Skepticism is a Finnish

funeral doom metal Funeral doom is a subgenre of death-doom with heavy influence from funeral dirge music. Low- tuned guitars, death growls, instruments that emulate pipe organ sounds and ponderous pace are typical traits of this style. History An offshoot of dea ...

band. Formed in 1991, they are regarded as one of the pioneers of the genre.

History

Starting out with a

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

sound on their first 7", Skepticism soon began to evolve into a more distinctive style, a combination of slow

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

and death metal with prolific use of keyboards, especially using an

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

sound. The keyboards intend to create a depressive sound, rather than the

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

sound that many

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

bands using keyboards tend to focus on. This style was first heard on the ''Aeothe Kaear'' demo (1994), which was still up-tempo compared to the material that was to follow. The debut album '' Stormcrowfleet'' (1995) pushed the band's style away from traditional doom metal. After this, the band released its first 'pair', an EP and album which are thematically connected: ''Ethere'' (1997) and ''Lead and Aether'' (1998). In 1999, ''Aes'' was released, a one-track EP lasting almost 28 minutes, and another departure into different stylistic territory from the band. A variety of musical themes are explored before the song turns back upon itself and returns to the opening theme. The band's latest releases were contained in the second 'pair', ''The Process of Farmakon'' (2002) and ''Farmakon'' (2003). These releases involve another slight departure from earlier releases, by introducing more elements of

dissonance Dissonance has several meanings related to conflict or incongruity: *Cognitive dissonance is a state of mental conflict. * Cultural dissonance is an uncomfortable sense experienced by people in the midst of change in their cultural environment. *C ...

and

experimentation An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

. Their 2008 release is called ''

Alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which in most cases at least one is a metal, metallic element, although it is also sometimes used for mixtures of elements; herein only metallic alloys are described. Metallic alloys often have prop ...

''. In 2015, Skepticism released ''Ordeal'', which was recorded live in front of an audience. In 2021, the band released their sixth album, ''Companion'', and a music video for the song "Calla".

Band members

*Matti Tilaeus - vocals (1991-) *Jani Kekarainen - guitar (1991-) *Eero Pöyry - keyboards (1991-) *Lasse Pelkonen - drums (1991-) Live musicians *Timo Sitomaniemi – guitars (2015-) Former members *Tobias Kellgren - vocals (1991-1993)

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Stormcrowfleet'' (1995, Red Stream) * ''Lead and Aether'' (1997, Red Stream) * ''Farmakon'' (2003, Red Stream) * ''Alloy'' (2008, Red Stream) * ''Ordeal'' (2015, Svart Records) * ''Companion'' (2021, Svart Records)

Demos, singles and EPs

* "Towards My End" (7" Single, 1992) * ''Aeothe Kaear'' (Demo, 1994) * ''Ethere'' (EP, 1997, Red Stream) * ''Aes'' (EP, 1998, Red Stream) * ''The Process of Farmakon'' (EP, 2002, Red Stream)

References

External links

Skepticism
– official band website since early 2008 ** ''farmakon.com'' used to be the official band website between early 2003 and late 2005
Skepticism
on Myspace
Svart Records
– Skepticism's record label 2015 *
2003 interview with Eero Pöyry at doom-metal.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skepticism Finnish heavy metal musical groups Finnish doom metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1991 Finnish musical quartets 1991 establishments in Finland Funeral doom musical groups Svart Records artists