Kaksonen are a four-piece from the small town of Äänekoski in Central Finland, and in 2026 they sound like a band that knows exactly what it wants to keep, and what it can finally let breathe. They sing in Finnish, they pull from thrash, death, melodic and progressive metal, and they do not treat heaviness as a one-speed thing. Their latest album, Valo-olento (“Being of Light”), follows 2023’s Universumin kuningas and leans into duality as a theme: ecological disaster, inherited baggage, guilt and the vastness of it all, set against cycles of life, spiritual complexity, and the small moments that still feel bright. As they start shaping the next record, we asked what Äänekoski gave them, how their writing opened up over time, and where Africa has already crossed their listening.
“Nature and wilderness, and the freedom to explore and develop your thinking and sense of self, have clearly shaped us.”
You’ve been doing this out of Äänekoski. What does that place give you, and what does it make harder, when you’re trying to keep a band moving forward?
Ville (Bass, Backing Vocals): Growing up together has a way of binding people to each other and to a place, especially when you are all artistically inclined in a small factory town that is more into basketball. That said, Kaksonen is not just a trauma bond. A shared background in Äänekoski gives us a natural hub for gigs and recording, which matters a lot since we live all over the world these days.
Miika (Guitars, Vocals): Äänekoski is known for high unemployment and drug use issues, but it also gave us an amazing setting to grow up in rural Finland, surrounded by lakes, rivers, forests, and open countryside. Nature and wilderness, and the freedom to explore and develop your thinking and sense of self, have clearly shaped us. We draw heavily from those elements in our music.
“we had an almost decade-long hiatus, during which we grew a lot, both as people and as musicians.”
Your older material sits in a different lane from what you do now. What was the moment where your writing started to change, and what were you chasing that you didn’t have before?
Miika: I think all the key elements of our current style are already present in our earliest demos. They are just more developed and refined now. When we started, we were literal teenagers, and aggressive metal was an outlet. Then we had an almost decade-long hiatus, during which we grew a lot, both as people and as musicians. That growth translates directly into a more confident and evolved expression on these past two albums.
Antti (Guitars): Tracks like “Kaukana kaikesta” on Universumin kuningas and “Perisyntinen” on Valo-olento, for example, were mostly written around 2007 to 2008. They reflect our whole process. The writing has not changed, sometimes quite literally, but the production and arrangements have. As Miika said, we like to think there has been a growth process, both as people and as musicians. As a teenager, the world can feel very polarised and black-and-white, and there is a natural lack of experience. That combination led to a dogmatic way of approaching arrangements, production, and recording. Now, as a bunch of guys in our mid-30s, it is easier to have fun with the songs. For me, it is less about chasing something and more about not limiting ourselves unnecessarily.
Miika: Being called middle-aged feels hurtful, yet true [he laughs].
Tuomo (Drums): Just as Antti described, age and experience have surely given us the “permission” to let the music breathe and follow its own path. By the time of the Kivisydän EP at the latest, we had already let go of that turbocharged urgency to express as much as possible as quickly as possible.
“life has shown that sometimes things, and songs too, need time and room to grow slowly in a more linear way.”
Valo-olento has songs that hit fast and songs that stretch out. When you’re building a track like “Ikuinen”, how do you keep the long form interesting without stuffing it with extra parts?
Miika: I compose songs in my head pretty much from start to finish before I even touch the guitar or write anything down, so I do not really think about length. It just has to sound good in my mind. That is why I feel our songs do not have much extra or filler, because every part should be integral to the song. When I record the initial demo versions, that is often the first time I realise how long a track actually is. Sometimes it is a surprise. A song I imagined as a tight four-minute piece turns into a seven-minute behemoth, or the other way around, [he laughs].
Ville: Many of us have a background in long-form types of music, whether that is classical, post-rock, or doom metal, so building intensity over a longer timeframe comes pretty naturally for us.
Miika: Great point, Ville!
Antti: Maybe this is also a consequence of us being around 35 now instead of 17. Patience is often not a virtue of youth, and hopefully life has shown that sometimes things, and songs too, need time and room to grow slowly in a more linear way.
