Finland is worldwide known for their lakes and natural beauty. In the realm of sports, Finland is a force to be reckoned with in almost every winter based sports. When it comes to music, Finland has a well known and worldwide recognised name for being a breeding ground for music in general and metal especially. Well known artist like Nightwish, Lordi, The Rasmus, HIM and many many more originate from this beautifull country,
Perhaps lesser known is Saturnian Mist. A occult black metal band, surrounding fra. Zetekh, that originated in 2006 in Kuopio, Finland. The band draws their inspiration from the world of left-hand path occultism, especially from the dark side of the ancient traditions all the way from voodoo and shamanism to oriental mysticism and European paganism.
Saturnian Mist is an occult black metal band founded in 2006 in Kuopio, Finland. From its earliest years, the band became known for its intense and energetic live performances, as well as for its deeply esoteric and mystical lyrics. The band was built around its sole original member, vocalist-musician-producer Fra. Zetekh (a.k.a. King Aleister Satan). Their lyrical and thematic influences stemmed from occult Satanism, shamanism, voodoo, and chaos magic. Over the years, the band performed extensively both in Finland and abroad, playing in a total of 12 different countries. After their early small releases and debut album Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan (2011), Saturnian Mist was signed to the renowned British label Candlelight Records. Through this label, the band released perhaps their most well-known recording, Chaos Magick (2015). The album was promoted widely across Europe, including the “Chaos is the Law” tour, and the band was a familiar sight at underground black metal festivals.
Although the band was founded in Kuopio, its most active years were based in Jyväskylä and Tampere. Apart from Fra. Zetekh, the lineup changed frequently, featuring musicians also known from bands such as Verge, Creatura, Blood Red Fog, Arvet, Sargeist, Horna, Vitsaus, Azazel, Charnel Winds, Teloch, Viha, Vitriolic, Ancient Hatred, and King Satan. Saturnian Mist’s final album, Shamatanic, was released in 2021 through the Dutch label Petrichor / Hammerheart Records. In 2024, the band announced that it would disband, with its members continuing their work in other bands (King Satan, Ancient Hatred, Vitriolic, etc.). The band will celebrate its farewell with a final show in October in their current hometown of Tampere.
However, after an 18-year-long and successful journey, things are about to end for Saturnian Mist. One final show is in the works, and Saturnian Mist will not go quietly! I had the opportunity to sit down with Fra. Zetekh to discuss the reasons behind this decision, the band’s early days, and the journey that has brought them to this point.

Q: How are things in Finland and with yourself?
A: All good here! Autumn is arriving in full force, and there’s a lot of energy in the air, especially with us calling it quits with Saturnian Mist after 18 years. We’re also rehearsing for the Grand Finale Concert in October. We just had our second rehearsal for it this past weekend. Even after all these years, it still amazes me how powerful our music sounds when we play together live. Naturally, there’s a lot of nostalgia for all of us—18 years is definitely a long time.
Q: Saturnian Mist has been around for some time, but it didn’t just fall from the sky. You had bands like ANXIETY and HATE LEGION before SATURNIAN MIST, and you’ve mentioned they were important in the development of SATURNIAN MIST. What can you tell us about those early days?
A: Yeah, that’s true. I don’t think I can properly describe Saturnian Mist’s history without talking about Anxiety. I founded Anxiety, a black metal band, back in 2003. We got signed to the legendary French black metal label, Drakkar Productions (known for releasing albums from The Black Legions bands like Mütiilation, Vlad Tepes, and even early Watain) after our second demo in 2004. That meant the world to me because The Black Legions bands were my main inspiration at the time, and Drakkar was known for releasing their material. It’s surreal to think about now, but I was only 14 years old back then. We made a couple of demos for Drakkar, which were distributed throughout the underground black metal scene. We were even invited to play live shows outside Finland, but our parents didn’t want us going to the USA or France to play black metal unsupervised at the age of 14-15. Taking our parents with us would’ve ruined our street credibility, hahaha.
After the demos, it was time to work on the debut album for Anxiety, which we started with O.M. Ritualmord on drums sometime in 2005. At that time, I was still playing guitar on the records too along with doing vocals. Then, I met fra. Chaoswind, who lived across town, and he ended up being a game-changer for our future direction. We shared the same views about black metal and its ideologies, so I invited him to play guitar on the Anxiety debut album.
When we finished the first raw demo for the album, I realized that this wasn’t the same band anymore after Chaoswind joined, and my deepened interest in occultism and mysticism had changed the band’s energy. Instead of just being a “raw anti-Christian black metal band,” which was the fundamental theme of Anxiety, we were evolving. It was 2006, and we were rehearsing and working on demos at the local youth center in Kuopio, in the district of Petonen, which was one of the most restless areas in Finland at the time, second only to Helsinki’s Kallio. That unrest became a part of our lives too, and we couldn’t (and didn’t want to) avoid it either if being honest. Juvenile aggression was something we embraced quite fully, especially since a few metalhead kids were easy targets for rappers, rockabillies, and even jocks. You kind of toughen up quite fast when you constantly have to fight against more than one person, heh. If that doesn’t teach you to follow your own path, I don’t know what will, and I’m completely sure that this is the source of my non-conforming attitude I bred with Saturnian Mist and beyond. And I noticed that this ”rebel/poet” mixture worked for girls too who were not even metalheads, so I would be lying if this was never a factor for me pursuing musicianship too in the beginning, heh. I figured that friction directed well turns into a power.
