Kamala / Epic new single inspired by history and modern war

Over a year in the making, Kamala, the Thrash Metal trio from Finland, have finally released Sota Sisällä. Translated as The War Inside, the song marches forward wonderfully as thundering bass from Minttu Minkkinen and acidic, powerful drumming from Timo Ruunaniemi combine with the driven riffing from Karita Kivioja, who spits out the lyrics with distasteful passion.

Distasteful, yes, as the events of the Finnish Civil War inspired the song in 1918, but it took on new meaning in the spring of 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine. “As a teenager in the 90s, I never thought I would see two European countries at war with each other,” Karita Kivioja said. “Less than 1,000 km away, all the horrors of war suddenly happen again. Horrors that should have been consigned to history.”

Sota Sisällä was recorded at the SN sound studio in Jyväskylä, Finland, in 2023. The lyrics and vocal style went through a whole mill in the studio, including the appearance of Putin’s face in front of Karita’s face in the vocal booth. As the singer felt like the embodiment of Rocky Balboa’s spirit when she screamed, the band says they began to get close to the final sound.

The beginning of the song comes from a visit to the civil war memorial at the Dragsvik prison camp in Tammisaari during a summer vacation in 2018. “I stayed to read the names of the dead prisoners, the children, in the biggest mass grave in Finland,” said Karita.

“The grave was the final resting place of 3,100 prisoners who had died of starvation and epidemics near the barracks area. One story was particularly poignant. The parents of a 17-year-old boy from Osterbotten had come all the way to Tammisaari to bring him food. But the guards would not let the prisoners who had lost the war feed their children, so the boy died in a concentration camp.These names are on the memorial in plain sight.

“The civil war tore this country apart and made ordinary Finns victims as well as torturers and murderers.

“This stopped, shocked and disgusted. The lyrics of the song were born from stories passed down through the family and the shock of the hell of the concentration camp. Also mixed in the lyrics were experiences of the hell inside the head and the hell of the modern society called home.

“The actions of the sick man’s mind against others, both because of the prevailing environment and because of mental breakdown.”

Kamala shot the music video with Jaakko Manninen on December 22, 2023. The choice of date was perfect as this was the darkest day of the year and director and cinematographer Manninen had to film with only natural light.

The final production took over a year, but you can’t argue with that when you’re inspired by Kamala and Sota Sisällä. This is a cracking, haunting anthem.