HMF 2024 Kick-Off: KYPCK Farewell Show in Helsinki
As a warm-up for the Hellsinki Metal Festival 2024, you could choose from an appealing program in the Finnish capital’s metal venues. August 8, 2024, saw KYPCK taking centre stage at Bar Loose, playing one of their last shows in Finland after 17 years of band history, bidding farewell to their fan base in style. The supporting bands Halysis and Ranger have both been established in the Finnish underground scene for quite some time.
When Halysis opened the evening, quite a number of metalheads were already at Loose and the Finns’ good performance ensured that the fans really got into it. (But even without moving, people in the furthest corner of the club began to sweat. That’s how immensely hot it was in the venue.) The band reminded me a lot of older In Flames and they quickly won the audience over with their melodic and technically skilled playing. The vocals varied from deep growls to clean singing and rounded off wonderfully the really catchy songs. The audience thanked the band with a lot of applause and so Halysis can speak of a really successful performance, they had set the bar very high.
Now it was in the hands of Ranger to do the same. And right at the beginning of their set, the guys had to struggle with the extremely high temperatures, but they compensated it very well and delivered a great performance. The band offered speed metal with a lot of variety and, despite the heat, seemed well organised and put on a really great performance. However, insiders said that they were otherwise much stronger and that they lacked a significant driving force today… I didn’t get this impression at all, instead, Ranger blasted one appealing song after the other from the PA and showed all their playing skills.
Bar Loose had filled up even more, the temperature continued to rise and the fans were now really in the mood for the evening’s headliner, KYPCK. And then the time had come: the third last gig under the name KYPCK was about to begin for the men from Northern Finland. The fans waited eagerly as E. Seppänen, S. S. Lopakka, S. Kukkohovi, , J.T. Ylä-Rautio and A.K. Karihtala entered the stage. Despite the high temperatures, Kypck set off fireworks from the very first minute and took the fans with them, who cheered and supported them unconditionally. Singer Erkki Seppänen was in constant contact with the audience and, like the rest of the band, had a lot of fun. KYPCK had made an extremely good selection of songs, which they performed here for the last time in Helsinki. The sound conditions far surpassed those of the support bands and many fans felt goosebumps, despite the insane heat, especially during the frequent acoustic parts. It was pure madness: KYPCK and their fans formed a tight bond and that was palpable for every single person here at Loose. Throughout the gig, the crowd was always on the move and for a doom metal concert, the atmosphere was simply brilliant. I’ve never experienced anything like it before. The whole thing was correspondingly sweat-inducing and of course even more so on stage. The power and depth of KYPCK’s songs was palpable for everyone and catchy tunes like ‘Alleya Stalina’ were shouted along by fans at the top of their voices. One highlight practically followed the next. The brilliant ‘Chernaya Dyra’ ended the official set after 1:10 hours.
But the show went on: KYPCK returned to the stage with no less than 4 encores and demanded everything from the fans and themselves once again. Bar Loose was shaking and with the catchy ‘Demon’ from their debut album ‘Cherno’, KYPCK played the last song in their 17-year band history here in Helsinki and said goodbye to their fans after 1.5 hours to thundering applause.
KYPCK will be missed in the doom metal scene and with this knowledge the fans wistfully made their way home. An evening full of emotions came to an end – thank you, KYPCK !!!
Text: Hanzi Herrmann
Photos : Sameli Köykkä