Anyway, during the recordings of Anxiety’s debut album, I decided that Anxiety was no more because of the change of the band’s energy, and that’s how Saturnian Mist was born. In a way I guess making music with occult themes which explore inner worlds helped me to make more sense of the reality I was involved.


Q: Can you tell me about the beginning of SATURNIAN MIST?
A: Well, like I said, when we were recording Anxiety’s debut album, I realized the band had changed too much, so I wanted a fresh start with a new name. I came up with the name “Saturnian Mist” because it felt both mystical and powerful to me, and I liked the history behind the word “Saturnian.” Our label at the time, Drakkar Productions, said they couldn’t release a full debut album from out of nowhere, as they preferred to build a reputation first with demos. The record deal had been made for Anxiety, not Saturnian Mist, and the label told us that if we wanted to make music under the name Saturnian Mist, we would have to make a new record deal and start with a demo or two. We chose Saturnian Mist, and we went into the studio to record a new demo.
This time, it was an actual studio at our local youth center, Pinari, not just a rehearsal room. One of the youth workers, Jarkki Hämäläinen, who was a blues musician himself, offered to record our demo there. We accepted his offer, on the condition that he wouldn’t interfere with our vision but just help with the recording process.
During the recording of the first Saturnian Mist demo, which was originally an Anxiety composition, a new youth worker joined the youth center: Zachary Hietala, the legendary Finnish metal guitarist from Tarot (and brother of Marco Hietala). He offered to help produce the demo. Believe it or not, Chaoswind and I declined his offer. Jarkki, the sound guy, asked if we really understood the opportunity we were turning down. We were well aware of it, as we knew exactly who Zachary was and even idolized him. But we also knew he was an old-school heavy metal musician, and we wanted to create uncompromising black metal completely on our own terms. We didn’t want to be known because of our producer but because of ourselves. That choice really reflected our attitude at the time and which we kind of carried through the whole career of Saturnian Mist.
So, the demo was eventually recorded, and then I wanted to mix it. I didn’t really know anything about mixing back then—our Anxiety demos hadn’t been mixed at all. They were just recorded with a couple of room mics around the rehearsal space, and that was it, haha. So, it took some time to release the first demo because I had to teach myself how to mix before I could finish it. On top of that, we had another demo band with the members of Saturnian Mist and a few others called Hate Legion, which played a mix of death metal and thrash metal. Hate Legion took up a lot of my time as well. We performed live at various youth centers in Kuopio, in events I organized myself since there were no metal shows for minors. We rehearsed a lot and even traveled to Tampere for a show at Vastavirta Bar.
It wasn’t until 2008 that the self-titled Saturnian Mist demo was released via Drakkar Productions. To our surprise, it was received really well, far beyond our expectations. Underground zines, internet forums, and local metal bars were talking about it, and it got good reviews. We even landed our first interviews with underground zines, and we were featured in the prestigious British metal magazine Zero Tolerance, thanks to Nathan T. Birk, a journalist who had been a big fan of Anxiety and who hyped Saturnian Mist outside of Finland as well.

Q: You released an EP named Repellings and started performing live in 2009. What can you tell us about that time?
A: Right after the demo’s release, I moved to Tampere with my then-girlfriend, hoping to pursue an academic career in philosophy due to my lifelong interest in the subject, but that never materialized, although it came close. Instead, I ended up working in audiovisual productions with music, video, and graphics. Before that, I focused entirely on Saturnian Mist, alongside working small jobs like cleaner, janitor, kiosk salesman, and even a roadie (I did roading for Slipknot, Bruce Springsteen, Slayer, Children of Bodom, etc., when they toured in Finland), since underground black metal at that level didn’t really cover the bills.
Drakkar Productions had planned to organize Saturnian Mist’s first live show in 2008, but it was canceled after we had already bought the flight tickets. So, instead of performing, we went on vacation to Marseille, France. We never got reimbursed for those tickets, which left us pretty frustrated, so we decided not to sign the 7-album deal Drakkar offered us and looked for a new label to release our recently recorded Repellings EP. Ironically, we would’ve never fulfilled that Drakkar contract anyway, since we only released three full-length albums over the course of our career, haha.
This time, we wanted a Finnish record label, thinking that working with someone closer to us would benefit the band. Helsinki-based underground label Descending Towards Damnation agreed to release the Repellings EP in 2009, and after that, we began performing live regularly. We were invited to play at the Sathanas In Gloriam Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the Black Sunrise Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, and at club shows and underground DIY festivals in Finland. Looking back, we had quite a good start with our live shows—and how young we were! Only 19-20 years old.
Q: How were your live shows back then?
On stage, we didn’t just want to perform; we wanted to literally channel dark, demonic, and satanic forces from the depths of our minds through our bodies, instruments, and energy, projecting them from the stage to the audience. We fully immersed ourselves in occultism, studying ritual and ceremonial magick, shamanism, and voodoo to enhance this. Our early shows were based on what kind of Goetia each song would invoke. We didn’t just metaphorically reference these things; we aimed for our music and performances to be literal invocation and evocation rituals. This pushed us into a trance-like state of mind that oscillated between primordial rage and ritualistic intensity on stage.
