Finnish Depressive Black Metal band SYSI from Joensuu, North Karelia, released their debut EP on September 16th. Three track release was mixed and mastered by Finnish producer Hiili Hiilesmaa (Sentenced, HIM, Moonspell etc.).
The musical roots of this four-piece band lie in 1990s melodic black metal, spiced with ambient elements and spoken-word vocals.
“We haven’t really heard much DSBM-style music sung in Finnish. When sung in one’s native language, the lyrics carry a unique weight and emotional connection.”
Guitarist/composer Lauri Kivikoski wanted to start making slow, melodic black metal in Finnish and found singer Arttu Ignatius on the Muusikoiden.net website. Lauri’s attention was drawn to Arttu’s clear articulation and distorted vocals which conveyed a range of emotions. Their collaboration quickly became very natural and open. While writing songs, it felt as though they were pushing each other to new heights.
“Arttu’s expression was full of emotion and variety, it was moving. Not that kind of flat, generic performance where people just pretend their aggression. Despite the raw delivery, the lyrics came across clearly, and as a listener, I could feel the song resonating throughout my entire body. It really moved me.” Lauri says.
Lauri asked bassist Heikki Majoinen and drummer Sami Kettunen to join the band. Their chemistry had already been tested on previous projects. In addition, Heikki and Sami had played together for years and had honed a tight rhythm section between the two of them.
“Black metal is often viewed as music that promotes darkness, death, misanthropy, division, and destruction. For us, black metal is about acknowledging, confronting, and processing the darkest aspects of life. This includes the hatred one may feel toward oneself and others. These feelings are not unnatural, and we certainly cannot move forward by suppressing them or avoiding confronting them.
SYSI’s music is on the side of life and peace, but we don’t want to shy away from acknowledging that depression, anxiety, anger, and even suicidal thoughts are part of being human. Everyone experiences suffering, and everyone experiences mental health symptoms at some point, whether they admit it or not. Through our music, we want to convey what some people experience firsthand and what others are unaware of.
When someone writes lyrics about something you’ve experienced yourself, you get the feeling that you’re not alone. Someone else knows what this feels like, too. It connects people across languages and borders, offers comfort, and helps you keep going. Maybe you’ll even find ways to resolve the situation. At least for us, metal music has worked this way,” the band says.
Lauri’s guiding principle when composing was that if a melody doesn’t even bring tears to the composer’s eyes or give him chills, it’s unlikely to move anyone else either. Furthermore, the songs had to be interesting even without vocals, using only MIDI sounds. That way, the texture would likely be rich enough to serve as a foundation for the vocalist’s expression.
The album was made with DIY spirit, from building the recording studio to designing the cover art and creating the videos.
“We experimented with different setups and signal paths through trial and error, searching for our own organic sound. The distinctive guitar sound on the album came about by accident when a load box was inadvertently plugged into a tube amp the wrong way around.”
The drums, bass, and rhythm guitars were recorded in full takes to preserve the natural groove. The vocals were also recorded in one take, and the first vocal takes were left on the album. They had that fresh feeling that the band wanted to capture and convey to the listener. No pitch correction was used in the music; instead, the band wanted to leave just the right amount of human imperfection on the album.
“We wanted to sound like ourselves. Hiili understood what we were going for and helped us make it happen. We’re truly grateful for this collaboration.”
The cover was literally made by hand. The abstract artwork was painted on a piece of wood left over from a house project, using fingers and a knife instead of brushes. It was then digitized by photographing it. Everyone is free to interpret it as they wish.
“Good metal brings people together around the world when it springs from a deep sense of shared humanity. That’s why we wanted to create lyric videos on YouTube where you can follow the Finnish lyrics, line by line, with their English translations.”
A CD version of the EP is also in the works. Janne Saksa produced the master for it.
Tracklist:
01. Kunnes hajoan
02. Päästän irti
03. Minkä tähden