THE GRAND DESTINY OF SEAR BLISS

One of the blackened gems coming out from Red Stream Records is Grand Destiny by Sear Bliss of Hungary. Dark, extreme metal may be heard from this unique bandand there is even a mighty horn section involved! Curious? Read on...

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Sear Bliss, and how long the band has been together.

I'm Andras and I play the bass and do the vocals in Sear Bliss. I formed the band in 1993 so next year will be the 10th anniversary of Sear Bliss.

What is the music scene like in Hungary and are there a lot of places for metal bands to play? Is it difficult to get gigs outside of Hungary?

Hungary is quite a small country so the scene is small too but there are some very promising and unique bands in every genre of metal over here. Yes, there are a couple of good clubs where the metal bands can play. Since people are really enthusiastic at the gigs in Hungary, it's always good to play over here. Fortunately for Sear Bliss it's not difficult to get gigs outside of Hungary. We toured Europe with Marduk in 1997 and it was a good start. Since then we have many contacts so we play in Holland, Germany, Belgium, etc. each year. Now we are planning an European tour in October."

What is the story behind the title Grand Destiny? Is it a concept album and where did you get the ideas for the lyrics?

Grand Destiny is deeply connected to old Hungarian mythology. Before Hungary became a state or country, the Huns were fiery people who came from the east. One of the founding fathers said to his son to go west and find the Grand Destiny for his tribe and people. You can see the struggle of this journey, filled with battles in our songs. Since not many people are familiar with this part of Hungarian history, we purposely didn't go into details or made the album nationalistic. Right now, Sear Bliss is "going west" and finding more people for our music is our grand destiny.

You are one of the few metal bands who have a brass section. What gave you the idea to use a brass section, and do they play the live shows with you?

Yes, we use those instruments on stage too. They play an important role in our music since the very beginning of the band. They give a fresh flavour to this type of music. When I formed the band I wanted to try some unusual things. That's how I got the idea to use trumpets and trombones in our music. It fitted well into our songs so we decided to continue this. On the other hand I think that brass instruments have a very powerful sound. That's why we included them. We wanted to keep the power of metal music but try unusual and original things at the same time. On our next album you will hear tubas too. It's very powerful.

With Grand Destiny being recorded over a year ago, how close are you to releasing new material?

It's very close now. We recorded the new album during March and April and mixed it in May. Right now we finished working on the layout. So everything is ready for manufacturing. The album is entitled "Forsaken Symphony" and Red Stream will release it in September. This time the music is a lot more mystical and darker than ever before. We really got the right feeling this time. Also it's quite a long album (63 minutes)."

Have you ever played here in the States or plan to do so in the future?

Unfortunately we have never played in the States so far but we would love it very much! It's still a dream for us but we hope it will come true soon.

Describe a live Sear Bliss show for those who have yet to see you play.

A live performance of Sear Bliss is closely connected to the mood of our albums. We try to express our feelings as much as we can. Usually we use some special effects too to get the right atmosphere. For us it's very important to play live. We can show the real power of our music that way. We love playing live and we try to do our best on stage. I hope we can see you guys soon over there.

Outside of Sear Bliss, do any of the members have day jobs or participate in other bands?

Yes, we got our jobs and some of us are studying but Sear Bliss plays the biggest role in the life of each member of the band. We have to work to be able to achieve our aims with Sear Bliss. I'm the only one in the band who participates in other projects. I have two other bands besides Sear Bliss. I do both together with our former synth player Winter. Forest Silence plays old school black metal with some terrific and infernal keyboard melodies. Wind is a more majestic and mystical music with really strange moods in our songs. We would like to find a label for these bands soon."

What do you think of Without Face and Evensong? Are there any other Hungarian metal bands you can recommend?

Actually I don't know Without Face's and Evensong's music too much but they are really professional that's for sure. Our trombone player plays in a couple of songs on the brand new album of Without Face. Other bands I could recommend are Witchcraft, Gholgoth and Tormentor. I hope you will hear from them.

What exactly is a Sear Bliss and why did you end up using the name?

Actually I found this phrase 'Sear Bliss' in one of the poems of Charles Baudleaire. Since I'm a fan of his abstract poetry and this form of art in general, I thought it would fit to our music well. Also I was sick of the so many average band names at that time, so I decided to give a unique name to my band. That's how I found the name Sear Bliss. It doesn't have a certain meaning. It is rather an expression of a mood in which I was at the time when I found this name.

All in all, what do you think makes Sear Bliss stand apart from other metal bands?

Well, this is up to the listeners to decide it, I think. We play what we like and we are what we are. The music we play reflects our moods and everything we feel. We put everything into our songs. The chemistry among the bandmembers is very good but we are quite different personalities and it is what gives the variety of our music. Also the use of brass instruments is surely outside the norm in black metal.

What are the future plans for Sear Bliss?

First of all, we are very excited to see the new album 'Forsaken Symphony' out. Then we want to tour. It's very important. Meanwhile we have started working on new songs for our fifth album. We have already written 3 new songs. Also we have plans to re-arrange some old Sear Bliss songs from our first and second albums with more classical touch and to release it later.

Do you have any messages for people here in the States who might be interested in checking out your music?

Hail to those interested in Sear Bliss in the States! We appreciate you a lot! I hope you will like "Forsaken Symphony". Check out www.searbliss.hu for up to date info. Thanks for your support!


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SEAR BLISS: Their Official Home Page!
RED STREAM RECORDS: The Record Label for Sear Bliss!
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