KLEPTOCRACY

Who are you and what do you do in your band? 
I’m Henkka, the guitarist / backing vocalist of Kleptocracy.
When was your band formed?
The project itself has been around since 2009, but the first EP/demo was recorded in 2013 and released in 2014 due to logistic problems. We managed to recruit permanent bassist and drummer in January, so the year 2015 will be a lot more active.
Why did you choose to play Death Metal? 
We didn’t, actually. We identify ourselves as a grindcore act, but we can’t deny death metal influences in our music. We try to combine traditional grindcore, powerviolence, death metal and crust punk.

How do you compose your music? Does only one guy do everything or does everyone contribute?

At the moment, I‘m the main songwriter but this will probably change since we try to compose together in future . 

Tell us about your lyrics, writing, inspiration etc. 
Our lyrics don’t follow a particular path, as we mostly write about things and events that piss us off. Some of our lyrics are about politics, some are about the plain stupidity of human race and some are about something else. We try to avoid writing lyrics without meaning, since it’s more pleasant to play the songs when you have put some thought into the lyrics.

Is there an ideology behind your band? 
Not a clear one I’d say. We oppose conservativeness quite much and have opinions that are mostly quite liberal. 
How do you see the state of Death Metal music these days in your country and in general? 
In Finland we seem to have things in order. Finnish death metal maniacs – fest is a marvelous example of this. A whole festival dedicated to Finnish old school death metal bands and its tickets are already sold out. Old bands are touring again and Demilich is one of the main acts at the Maryland Deathfest. Some people say that death metal isn't doing quite well these days, but in my opinion that’s false information. Yes, we still have the same old death metal acts headlining festivals, but you have to look deeper. New promising acts are found every day and some of them have actually succeeded internationally, like Dead Congregation.
What are your long term plans as a band? What do you want to achieve? 
Our main goal is to play at Obscene Extreme Fest in Czech Republic. Our plan is to keep writing new stuff and to start playing gigs.
Name other Death Metal band from your country that everyone should hear. 
Oh damn. We have quite a few here. Maveth, Corpsessed, Vorum, Swallowed, Mörbid Vomit, Church of the Dead, Lie in Ruins.

Free word. 
Support your local scene. Attend gigs, buy merchandise and buy beer for the bands if they are cool. Local scene is almost the most important thing to smaller acts, so if dig a band, support it in any way you can!