“Finnish is a unique-sounding, beautiful, poetic language that we want to cherish.”
You sing in Finnish. What does Finnish let you say in heavy music that you struggle to land in English, and how do you think about clarity for listeners outside Finland?
Miika: Local vernacular always reflects its surroundings, and I think art should reflect your inner self, thoughts, and emotions as purely as possible. Singing in our native tongue is the obvious choice because it comes straight from the heart. Finnish is a unique-sounding, beautiful, poetic language that we want to cherish, and it is also grammatically very flexible and easy to play with, which suits artistic expression.
In more traditional pop music, lyrics and the connection they create can be central, whereas in metal, vocals are one equal part of the tapestry, an instrument among others. That is why there is not such a strong language barrier in extreme music. Half the time I have no clue what the metal bands I listen to are singing about if I do not deliberately look it up.
“I was actually in Benin while ‘Valo-olento was mixed’. It felt a bit surreal to sit by the Bay of Guinea in Grand Popo, writing feedback about tracks I had recorded in the heart of winter in cold, dark Finland.”
You’ve worked with Konsta Vehkala on the sound, and Valo-olento was recorded by Juho Kunelius. What did you want the album to feel like sonically, and what did you have to fix once you heard the first mixes back?
Miika: First of all, we want our music to sound organic. A lot of modern metal can feel overproduced and, in a way, lifeless. We aim for a more natural sound where every instrument has its own space and presence.
Antti: Overall, the mixing process for Valo-olento was one of the easiest I have ever been part of. I recorded my guitars and we did a bunch of backing vocals at my cabin studio, and as far as I remember, the changes between Konsta’s first drafts and the final mixes were mostly cleaning and balancing between tracks from different sessions.
Since this is an interview for AFRICA.ROCKS, I have to mention that I was actually in Benin while Valo-olento was mixed. It felt a bit surreal to sit by the Bay of Guinea in Grand Popo, writing feedback about tracks I had recorded in the heart of winter in cold, dark Finland.
Miika: We have known Konsta and Juho for a long time, so there is a strong relationship there. We also made our previous album, Universumin kuningas, with them. Konsta even mixed our 2013 EP Kivisydän. It helps a lot when the whole crew is on the same page from the start. The first mix of Valo-olento was already fairly close to what we wanted as a collective.
Tuomo: Working with Juho in the studio is effortless. He naturally steps into the producer role when needed, pushing and encouraging the musicians to bring out the best in themselves.
And as for Konsta, we have been playing drums together since we were kids. I handed the drum tracks over to him for editing completely blind. This time, I do not think I even gave him a sonic reference.
“Often there is a delicate sensitivity and down-to-earthness in African music that I really appreciate as a listener.”
Do you follow any bands or scenes from Africa, even casually, and has anything from the continent pushed into your listening in a way that surprised you?
Ville: I am really into several different musical traditions from all around Africa, and I feel like much of how I view rhythm and melody has gathered inspiration from many of those. Mostly they are not metal, though. The Moroccan Asma El Hamzaoui with her Bnat Timbouktou group and the Ethiopian singer Yilma Hailu are two of my particular favourites.
Miika: Again, far from metal, but Habib Koité from Mali has been a favourite of mine for a long time. Often there is a delicate sensitivity and down-to-earthness in African music that I really appreciate as a listener.
Tuomo: During my instrumental studies, I immersed myself deeply in African percussion traditions, and I even have my own djembe. I cannot claim those influences do not still find their way, on some level, into the kind of groove that has become characteristic of my playing today.
Antti: African music has inspired me for a long time, although when it comes to rock and metal, I am unfortunately poorly informed. It started with obvious entry points like Fela Kuti, Salif Keita, and Brice Wassy. Lots of afrobeat and mbalax. Over a decade ago, I was part of a group that invited artists from Senegal and Gambia to play in Finland, and we would try our best to accompany them. That was a great school.
I have since spent time in Benin a few times, trying to learn more about West African music traditions and how they relate to vodun. Last time I was there, I studied balafon with a Malian teacher. Last year I also spent a month in South Africa, where I dug into local jazz and, of course, a lot of amapiano.
Valo-olento is out now via Inverse Records.
