 vinyls to fit somewhere.
And so what’s your prized possession vinyl?
I’m more like a listener. I’m not that kind of music nerd that I want this first edition or something. But I do have quite a lot of cool and expensive stuff because I’ve been doing this for so long and old things have been getting a new value. I think I have some first editions of Death and ’80s hard rock. I have first editions and stuff like that.
When you come to North America on tour, in addition to record stores do you spend time at car places?
Yeah, definitely. That’s my jam. I do have my collection. My daily driver is GMC Yukon, the huge-ass monster truck. And then my beloved summer cars are Chevrolet Corvette 88, then Dodge Charger 1970. That’s badass, my all-time favorite car. And then I have an 87 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS, which used to be Alexei Laiho’s from Children of Bodom. His old car.
Where do you store them all?
In my yard. In my garage. And then when the winter comes, then I’m fucked. Then I’m annoying to my car friends. And my cars are everywhere. In every garage.
Have you ever bought one in the U.S. and shipped it back over there?
No. That I haven’t done yet. Some car parts I have bought when on tour. That’s easier.
Where haven’t you played live that you’d still like to get to?
Africa. I haven’t even been as a tourist in Africa, but in every other continent, except Antarctica, of course. I think Metallica is the only band that plays Antarctica. India is still not conquered or Indonesia. But I think we are playing in a festival next spring in Indonesia, which is going to be on the bucket list. I remember playing in New Zealand. That was one of the craziest bucket list things I’ve had. That was the furthest away from home I’ve ever been. When I was in a hotel in Wellington, New Zealand, and took Google Maps and checked how many kilometers is my home. I think it was something like 18,000 kilometers to home.
You have so much material, so how challenging is it to put a set list together?
Ten albums and two EPs. That’s quite a hard task to do a set list for the show. Especially for the festivals. Of course, the band always wants to play new songs. But as a music fan, I attend a lot of concerts myself. I know as a fanboy, I don’t want to see a band playing only new stuff. Because bands have to play old classics and stuff like that. So it is hard to find a balance between new and old stuff. And then find some new old stuff to play. Of course, we have these songs, like “While We Sleep” or “Heart Like A Grave” that we always have to play. I call that fan service, that you have to play those to keep certain people happy.
A few times you’ve done double duty, where Omnium Gatherum and Insomnium have toured together. How physically challenging is that, when you’re doing it for several weeks at a time?
As I’m getting older, it’s not getting any easier. It used to be easier. I think I did that first in 2015, doing long tours with both bands. My philosophy for that has always been don’t think too much. If you start thinking beforehand, I have to play two shows per night, one month. That’s almost 60 shows. So if you think that kind of things, then you get messed up. So I haven’t been thinking too much. I’ve been just playing and then just catch your breath and change clothes, get a new guitar. And that’s how I have a different mindset for the different shows. And it’s doable.
The stupidest thing is the beginning of the second show, because the ending of the show is always like an adrenaline rush. And then after 30 minutes, after the second intro, it’s like, surprise, I’m here again. That feels stupid. But after that feeling, then it’s all good again.
How many active bands are you currently in at the moment?
Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum, Cemetery Skyline. Those are the main active, playing shows bands. And then I Am The Night, the black metal band. It’s active. We are trying to do the second album whenever there’s time. And that’s about it. We had 20-year anniversary shows of my old progressive metal band, Manitou, last year. And we would have wanted to do a bit more. But unfortunately, there’s no time. Also, my wife’s been saying, please no new bands for a few years.
AI has really been creeping into music, not just creating it, but also album art. Where do you stand on the whole AI thing with music?
Personally, I hate it. It doesn’t have anything to do with music. I’ve been doing some jokes in AI with my phone, but music-wise, but I would never use it. That’s the last outpost that I want to get involved, because composing music is sacred and holy ground for me. I would never want to destroy it with AI. That would make me a totally worthless person, because a machine would do the same, and it would feel really bad. I don’t want to go there, because that’s the end of my story. Game over then.
And in many other fields, I don’t like AI at all. For example, Patric Ullaeus did two new Insomnium music videos, and there was some AI stuff, and fans hated it. I can say I hated it too. I don’t like AI to be in the music videos, and I think there was some kind of crisis, and our management, I guess they’re deleting the “Arch Of The Sky” video, because there was not supposed to be AI. There was, and it was not our band’s call, and we didn’t want that, but that’s happened. And of course, it destroys people’s jobs and workplaces, so I don’t think it’s so good.
(interview published October 15, 2026)
