Greetings Eetu and thanks for taking the time to talk to us. The first thing I noticed about MALFORMED is pretty obvious of course: all of you guys are still very young (20 / 21 years old), but the music you play is already on a very high musical / technical level, so when did you start playing in general? Are you all self taught or did you take any lessons?“Hello fellow lovers of all things dead and morbid! I started playing guitar back in 2019, inspired by bands like SLAYER and CANNIBAL CORPSE. I’m entirely self learned, Jani and Akseli have both taken lessons. Jani has played the drums for 10-ish years, and he has experience from multiple different genres, from Death Metal to big band-music and Jazz. Akseli started his musical journey through classical guitar back in 2014, but he soon found himself bored with the bossa novas and sorts and started shredding…”
From 2019 to 2022 you personally already gained experiences in the Death / Thrash band CONNECTED. You were only 14 years old when you started, so was that your very first band? Why did you split up and what made you switch to brutal Death Metal after all those years?
“CONNECTED was a project originally started by Felix and Aatos from DISGUISED MALIGNANCE, and I joined the band in 2020. We did not have a clue in the slightest about what we were doing, and the band split up pretty much immediately after we started to divert to our own paths and different styles of Death Metal. CONNECTED released some music, which pretty much sucks ass entirely, but it served us some valuable lessons on playing and how to be in a band.”How did you get together with Akseli and Pauli and how long has MALFORMED been around when you recorded your first five songs for the “Uncontrollable Malformity” demo in November 2022?
“I started MALFORMED with Pauli back in February 2022, but the band was pretty much dormant, since we could not find the right members immediately. After we got frustrated with the guys we were playing with at the time, I asked Akseli and Jani to join us, since we knew each other due to our previous bands. The five songs on the demo are essentially the first five songs I wrote for MALFORMED, with Pauli also bringing in his riffs and lyrics here and there.”
Since Jani still wasn’t in the band at that time, Felix Pennanen played session drums on “Uncontrollable Malformity”. Was it clear right from the start that Felix wouldn’t continue on with MALFORMED? Felix also recorded and produced the material, so please tell us a bit more about that, where you exactly recorded “Uncontrollable Malformity” and what Felix’s overall musical background is?“Felix gladly lent us his drumming and production skills on the demo, but it was clear from the start that he wouldn’t remain as a full-time member due to his own band projects taking up most of his time. Felix is a stellar drummer and a great dude, and his contribution to the recording really helped kickstart MALFORMED’s journey. We recorded the demo at our rehearsal place and Felix’s home studio. As far as I know, Felix is also self-learned, both as a player and producer.”
Was it all brand new material that you wrote directly for MALFORMED or did you use any left over ideas from the CONNECTED days or from AZATOTH and EXIGENCED, the former bands of Akseli and Jani?
“We did not use any left over ideas, since none of the stuff written for our previous bands ever made sense in the MALFORMED context.”
You first of all self-released the demo digitally in late November 2022, but already in January 2023 a cassette version followed via Rotted Life Records, who later that year also released the demo on vinyl 7″ and CD. Did you expect to get such a quick feedback on it? Did other labels contact you as well or was Rotted Life the only one at that point of time?“Rotted Life contacted us soon after the digital release, and we never discussed with other labels at the time. We were definitely surprised about the reception the demo got, and we’re super grateful for Rotted Life for releasing the physical copies.”
What happened after the release of the demo? Did you play a lot of shows in support of it? Did you already have enough songs finished at the time for a full setlist or did you also include a bunch of cover songs?
“We played a bunch of local shows, supporting bands like PHRENELITH, GALVANIZER and GOREPHILIA. We had most of the “Gathering” material written pretty much when the demo got released, so we did not need to do a bunch of covers, fortunately. Although, we played a DYING FETUS cover on the first show we ever did…”
When exactly did you start working on the material for the EP “The Gathering Of Souls”, which was released in October 2023 via Extremely Rotten Productions on CD, cassette tape, vinyl LP (in two different colors) and digitally?“We started working on “Gathering” immediately after we got our line-up intact. The first song we wrote for the EP was ‘Enchantments Of Nihilism’, which also had the first riffs Akseli wrote for the band. The songs were finished relatively quickly, since we rehearsed pretty much all the time and we had to finish the songs before the shows we had booked at the time.”
David of UNDERGANG / Extremely Rotten Productions told me that you played a show with PHRENELITH in Helsinki and that your show impressed him a lot. He said, he bought a tape version of “Uncontrollable Malformity” from you guys, which he also loved, so he offered you to release “The Gathering Of Souls”. Was the material already finished written at the time, were you all into the idea to work with him or would you also have released it via Rotted Life Records? Were they interested to work with you as well again?