I remember after our performance at the Sathanas In Gloriam Festival in the Netherlands, an audience member approached me and said he didn’t believe in anything “supernatural” or “demonic,” but during our show, he felt something so powerful that he could understand why some people did—and that he was even reconsidering his own views. Grown men would go into ecstasy during our shows, almost like some kind of satanic revival. This gave us a reputation for being an intense and energetic live band.
Q: Occultism and live shows seemed to become an integral part of SATURNIAN MIST from then on?
A: Yeah, absolutely. Suddenly, we were playing support shows for black metal veterans like Barathrum and Black Crucifixion, and we started networking with other black metal bands that shared similar views. I also joined several other bands as a vocalist—Arvet, Charnel Winds, and Pantheon Of Blood—and became the bassist for another black metal veteran, Azazel. Many of our new friends were members of an Occult Society called Azazelin Tähti (The Star of Azazel, though it had no connection to the band Azazel), run by Finnish occult author Johannes Nefastos. Up until that point, I had been associated with several esoteric societies (and continued to be afterward), but I had always followed the left-hand path in occultism so strongly that I never swore any oaths or became an initiate. My left-hand path approach made me more of a “lone wolf” when it came to occultism, haha. But my friends at the time persuaded me to join the society, even though I didn’t share all of their views. There was always a bit of friction, but we managed to coexist.
Azazelin Tähti times became a significant influence on my work with Saturnian Mist’s debut album when we started working on it in 2009, and this continued until I resigned from the society in 2012. I never actually wanted my involvement with Azazelin Tähti to be public because of the esoteric nature of the society, but word got out quickly. I embraced it for a while, but eventually, it became a burden for various reasons.
I integrated my occult and magical work within Azazelin Tähti and its esoteric departments into my work with Saturnian Mist, and during that time, I composed our debut album Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan. My focus was always on the darker, more sinister, and chaotic side of occultism, and I adopted a kind of “mad scientist” approach to it, which mirrored not only in Saturnian Mist’s debut album but also in my overall development as an artist. I never took anyone’s word for anything—I wanted to experiment and find things out for myself, and then decide what to do with that knowledge. Somehow, I ended up leading two esoteric departments or “aspects,” the Red and Black aspects, which Johannes Nefastos wrote about in his book Polkujen Kirjat. I worked very closely with Johannes at the time, and he encouraged me to trust in my strengths (which eventually led to my resignation from Azazelin Tähti). He also helped with the lyrical side of the debut album, writing lyrics for one song and acting as an editor or proofreader for the others.


So, Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan is really an artistic reflection of that period of my life, as well as of the band members at the time. Things carried on this way until, I believe, late 2012, when I resigned from Azazelin Tähti due to ideological differences that weren’t an issue at first but grew more restricting later on. I still have huge respect for Johannes Nefastos’ philosophy—there’s no bad blood between us, quite the opposite. I just had to fully embrace my own path. I’m simply too left-hand-path-oriented, and I could no longer reconcile that with working in their environment, given my “mad scientist” approach to both artistry and musicianship.
Q: Can you tell me more about the times surrounding the debut album Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan?
At the time, the members of Saturnian Mist lived all around Finland, so we all decided to move to Jyväskylä, which was kind of in the middle of us, to work on the debut album. This included me as well. While I was there, I started organizing underground black metal shows because not much was happening, and this way we could also get shows for Saturnian Mist, haha (Something I continued after my return in Tampere too, as I was co-founder with Tampere Metal and Black Mass Finland organizations). There were bands like Verge, Teloch, Funerary Bell, Charnel Winds, Ancient Hatred, Blood Red Fog, Cosmic Church, IC Rex, and Arvet, to name a few. So, when we moved to Jyväskylä, we created a nice synergy for a brief period.
The self-titled demo and Repellings EP had generated some buzz in the underground black metal scene, so there was surprisingly a good amount of anticipation for our debut album. Some larger record labels approached us at the time, but we ended up with an esteemed underground black metal label from Joensuu called Ahdistuksen Aihio Productions because we felt he was the only one who truly understood the vision we wanted to pursue. We recorded the album at Studio Watercastle in Jyväskylä, and then Heikki Kivelä from Jumalhämärä and Mörkö mixed the album and recorded some parts of it as well.
I had moved back to Tampere right after we finished the recordings of Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan because of a new girlfriend (again, haha), but it turned out that Tampere was becoming a new center of the underground metal scene, so the timing was indeed fortuitous.
When the album was released, it received quite a controversial reception, ranging from total bashing to immense praise. Apparently, people expected it to be more like the “religious black metal” type, which was quite popular at the time. However, I wanted to take the material in a direction that flirted with death metal and heavy metal, experimenting with elements like those found in “Consecration of the Temple” and “Sacrifice of Faces Unbroken.” We incorporated guttural vocals instead of shrieks and blended guitar solos with d-beats and blast beats. The themes still fit within the realm of “religious black metal” or “occult black metal.”
