History KYPCK

KYPCK is a finnish Doom metal band singing in russian language. The band's name is a mock pseudo-cyrillic imitation of Курск (Kursk), which is a city in Russia.

KYPCK's crew features vocalist E. Seppänen, guitarists S. S. Lopakka and S. Kukkohovi (both formerly Sentenced), bassist J. T. Ylä-Rautio and drummer A.K. Karihtala. KYPCK's previous drummer K.H.M. Hiilesmaa (a renowned producer for HIM, Lordi, Sentenced, Moonspell, Apocalyptica and many others) was also in charge of KYPCK's heavy and (in its original sense) grinding production. It is likely that he will continue working with the band in the future.

The dry dock for KYPCK was built in 1999 while S. S. Lopakka and K. H. M. Hiilesmaa were working on Sentenced’s “Crimson”. They talked about making music that would be very desolate and dark, with a raw yet massive sound incorporation doom metal elements while still having a very unique character. Something that hits you like a massive wave, something that is crushing yet calm. Something that is melancholic and agonizing at the same time. It took a while until first parts of KYPCK could be assembled, but the blueprints for it were taken out of the vault every time S. S. Lopakka and K. H. M. Hiilesmaa met. Mainly because of the two engineers’ tight schedules it took until January 2007 when words were put into action. It was also the point in time where they decided the language of KYPCK would be Russian to set them apart from usual metal bands.

This was even before E. Seppänen came into the picture, and it seemed quite a quest to find a vocalist who could sing in fluent Russian. After all it didn’t take longer than a week. E. Seppänen has lived in Russia for 2,5 years, studied in St. Petersburg and worked at the embassy in Moscow. He recently got his degree from Oxford and teaches Russian in Tampere, Finland as a part time job. Hence, he is more than legitimate to sing in Russian. A long time friend of K. H. M. Hiilesmaa, J. T. Ylä-Rautio, who plays a 1-stringed bass called “Kypcklop”, completed the crew. Finnish UHO Production was so excited by the sole idea that they signed KYPCK without having even heard a note.

“We all were so thrilled about the new band and the whole idea that in less than four months we had material for one and a half albums already. It was like a dam being cracked open - a massive load just poured out”, says S. S. Lopakka – who plays an AK-47-shaped custom baritone guitar, “Lopashnikov”, made by Amfisound Guitars.

The band had just formed in January 2007 and in May Hiili was already recording his drum tracks for the album "Cherno" (Черно). The rest of “Cherno” was recorded in July. “At that point we noticed that we have something truly original in our hands.” The album was mixed at HIP Studio and mastered at Finnvox Studios during the autumn of 2007. Upon its Finnish release on March 12th 2008 it went straight to #11 in the Finnish charts.

The booklet of “Cherno” features all lyrics in Cyrillic Russian with English translations while Century Media’s version also includes the video-clip for “1917” as CD enhancement. At KYPCK’s Ground Zero (www.kypck-doom.com) you will find sing-along versions of the lyrics – meaning the Russian lyrics transliterated into Western alphabet. Make sure to stop by and check out some interesting features.

KYPCK's second album Nizhe (Ниже) was released in February 9th, 2011 by Yellow House, and was the last album by the original line-up. It was recorded and mixed during 2009 and 2010 in Yellow House Studio by Hiilesmaa and Juha Heininen with the exception of drums that were recorded in Matrixtor Studio. Nizhe was mastered by Svante Forsback at Chartmakers. The cover and booklet art consist of Russian photographer Aleksei Repkin's images photographed in the sewage system and underground tunnels of Moscow city.

KYPCK line-up:

E. Seppänen - vocals

S. S. Lopakka - guitars

J. T. Ylä-Rautio - bass

A.K. Karihtala - drums

S. Kukkohovi - guitars

http://www.kypck-doom.com/

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