Introducing: Unredeemer

Finnish band Unredeemer offer up a vicious fusion of death, thrash and groove metal that they describe as “heavy, energetic and groovy.”

Unredeemer’s members originally hail from Croatia and Australia as well as Finland. It started out as the brainchild of guitarist Pekka Paasakivi in 2018, before completing the lineup with Croatian vocalist Saša Pul, Australian bassist Iain Huntley, who’d lived in Finland over 10 years and been part of the local scene for a while before joining, and Finnish guitarist Mika Nisu Niskaala and drummer Jani Tossavainen, who sadly passed away in June.

On the sound the band has honed, Saša tells us: “There are songs and albums I listen to when I’m low on emotional energy or just need a ‘mood improver.’ That’s the effect I hope Unredeemer will induce in the people listening to us. So, under the risk of sounding corny af, I’d say: catchy and melodic at times, with a groove that gets your head nodding or feet tapping.”

The band made their mark with debut EP 4-19-23 in 2020 and followed it up with their debut album Word Become Flesh last year. On the album, Saša said: “Putting an album out there was a great milestone for us, because we went through the whole lockdown period just as we started playing, which led to some lineup changes and uncertainty in general. Being able to finally record and publish at least some of the material we’ve been working on and re-training with different members was as much a relief as a needed motivation to continue creating.

“It might just be our echo chamber, but all the feedback was positive, and it’s a special kind of feeling seeing the crowd react to songs they hear for the first time. You know you’re doing something right when you start seeing those spontaneous headbangs and mosh pits. For anyone who didn’t listen to it, just go and listen, I don’t want to spoil it!”

Saša also explains that the band member’s shared favourite track on the album is Lutrizio, which was written as a tribute to friends they’d lost and was also Jani’s favourite song, which added even more weight. Lutrizio opens up with a building noise then heavy chugging guitars that are joined by a cool winding lick. The guitars slow down as Saša’s guttural vocals take over, then a big chunky bassline and intense drums support another stabbing lick under wild growls. A more melodic chorus follows before chunky chugging guitars set up another avalanche of intense vocals. Check it out in the stream here:

Word Become Flesh is packed full of vicious metal goodness like the intriguingly named Malware Messiah, which opens up with chugging guitars and a chunky bassline that continues under immense guttural vocals. A funky little spinning riff takes over before giving way to more intense vocals. The feeling shifts completely halfway through as the heavy guitars drop out, leaving a piercing laid-back lick that continues alongside a winding guitar riff and menacing whispery vocals.

And there’s plenty more where that came from, including the lively title track, vicious closing track Defiance and the powerful opener Shewolf And An Oak, which you can check out in the video below.

Unredeemer’s members bring a range of influences to the mix, from Pekka and Nisu’s love of old-school thrash and death metal like Slayer to Iain’s grindcore and obscure black metal. While Saša’s music taste is “all over the place” but can be narrowed down to tech death, black and deathcore and a love for experimental vocalists including the likes of Cattle Decapitation, Anaal Nathrak and Lorna Shore.

And on what inspires them to write music, Saša explains: “I like to say that every Unredeemer song has a piece of me in it. From my own memories of war in Croatia, my parent’s sacrifices at that time, to the feeling of being looked down at and turned back at the bank – it has to be something personal.”

The loss of Jani means Unredeemer are understandably on a hiatus right now. They played a gig at the Pannonian Rock Festival in August as a tribute to Jani, hiring a session drummer and bringing his photo and drumsticks on stage. Iain – who was present when Jani died just after a band rehearsal – has pilled back as he needs to spend more time with his family after the traumatic experience.

And Saša adds: “We know we have some great material, and we know we’ll have to think about replacing Jani at one point, but that still feels too hard. And finding a new bassist as well is another added difficulty.” We hope the band can continue as and when they’ve had time to recover from this tragic event, and we send our best wishes to Jani’s friends and family.

You can follow Unredeemer on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, YouTube Music and YouTube.