Despite the controversy—or maybe because of it—we were able to play some really great shows in Finland and abroad at underground black metal festivals, including notable highlights like the Forlorn Festival in Sweden and the Black Flames of Blasphemy festival in Helsinki in 2012. Looking back, it feels strange how controversial the album became, even though it was just a small underground black metal release. If you compare it to other releases of the same size, they typically don’t receive that much attention. But we embraced all of it!
Q: SATURNIAN MIST has progressed a lot from the early days to the high standard you guys uphold today. How did this growth come to be? I mean, was it natural, did it grow due to lineup changes, technical progress, etc.?
A: Sometime after the debut album, I moved to Groningen, Netherlands, to finish my studies and internship in audiovisual productions in late 2012. It was really necessary for me to take a step back from everything happening in Finland—a little pause for myself. I wrote most parts of the Chaos Magick album while living there. I also decided to leave Azazelin Tähti due to some ideological and pragmatic differences that I could no longer reconcile with my own path, which I’ve already mentioned. This led me to decide that if or when I associate with other esoteric, occult, or philosophical societies in the future, I would be more diligent about keeping it private and communicating about it indirectly, if I felt inclined. I felt that my dharma is to be an artist whose job is to inspire people to think for themselves, rather than recruit them into any cults or organizations, should I choose to join one. I still haven’t changed my mind about that.
When I returned to Finland, I reorganized not only Saturnian Mist but my whole life, and a new lineup came together. I also co-founded a recording studio, Blackvox Studio, and an underground black metal label, Saturnal Records, because I wanted to do everything on my own terms—not only sound-wise (hence the studio) but also in terms of the record label. These ventures became a reality in 2013. With the new lineup, we rehearsed a lot—and I mean a lot!
Besides the countless rehearsals, I experienced two significant moments that pushed me—and therefore the whole band—into the direction we chose with the Chaos Magick album. One was the production of Voodoo Gods’ debut album, for which I was the executive producer from Saturnal Records’ side. I witnessed in person how Andy La Rocque of King Diamond recorded and produced the album at his Sonic Train Studios in Varberg, Sweden, where I was visiting with the band. The other moment was a drunken Christmas party where I got to jam with a drummer named Conrad Isidore, who had played with Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.
These two experiences made it clear to me that I needed to use my sound engineering and producing abilities to serve my own vision, rather than conform to expected industry standards. That insight actually came from Andy La Rocque; his exact words were, “the industry has no honor, so don’t listen to them.” Mr. Isidore inspired me to add additional percussion to Saturnian Mist’s sound, supplementing the “regular drummer.” I still hear his words in my head from that night when we played various percussion instruments alongside the acoustic guitar. He said, “percussion is the first instrument; everything builds around that.” That hit me hard.
Fra. Vile had just joined the band as the drummer, and I then recruited Fra. Psychonaught to play additional percussion, aiming to infuse more shamanistic and voodoo vibes into our music. I wanted things to be energetic, primitive, and chaotic while still maintaining decent musicianship. And, as I mentioned, we rehearsed a lot.
Ironically, I was part of founding Saturnal Records because I wanted to take the record label matters into my own hands. However, Candlelight Records offered us a record deal for the Chaos Magick album that was just too good to refuse. I mean, the label had worked with Emperor, Opeth, Limbonic Art, and many extreme metal classics, so we decided to go for it. The following years became the pinnacle of Saturnian Mist’s career.
Q: Can you tell me about the origin of the name SATURNIAN MIST?
A: I first encountered the term “Saturnian” in the context of “Saturnian Verse,” which refers to an ancient Latin and Italic poetic form whose rules have been lost over the course of history. It is also related to the planet Saturn and the god Saturn-Chronos, both of which have associations with devilish powers and the archetype of the Devil throughout history. At that time, I also came across the phrase “Reign of Saturn God,” which is related to the term “Saturnian.” I wanted all of this to be part of my band, as we dealt with occult and mystic themes, focusing on their darker aspects. I felt that “Mist” symbolized some kind of aura, which I found to be quite fitting as well.
Q: It has not always been quiet around SATURNIAN MIST. The lineup has changed throughout the years, and as the last founding member standing strong, you have seen the band evolve. How has this been for you?
A: I think the era of the Chaos Magick album was kind of a crossroads for the band. Before that, the lineup was very unstable and changed frequently (it changed after that too, but not as drastically). I know some of it was on me because I was a demanding and uncompromising band leader, equipped with quite a temperament. However, some of it was just that the band was still searching for its actual form, and sometimes the people just couldn’t handle the intensity of it all. I remember when we tried to find a new bassist around 2013, a couple of candidates unofficially said, “Hell no, I’m not joining Saturnian Mist; people go insane there,” haha. We took our occultism and black metal very seriously, and substances were part of the process, which had some collateral effects, as everyone knows.
But I think the lineup finally clicked sometime around 2012-2013, maybe after Fra. Vile and Fra. Macabrum joined the band. Fra. Vile especially became quite a pillar of the temple known as Saturnian Mist, as he is also a very multifaceted artist—a drummer, sculptor, graphic artist, and painter—who understood all the aspects of Saturnian Mist that I wanted to have, not just his role as a drummer. I jammed with him on the demo versions of songs during the early phases before handing them out to the rest of the band, brainstorming ideas in general. The co-founder Fra. Chaoswind was also a similar person in Saturnian Mist, of course. Even though I always wrote the majority of the music and lyrics and served as the overall art director of the band—from the visual image to stage presence and production techniques—I always wanted to find people not only to support this but to help me develop these visions into much more than I could do alone. Fra. Chaoswind was crucial in this, especially during the early days. Naturally, I cherish almost every member of Saturnian Mist, and I’m on good terms with most of the ex-members to this day.
