:: KYPCK - Cherno

KYPCK

Now here’s an interesting project, a Finnish act that’s portraying themselves as a Russian band, who play gloomy doom metal. While it’s an interesting gimmick, KYPCK actually manage to pull it off incredibly well on their debut full-length effort Cherno. And a lot of that has to do with the members that make up the group. Vocalist Erkki Seppänen certainly manages to pull off a convincing Russian impersonation throughout the album, while former Sentenced guitarist Sami S. Lopakka, bassist J.T.Ylä-Rautio and drummer Kai H. M. Hiilesmaa really know their way around the doom sound. After a suitably grim instrumental introduction depicting the sounds of a submerged submarine (“Gidrolokator”), KYPCK show the power and strength in the crushing opening track “Rozhdestvo V Murmanske”. Despite the fact that Seppänen sings entirely in Russian, and the band play slow doom inspired metal, “Rozhdestvo V Murmanske” is quite catchy and melodic for the most part, with the huge riffs and the odd change in tempo keeping things interesting.

“Predatel” evokes the same feel of the opener, with only some heavier riffing towards the end really standing out as something a little different from the template laid out, while the single/first promotional video clip “1917” is a definite stand out with the emphasis centred more around highlighting the memorable chorus. For the remainder of the album, there’s not too much change from what has already been delivered on the opening three tracks. But having said that, the experimental vocal bent on “Stalingrad” is definitely different and interesting, while the eight minute closer “Demon” sees the band closing things in a befitting epic doom like fashion. KYPCK is perhaps not for everyone, but if you’re a fan of classic doom metal, and don’t mind being a little left in the dark about what the vocalist is attempting to say throughout the album, then Cherno may well be worth letting your curiosity get the better of you.