Lullacry is one of those bands that almost always writes a perfect song. Everything off of their four Spinefarm Records discs has got a hook so big you can catch a Great White with it. They replaced original vocalist Tanya with new Tanja and never looked back.

The Finnish quintet is also made up of founder/guitarist Sami Vauhkonen, founder/guitarist Sauli Kivilahti, bassist Heavy, and drummer Jukka Outinen.

Their new record, Vol. 4 has just been released and it's the latest of Lullacry masterpieces. Though a touch heavier than previous works, it still contains all the tried-and-true elements, great vocals and superior songs.

antiMusic spoke to Sami Vauhkonen by phone recently, after the band returned from a short tour in Germany. 

antiMusic: Tell me about Vol. 4. How long have you worked on the songs and what were the sessions like?

Sami: The first song I did for this record was "Fire Within". Of course, we released that song in 2004 as an EP already. That song had to be on this album because we found it sounded so cool when we played it live. And we were like, "Oh f---. We have to do more rock." So it was a good start. Then I wrote a couple of rock tracks like "Zero", the last track. I think also, the single, "Stranger in You" is one of the oldest songs. But it's hard to remember because I usually start one song and then put it down for a bit and move onto another. Then I'll come back to it a couple of days later or whatever to finish it. So some songs, I have no clue when I started them. But the whole process took very long. We went to the studio after the last American tour in 2004. We put down drums and bass really quickly, and also a few guitars and stuff. But we then took a five months break because some things were quite f---ed up in the studio because I got sick. Then Tanja got sick. And some of the songs were not ready. So we took a little break. The whole process took almost a year. 

antiMusic: Was it a good thing or a bad thing to have all the time off? On one hand it would be good to have that time off to get healthy. On the other hand, you might tend to over think the songs and make changes where maybe you shouldn't do all that thinking about them.

Sami: It was good. Because one of the songs, "Love, Lust, Desire", I had a different chorus and melody on that song. And our producer was like, "Sami" these songs are all kick-ass and good but this song�this chorus is not so good. Please make a new one." I was like "What the heck? Make a new one? The song is ready!" But after I thought about it, I thought I'd try again. And I think it came out one of the greatest songs and choruses. So it was really good. And of course, we had so much more energy when we came back to the studio.

antiMusic: It is classically melodic like Lullacry has always been but it's a lot heavier than in the past. How important are those two elements to the music of Lullacry?

Sami: We try to have the faster and heavier songs than before. Of course, we tried to concentrate on the melodies as well because that's a big thing of Lullacry. I think there's less ballads and more rock on this record. 

antiMusic: Do you discard many songs that are brought to the table because they are too poppy or too heavy?

Sami: Well not really for those reasons but we think of the record as a whole collection so we definitely left out some songs that were too similar to ones we already had on there. After some of the songs were done, you listened to them and then went, "Well, we already have some songs that are slow or whatever like this." So we put them to the trash or somewhere waiting for the next album or something. 

antiMusic: Who is the principal songwriter in the band? How do you write? What comes first --- the lyrics or melody or is it a combination of both?

Sami: I do almost everything but our lyrics are done by our other guitarist Sauli Kivilahti. I've done one lyric, "Love, Lust & Desire". And Tanja has written one lyric, "I Want You".

antiMusic: What was Germany like, getting to play these songs live for the first time?

Sami: It was great, of course. We hadn't been there for awhile so it was really great to go back to Germany. And of course, after finishing any record, it's great to go out and play the songs. And especially now since these songs are tailor made for the States. And we're a rock band on stage. We move around a lot and there's lots of beer and lot's of movement so playing live is a really big thing for us. 

antiMusic: What are the plans for the new record --- where are you going to tour and are you coming to North America?

Sami: Yeah, we are coming to North America next year, sometime around the summer. We're on the Evil Darkness tour. There's about 12 bands on the tour. There'll be Leaves' Eyes and Elis and a bunch more to be named soon. They're also negotiating with bands like Within Temptation and Lacuna Coil. So it'll be a really big tour�22 dates. But right now, we're going to tour in Finland for a few months and then we're looking at some tours outside of Finland of course. But nothing has been decided yet. But write about us in your website and perhaps enough people will buy our records so we can come (laughs). We have some fans in Canada but of course, it's really difficult to come over there as it takes lots of money. But we'll see what happens.

antiMusic: How have your sales been in North America? Are you being coming more popular here?

Sami: Before the North American tour we had sold between 7 and 10 thousand copies. So it's not much. But lately I see a lot of American people on our website so I think our audience is growing there in North America overall. 

antiMusic: I've heard that you have a KISS cover (I Stole Your Love) for a European audiences. Will North Americans get to hear it at some point?

Sami: Well, they can purchase it from the Internet stores right now. But there's no other plans to release it in the U.S. right now.

antiMusic: You've covered W.A.S.P. and KISS? I take it the band are fans of 80s metal?

Sami: Yeah. That's right. (laughs) Really big actually. Well, I'm now 30, actually. And I love KISS and W.A.S.P. and all that '80s metal so it's natural that we do that for covers. Paul Stanley was my biggest hero, when I started to play guitar. 

antiMusic: Can you say a bit about the other members of Lullacry - what they bring to the table and something that people might not know about them: starting with Tanja

Sami: Of course, it's great to have Tanja in this band because her sound is unique. She rocks, you know. Because today there are many bands that are like trying to sound like Within Temptation or Nightwish or that kind of band. So it's really cool to have her because the Lullacry sound comes from Tanja. 

Sauli (guitar): Of course, he has made almost all of our lyrics. He's been our main guy for that thing so it's also a big part of our band.

Heavy: I think he is one of the best to play this kind of music because he doesn't just play regular bass lines. He has so many fills and stuff like that. And that's a big part of our sound also. 

Jukka: Of course, you have a have a good solid drummer to keep everything going and we have that with Jukka. 

We have really good feelings in the band and we've been together since 1999 so I think this lineup will be remembered as the Lullacry lineup.

antiMusic: What is your musical background like? Who did you start out playing with?

Sami: I've spent all my musical career playing with Lullacry. I've always been in this band. I've played on a few other albums but 100% of my energy goes into this band and it's always been like that. 

antiMusic: Anything else you'd like to mention about the band that I didn't ask?

Sami: Well, people can check out any news about us at www.lullacry.com. And we'd just love to come over there to play. We'd like to see all the people and talk to the fans.

antiMusic: Thanks a lot, Sami. Hope to see you over here one day.

Sami: OK, thank you. Hope to see you too. 

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