Angel Blake

Posted on Jul 11, 2006

by Anders

Angel Blake, the new band of Marko Tervonen, who made himself known as the shredding force in The Crown. Nowadays he has put thrashy death metal on the shelve and concentrates on delivering atmospheric and dark rock inspired heavy metal, though still with emphasis on guitar driven tunes and excellent play. This day today Angel Blake consists of Marko, singer Tony Jelenovich, guitarist Christian Älvestam, contra-bassist Örjan Wressel and drummer Janne Saarenpää, all wellknown names for most of you. Though when the band's first album "Angel Blake" was recorded, only Marko and Tony were around, Tony took care of the vocals, while Marko did the rest. The album is quite good and I hooked up with a very cheerful Marko Tervonen last night and got a good chat about the band.

Hi there, how are things in Sweden as we speak?

Hot, very hot, we are sweating bullets!

How did you get the idea for Angel Blake?

It took a while for me to figure out things, after we ended The Crown. I didn't know what to do, though I soon realized that I couldn't stop writing music and being creative. Then I had to find out whether to only write music for myself or to go pro again and release the music, I took the chance and went pro again, to see where it would take me.

Your selftitled debut album has now been released for a while, and offers dark rock-inspired heavy metal, how do you in the band feel about the album now, when you have gotten some distance to it?

I am still proud of the album, I have listened to it more than a million times since it was done. Though I have recently started to regret that I didn't include a song more on the record, I think that would have made it more complete. But still, it is a very cool album.

When you write music, where do you find inspiration?

Many years ago when I wrote music, I became influenced by all the music I listened to, and could feed of that. Nowadays I just pick up the guitar and starts to play, and doesn't really think about it. I've done that for quite some years, also when I wrote music in The Crown. Sometimes it depends on my mood though, it can be easier to write music when being a bit pissed off, even though it isn't necessary, haha. There are of course also a pile of bands that have inspired me all the way through my career and possibly taint my inspirations, bands as Paradise Lost, Morbid Angel and Metallica.

Do you have to be in a certain mood when writing music and do certain emotions/things trigger your song writing?

I used to think that I had to be in a certain mood to write music, though I have later found out that it isn't necessary for me to be in a bad mood, I have no problems writing music when being happy or having fun. I actually wrote a couple of songs for "Angel Blake" when being in a good mood, and the track 'Thousand Storms' does actually have a positive message, haha, even though I know that is a forbidden thing within the realm of metal, haha. But it often does help to be in a certain dark state of mind, while writing sinister and doomy stuff, though, that certain state of mind helps the right atmosphere shining through. I have also tried to write music while being drunk, though that didn't work at all, haha.

What do you want to tell with your music?

I don't have a statement or anything like that. This album turned out to be very personally, more or less the story of my life turned into an artistically expression. My will and heart turned into music, plus some of my natural progression.

When thinking about that Metal Blade mentions Angel Blake as the new band of Marko Tervonen of The Crown, don't you think many people will get surprised when the listen to Angel Blake, due to them expecting something in the vein of The Crown?

I know, and many people have also been disappointed by the fact, that I don't continue the The Crown style in Angel Blake. Though I have, since the beginning of the band, urged people to listen to it with an open mind, as it wouldn't be the continuation of The Crown, that wouldn't make sense. Though there have been a lot of positive reactions towards the band as well, and a lot of The Crown fans, have actually said they could recognize my way and style of playing, that's cool. But I have to say some of the songs were written while The Crown still was going strong, most of them actually, I guess somewhere between 70-80 percent of the album were. In the end, I actually don't think the material on the album is that far from The Crown, it is just slower and darker foremost. And as a funny thing, the album has gotten the same reactions as all the The Crown albums, some love it and others hate it, some places "Angel Blake" has been the album of the month, in other places it's been the worst of the month, exactly like the albums I did with The Crown, haha.

How did you go from blasting thrashy death metal to the darker and calmer style you deliver in Angel Blake?

I guess it is something I have built up during The Crown years, as the Angel Blake album is built on ideas going back as far as 7 years I think. I have always enjoyed dark music as Paradise Lost and the likes, and I did write some dark songs while being in The Crown, it especially came through on "Possessed 13". I also found it very easy to write the music, I actually already have 8-10 new songs ready for the next album. I guess it always is easier to come up with a lot of stuff, when the music feels new and fresh, the inspiration just flows. It is also good to do, what people not expect, I don’t wanna do death metal the rest of my live, because people expect it!

