Marko Tervonen: We always had musical instruments in my home when I grew up. Guitar, piano, accordion etc. And they always fascinated me. There's some old super-8 tapes of me playing some heavy tunes like "Twinkle, twinkle little star" on different instruments when I was around 3-4 years old. So the interest has always been there. When I was around 10, a neighbor to me started showing me some Deep Purple and Kiss riffs on the guitar. Obviously I didn't know about those bands, actually I didn't even knew ītill many years after what bands riffs I had learned. But my passion for playing the guitar started there. And when I was around 12 some classmates and me formed our first band. We actually even did some shows in local youth recreation centers. We played mostly covers and when I was 14-15 (1990) I joined The Crown (or Crown Of Thorns as we were called in the beginning).

What exactly led you to Death Metal and playing in The Crown?

A friend of mine was very into the underground. He had some demos of bands like Morbid Angel, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Mayhem, Gorefest etc. He also had this zine called Despot in the late 80īs. So he received a lot of demos from these unsigned bands and he always played this "extreme" music to me and I guess I simply got addicted in the end! Then the Florida hype started, with the Swedish death explosion about at the same time. The quality back then was extremely high. You knew when Earache released an album, it would rule. Those days are wayyyyy gone.

In 1990 Janne and me became friends. And at that time Janne and Magnus had started talking about forming a Death Metal band. And they needed a guitar player. A mutual friend of ours told Janne that they should ask me since I knew all the Metallica solos. Which was totally bullshit, but that exaggeration gave me an audition to the band and the rest is history.

How well did your family receive you playing Death Metal as a way to make a living?

They had seen me playing music since I was very young, so in their eyes it didn't seem strange at all. They were glad when they heard that we got signed. But of course they always mentioned between the lines that I should get a real job since the music would never pay my bills...

In your opinion would it be safe to say that The Crown were one of the biggest Death Metal bands in the scene for a while?

Well.... there was a time when we were (it felt like it) included in every magazine. Very cool indeed. But the biggest? Nah...don't think so.

Which Crown album was your favorite and why?

I must say Deathrace King. Probably the most solid album we did. But to be totally honest, I'm very proud of all our albums. and I'm also proud to say that they all include high quality songs. But if I have to pick one, I would say Deathrace King was our finest moment.

Which Crown album was the worse to you and why?

The whole situation when we recorded Crowned In Terror was pretty bad. A new singer, recorded in a studio in the middle of nowhere and stuff like that. Just a very different feel in the band due to the line-up change. The songs are strong, but the whole album just doesn't feel right... I'm glad we had a chance to re-make it with the Crowned Unholy release.

I know you are tired as hell of hearing this question but I just have to ask, Why did The Crown split? I am still fucking heartbroken over it!!

I guess the main reason was that during the years we fucking gave and gave so much into the band and never got enough back. And years of that makes you wanna end the downward spiral sooner or later. The fun kind of ended to play in The Crown. We were adults and we were willing to tour and promote the band like hell. And what did we get in the end of the day? A pile of unpaid bills waiting for us when we got home from a tour. The whole situation just felt so unfair in the end. The love ones around us suffered a lot due to our way of life.

I know it maybe a little too soon to ask but is there a glimmer of hope for a reunion?

Aren't reunions for losers?

What are your thoughts on your former band mates current endeavors, more specifically Johan's new band, "One Man Army and The Undead Quartet"?

I'm happy that he's happy. Johan is an amazing death metal vocalist. The best there is, right after David Vincent. And I'm confident that he'll keep on spreading the death metal virus around the world on a high note. I got the demo and it sounds pretty good. All the best to him and his band mates.

Do you still keep close contact with your former band mates?

Both yes and no. Actually I consider Janne being my closest friend, and after the Crown split-up, we became even better/closer friends. We always manage to agree in the end about everything. And also to agree that we disagree you know. Today he's as important to me as a brother. Magnus and Marcus live in another town. It's actually only an hour drive away, but we hardly see each other. Not that I/we want it like that, but we all have jobs, family etc and mostly our schedules simply just collide. I met them a couple of weeks ago though when we went to see Morbid Angel, it was fun! But we definitely stay in touch with the phone and internet. Johan lives in the same town, and I see him from time to time.

