Sear Bliss interview

Metalfan: Hi there and welcome to Metalfan webpages! How are things going for Sear Bliss?
Greetings! Well, everything is just fine. We have a brand new album out (The Arcane Odyssey), and the reactions are amazing.

Sear Bliss

Metalfan: Although Sear Bliss is active for many years and your popularity is pretty high in Romania, I think it will be both interesting and useful for our readers if you will point out the most important aspects of your biography.
It would be too long to tell all the happenings of the last 14 years, so I summarize it somehow with the facts. Sear Bliss was founded in 1993. Since then we have released 6 albums, 1 EP and 1 demo tape, and a DVD. We had quite many concerts, and we had two European tour with 10 concerts each. One of these took place in 1997 with Marduk, the other in 2005 with Skyforger.
We performed in Romania last year, at the Monsters of Transylvania Fest. It was a great success and an amazing experience for us, we hope we will return to your country soon.

Metalfan: I always wondered why you chose to name your band Sear Bliss. Does this name still represent the concept of today Sear Bliss?
The name Sear Bliss originates from a Baudelaire poem. If you look up it in a dicitionary, this two words may have several meanings. So it is up to you which meaning you choose. The main intention behind it was to avoid choosing a clichéd name. In my opinion, the name represents the band’s music perfectly. It has the same sophisticated style that our music has too.

Metalfan: I can easy remember when I’ve listened for the first time the Phantoms album on a copied tape back in 1996. It seems like another era now. What are your memories about that period?
Well, then we experienced Phantoms the same way. That time I wasn’t the member of Sear Bliss yet. A friend of mine gave me that album. The girl knew that I played in the same orchestra as Gergely (the trumpet player of S.B. that time) and gave me the copied tape (without even the titles of the songs). That’s how it started. I remember quite well, that I first listened to it while I was strolling through a park at night. Phantoms had a great influence on me, and at the very moment I became a fan of Sear Bliss. Some years later I became a member of the band, and it was like a dream come true.

Metalfan: Andras were the first that had the idea to melt trumpet and trombone with black metal. Where did this strange idea come from and why did he choose this specific instrument, which has become a trademark for Sear Bliss over the years?
When Sear Bliss was founded in 1993, the aim of the band was to give its music an original touch. There was no use (and still there isn’t any) of copying another bands. In my opinion, brass instruments have certain characteristics that fit (black) metal perfectly. A lot of different moods can be expressed by them, and they give music a perfect atmosphere.
The first brass instrument that the band used was the trumpet. The members of the band lived quite close to each other, and they knew a guy, who played the trumpet, and was fond of metal music. So they asked him to join the band.

Zoltán Pál

Metalfan: Do you think that this unusual instrument was the key element that made Sear Bliss one of the first Hungarian black metal bands well known worldwide?
This is a hard question. It is certain, that using an unusual instrument may help a band to become known. But if you use an interesting instrument, but the music itself is crap, you can do nothing. In my opinion, the key element is that the brass section is in perfect harmony with the rest of the band. These both give the essence of our music, and this unity made us as you told it well-known. Although I think the first well-known Hungarian black metal band was the mighty Tormentor.

Metalfan: Let’s focus now on your latest album, The Arcane Odyssey. First, I want to congratulate you for this opus, it was a real pleasure to listen to it and it seldom leaves my player. One of my favorite for this year, that’s for sure. How were the reactions from both media and fans so far?
Thank you for your kind words, I am really happy to hear that you like our album. I have to say, that we put a lot of effort and energy, and we are very proud of it. The reactions are amazing so far. We receive great reviews from the media, and it seems that our fans like it as well.

Metalfan: What ”odyssey” are we talking about? Is there a concept hidden behind the lyrics of this album that links all the songs?
No, there is no conception behind the lyrics. The lyrics are mostly about spiritual themes, that are far from our everyday lives. András writes stream-of-consciousness type of lyrics. You have to read them while listening to the music. They work together. There is no disctinct conception behind them, all of them have their own world.
But there are two exceptions on The Arcane Odyssey, the first and the last songs. These two are connected to the cover artwork, the legend of The Road of the Warriors. This extraordinary legend was suitable for us to be the theme of a Sear Bliss song.

Metalfan: The Arcane Odyssey expands your musical boundaries in a way you never did before. What were your main influences in the creative process of these songs?
Our current mood is our main influence during the songwriting process. I mean, I couldn’t mention any musical influence, or other bands that had an effect on us. But lots of other things can be influential. E.g.: a film, a book, or just a single thing that happest to one of us. But certain riffs can be inspirative as well. When you have a great guitar riff, it is sometimes very easy to compose another one that fits well to it. And in Sear Bliss there are five creative minds, and this resulted in The Arcane Odyssey.

Sear Bliss - The Arcane Odyssey 

Metalfan: Has the "black metal" label become restrictive for the music Sear Bliss plays now?
No, we don’t really care about labels, or any other expectations about what our music should be like. What we only care about is our own feelings and satisfaction about our music.