It was actually in 2017 when I, Fra. Chaoswind, and Fra. Vile all faced some serious health issues almost simultaneously for different reasons. I had five simultaneous stomach wounds because of my reckless lifestyle. We decided that we should record the Shamatanic album at least while we were still standing, and so we did. Then we decided to go on hiatus to recover. I had already started to recover during the recording process of Shamatanic because I stopped drinking and using drugs for a while, which helped my body heal quite quickly. During that hiatus, all the band members engaged in other band activities quite actively, including me with my newly founded King Satan project, which turned out to become my main project after the release of its debut, King Fucking Satan (2017). Fra. Macabrum was very busy with Sargeist, and Fra. Kult was involved with Ancient Hatred and Vitriolic. Chaoswind and Fra. Sota (a member since 2015) quit the band during the hiatus, and while waiting for Fra. Vile’s recovery, I made it clear that I would not continue Saturnian Mist at all if he did not come back. For some reason, I always thought he would quit the band before I decided to call it quits, haha. Fra. Ferreus, who had been a guitarist since 2017, also became a member of King Satan in 2019, so we had our hands quite full with that band.
Candlelight Records was sold to Spinefarm Records, and the label executives who signed us were fired. Our record deal expired during this hiatus, and the new label management was not interested in us anymore, which is why it took a little time to find a proper new record label. This led to us ending our “small hiatus” in 2021 by signing with Petrichor / Hammerheart Records to release Shamatanic. Fra. Sadolovl from King Satan joined as a live guitarist, and Fra. Scorpio came in as a second percussionist to replace Fra. Sota, so we could perform live again. However, our tour plans were disrupted because the COVID-19 pandemic was still ongoing, and we only performed a handful of times in Finland.
Q: How are you received by the public and press, considering that SATURNIAN MIST has an outspoken topic and musical base?
A: I think Saturnian Mist has always been a kind of controversial band, even though we are not that big, and we had our moments in the sun too. Ever since the early days, we have polarized a lot of people—both audiences and critics alike. Those who liked us really liked us, and those who didn’t really didn’t. It’s hard to summarize our reception in just a few sentences, but we received quite positive reviews in both mainstream and underground media, as well as total bashing in both. Sometimes the reasons for the praise and criticism were contradictory, as if the reviewers hadn’t listened to the same album. Some journalists became our enemies because I had the nerve to criticize their criticism, haha. Some reviews were surreal to read, as they seemed to be personal attacks rather than actual critiques. Conversely, those journalists who truly understood us really got what we were about.
It’s true that we were always quite an experimental band. I jokingly started calling us representatives of “white trash avant-garde,” because despite all the mystical and artistic aspects, we were, after all, a straightforward and primitive band you could headbang and mosh to, with lots of heavy metal influences in our sound.
I think Chaos Magick (2015) was even more controversial and polarizing than our debut, but it’s probably our best-known work, which helped us tour in Europe and play numerous festivals in Finland and abroad. This was likely because we never really fit into any existing niches, and we had a lot of non-conforming experimentation as a spice mixed with the death and heavy metal-influenced black metal style. Like I said before, those who liked us liked us a lot, and those who didn’t were not shy about expressing their opinions either. In a way, I think the polarization made both us and the audiences feel more alive than just “industry standard” music.
I consider Chaos Magick to be our moment in the sun. Ironically, Shamatanic (2021) turned out to be our most acclaimed album by both listeners and critics. It felt like that people finally began to understand more broadly what we were trying to do, haha. Unfortunately, we played the least amount of shows related to it because of the pandemic and also because other interests became a higher priority after the hiatus. In a way, I feel Shamatanic was released a bit too late. It was actually written back in 2016, but since we played live a lot with Saturnian Mist after the Chaos Magick album, and I was also involved with King Satan and other projects, we only managed to record it in 2018. And whole label situation and covid stalled it even further.

Q: During eighteen years, you have released a lot of music and played at numerous venues and festivals. Is there any venue or show that stands out? If so, why?
A: The entire Chaos is the Law Tour 2015 in Europe deserves to be mentioned here, as we did it to promote the Chaos Magick album. It was my first full-fledged tour in Europe, and it is burned into my soul’s retina. It was real underground black metal madness—no glamour or anything, but exactly like the tour’s title said: Chaos is the Law. I think we met the craziest and most devoted crowd on that tour. From that tour, Serbia’s Krusevac, Slovakia’s Bratislava, and Romania’s Oradea became benchmarks in my mind for successful shows based on their energy levels. They were chaotic shows where the audience joined in drum circles, and women threw their shirts off, engaging topless in a truly bacchanalian style of underground black metal concerts, where we also performed lots of improvised songs mixed with our regular set lists. We had similar experiences in Finland and Russia outside of this tour as well, and those shows were something special. Of course, the first shows I already mentioned in this interview will always hold a special place in my heart—I cannot deny that. And the Kings of Black Metal Festival in Germany back in 2016 was certainly something memorable too.