After the split, we all kind of went on different paces forward in life. Some of us have kids, some of us study, some work etc... But I still consider them all my most important friends.

Your current band "Angel Blake" has just inked a new deal with Metal Blade and you have also loaded a demo song entitled "Self-Terminate" on the www.angelblake.com The song is great but it's not exactly what I would expect from you. Will this be the entire direction for the album?

The album will include 10 songs. And all the songs are based on different formulas so to say. I choose to put out "Self-Terminate" simply cause that was the first song I wrote for Angel Blake. Actually I wrote the song still being in the Crown, and we actually even rehearsed it a couple of times. But when we went on separate ways I kept on to that song. That song was intentionally supposed to be that "different heavy" song for Crown. But as I said, we split up and I kept the song. And when it's not sung by Johan with his death metal vocals, it simply sounds different, way different. Tony sings it with more rock/metal style and with melodies so sure, it's not what The Crown was about. That was also one of the reasons I formed Angel Blake, to be able to continue writing heavy music, but to take a huge step away from the Crown style. I love death metal, but I played death metal for 14 years, and now I simply want to do something new and fresh. The fun is back in my life!!

I know you've mentioned that Angel Blake may not be a live act, in what ways will you try to get the music out to the masses, if you aren't touring?

Angel Blake will play live!!! I regret saying that.

Enough with the Biz questions, let's get down to fun questions!

Hell yeah!

Since The Crown split last year you had a lil down time, did you spend it all working on your new music or did you take a long much deserved holiday?

Actually that period was really hectic for me. I was going totally bankruptcy īcause I got fired from my job. And at the same time I met my girlfriend (today my wife) and she lived about 5 hours away. So I was hardly at home, and at the same time I was trying to get my life back together living temporarily far away from home. So there was a lot of confusion. But after the whole post-Crown trauma kind of settled down I found my self composing music again. And Angel Blake plans started to take form.

What current bands are you enjoying these days?

I'm pretty boring when it comes to new bands. I hardly find anything new that I like. I listen a lot to all the Metallica, Danzig, Paradise Lost and Morbid Angel albums. Of course other music as well, but those bands are the most important ones in my life.

What band would you consider to be your favorite of all time?

Pick one of the bands mentioned above. But to be able to choose one is not easy. But I guess Metallica is the one that has brought most joy to my life. James is one of the best songwriters there is!

What was your day job before becoming a guitarist full-time?

We were never full-time musicians, that was the hard part. We all had day jobs. That was fucking terrible. First work 8 hours and then rehearse, take time off from work (without pay) to do tours that didn't bring in money. It consumes you in the end...

What type of movies and entertainment do you enjoy outside of music?

I'm a sci-fi freak!!!!! I love a good sci-fi movie. I'm looking forward of seeing the new War Of The Worlds.

In a few words, give me your thoughts on the following bands: Six Feet Under

I've never been a fan of them. Too primitive for my taste...

Cradle Of Filth

I liked them a lot in the early days. I had their demo and when they released the "Principle of..." album I listened to it a lot. But after that I totally lost interest...

Morbid Angel

Wow!! The true creators of magic. I've seen them live 29 times. And just a few weeks ago I finally saw them with David on vocals. They're simply the best!!

AC/DC

Good stuff!! Maybe not the recent albums but...

The Great Kat

SATAN SAYS!!! I have this VHS-tape, I think it's called "Thrash īn Burn". And she's in there going all crazy with the guitar and saying the most outrageous stuff. She's nuts!!! I don't own any Kat albums, don't want to for that matter...

Slayer

Hell yeah!!! I'm actually one of those few who don't think Reign In Blood is their best album. I must say "Seasons.." is the best one!! "War Ensemble" kills every song they've done! *and he ducks*

If you could go back and change one thing in your musical career would it be?

We should have got a manager already back in 1995 when we signed our first deal. One big problem was always that we were musicians, no business people. I don't want to even count how many times we got fucked over.

In closing can you our readers with a quote in which to live their lives by?

Live and learn folks! All the best!