Rippikoulu was such an obscure group that they couldn't even be considered as one of the second/third tier Finnish DM bands like Funebre or Purtenance. For those who have witnessed the repugnancy of the demo, "Musta Sermonia," Rippikoulu remains as a true hidden underground gem, burried deep within years of mainstream culture and modern varieties of Finnish metal. The Fins always had love for the doomy, brooding melodies that they used in their death metal and frankly death/doom is what these guys excel in. If you like the filthy death metal sound of Finland, and if you are used to hearing it, then you'll know damn well what this demo sounds like.
The extremely thick and fuzzy tone applied on the guitars is oppressing enough and when the sluggish, deppresive melodies and atmosphere are added to the already dense combination, the heft of the album becomes unbearably heavy. The riffs are mostly lo-paced death/doom monsters, twisted grotesqueries that stumble and crush everything in their path with incredible heft. Paces vary at times, and become quite entertaining when they all of a sudden turn into vicious blast beats and ultimately enjoyable, headbang-friendly tremolo assaults, though sequences like these are terribly outnumbered by the doomy dirges that enshadow the whole demo. Fortunately, anyone who has already came for sluggish death/doom from this record will just take the lack of tempo variation with a grain of salt. The only thing that stops the demo from reaching absolute perfection, is the lack of originality. If I were listening to a vigorously catchy record with dynamic riffage, I wouldn't mind this flaw at all, but when we're talking about heavy, dark and depressive death/doom, the situation gets abrasive simply because no matter how many times you search the demo you can't find a collosal deviation from the same pervasive sounds, widespread around the demo.
When it comes to flaws, that's the only flaw I can think of. Other than that ''Musta Sermonia'' is absolutely disgusting death metal, unpolished and blunt as a rock. It contains extra striking features such as doomy, brooding melodies, monstrous vocals and an engulfing atmosphere that helps the demo out a lot for the most part, always keeping the listener at the edge of his/her seat no matter how depressing the riffs are. The Finnish death metal masters always have a haunted, repugnant feel to them, but only few can execute it in the way Rippikoulu did, and fewer can be as depressingly ominous.
Highlights
''Kadonneet Jumalat''
''Anteeksiannon Synkkä Varjo''
Final Rating
Masterpiece [9.0/10]
