In 2024, the self-proclaimed “violent pop” band BLIND CHANNEL disappeared for what would be a 20-month hiatus. Now returning with a new album, the Finnish metal five-piece are thrilled to be back. “We missed this”, vocalist Niko Moilanen says over video link from Helsinki. He tells me of how early into the 20-month break, the members of BLIND CHANNEL asked each other: “Do we still want to do this?” So, how long before a consensus was reached? “I think it took a couple of seconds”, Moilanen says. “We still have a lot of things we want to do, a lot of songs we want to make and a lot of places we want to visit.” And with that, BLIND CHANNEL are back.

The band’s journey has been an unconventional one. Formed in the early 2010s, their international breakthrough arrived in 2021 when they represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest, finishing 6^th. This catapulted them from the largely gig-less depths of Covid-19 lockdowns to an international touring outfit. But by 2024, a break was needed. “It’s the multi-tasking that you need to be prepared for,” Moilanen says in response to a question about the fatigue associated with touring. “You‘re doing your next single or an album, and a music video, and an interview, and a show in the evening,” he adds.

More than anything, however, it was the way BLIND CHANNEL were approaching their craft that prompted a pause in proceedings. “I think an important thing to mention is that we went on a break because of musical reasons,” Moilanen says. With each recording session beginning to feel a little too methodical, Moilanen soon realised: “Music should never feel like that – something you know how to do. We want every song to be a journey, an exploration and a reflection of us and the world we see at that moment.” Yet with deadlines looming and a schedule that left little room for the playfulness Moilanen feels is necessary to achieve the best results, BLIND CHANNEL took a step back.

The hiatus afforded the band a chance to reconnect with one another. “We got to spend time with each other, not as bandmates, but as friends,” Says Moilanen. “As a band, we’re closer than ever.” This all contributed towards a now rejuvenated BLIND CHANNEL returning to the studio post-break with newfound impetus to explore novel possibilities. According to Moilanen, this included attempting “to do something stupid, or that we’ve never done before.” For Moilanen, persistence is key. “It’s not going to work at first, but you need time to do that. Then all of a sudden something clicks, it starts working and you find that sense of exploration again.”

The band’s want for unabashed experimentation led to BLIND CHANNEL’s sixth studio album, ‘Painstream’. It’s their most creative to date; a combination of earnest lyricism and creative production choices. It leads to meditations on tragedy (‘Youthanasia’), scorching vocals (‘Diana’) and sums to an ambitious return.

How did they achieve this? “What really drove us was this idea that the worst you can be is boring,” Moilanen says, while espousing the benefits of never settling for the obvious option. “The best way to surprise others is to surprise yourself.”

At its best, this attitude leads to results like the colourful splashes of electronica that populate the standout ‘No Encores In A Swan Song’. But did any of the band’s experiments not work? “There were many,” laughs Moilanen. “When you first start trying things out, a lot of things are not going to work.” This included various attempts at songs built around major chord progressions. “It didn’t feel like us, those happy summery songs.”

It’s hardly surprising that a series of major chord progressions were not seen fit for ‘Painstream’, an album that the band says aims to examine “pain from personal, societal and existential perspectives.” To be indebted to such a bleak central theme sounds at odds with the positivity that Moilanen exudes in conversation, but there’s more to ‘Painstream’ as a concept than one might think.

Take the title; “It began as a joke,” says Moilanen, when years ago critics dismissed BLIND CHANNEL as too mainstream to be metal. “I had this comeback. ‘No, it’s Painstream music’,” says Moilanen. “The guys in the band found it very amusing.”

Years on, with the band’s latest album fully-formed, they went about establishing what connected each of the twelve songs. “We realised that all of these songs are in one way or another about pain,” says Moilanen. It was only when Moilanen happened upon the word “Painstream” in his notes app that he then proposed the title to the rest of the band. “All of a sudden, we found so many meanings to it. Writing music and performing it live has always had this sense of therapy for us, so what if us pouring out our pain and turning it into art – what if that’s ‘painstreaming’?” The band soon found other meanings to the word. Attending a gig after a difficult week could be considered painstreaming, as could listening to a favourite artist when feeling down. Suddenly, this initially jocular remark soon had broader substance.

This also means that ‘Painstream’ is a necessary and vulnerable album, with the band imbuing their music with genuine emotion. “It’s terrifying,” admits Moilanen when asked about being this forthright when writing. He sees it as nonetheless important; to such an extent that it directly inspired the music on ‘Painstream’, in particular the lead single ‘Diana’.

“I think the first line I had was: ‘How far can they go until we draw the limit? / This world always knew how to break a free spirit’. When someone dares to be themselves very openly … people want to push them down,” Moilanen says. “You see that happen a lot when someone is very bravely and openly themselves. It feels like this flower blooming brighter and higher than the others. Then lightning strikes it down.”

The depth of Moilanen’s lyrics is a result of his sincerity, but even more upfront than his unrestrained honesty is Moilanen’s infinitely elastic vocals which traverse stratospheric heights and cavernous depths without ever losing his characteristically throaty roughness. The variety of vocal techniques Moilanen possesses is the result of him being a fast learner, with an admirably willing approach. “I’ve always been this chameleon when it comes to singing,” Moilanen says. For example, take their debut album. “We wanted screams in there but none of us could scream, so I had to learn.” He continues by citing the vocalists he’s studied the most, with both Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington and Architect’s Sam Carter being significant individuals whose voices provided inspiration. “I need to be able to do what the song needs,” he says. “Like I say, songwriting needs to be about challenging yourself, so that’s what we did. We challenged every one of us, that included me.”

It all explains why ‘Painstream’ is such an exhilaratingly complex set of songs, with instrumental ambition that matches both Moilanen’s frank lyrics and bold vocals. While a almost two-year hiatus is brief, it has evidently allowed BLIND CHANNEL to grow together as musicians. The time away has allowed them to regroup and expand the scope of their songcraft. The resulting ‘Painstream’ is thus an exciting next chapter for the Finnish rockers.

BEN WILLIAMS

‘Painsteam’ is released on 30th October via Century Media Records.