Metalfan: Do you agree that The Arcane Odyssey is the most diverse and mature Sear Bliss album you had released so far?
Yes, I definitely agree with you. The album is very diverse, all of the songs have their own characteristics. Each of them are different in a way. Despite this, the album makes a whole unity. This may derives from the maturity that you mentioned. We made a progress in orchestration as well. As I mentioned previously, in my opinion, we have created the best Sear Bliss album so far. 
 
Metalfan: Give me a few details about the recording process of this album. I know you spent a lot of time and energy in studio to record it, are you satisfied with the final result?
This time we used a method different to the previous recording sessions. We worked in three studios: one for the drums, one for the vocals and one for the rest. We had never worked like before. Working in a studio is always a bit stressful, but as we are getting better and better, it is a sort of fun as well. It is really interesting to see how a new album is put into form. We are very satisfied with the final result, we made the best Sear Bliss album ever.

Metalfan: Path to the motherland has some folkish parts that remind me of Moonsorrow or Finntroll. Is this a sign that prepare us for a future Viking-style Sear Bliss album?
No, definitely not. This was a single experiment that we won’t continue. This all began with a folkish guitar riff. As we worked on this song we realized that it would be very effective to use traditional Hungarian folk instruments. Fortunately, our drummer played in a folk band, and he invited his friends for a short co-operation. Although the song became a great success among those who heard it, I am sure that we won’t compose another folkish song.

Zoltán Pál

Metalfan: The cover of your album is a very impressive work by József Tari. What does it represent?
The cover depicts a Hungarian legend, the Road of the Warriors. This legend is one of the stories of the origin of the Milky Way. The short version of it can be read in the booklet of the CD, so I wouldn’t go into details this time. And yes, Mr. Tari did a great job again.

Metalfan: Some time ago you were involved in a strange project (at least for a metal band), you combined metal and theatre in a play, a real "Black Metal Opera”. Give me more details about this unusual, but nevertheless interesting experience.
It was definitely a great experience for all of us, both actors and ourselves. We had never done anything like that before, and the actors had never played with metal musicians. We played The Beggars Opera from John Gay. It was a very unique and a bit avantgarde performance. We played our own songs, but some new were also written directly for that project. These songs couldn’t be heard anywhere else, they are a bit different from our style. It may sound like a black metal musical. Weird, isn’t it?

Metalfan: Do you plan to do another project like this in the near future?
Unfortunately, this project is over. Since then, the director is working somewhere else, and there is no chance to play it again. We don’t plan similar projects, this time our new record is the most important for us.

Sear Bliss

Metalfan: What do you think about the direction black metal is heading to lately, especially when it comes to Norwegian bands?
In black metal, the case is just the same as in other genres of metal music. There are some leaders, and (too) many copiers. I don’t like those bands that don’t have their own style or sound. I think it is a waste of time copying a band instead of trying to create your own style. I like the pioneer-type of bands (e.g. Mayhem, Keep of Kalessin, Satyricon, Emperor), and I really appreciate their work. It might be strange that I mentioned only Norwegian bands. Maybe that’s why Norway is the main region where black metal comes from.

Metalfan: What about the Hungarian metal scene? What is its status today?
Being a small country, the Hungarian metal scene is also small. So maybe that’s why there aren’t so many bands. In spite of the fact that there aren’t too many groups, there are quite many high quality bands in the metal scene. I would like to recommend you Bornholm, that plays a kind of pagan black metal. Their music is great, and I also will appear as a guest musician on their next record.

Metalfan: What kind of music are you listening to nowadays?
Well, I am a metalfan, so I listen to music quite a lot. I like many areas of metal music, but mostly I listen to black and thrash metal. What had a great impression on me in the last months was the latest Mayhem record. They managed to create a very unique album with an undescribable atmosphere. And Attila is just outstanding, in my opinion, he is the best extreme metal vocalist. But I like older stuffs as well, one of my favorite band is Iron Maiden, and I like the re-recorded Destruction songs as well.

Metalfan: Do you know something about Romanian metal scene? Are you familiar with Negura Bunget music? If yes, what’s your opinion on it?
Unfortunately, I don’t know too much about the Romanian scene. The only band I know is Negura Bunget. I don’t have any of their records, but we played together three times so far. They play very unique music, the use of the folk instruments makes is outstanding. And as we met them backstage, they are cool guys as well.

Metalfan: The Arcane Odyssey belongs already to the past. What is next for Sear Bliss? What are your future plans?
We would like to promote our new album as much as possible. I mean, we’d like to play live as much as possible. Hopefully, we will take part in a European tour with some other bands. And it would also be great to play again in Romania. Our gig in Tirgu Mures had a great impression on us.

Metalfan: Thank you very much for this interview. In the end please send a message to your Romanian fans.
Thank you for the interview and the support! I would recommend everyone to listen to The Arcane Odyssey, and I hope we’ll see you soon live.