Q: More than any other music genre, the music SATURNIAN MIST produces can provoke strong reactions from (mostly religious) people. How do you handle this?
A: I’m not actually sure who is more offended by our work: religious fundamentalists or metal purists, hahah. I think my current main band, King Satan, would have more to say about that matter, even though it’s not black metal but industrial metal. That band seems to push the buttons of religious people quite strongly (among others). However, with Saturnian Mist, we were relatively safe from Christian fundamentalists because our focus was more mystical and esoteric rather than provocative and blasphemous. Additionally, like many underground black metal bands, we often fly under the radar of mainstream audiences and those who are not already familiar with it.
The problems we encountered with Christians were primarily outside of Finland. In Romania and Bulgaria, there were some fundamentalists who tried to influence the cancellation of our shows, but they were unsuccessful. One could argue about what kind of religious people we might regard as “occultists,” but I believe the strongest hate reactions we received came from the world of occultism itself—from other occultists. In other words, those who had some clue what we were trying to do.
Especially those representing the Theosophical movement, other Right-Hand Path movements, or New Age Occultism seemed convinced that we were bad news for the energy balances of the current. And funnily enough, some of the ”extreme” left hand path Satanists too. They were right in a way because that’s what we aimed to do. We wanted to invoke and evoke the undercurrents of our collective minds to the surface levels of our existence to reveal ourselves to ourselves which we wanted to result the change of the current (and lead us into a new aeon) —something Right-Hand Path occultists seem to fear. And I’m not talking in metaphors, that’s what we actually had in mind with our motifs to combine music and (dark) occultism. We received messages indicating that there were meditation and magical circles formed against us, which was kind of surreal. But what can you do besides protect yourself and continue doing your own thing? Just walk your own path, like we learned already from the very early age. However, that’s quite marginal compared to what fundamental Christians could do to cause harm.
Q: The music that you have made with SATURNIAN MIST obviously attracts a more specific audience than, let’s say, Taylor Swift. This is largely due to the topics and the kind of music you produce. Have you seen that audience change throughout the years? If so, in what way?
A: This one is hard to think about. I think in the early years, our listeners shared an intense devotion to the occult black metal ideas that we also embraced. Our audience wasn’t that big then, but they were even more devoted, which made it all feel really significant. However, after Chaos Magick, we began appealing to people who didn’t care about the ideological side of the band and enjoyed us solely for the music. I respect both sides because, after all, we were a musical band creating music with SATURNIAN MIST, heh.
I don’t know exactly why this change happened with Chaos Magick, because I believe it is just as challenging, if not more so, than our earlier works. But it probably had something to do with the record label and their PR, which significantly extended our earlier channels.

Q: Before deciding to put your efforts into music, you almost pursued a career in academic philosophy. How did that come to be?
A: Well, it’s almost something like that. Ever since my parents bought me my first electric guitar back in 2002, working with music has always been my priority. It became my lifestyle right away and has been ever since. I’ve been fortunate enough to make a living from it occasionally, even with my music and music production-related work, despite them being quite marginal and very underground-oriented (not just with SATURNIAN MIST but with other projects).
In my late teens, I contemplated an academic career in philosophy, psychology, and anthropology because they aligned with my other obsessions aside from music, and I was quite successful in them during high school. I received a scholarship in philosophy and was awarded in Scandinavian essay contests, which led me to believe I should pursue that for a living, as I was realistic about not expecting underground black metal to pay the bills alone.
Long story short, because I was part of those essay contests related to Helsinki University, I got to spend time with notable modern Finnish philosophers like Pekka Elo and Timo Airaksinen while I was still a senior in high school. I ended up arguing quite intensively with all of them because, as you can imagine. Even a couple of them saw me as some kind of prodigy. However, for most of them, my leather jacket, band shirts, and long hair were just too much, I could tell. Academic philosophy is much more rigid than my philosophical interests, which are more at home in the worlds of the occult, mythology, and mysticism (even though I would want them to align with modern scientific language, something I’ve spoken about in my musical interviews many times). I was also quite the restless metalhead who felt more comfortable on stage or in a rehearsal room than in a university auditorium, so I dropped my goal of becoming an academic and headed toward audiovisual production and music production instead.
Q: Were there any specific debate or arguments which made you to drop this route?
A: It was a combination of things, but one debate with Pekka Elo (who liked my ideas a lot at first, R.I.P.) was the turning point. At first, we got along well—he really appreciated my essays on Kierkegaard and Parmenides. He even said it was refreshing to see original thoughts instead of cliché answers. But we had a major disagreement about Plato. I argued Plato wasn’t totalitarian, while he insisted he was. After that, I was suddenly dropped from the essay contest without explanation. Later, I saw him on TV calling for Plato to be banned from schools (I was a bit disappointed he didn’t mention our debates there, hahah). It felt like he was pushing for needless censorship, which to me seemed more totalitarian than Plato. Seeing an academic philosopher take that stance made me realize academia wasn’t for me, some kind of premonition of cancel culture already back in 2008 I’d say — I could still pursue philosophy without making it my profession.
Q: Did this influence your way of thinking and handling things with Saturnian Mist?
