The Finnish-Ecuadorian power metal quartet Black Sun returns with the self-titled new album and a refreshed lineup. We had the opportunity to chat with vocalist Netta Laurenne about the making of their self-titled album and how she and guitarist Nino Laurenne joined forces for this exciting new project.
Hi Netta, welcome back to Femme Metal Webzine. We spoke together last time for Smackbound, and now we are here with Black Sun. So first of all, how are you and how are these days treating you with the promotion?
Oh, thank you for having me again. It’s been a while. Everything’s going great. We’re very excited about it because it’s been over two years since we’ve been doing this album. So for us, it’s time to get it out.
Working together in Helsinki
You know, I know that Black Sun existed in Ecuador before. And then, well, you and Nino crossed paths with Santiago and Nicola. So I wanted to ask you how this crossed path happens from Ecuador to Finland.
Yeah, the band was Nicholas and Christopher‘s, who initially started the band in 2003, and then, a few others were other band members, and Santiago joined the band in 2011. And they had their kind of metal with a different singer back then. And then they came to Finland in maybe it was 2016 I think so, to record an album with Timo Tolkki. Then a few challenges arose, and they needed help to finalize the album.
They then were working in Nino‘s studio, the Sonic Bomb Studios in Helsinki. And that’s where we met and we became friends, and we helped them out there a little bit with what they were the production back then. And since then, we’ve known each other. They then asked Nino to step in as producer, while I helped them with the album they had initially planned to record with Timo Tolkki, though it didn’t turn out as expected.
Black Sun gets together (again)
So Nino stepped in to help with the album and came up with what they wanted, you know, to produce the next stuff they were doing, and I ended up also joining them to kind of feature in a few songs. And we did that. I think I did, like two singles, maybe two songs, back then to them, and then they asked Nino to produce the next album.
At that time—I can’t quite remember the exact year, maybe 2020—we traveled to Ecuador to produce the album. Afterward, something happened, and the band parted ways with their previous singer. That left them in a situation where they suddenly didn’t have a vocalist. They were writing the songs back then in Ecuador, and, you know, came back with a few songs from there, and then we promised to, um, go and tour with them in Ecuador, because they had, they had these gigs coming up, and I went to sing on that tour to sing their songs. We decided to form a new lineup for the band, which is when both Nino and I joined—him as the guitarist, and me as the vocalist. That’s when we started writing songs together. So, that’s essentially how it all came together, though it’s a long story.
What is important is friendship
But it’s a nice story, right?
Yeah, it’s about friendship. And we wanted to do, write music together and play music together. We just wanted to, you know, be able to be together more often. So it’s a great way to, you know, play metal and hang with your friends.
Now, let me tell you.
You told me, that this album was in the works for two years. So yeah, this title album is to date back to 2022, right?
Yes, that’s when we were touring there, and I told the guys that I could join the band after the tour. We were having this goodbye dinner because we were leaving for Finland the next day. And then I told the guys “Okay, I can join the band. So let’s start doing the album”. That’s what happened.
The production of Black Sun
How did the production of the album come together? Because, two years ago, no one knew you were part of the band—it was kept quite a secret. How did you manage to work on the album while keeping your involvement under wraps?
It was quite easy. Nino went to Ecuador to produce and record the instruments, the backgrounds for the songs, drums, and bass, and Christopher‘s guitar. He returned with the recorded material, and I continued working with Nino here in Finland. We collaborated on writing melodies and lyrics, going back and forth throughout the process. You know, in these modern times, it’s quite easy to send some files over to Ecuador, even from Finland, and that’s how we were able to put it all together. And I sang the album. Let me think… I recorded part of the vocals last year, and the rest in June, at our home studio—not even at Sonic Pump Studios, I believe. Yes, I’m pretty sure I did it at home. After that, we just finalized everything with mixing and editing, and that’s when the magic happened.
The singles out from Black Sun
Three singles have been released from the album so far: ‘Slay the Queen,’ ‘Rise,’ and ‘Drown in Sin.’ Could you share a bit about these tracks?”
Yeah, they’re all a little bit different from each other, but it’s like we liked making, I like making albums and that is, and also Nino that are not too strict in one genre, but we play in the middle genre. So there’s more pop here songs. It’s like melodic metal but there are very like, strong aggressive riffs, a lot of them harder riffs on the album. And also, there’s some popular style, production style in there between you know, some of It reminds us of thrash metal, even, but to make it easier, it’s a melodic metal album with different nuances. And it’s been great doing the album.
Working with director Gustavo Arguello
The first three singles are very nice. We did three videos for them and we worked with this Ecuadorian filmmaker. We worked with director Gustavo Arguello who had great ideas and was a mastermind of visual things. Everything was imagined as a painting. So it was interesting to work with him on these videos and get into his world because usually, I’m very involved in music video productions.
But this time he was a movie maker, so we just went there to the shoot and followed his instructions. So it was interesting and nice to work with him and see his vision and talent. It was wonderful to work. I think we, I think we spent three days because we traveled to Ecuador and filmed them all in one week. So it was interesting, and I like the I like songs, that we have released so far.
Shooting “Slay the Queen”
Can you tell me a little about the concept of the video of Queen?
Well, “Slay the Queen” is a song about time. So the queen is the true ruler of our lives. It is time because that’s something that we cannot get back and control. It was just taken away from our day by one day at a time. It’s also about the idea of living in a way that’s freer from the constraints of everyday life—where people are tied to nine-to-five jobs, and everything is dictated by time. So it’s a kind of idea that if we could break the circle of time and stop it being stolen from us, we would be living a better life, fuller life.
This is the topic of the lyrics of the song. And then the video itself doesn’t have this time, per se, as the queen or the evil, or whatever is portrayed, portrayed as this, this kind of a lady who has eaten us and we are in her stomach getting slowly, you know, eaten to death by her. Indeed. it is an artistic vision of the same topic of fighting for freedom, for something that you can’t do very easily.
The future for Black Sun
After the album release, are you already planning some dates?
Yes, we are we. We will have some kicks in late November or, the beginning of December, in Ecuador and maybe some other parts of South America. Some things are still open, but at least we have several shows there, in Ecuador and around, and hopefully, for Europe, we’re planning shows for Summer 2025.
Well, I would like to thank you for the interview, and for taking the time. It was once again nice to speak with you. Thank you again for taking the time. This was my last question.
I did. Thank you so much for your time also.