Former SENTENCED Guitarist's KYPCK Signs With CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS

KYPCK ("Kursk" in the western alphabet) the new Russian-singing Finnish doom metal band featuring former SENTENCED guitarist Sami Lopakka (a.k.a. S.S. Lopakka) has inked a deal with Century Media Records for the European release (outside Finland) of the group's debut album, "Cherno".

KYPCK's lineup includes Lopakka, vocalist E. Seppnen, bassist J. T. Yl-Rautio and renowned producer Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, APOCALYPTICA, SENTENCED, etc.),who plays drums in the band under the name K. H. M. Hiilesmaa. It was only logical for Hiilesmaa to take charge of KYPCK's heavy and (in its original sense) grinding production.

E. Seppnen has lived in Russia for 2.5 years, studied in St. Petersburg and worked at the embassy in Moscow. He recently got his degree from Oxford, and teaches Russian part-time in Tampere, Finland. Hence, he is more than capable of singing in Russian.

"Cherno" was completed during 2007 and was originally released through the Finnish label UHO Production in March 2008. Despite the album's crushing, doomy nature and Russian lyrics, it went straight to No. 11 on the Finnish chart.

"Cherno" will finally be out in the rest of Europe via Century Media Records on the following dates:

Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux: Friday, July 18
Spain, Portugal: Tuesday, July 22
Sweden, Hungary: Wednesday, July 23
Italy: Friday, August 29
UK, France, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Rest Of Europe: Monday, July 21

Guitarist S. S. Lopakka comments: "We are more than thrilled to get 'Cherno' released worldwide, and Century Media is just a perfect harbor for the wreckage of our submarine."

Century Media Records A&R representative Melanie Schmidt comments on the signing: "I am excited to be working with KYPCK. In the past, Sami Lopakka and Century Media have been working closely on SENTENCED. POISONBLACK (who were founded by former SENTENCED singer Ville Laihiala) will be releasing their third album, 'A Dead Heavy Day', September 1st. Thus, to have KYPCK in the Century Family feels great to us. Some people might wonder why we would release a Finnish metal band singing in Russian. The answer is very simple: Some of the most unusual bands did and do best for us, no matter if it is battle metal hailing from Finland with warmongers TURISAS, ORPHANED LAND sending ethno metal from Israel, FIREWIND shredding classic heavy metal from Greece and last but not least LACUNA COIL bringing stellar success from Italy. Century Media Records likes the challenge and believes that success comes with creativity and bands being 'different.' Russia has an amazing and interesting culture. Also, there is deep links between the Finnish and Russian culture, so why not singing in Russian?"

KYPCK's "1917" video:

Fan-filmed video footage of KYPCK performing a cover of BLACK SABBATH's "Black Sabbath" in Russian at the group's first-ever concert on March 23, 2008 at at Teatria in Oulu, Finland can be viewed below.