Despiser – The Offering

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/

Despiser has released their second single Weakness on April 16. Sara Strömmer features in both the song and the music video directed by Petri Sara.

Despiser from Northern Finland is continuing its journey with their second single Weakness (feat. Sara Strömmer). The band released the song with a brand-new music video on April 16. Strömmer (Shereign, ex-Fear of Domination) is featuring in both, the song itself and the music video.The male lead role is played by the guitarist-vocalist Tomi Tuomaala. He’s describing his composition as a grooving rock song.

“It’s kindova up-yours-love-song. There is a bit of a dialogue in the chorus. It’s great that we got Sara to feature! Now it’s way better than the original version. Sara is the best vocal coach in Finland and she took Weakness to a whole new level.”

The whole group knew Strömmer and she was a clear choice to feature in the project. She was happy to join in. Strömmer says that she was aiming for an honest emotion without smoothing it too much with her interpretation. The same package contains edges and vulnerability.

”I like how Weakness is combining sensitivity with a certain kind of ruggedness. Decadent melancholy from Finland at its best! The story part of the video has a right amount of weirdness and contrast. I think it works really well with the song.”

“It’s ok to have weaknesses. We all do. Sure, Weakness is a story about a relationship, which is wrecked, but it hasn’t ended. Two people would like it to work, but it simply doesn’t. When I was working with the lyrics I realized that the song might as well be about family issues, friendship or addiction”, the bassist and the second lyricist of the song Antti Halonen says.

The video is directed by Petri Sara. He says that at first the production was supposed to be smaller than in Live for Nothing. Eventually planning sessions with Tuomaala and Halonen ended up everything being even bigger. The dysfunctional and frozen wreck fits the lyrics perfectly. Expensive luxury-cars and cruising in beautiful places belong to a bit different music genre.

“The car really looked like it’s part of the band and the story. The motor was missing and even the key broke inside the lock. Goddamn roof ruined my hat! I was shooting in the trunk and the roof was full of mold. My black hat turned into green and I threw it away. Otherwise it was again a really nice project!”

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.

Despiser is:

Tomi Tuomaala: Vocals and guitar

Eetu Kortetjärvi: Guitar

Antti Halonen: Bass

Ville Vitikka: Drums

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@despiser
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Despiser/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/despiserband/