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Pekko Käppi & K:H:H:L

  • Balloon 360° / SUN 16.8.

Pekko Käppi & K:H:H:L moves at the crossroads of Finnish folk music, psychedelic rock, and ritual-driven groove in a way that still feels singular in contemporary music. Käppi’s bowed lyre, his deep-cutting voice, and the band’s heavy yet supple playing create a world where old beliefs, physical rhythm, and the repetitive force of rock are bound tightly together.

For years, Pekko Käppi has been one of the most distinctive figures in Finnish neofolk, a bowed lyre player, songwriter, and bandleader whose work has brought elements of folk music into darker and more abrasive territory. K:H:H:L was formed in the wake of the album Rammat jumalat, and has since built a strong presence on stages in Finland and abroad. Along the way, Käppi has appeared as the opening act at WOMEX, supported Robert Plant, and been nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize.

K:H:H:L does not treat tradition as an archive, but as a living force. In the band’s music, echoes of folk song, the earthiness of the blues, and the surge of psychedelic rock come together in a form shaped by mantra-like repetition, menace, and drive. Released in 2025, Oli kerran ryytimaassa… confirms what Käppi’s work has suggested for years: this is music that does not try to tidy Finnish folk into something polite, but to take it deeper.