Death Metal for Animal Rights – An interview

Laura Uotila

Artturi Lehikoinen

A support concert, Death Metal For Animal Rights, will be held on the 22^nd of November 2025 in Lepakkomies, Helsinki. Income from the ticket sales will be donated to Animalia and Oikeutta Eläimille association. Animalia interviewed the organizer of the event, Martti Rasa, by email.

Could you tell us a little about yourself and how did you get involved in organizing the “Death Metal For Animal Rights” concert? How did the concert get started?

I’m a 35-year old animal rights activist. I’ve been active in the animal rights movement for a couple of years. For me the animal rights movement is, in addition to fighting for the animals, a movement which has a vision of a better and more empathetic world built on the respect for other species and ecological sustainability. The animal rights movement is strongly attached to the struggle for freedom and a society that is socially more sustainable.

Animal rights and equality are important to me and I try to participate in them as actively as possible. Another love of my life is music and death metal and when I found out that there are vegans and animal activists in many Finnish bands of the scene that I like, I realized I could combine the two things I love together – animal rights and death metal – by organizing a support concert for animal rights organizations. My own band Grave Hex is also performing at the event.

I started by asking from bands if they would like to participate and then tried to look for a venue. I was very glad on how bands felt about the idea and that they wanted to join in, even though I didn’t know any members of those bands beforehand. The organizations also liked the idea and little by little things started to fall in place so that we could arrange the event. I hope that lots of people will attend and that we can get more support for animal rights work this way. I also wish people have fun and that at least some people will join the movement and for example become vegan.

Spreading the word about animal rights through a concert like this is an intriguing idea. Are animal rights part of the origin of Grave Hex or were you brought together mainly by the music itself?

The aesthetics of Grave Hex doesn’t stem from this world but we’re always ready to play for a good cause.

How do views on animal rights appear in the Finnish musical scene? Can these subjects be heard in the lyrics?

There are already many bands in Finland that talk about these issues in their lyrics. There’s a song by Ignorance called “Breed for the Need”, “Helvetistä Pimeyteen” by Kohti Tuhoa, the band Devil’s Gateway and so forth. The bands take a stance also outside the lyrics.

Do you know about any foreign bands that talk about animal rights? At least concerning heavier music mainly band members come to my mind, such as Mark “Barney” Greenway (Napalm Death), Thomas Gabriel Fischer (Triptykon, Triumph of Death), Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy) and Lee Dorrian (Cathedral, With the Dead)

The thematics of animal rights have long been present in the underground. Whether we’re talking about British anarcho-punk, hardcore or crust in general, animal rights have widely been discussed about in punk. My own go-to album is “Unrest” by Disrupt. Outside punk the noise-legend Merzbow has for a long time been talking about animal rights. One of the most famous anthems might be “Meat is Murder” by The Smiths. New bands talking about animal rights are constantly appearing in the underground; one gem I found was the album “Never-Ending Holocaust” by Mass Extinction. Bands talking only about animal rights are perhaps more rare but they do exist.

The debut album of Grave Hex, “Vermian Death”, was released this year. From what I read elsewhere, the songs were apparently written quite fast. Was the writing process different compared to your other bands?

“Vermian Death” was indeed written very fast, both impulsively and collectively. I believe that the spontaneity of the wiring process can be seen in the uncompromisingness of the album.

The material on your album is very versatile. Even though the style is strongly death metal, I can notice hints of black metal and sludge. There are slower and more “doomy” songs like the title-song “Vermian Death” and then there are more up-tempo tunes like “Vultural Scourge” which was released as a single. Which bands have been an influence on you?

We have background in both hardcore and sludge, and based on the response, these can be heard on the album. There are so many bands that have influenced us that they are hard to list here.

Is there something you would like say for the Finnish animal rights activists and perhaps to the decision makers concerning animal rights?

I recommend veganism to everyone and joining the animal rights movement to fight for a more emphatic world. There is much to say to the decision makers but let’s start by saying that the time to end fur farming is now and the completely immoral livelihood must stop immediately. In this time of reductions and hopelessness in the society, it’s frankly speaking sick that living conditions are worsened while money is put into torturing animals.