Terminus Interview - Sepulchral Curse

In this special episode of Terminus, The Black Metal Guy speaks to Kari (vocalist) and Jaakko (guitarist) of Finland's mighty Sepulchral Curse, whose debut album Only Ashes Remain is one of the finest death metal releases of 2020 (reviewed on T12). This interview will give you some insight into the band's history, and how their uniquely sombre, ripping sound fits into the landscape of Scandinavian death and black metal.

But ultimately, it's all about how Sepulchral Curse writes songs. And nobody does it quite like this. Over the course of the conversation, Kari and Jaako reveal the inner workings of a band with not two, not three, but four active voices in the writing process, and a single - very big - brain between the four of them. This interview stands as a testament to a core tenet of Terminus: the irreplaceable value of playing music with real people, real friends, in an actual band.

Note: We were having some issues with audio feedback, so we proceeded in a ritualistic, Japanese-tea-ceremony sort of way, with each of us speaking in turn.

00:00 - Lineup and formation of Sepulchral Curse.

03:55 - "A red line running through the whole album" - What's the secret to SC's hydra-headed songwriting assault? And what even is Finnish death metal, anyway?

32:00 - Walking a fine line - Jaakko on how to write melodies in death metal, without writing melodeath.

39:30 - "I use a lot of power" - Kari on stretching his vocal technique from Solothus (doom-death) to Sepulchral Curse.

44:05 - The million-dollar question - What is the difference between black and death metal? Ft. Jaakko's guide to writing a canned Swedeath revival song.

55:13 - "Into The Sleep of Earth's Ashes" - on writing the album's mountainous closing track, "Maan Tuhkien Uneen."

58:42 - "Into the extremes" - What's the direction for the next full-length?

01:03:02 - Outro - Sepulchral Curse - "Maan Tuhkien Uneen," fr. Only Ashes Remain (Transcending Obscurity, 2020)

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