“As previously mentioned, the EP was written before the shows we did in early 2023. We are big fans of everything David has done with both his bands and the label, so we were pretty sure about working with Extremely Rotten Productions and Extremely Rotten Productions only for the EP release.”For the recordings of the EP material you didn’t work with Felix again, so what made you use Juuso Hämäläinen instead this time? The drums on your debut album then have been played by Felix again, so would you say that Juuso was the wrong guy for that, if you compare the demo with the EP nowadays?
“Juuso has been a friend of ours for many years, and he offered to produce the EP himself so we decided to work with him at the time. The recording sessions were a big pain in the ass for many reasons, but none of those reasons are related to Juuso – he’s an amazing drummer and producer. Can’t really recall why we decided to record the full-length with Felix, but looking back we are satisfied enough with each of the releases.”
Juuso also did the artwork for your demo, didn’t he? So is he an old friend of yours?“Yes he did. Akseli and Juuso played together in AZATOTH for many years and we’ve all played at the same shows and venues with our previous projects.”
There’s also live album from MALFORMED out on cassette tape via TÄH! Records, entitled “Live At Tiivistämö”, which was recorded live at Tiivistämö in Helsinki, on March 17, 2023. Was that the show with PHRENELITH we just mentioned? What else can you tell us about this release?
“That was not the show we did with PHRENELITH. The show on the cassette was an all-ages version of Helsinki Death Fest, and the venue in question records essentially every show at said venue. Our demo was called “Mallun Punanen”, which means Marlboro Red in Finnish, so we decided to release a very limited batch of cassettes with the cigarette-themed artwork and packaging.”
“Confinement Of Flesh”, your debut full length, was finally released in July 2025 via Dark Descent Records, in co-operation with Extremely Rotten Productions on CD, cassette tape, vinyl (three different colors) and digitally. When did Dark Descent Records join the picture and did you agree to that because they could perfectly help to promote MALFORMED in the US as well?“We wanted to have both an European label and a US label for the full-length. David and Matt from Dark Descent Records have known each other for a long time, and Dark Descent has released a bunch of really fucking good albums, so it was a match made in heaven for us.”
I was very surprised that just one track of your demo, ‘Eyes Torn Out’, made it onto the album. What made you re-record this particular track? Is it a fan favorite or were you not 100% satisfied with the version on the demo?
“Probably the worst idea we ever had was that re-recording. It does not fit the album at all and we hate playing that goddamn song…”
When I listen to your entire material I hear a lot of influences from the US Death Metal scene, but also several riffs that have this “Reign In Blood” era SLAYER feel to it. Do you agree with that? Is SLAYER also an influence on you guys? Which other bands are responsible for what shaped the style of MALFORMED? Any Finnish bands as well maybe (DEMIGOD, ABHORRENCE, DEMILICH etc.)?“SLAYER is my favourite band, and the biggest reason I ever started playing guitar. The SLAYER influence on the songs is not a conscious effort, but rather something that has always shaped my guitar playing and songwriting. The biggest Death Metal influences for MALFORMED have always been MORBID ANGEL and DEMILICH, and our music is an evil and unnatural malformation of both American and Finnish styles of Death Metal. Other influences worth mentioning are early GORGUTS and early CRYPTOPSY.”
What have you done since the release of the album? Did you get a lot more feedback on “Confinement Of Flesh” from fans and zines than on the EP and demo? Did you play a lot of shows or even a tour in support of it? Tell us about that.
“We have our second album fully written and recorded, so hopefully it will see the light of day sometime in late 2026. The first album has been received very well in the global Death Metal underground, thanks to everyone who has been spreading the word! We did our first actual tour in 2024 with GALVANIZER, but we did not tour this year due to half the band being in the military… We’re gonna do a long European tour in May
2026.”What will be your next release? The second album or will there be any EP or split releases before that as well maybe?
“The second album, possibly a split also… Only time will tell.”
Ok Eetu, I think I’m running out of questions for now. If you would like to add anything else here, you’re welcome to do so now. Thanks again for the interview and all the best to you and the rest of the band.
“Thank you and keep on keeping on! To anyone reading this, catch us live in 2026 and stay brutal!!!!”
www.facebook.com/malformeddm, https://malformeddm.bandcamp.com
Live pics: Emily Power, Kira Kirkland
Interview: Frank Stöver