Sleep of Monsters – or SOM for short – are a genre-bending vehicle for darkly melodic melancholia, perfumed in the incense of ancient mysteries and sullen decadence. Alternatively, you can file it under AOR – Adult Occult Rock, that is.

With three female and two male vocalists and the unique lyrics of lead singer Ike Vil, SOM are, to quote Monty Python, something completely different – hidden behind their sometimes deceivingly catchy songs lurks a poison garden of cloaked meanings and soul-shattering revelations.

Produced by Hiili Hiilesmaa (HIM, Sentenced, Apocalyptica et al), their third album, titled ΓΓΓ, will be released on May 12, 2023, on Svart Records. Aiming for a grittier, earthier, more organic sound this time, SOM have immersed themselves in ancient Greek mysteries. Written for example at the site of the wine-oracle of Perperikon and the sanctuary of the Cyprian Aphrodite in Palaeopaphos, and heavily influenced by the corpus known as Greek Magical Papyri, the lyrics constitute a modern initiation rite; a five-g’s-in-total-darkness-type of trip that optimally bestows upon an intrepid listener the tripartite secret beyond the piper at the gates of dawn.

The line-up on the records is Sami Hassinen – guitar, Pätkä Rantala – drums, Ande Kiiski – bass, Janne Immonen – keyboards, Uula Korhonen – guitar, Jarkko Hassinen – baritone guitar & vocals, Tarja Leskinen – vocals, Hanna Wendelin – vocals, Nelli Saarikoski – vocals, and Ike Vil –lead vocals.

SOM kick-started their career by opening for HIM on New Year’s Eve of 2013 at the Helldone Festival, Helsinki. They were signed to the Finnish label Suomen Musiikki in 2013 and released their debut album Produces Reason in Finland in November 2013, entering the Top fifty. Svart Records picked the album for international release and put out the digipak and gatefold vinyl versions of the album, complete with a bonus track, in November 2014. In 2016, SOM released their second album Poison Garden on Svart Records. A video was shot for The Golden Bough, the band’s tribute to the dark duets of Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra. In 2017, the band played Tuska Open Air in Helsinki, and toured Finland with Swallow the Sun.

ΓΓΓ rrreleases on May 12th.