Exclusive Interview: The Last Prophecy talk influences, festivals and “Hate Is My Mentor”!

Significantly larger than the space between a blink and a tear Espoo Finland based The Last Prophecy have begun to make a name for themselves having found their own sound in the space between Thrash and Melodic Death Metal. Paying homage to their influences in Children Of Bodom, Megadeth and In Flames as they do so, the band have forged a debut EP in “Hate Is My Mentor” as they seek to break the borders and boundaries that hold them in their homeland and go in search of fans on the international stage.

How have you found the reaction to “Hate Is My Mentor“? It strikes a fine balance between Thrash, Groove and Melodic Death Metal. “Thank you for having us! The reaction to Hate Is My Mentor has been overally very positive: We have gained more listeners, and the reviews have been very promising! The balance definitely strikes in the middle of the three genres, but in our opinion it might weave a bit to the direction of melodeath, but that being said in the end it’s a matter of labels and categories that we don’t really care about, our music is just heavy and that’s all that matters”

As a band you wear your influences on your collective sleeves which helps to give your music a familiar feel while having a a life of its own. How do you see your music evolving in the future? Have you brought any quirky ideas to the table that sit on back burner as they didn’t fit into the record? “It is very true that our influences can be heard in our music. We have a lot of them, so one might find remnants of one band, and another person from another band. In the future we’re gonna write more and more music, and logically thinking we will find “our” sound, as we’re still a young band and a lot is in store for us. In terms of quirky ideas that didn’t make it to the record: Yes, we have those. There will always be ideas that don’t fit some songs, and those will then either be used in other songs or be discarded”

They say the first bite is with the eye so how did the imagery for the cover art come about? “In our opinion it’s very different from our previous covers, but we like it! The cover provides a good look on the lyrics of the album: Death, war, insanity and dark themes overall are present in terms of the lyrics”

If we are made up of our genes and our influences, what is in your jeans and who would you consider your influences? “Well, they say that all the good melodeath metal that isn’t Swedish come from Finland. Although there are good melodeath bands elsewhere, that sums up the gene-part quite well. In terms of our influences, we’d say that our main influences musically are Children Of Bodom and In Flames. We have a LOT of bands we listen to and take inspiration from, but those two are our biggest influences for sure”

What would be more important to the band right now – 20 shows across Europe opening for Nekrogoblikon or a major Festival appearance at Bloodstock (United Kingdom), Hellfest (France) or Summer Breeze (Germany)? “That’s a tough one for sure. The thing is, that although the festival shows have more people attending them, the variety of bands on the festival creates an environment where only a fraction of the total attendace watches a smaller band with great interest. That’s why we would probably choose the 20 “smaller” shows instead of the festival”

What’s next for The Last Prophecy? “Well, we’ll definitely continue our live efforts in Finland. We’ll see what else we have in store, but stay tuned, our releases for 2023 aren’t done yet!”