Aittala – Live To Regret (2022) – Exitus Stratagem Records
Publicist – Jon Asher – jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
Band: Aittala
Album Title: Live to Regret
Release Date: November 7, 2022
Label: ExSR Records
“Lyrically, the album chronicles a chaotic period of time for members of the band personally as well as the global events happening in parallel. Musically, the songs infuse elements of groove, sludge, traditional, doom and thrash metal but are cohesively woven into the unique Aittala sound.” – Aittala
For fans of Mastodon, Eyehate God, Baroness, Crowbar, Katatonia
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“The bandâs sound is difficult to pigeonhole because they incorporate a variety of styles. The common element in all the songs is the potent groove. On tracks like âBlack Coffinâ and âAfterthoughtâ stoner/doom is at the forefront, while songs such as âDisownedâ have a more traditional metal vibe. There are progressive influences on âHow Much Longer,â while the closer âDebtâ is a piano based ballad. Even with so many disparate styles, Aittala bring everything together into a cohesive whole.” – Heavy Music Headquarters
âI would describe them as an eclectic Doom Metal band, although their sound is a bit tough to define. Thatâs ultimately a good thing though, and I enjoy the refreshment of something different. My only major complaint is that on some songs, the vocals and lyrics are so drawn out that they become a little boring and you end up waiting a bit for something cool to happen. The good news is something cool usually does end up happeningâ – Metal-Temple Â
“In the metal world, bands can start to sound the same and Aittala steps outside of the box. With clear crisp vocals, grinding rhythms and well executed leads, this band is definitely in a league of their own.â – The Metal Channel
âI am not sure how to describe their overall sound. It is certainly dark, doomy at times, but added to it is a thick, sludgy, rhythmic guitar tone that takes on a life of itâs own. Adding depth is Lugoâs bass, which has an old school Metallica feel and the result is something Iâve not heard before. Almost every one of these songs has that metallic, almost industrial sounding groove line which comes through stronger in some songs more than others, but ever present none the less; it lays a foundation for these songs as dense as the darkness itself.â – Rock-N-Review
âAittala really blends a ton of genres together on this release. The old school metal feel takes people back to their roots of when they started listening to metal in the first place. The doom and blues sounds show the power that riffs can hold and will have your head nodding along with the music. The riffs really set the tone for a dark, fun album.â – Metal Nexus
âIt’s not difficult to pin down Aittala’s heavy metal sound. I’m thinking some classic heavy metal like Black Sabbath and then mid-period Metallica, all washed through down-tuned grunge (he started in 1992 after all), with maybe some a stoner or doom metal vibe dropped in. Aittala’s compositions are heavy with large thick riffage and an equally thick bottom end. After this he fills his songs with satisfying traditional, sometimes neo-classical, leadsâ – Dangerdog
âThe mix of Heavy, Power, Stoner, and Doom Metal resulted in a very tasty aural dishâ – Thoughts of Metal
âIt has a raw, garage band (harkening to when that was a descriptive term, not some app on a computer) charm that certainly makes them a very unique specimen. Their âI play what I wantâ attitude is evident in every note of each song, which makes it very easy to embrace the energy of the album. For fans of the old school, this album will be a welcome addition to any collection.â – Fuel The Scene
[Download Album Cover | Download Album Lyrics]
Band: Aittala
Album Title: Live to Regret
Release Date: November 7, 2022
Label: ExSR Records
Track Listing:
1. Live to Regret – 2:49
2. Collateral Damage – 3:22
3. War of Attrition – 3:18
4. Saint – 3:35
5. Cannibals – 3:56
6. Betrayed – 3:26
7. Big Brother – 4:45
8. Dancing with Disaster – 3:35
9. Never Forget – 3:36
10. Well Enough Alone – 5:03
11. Juliet (2022 Version) – 5:24
Album Recording Credits:
⢠All songs performed by: Aittala
⢠All songs written by: Aittala
⢠Produced by: Eric Aittala and John E. Wooten IV
⢠Mixed by: John E. Wooten IV
⢠Mastered by: Dave Harris at Studio B Mastering
⢠Album Artwork by: Mariano Pugliese
⢠Member of ASCAP
Album and Live Band Line Up:
Eric Aittala â Guitar/Vocals
Ali Lugo â Bass
Gary âZeusâ Smith – Drums
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The album as a whole:
Lyrically, the album chronicles a chaotic period of time for members of the band personally as well as the global events happening in parallel.
Musically, the songs infuse elements of groove, sludge, traditional, doom and thrash metal but are cohesively woven into the unique Aittala sound.
Track by Track:
1. Â Â Â Live to Regret – A swing metal-inspired track about whether to keep secrets or come clean.
2. Â Â Â Collateral Damage â A hard rock/metal track about dealing with relationship ultimatums
3. Â Â Â War of Attrition – A driving metal song about toxic chaos in a relationship and the struggle to leave or stay.
4. Â Â Â Saint â A modern-day metal âballadâ about the pleasure and pain of a toxic relationship.
5. Â Â Â Cannibals â A thrash-inspired track the tighten grip of governmental monitoring and control
6. Â Â Â Betrayed – A hard rock/metal track about trying to leave the past behind, but it always catches up to you.
7. Â Â Â Big Brother â A sludge metal-inspired song about the devolution/zombification of the human race due to technology
8. Â Â Â Dancing with Disaster â A groove metalesque track dealing with addictions causing a twisted sense of reality
9. Â Â Â Never Forget â A stoner metal-inspired song about dealing with a toxic person
10. Â Well Enough Alone â A traditional metalesque track about finally walking away from an unhealthy situation.
11. Â Juliet (2022 Version) – Â A reimagined version of a 2011 released industrialesque track featuring real drums and guitars (neither of which the original had) that tells the tale of a serial killer and his obsession, Juliet.