A: Well, yes. It helped me grasp a better understanding of my own identity. I learned not to conform if it goes against my better judgment. It also made me more confident in my beliefs to see that I could actually argue with real philosophers to the point that they resorted to the classic argument, “Well, you’ll understand when you get older,” when they lacked material, haha. All of this made me even more certain that I should pursue these interests through the artistic process rather than an academic one.
Q: What bands influenced you during the years?
A: In the early days The Black Legions bands from France, like Vlad Tepes, Belketre and Mütiilation, but also Finnish black metal like Horna and Barathrum and some really raw stuff like Ildjarn from Norway, especially with Anxiety times. With ’Repellings’ times I don’t know really actually, I just kind of starting dropping the idea that I should try to mimic my influences. I know I listened and worship Dissection, Funeral Mist, Antaeus, Katharsis, Tool and Slipknot at the time besides electro-industrial bands like Hocico and Suicide Commando. Not sure how they all influenced to our music, but themes perhaps. As a vocalist, I think my top inspirations were Mayhem’s Dead and Attila Chaser, Behemoth’s Nergal, Corpsegrinder from Cannibal Corpse, Nocturno Cult of Darkthrone and Demonos Sova from Barathrum, at least in my teens, but then I just started trusting my own voice instead and I wanted to try what kind of style I find from myself. With Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan I embraced fully the idea of combining different influences from different genres, but again, not sure how well my influences are visible there. Slayer and Venom for instance. And I always did worship Laibach very much, which influences might be a bit visible at ’Chaos Magick’ album, but it’s kind of subtle. Only couple of people mentioned this to me. Mainly I got influenced from the world of occultism and wanted to create soundscapes around what I got from there. I think most influential occult authors for me were then Michael Bertiaux, Aleister Crowley, H. P. Blavatsky, Carlos Castaneda, Peter J. Carroll and all books related to old mythologies and occult traditions from Shamanism to Voodoo and Gnosticism.
Q: As you are someone who aims for perfection in everything, it must be difficult to decide that Saturnian Mist has run its course. What made you make that decision, and how did the rest of the band take this sad news?
A: The hardest part for me was actually letting go. I realized it when I was listening to the final master version of the Shamatanic album before its release; it felt like the culmination of Saturnian Mist, and I understood that there were no more places to go with this band. I didn’t want to fully admit that to myself at the time because Saturnian Mist was such an integral part of my musical and personal identity, and my bandmates had become more than just that; they were real brothers. I tried to force myself to continue, considering our long history together, but I had no urge to repeat old things. I wanted to pursue other projects and initially tried to incorporate them into Saturnian Mist, but they just didn’t feel like Saturnian Mist. So, I ended up channeling them into King Satan and Henget instead. Other members attempted that as well, but their ideas didn’t resonate with the essence of Saturnian Mist either. I felt that if we ventured into something completely different, it would somehow ruin the legacy of Saturnian Mist. I wanted that version of the band to be the final one.
Our most active years were right before the social media and streaming services really become such a thing they are now, before the Spotify, YouTube and Meta domination. And I think Saturnian Mist did stay in that world beyond the reach of all this modern internet based music scene for the most parts. Before any cancel culture stuff really, and after the Satanic panic of 90’s. And I’m more than ok with that, proud even. It feels like completely another world compared to what we are facing today with underground black metal and all music for that matter. And I’m really happy about that we could experience that world, very vivid international underground black metal scene, in a stage somewhere between the real old school times and these modern times.
After a couple of killer shows related to Shamatanic, I felt fulfilled with the path of Saturnian Mist and wanted to call it quits for the first time, but Fra. Vile and Fra. Ferreus convinced me to continue, even if it meant staying idle. I agreed, but for me, there is no idle—there’s just on or off. I know this is both a source of power and a burden for me. When I want to do something, I want to jump into it with all my being, not just flirt with possibilities. I did that for years with Saturnian Mist, but when I founded my industrial metal band King Satan back in 2015, it became my main focus. For me, it’s a clear continuation from Saturnian Mist (remember, Shamatanic was written before the release of King Fucking Satan, the debut album of King Satan). But it’s not Saturnian Mist; hence I am doing it under a different name. However, without Saturnian Mist, there could not be King Satan!
Nobody else seemed able to drive Saturnian Mist besides me, which is no surprise since I am still the only founding member part of the band. The driving force seemed intrinsically linked to my initiative, which I had shifted to my other projects. I attempted once more to create something with Saturnian Mist, but all the ideas ended up going into King Satan’s The Devil’s Evangelion album, which was originally intended to be a Saturnian Mist album. Then I told my bandmates that this is it, guys—Saturnian Mist has run its course. We decided to have one last funeral show, our final concert, to celebrate the end in October 2024. Everyone in the band was a bit disappointed, I guess, but they understood and accepted it. It’s time to move on, and each of us will continue our artistic paths in other projects.
Q: With the last and final concert approaching, what can the fans expect from Saturnian Mist for one last time on stage?
A: We just had rehearsals for the final concert. As I mentioned in my earlier response, it always surprises me how powerful our set is when performed live. Even after all these years, when we play together, it really resonates on a very primitive level that’s hard to explain in words. Fans can expect a solid Saturnian Mist show for one last time, full of chaos and black fire.