How did you end up with Tony Jelenovich in the band?

I did a demo of the entire album, with complete vocal lines and all, and then thought of who I could get to sing on the album. I have always liked vocalists as James Hetfield and Nick Holmes of Paradise Lost, and Tony has some of the things those 2 have. He has a lot of emotion in his vocals and a blues feel to it as well, he turned out to be perfect for the songs.

Is it Tony who writes the lyrics or do you handle that as well?

I wrote the lyrics as well, when Tony joined I had already made vocal lines and arrangements, he just had to sing it, haha, I run a little dictatorship, haha.

Which lyrical themes have you touched on the album?

Everything from personal stuff to more fictional stories. Like 'Lycanthrope' which as the title suggests, deals with the metamorphism of man and wolf. 'Thousand Storms' is more personal, dealing with past relationships and '… 'Til The End' is more extreme, dealing with how you would think and react, when lying on the deathbed, knowing you were about to leave life behind, realizing there were a lot of things you had missed out on. I work kinda strange when I write the lyrics, first I finish up the music, and then I listen to the song over and over again, until it catches me and then I write some ramblings, which I later edit into the real lyrics.

If you feel like it, you are very welcome to pick out your 3 favourite tracks from the album and tell a bit about the lyrics and the idea for the music and so on…!

That is tough, as I like all the songs, haha, But if I have to pick some out, I'd start with 'Retaliate', a cool and energetic song, I really like the laid back energy in the chorus, I actually wrote the track for The Crown, but it never made it back then, haha. I wrote 'The Forsaken' as the last track for the "Angel Blake" album, perhaps that is why it seems so much more professional than the rest, it almost sounds like a real song, haha. And last there is '… 'Til The End', a cool doomy song, just listen to it, haha.

You have chosen to do a cover version of the great Rolling Stones track 'Paint It Black', why you have you chosen to cover the Stones and why that exact song?

Not my best idea, haha, even the record company asked if I could find another song, haha. Though it's a cool song, I know it has been done a lot, though I've had the idea since 1997, so I guess I just had to get it out of my system, and now when I had Tony to sing, I thought it would fit the album good. And it actually does, when thinking of the album being slower to mid-paced more or less all the way through, it is nice with an up-tempo song.

Are you going to tour Europe/Scandinavia in support of the album?

That would be cool, though so far no one has approached me. We only have one summer festival, Summer Breeze in August, in Germany. I am still waiting for Nick Holmes to call me though, haha.

How do you look upon the future of the band and what can we expect of you?

Well, the album sets the tone for what to expect of us I think, you have all from the slow doomy songs to more up-tempo ones. I have something to continue out from, on the quest for perfection. I am sure there will be a few surprises along the way, though I don't think the new album will be much different from "Angel Blake". Though we will see, as it is now, we'll hit the studio in the beginning of the new year.

How does the band work now, when you have a full line-up, do you rehearse and such?

Well, as said earlier, I already have around 10 new songs, so I don't think the band will get that much into the song writing process yet, though we will see, I haven't really decided anything yet. And yea, we do rehearse!

Do you know how well the album so far has done?

I actually don't know, I am supposed to get some papers sometime in August, though I haven't actually heard anything from the label yet, kinda scary, haha. Though Metal Blade hasn't kicked me off the label yet, so it must have done okay.

Has the album lived up to your expectations to it?

Yes I believe so, I am fully satisfied with the album and the reactions towards it. And I have also done the production of it myself, I actually bought me the studio equipment and installed it for the recording of this album, so it is my first production. I tried to accomplish a sound in the vein of the sound Paradise Lost has on "Draconian Times", and I think I did well. Hopefully well enough for others to wanna come and use the studio and letting me produce their music as well, haha.

Will you share your 5 all time favourite albums with the readers of Nocturnal Horde?

Ohh this one is tough, it's hard to choose, I could go with all albums from Morbid Angel, Metallica and Paradise Lost, haha, though let me pinpoint it:

Morbid Angel - Covenant
Metallica – Master Of Puppets
Danzig – Danzig III – How The Gods Kill
Paradise Lost – Draconian Times
Edge Of Sanity – Unorthodox

The last mentioned is one of the bands that haven't kept it up all the way through their career though. But I had to mention them, as "Unorthodox" was the album that tainted me as a death metal song writer, it meant the world to me back then and inspired me a lot!

Angel Blake website

Review of "Angel Blake"

Buy the album at

Buy merchandise at