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BAND STORY ANGLES / FUN FACTS:
1. From Aittalaâs second album, âHaunt Your Fleshâ, thereâs a song called âHuman Wasteâ which deals with the daily struggles of life, and for years, it a staple as the second song in their set.
At one particular show at a smaller venue, Aittala is about three-quarters into the first song of the set and the band, along with the rest of the crowd based on the reaction on their faces, started to smell a familiar âsewerâ smell that kept getting strong. Apparently, someone decided to âblow upâ the venue’s bathroom for everyoneâs noses to enjoy. Eric comically made light of the situation and it was a fitting segue into the next songâ¦.â Human Wasteâ
2. Â Even though Eric is considered a songwriter by standard definition, he will tell you heâs just the conduit for that combination of words and music to enjoy on this plain of existence at this moment of time by unconsciously interpreting those signals that desire to be a song; the songs essentially write itself through Ericâs vessel.
3. Â While the band name is Ericâs last name, Â he didnât intend it to be a band name or suggest using it. The original version of the band in the early 90s had a vocalist, Tim Mannon, and was playing songs Eric had already written. The newly formed band was searching for a name and, as all new bands do, went through hundreds of different names trying to find one that fit the sound. One day Tim said âWhy not just use Aittala since weâre playing Ericâs songs and the name was ambiguous and doesnât lend itself to one particular metal genreâ. And it stuck.
4. Â Right before Aittala went to Europe in 2014, the bassist at the time, Andrew, was prescribed painkillers for an issue he was having. On the first night of the tour, Andrew had no intentions of drinking, but drinking had intentions for him. At some point, someone noticed Andrew hadnât been seen in a while and he became the subject of a manhunt. Â Low and behold, someone found Andrew sitting up on the bus toilet. He was motionless with one eye open and one eye closed. For a brief second, everyone thought the worst, but, luckily he was just passed out.
5. Â Aittala was playing a multi-band show. Â While hanging out checking out the first band, they see this live wire of a lady running around being crazy.
Ali leaned over to Gary and said “I bet by the 3rd band her shirt is coming off”
No sooner had Ail said that than out came her boobs. Needless to say, they were rather floppy and, when she did put them away, she basically had to roll them up.
After they got done playing and were having dinner and drinks at the bar, she was again shirtless. She basically cornered Ali in his seat and one of her boobs was laying in his chicken Alfredo as she was trying to talk to him. They were pretty sure she had a third-degree burn on her boob from the fresh hot pasta.
L-R – AITTALA Lineup – Gary ‘Smith’ Zeus (Drums), Eric Aittala (Guitar/Vox), Ali Lugo (Bass)
Photo Credit – Formont Photography
The music of AITTALA (pronounced ‘EYE-tah-la’) crosses many metal genres; itâs hard to put it into just one category. The sound infuses elements of classic heavy metal, doom, progressive, power, thrash, and hard rock with lyrics drawing inspiration from the darker side of the human condition. The AITTALA sound has been cited for being unique which is no easy feat in the metal genre.
The first version of AITTALA was formed in 1991 while Eric Aittala was living in Holland. With fellow American Tim on vocals and Dutch bandmates Ed (drums) and Jon (bass), the band became a staple of the Dutch metal scene.
With the release of the 3-song EP ‘Selling Heaven’ in summer of 1993, AITTALA opened for such bands as THE GATHERING and SADIST. Unfortunately, as the demo started to create a buzz in the underground European metal scene, Eric had to return to the US and disbanded AITTALA.
Over the next decade or so, Eric played in numerous bands (TRIBE, MAGNETHEAD, DWELL) and lost focus on AITTALA.
Near the end of the 00’s, Eric decided it was time to refocus his efforts on the AITTALA brand. From 2009 to 2016, AITTALA released 4 full-length albums: ‘Bed of Thorns’ (2009), ‘Haunt Your Flesh’ (2011), ‘Effigy’ (2014) and ‘American Nightmare’ (2016). Each album showcasing a natural progression of song writing and lyrical content but retaining the core AITTALA sound and evolving it.
In 2019, AITTALA signed with Curtain Call Records and released the band’s fifth full-length album ‘False Pretenses’. It was ten brand new songs that not only continued the song writing evolution of heavier but catchy songs, but also sonically. AITTALA used an entirely different approach for the recording, mixing and mastering to create the best AITTALA album to date.
The current lineup of AITTALA consists of Gary ‘Zeus’ Smith (THE FIFTH, ex-MR BLACKWELL) on drums and Ali Lugo (ex-AGE OF DESPAIR) on bass.
They continue to write, record and tour to bring AITTALA to the masses with plans in 2022 to unleash their sixth studio album entitled “Live To Regret” to be released by label Exitus Strategm Records.
“We think the fans will hear the pain and pleasure that went into the creation of this album as well as hear the growth in the songwriting. I wrote this album during a chaotic time in my life. Not only was it during the height of the lockdowns of the pandemic, but I was also in a very chaotic relationship. That chaos fueled my creativity and both musically and lyrically. I was constantly walking on an uncertain tightrope and I never knew was going to break. We hope the fans feel the same pleasure, pain, chaos and passion that I was going through and infused into the songs when they listen to the album and singles.” adds Eric Aittala.
“Live in Regret” will be available on November 7, 2022.
Discography:
2022 – Live in Regret (ExSR Records)
2021 – American Nightmare (remastered) (ExSR Records)
2019 – False Pretenses (Curtain Call Records)
2016 – American Nightmare
2014 – Effigy
2011 – Haunt Your Flesh
2009 – Bed of Thorns
1993 – Selling Heaven (EP)
