KYPCK, “Kursk” in the western alphabet, is a Russian-singing Finnish doomsday metal band.

Kursk’s biography in brief:

1032 – the first written records of Kursk, the Russian city
1508 – the city of Kursk joins the centralized Russian state
1943 – the Battle Of Kursk, the largest battle of tanks in history
1994 – the nuclear submarine K-141 Kursk is launched
2000 – K-141 sinks in the Barents Sea taking 118 lives with it
2007 – the band KYPCK is formed and their debut album recorded
2008 – the band's debut album “Cherno” is released

KYPCK's crew features vocalist E. Seppänen, guitarist S. S. Lopakka (formerly Sentenced), bassist J. T. Ylä-Rautio and drummer K. H. M. Hiilesmaa, who is also a renowned producer for HIM, Lordi, Sentenced, Moonspell, Apocalyptica and many others. It was only logical that Hiilesmaa is also in charge of KYPCK's heavy and (in its original sense) grinding production.

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. 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 line-up:
E. Seppänen - vocals
S. S. Lopakka - guitars
J. T. Ylä-Rautio - bass
K. H. M. Hiilesmaa - drums

When KYPCK play live the crew is strengthened by S. Kukkohovi on the second guitar.


KYPCK discography:
Cherno - 2008


KYPCK online:
KYPCK Ground Zero at www.kypck-doom.com
KYPCK Myspace at www.myspace.com/kypck
KYPCK Youtube Channel at www.youtube.com/GroundZeroTV