Q: When all is done, the dust from the last show has settled, and you have some time to reflect, what is the one thing that stands out to you in a positive way? And what is an experience you would rather have missed?
A: Hmm… It’s hard to pick just one thing, especially aside from what I have already said in this interview. Perhaps the Saturnian Mist live shows in general… They were truly something special for me, and I don’t think I will ever replicate those experiences. The combination of chaotic drum circles inducing a trancelike state of mind, combined with the berserk-like energy of black and death metal… And, of course, the meaningful connections I made with wonderful people involved. As for what I would rather have missed? There are so many experiences, too, hahahah.
Q: For you, your musical career isn’t over. What can you tell me (in short) about your other endeavors?
A: As I have mentioned a couple of times already in this interview, this industrial metal band called King Satan has become my main project in recent years. We will be releasing our fourth album titled The Devil’s Evangelion, which includes many similar themes to what we explored with Saturnian Mist. Alongside this, I will be releasing a lyrical book titled The Devil’s Evangelion and the Law of Chaos, in which I decided to include some Saturnian Mist lyrics for this reason and a couple of others. There will also be some interview excerpts from King Satan and Saturnian Mist where all music-related questions have been removed.
I’m also part of an avant-garde black metal band called Henget, and we are currently working on new music as well. We released our debut album, Beyond North Star, back in 2023.
Fra. Kult continues his musical endeavors with his other bands, Ancient Hatred and Vitriolic. Fra. Ferreus has a black metal band called Viha, and he’s also a member of King Satan. Fra. Vile is the drummer for Henget, where I continue working with him. Fra. Macabrum has stated that he wants to take a break from bands that perform live and prefers to work on studio projects only. Our latest addition, Fra. Scorpio, is very active in the underground black metal scene, particularly with his band Licht Des Urteils. Additionally, Fra. O.V., whose time in Saturnian Mist was only for one concert, is involved with interesting bands like Curse Upon A Prayer and Aganthros.
Q: Any closing words or special thanks to someone, if you feel like it?
A: Thank you, Maizter Underground, for this final interview with Saturnian Mist. Since this is our last interview, I’d like to share a special thank-you list related to our journey. Besides the band members, both past and present, I want to express my gratitude to my family—my parents and my brother—for being such tremendous support over the years. I assume my bandmates will thank their families too, I reckon.
Special thanks to Jarkki and the folks at Pinari Youth House in Kuopio back in 2006-2007, who helped kick-start this band by providing a place for us to rehearse. I would also like to thank the record labels that supported us: Drakkar for giving teenagers like us the chance to release music worldwide, Sami and Descending Towards Damnation, Ipe and Ahdistuksen Aihio Productions, Arseniy and Monokrom Records, Conor and Darren from Candlelight Records, Guido and Rick from Petrichor/Hammerheart Records, and of course Saturnal Records (even though I was part of it for three years, up until 2017, when we decided to sell it to Helsinki). Without these labels, our music would not have been released.
Kold Reso Kvlt really put us on the map in Finland regarding live shows. Kris from Rock Tour Agency did the same for us in mainland Europe (and thanks to Ivan, the driver, too). Anette Antonsen was our first and last manager during the Chaos Magick era. I want to thank Vesa-Antti Puumalainen, Netta Nurmela, and Fra. Psychonaught for the great album covers. Tommi Lind provided invaluable guidance for making music videos back in 2010. Heikki Kivelä and Jasse were part of producing Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan. Tim Turan mastered Chaos Magick, and Teemu Iso-Kulmala mixed and mastered Shamatanic. I also want to acknowledge everyone involved in our music videos and all the bands with whom we shared the stage or collaborated over the years.
Damn, I’m sure I forgot many people, and I’ll remember them right after we finish this interview.
It has been quite a ride!
Thank you all for the years 2006-2024.
Gloria in profundis.
Chaos is the Law.
www.facebook.com/saturnianmist
www.instagram.com/saturnianmist
SATURNIAN MIST THE FINAL LINE-UP
fra. Zetekh – Vocals (2006- )
fra. Vile – Drums (2012- )
fra. Macabrum – Bass (2013- )
fra. Kult – Percussions (2015- )
fra. Ferreus – Guitars (2017- )
fra. Scorpio – Percussions (2022- )
fra. O.V. – Live guitars (2024- )
And the members over the years:
fra. Sadolov – Live guitars (2021-2023)
fra. Sota – Percussions (2015-2020)
fra. Chaoswind – Guitars (2006-2018)
fra. Ptahaz – Guitars (2012-2017), bass (2009-2012)
fra. Psychonaught – Percussions (2012-2015)
fra. Desolate – Bass (2012-2013)
fra. Shu-Ananda – Guitars (2010-2012)
fra. A – Drums (2008-2009 & 2011-2012)
fra. Flamen – Live bass (2012-2012)
fra. Wyrmfang – Drums (2009-2011)
fra. Noxifer – Guitars (2009-2010)
fra. Det – Live bass (2011-2011)
fra. Wardum – Session guitars on ‘Repellings’ (2009)
fra. Ritualmord – Session drums on ‘s/t demo’ (2008)
Follow the chaos
* https://linktr.ee/mrkingsatan
* https://www.kingsatan.net
* https://www.season-of-mist.com/bands/henget/
* https://www.saturnianmist.net
