The Bad Penny (beta)

Olli-Pekka Laine, founding bassist/backing vocalist of the greatest progressive metal band to ever come out of Finland – Amorphis – sums up the act in one word: “professional.”

“Amorphis is a really professional band, so we don’t actually [need to] rehearse that much,” he told The Bad Penny yesterday. “We only rehearse when we enter the studio, right before that, and before the shows, of course. But I’d say that we probably … rehearse … maybe one or two times a year, maximum.”

In addition to that eyebrow-raising remark, the bassist spoke about Amorphis’ 35-year-career, how he learned to play his instrument by covering AC/DC and Kiss songs as a youngster, why he parted ways with Amorphis in 2000 and why he reunited with his comrades in 2017.

Laine also spoke honesty and plainly about why Amorphis has changed its sound so many times over the years, why his side project Octoploid provides him with a critical outlet for song ideas that don’t fit the Amorphis mold, why he’d rather listen to Marvin Gaye than Lorna Shore, and why he’s convinced artificial intelligence will never be able to properly replicate heavy metal.

This entry was posted on 11/24/2025 at 12:32 pm and is filed under Interviews, Videos with tags AI, Amorphis, Cemetery Skyline, Lorna Shore, Marvin Gaye, melodeth, melodic death metal, Octoploid, Olli-Pekka Laine, Scandinavian metal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.