VIDEO INTERVIEW: Mikko Kotamäki of Barren Earth, Swallow the Sun, et cetera

Mikko Kotamäki is the lead vocalist of Barren Earth and many other projects, most notably Swallow the Sun. Shane (Inarguable staff writer) and I met him in spring 2010 at a Swallow the Sun gig and have kept in touch ever since. When he came around Chicago again with Swallow the Sun in September 2010 with Katatonia, he asked us, “So when are we drinking together?” That was amended February 19. 

Barren Earth is a new band that is basically a super group that actually rocks. Olli-Pekka Laine assembled a group of friends to create a metal band with lots of 70’s progressive rock influences and atmospheres in 2007 and have released an EP and a full-length thus far. 

They performed very well and had great energy. They performance was near flawless, minus the fact that the crowd was not that energetic, but time and more albums will only amend this issue. We were fortunate enough to have a chance to talk with Mikko for quite some time. He is a soft spoken musician who has great insight, incredible vocals and who is the kind of performer who is humble and friendly to fans. I strongly recommend checking out Barren Earth and Swallow the Sun, along with any of his other projects. 


(I am working on fixing the video position, please be patient, it will be fixed.)
Enjoy.