Kypck - Черно - guest review
Kypck - Черно - guest review
Tracklist
01. Гидролокатор (Depth Finder)02. Рождество В Мурманске (Christmas In Murmansk)
03. Предатель (Traitor)
04. 1917
05. Чёрная Дыра (The Black Hole)
06. Сталинград (Stalingrad)
07. Не Прости (Do Not Forgive)
08. Очередные (The Usual)
09. Один День Из Жизни Егора Кузнецова (One Day In The Life Of Yegor Kuznetsov)
10. Демон (Demon)
Guest review by
ScreamingSteelUS January 13, 2011
As the doom metal branding would suggest, Cherno is dominated by incredibly de-tuned and very atonal guitar riffs that can carry the stench of death through the power of song. In fact, there is almost a dark atmospheric touch to it, as if you would hear this music whilst marching through the snow to the gulag, bound in chains. One of the album's standout characteristics is vocalist Erkki Seppanen, whose throaty rasp somewhat resembles Joakim Broden of Sabaton. A more accurate description would be he sounds exactly like Reznov from Call of Duty: World at War and Black Ops. Speaking of Sabaton, Joakim Broden looks and sounds suspiciously like Soap MacTavish from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare I and II. That aside, Seppanen does have some range to his voice, as he has demonstrated with his other band Dreamtale, but all the power metal bombast displayed there goes out the window for the depressing and haunting lamentations that Kypck so dutifully plods through on their first release. Seppanen applies the darkest of emotions to his voice, in such a way that basically reaffirms one of the most prominent Western stereotypes of Russians: they are all way more hardcore than you, and you better believe they know it. Pass the borscht.
This was my introduction to doom metal, and I have to admit I haven't found anything to match it. Candlemass comes pretty close, but Kypck takes the cake. Being from the former supervillain of the world gives the whole "death, doom, and destruction" thing such a realistic edge, and the fact that Russian always sounds really threatening to the English speaker's ears adds many levels of weary, "Defiance"-esque badassery. Cherno is also aided by the presence of the two surprisingly-catchy singles, "Stalingrad" and "1917." Those two songs are prime examples of the whole "in Soviet Russia" metal vibe I tried to explain, but it's not funny like so many "in Soviet Russia" jokes are. If you are into Russian metal (which I totally am), or just like your metal to be evil with a dash of sinister realism, Kypck is one artist you don't want to miss out on.
Disclaimer: "Kypck is not actually from Russia, but Finland. This was a foolish oversight on my part, but luckily not too much of what I wrote is affected. The songs are all about Russian history and are sung in Russian, and indeed it seems as if Kypck is an entirely Russian-themed band. Being from Finland, a nation that once had close ties to the Soviet Union, I'm sure that the band members still experienced much of the dischord in post-Cold War Russia to which I alluded; at least one of the members previously lived in the U.S.S.R. as well. In the end, this was kind of a dumb mistake, which I will be sure not to repeat; boy is my face red (no pun intended)."
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by ScreamingSteelUS | January 13, 2011
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments:
18
Visited by
130 users
 Posts: 21306 |
Posts: 21306
Excellent review! Some fact, a dash of humor, and insightful description. Kudos.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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 Posts: 6696 |
Posts: 6696 Written by Troy Killjoy on 13.01.2011 at 06:26 You're too kind!
---- "Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader I'm the Agent of Steel.
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 Posts: 889 |
Posts: 889
Pretty good review, I must mention. And I agree with the most your wrote here though their music portrays just one side of Soviet time and Russian soul in general - which would be the dark side. But they definitely do it well so, I guess, if some people wouldn't know that they are coming from Finland they could think that Kypck is a genuine Russian band. Also Erkki's peculiar accent gives off some kind of charm to the Russian native's ears. 
---- "And we are not who we think we are We are who we're afraid to be" - Lux Occulta "The Opening of Eleventh Sephirah"
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 Posts: 40071 |
Posts: 40071
This band is not Russian at all. They are totally Finnish. As for the album it was nice for a listen or two but grew old very quickly. Somehow they missed the essence of doom, if that makes any sense to you.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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Posts: 711  |
Posts: 711
Wow seems like you did some solid research before writing this, good job. But I don't think this comes anywhere close to the realm of Candlemass, other than that kudos.
---- Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone.
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| Posts: 6696 |
Posts: 6696 Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 13.01.2011 at 13:41 They are technically from Finland, but everything else about them is Russian. Besides, they are based in Russia, and being next-door neighbors still earns them their stripes, so to speak. As for the album itself, I understand what you're saying. To each his own, I suppose.
---- "Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader I'm the Agent of Steel.
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| Posts: 40071 |
Posts: 40071 Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 13.01.2011 at 17:53 They consist of 100% finnish band members and are based in Finland, don't know where you get the idea they are based in Russia. They have Sentenced members in the band (one as full time and one as toruing member) and those certainly live in Finland.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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 Posts: 684 |
Posts: 684
Great review, I love this album! Funny though, it was also my introduction to Doom Metal, but I think other bands like Shape Of Despair or many unknown bands are also good. Can't wait for the new one, these guys are really good! Thx for this superb review!
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| Posts: 6696 |
Posts: 6696 Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 13.01.2011 at 17:55 Some quick checking has revealed that you are right; my mistake. Sorry, I've been listening to about half a dozen other Russian bands nonstop for the past several days; I knew they were from Finland, I suppose it just got lost in the mix somewhere.
---- "Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader I'm the Agent of Steel.
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| Posts: 21306 |
Posts: 21306
Don't forget about Nile. I can't believe how many people think Karl Sanders is Egyptian.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Posts: 40071 |
Posts: 40071 Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 13.01.2011 at 18:15 No problem. Maybe you should add a disclaimer to your review now cause a big part of it is totally off now 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Posts: 6696 |
Posts: 6696 Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 14.01.2011 at 02:28 Yeah. How do I do that?
---- "Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader I'm the Agent of Steel.
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| Posts: 40071 |
Posts: 40071 Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 14.01.2011 at 02:39 Isn't there an "edit" possibility at either the bottom or the top of the review for you? 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Posts: 6696 |
Posts: 6696 Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 14.01.2011 at 02:44 Not that I see.
---- "Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader I'm the Agent of Steel.
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 Posts: 887 |
Posts: 887
I like it. There was a time when I couldn't get over this album, but now, well, just "Christmas in Murmansk". Seriously, they will bury me with that song!
---- Freeze! Step away from the hubris.
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 Posts: 9575 |
Posts: 9575
Nice review, I should try this out.
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| Posts: 9575 |
Posts: 9575
Listening to Stalingrad, I enjoy the chorus, but the rest of the vocals kind of annoyed me.
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| Posts: 6696 |
Posts: 6696 Written by Boxcar Willy on 16.07.2012 at 06:10 Their singer is also in Dreamtale and is almost completely unrecognizable. If you are into power metal at all you should check it out, if for no other reason than to hear the difference in his singing styles.
---- "Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader I'm the Agent of Steel.
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