Despiser has released their debut EP “Wreck” on June 12. The group from Northern Finland is mixing rusty and rugged guitar shredding with melancholic melodies. Wreck includes the already published singles “Live for Nothing” and “Weakness” and two new songs “Shades of Hate” and “One Man Extinction”.
“It came out surprisingly OK. There has been some doubt if this is ever going to be anything. This is a good way to show, that this is our shit and fuck you. The songs are representing the band and its sound for now. We’ll make even better songs for the first album”, the vocalist-guitarist Tomi Tuomaala says.
“We managed to pull off a package that sounds good and fresh even to ourselves. We’ve played some of the songs for years”, the drummer Ville Vitikka says.
The themes include for example self-destruction and self-loath, wrath and weakness, distress and despair, anguish and anxiety and mental issues. The moments when a person’s whole life is about to collapse one way or another.
The bassist and another lyricist Antti Halonen says that the word “wreck” can be used as a noun, a verb or even as an adjective. It brings all fours songs together even if each one of them is handling the darkest sides of human life from a different angle.
“A human can wreck, destroy, trash, break and shatter things way worse than matter. Not only buildings can lie in ruins and wreck doesn’t necessarily mean crashed trains or sunken ships.”
Wreck is first out digitally in streaming services and as physical version after the festival summer of 2026. Despiser is playing in Tuska festival in Helsinki in June and start touring in Finland in the Autumn.
”Modern metal is rising rapidly. Maybe music with vibes from the 2000’s has been a bit bypassed. But people have appreciated, especially at gigs, what and how we play. They’ve said that the direction is right and there should be more stuff like this”, the guitarist Eetu Kortetjärvi says.
EP is mixed and mastered by Lauri Hämäläinen from Sonic Pump Studios. The cover art is made by the photographer Petri Sara.
Wreck:
- Live for Nothing, comp. Tuomaala, lyr. Tuomaala & Halonen
- Weakness (feat. Sara Strömmer), comp. Tuomaala, lyr. Tuomaala & Halonen
- Shades of Hate, comp. Tuomaala, lyr. Tuomaala & Halonen
- One Man Extinction, comp. ja lyr. Tuomaala
Despiser:
Tomi Tuomaala: Vocals and guitar
Eetu Kortetjärvi: Guitar
Antti Halonen: Bass
Ville Vitikka: Drums
Despiser represents the new wave of Oulu-originated metal bands from Finland. The group is mixing melancholic melodies with more aggressive riff-driven Northern anger. The songs are about life through death and death through life.
The band is publishing its first EP before the festival summer 2026. The first music video Live for Nothing saw the daydarkness 29 January. Despiser has played live shows during 2025 in Helsinki, Oulu, Lahti and Tampere and the band is heading towards new stages in 2026.
Despiser was originally formed in Oulu in 2017. The band has re-located to the Southern Finland and found its new line-up in 2023 after many years of silence.
Social media:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@despiser
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Despiser
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/despiserband/