Relapse Hooded Menace are one of modern metal’s leading doom bands. Having just conjured up their third full-length album, ‘Effigies of Evil,’ the band have released a must-hear album for fans of all heavy music. Without losing their edge or sacrificing their creative vision, ‘Effigies of Evil’ is arguably the band’s most accessible creation to date, and we recently had the chance to ask Hooded Menace vocalist / guitarist Lasse Pyykkö a few questions. Pyykkö tells us about ‘Effigies,’ the incredible artwork the album showcases, the future of the doom genre and much more. Is there anything you tried to accomplish on ‘Effigies of Evil’ that you didn’t attempt previously on your past records? I know the album is a bit more melodic and there’s more mid-tempos to bang your head to, but it all came out so naturally that I can’t really say we “tried”  to accomplish that. I guess we only set out to make a good successor to “Never Cross the Dead”. The album art for ‘Effigies of Evil’ is incredible. How does the art act as an extension of the record? It’s slightly more elegant than before and I guess you can say the same about our music. It all intertwines even better than I dared to hope. Our trademarks (The Blind Dead references) are there, but the approach is different. There’s some kind of mystic and epic vibe to it. I hope you can get lost in it just as well as in the music. Tell us about the concept of the ‘Crumbling Insanity’ video. To put it shortly, there’s a wanderer who finds an ancient mystical text with illustrations. The pages tell a story of hooded figures terrorizing humanity and crumbling civilization. Hooded Menace has been a part of many splits. Are there any future splits planned and if you could do a split with any band, who would it be? We’re currently working on our song for the vinyl split with the US doomgodz Loss. As usually it will be released by Doomentia Records. As for the ultimate split … man, there´re so many bands to choose from, but if I can pick ANY band I suppose I’m almost obligated to say Black Sabbath. We’ve shared a wax with bands such as Asphyx and Coffins, so I consider us very fortunate already. Who are your biggest influences inside and outside the doom metal genre? Inside doom and doomy death metal genre: 80s Candlemass, Cathedral, Autopsy, two first Paradise Lost albums and Asphyx. Outside: 80s Maiden, Metallica (3 first albums only), Goblin, Fabio Frizzi… Where do you see the future of doom and do you believe that it is becoming a more accessible genre? Well, doom is now more popular than ever. I feel like it’s peaking already. Maybe this trend will go on for some time but there must be a downhill sooner or later. A lot of people will be somewhere else. I wish I was wrong, but that’s how I see it really. Hopefully the better bands will be around and there’ll be an audience for them. Stream Hooded Menace’s ‘Effigies of Evil’ album in full here and check out the band’s Facebook page. Watch Hooded Menace’s ‘Crumbling Insanity’ Video