It's not everyday that one can come across a band where you can honestly say that they are totally unique and don't sound like anyone else. A lot of bands these days are delving into music that mix various genres that have already been tried before by countless groups. Hungarian black metal band Sear Bliss has done something totally unique, something grand and refreshing to their music. They added an entire brass section to their sound, and the result is nothing short of spectacular. Here Metal Coven will talk a bit with Sear Bliss vocalist and bassist Andras Nagy and get some enlightenment on how this band came to sound so different from the rest of the lot, and see how things have been going for the band in what is now their tenth year together. And we'll also maybe get some insight on their upcoming seventh new studio album "Glory And Perdition".

Andras: Hi Britton! Thanks for the interview. OK, I introduce the members of Sear Bliss: our guitar player is called Csaba and he is actually with us after a four year long pause. He was the original guitarist of Sear Bliss, so I'm glad he is with us again. He always played an important role in the music of the band. Our drummer Zoltan is with us since our second album titled The Haunting, so he is also a longtime member now. Our second guitarist Istvan became a permanent member of Sear Bliss right before the recording of the Grand Destiny album. At the moment the only permanent member who represents the brass is Zoltan Pal. His first collaboration with Sear Bliss was on Grand Destiny too. By the way, he is handling the trombone and barytone. As far as I'm concerned, I'm playing the bass and doing the vocals as well plus I took over the keyboards as we don't have a permanent keyboard player anymore.

Andras: Yeah, we had this anniversary show in Budapest in February. It was a great gig. We invited some ex-members too and we performed some old songs together with them. Plus we invited Attila Csihar(formerly in Mayhem and Tormentor) and played a song together from our forthcoming new album as he made some vocals for that in the studio. It was a two hour long show and carried all the eras of the band. So it was quite special.

Andras: Yes, a video footage was made of the whole show. Also the sound was recorded professionally as we planned a live CD firstly but as we have a lot of footage from the past (gigs, studio, road, etc.) we thought a DVD release would be perfect to celebrate this anniversary of the band. I hope it will come true but first of all we are concentrating on the new album. It is the most important at the moment.

Andras: Well, yes it will be a bit different again. We are not into repeating ourselves. We always express what we feel inside, so this is why our albums differ from each other. Basically our albums depend on our actual mood and since there are five different personalities in the band it always gives an unique touch to our music. We recorded Glory And Perdition in November and December last year. This time we used a very professional studio and the producer/engineer really did his best. By the way, he is former Sear Bliss guitarist Viktor Scheer. So, we spent one and a half month in this studio and the result has been the best we have ever done. Not only sound-wise but in its whole this is our most matured and deepest album so far. It is a complete experience. Wait and hear…

Andras: Attila is a longtime friend of mine. I always loved his extreme voice. I think he is definitely the most unique vocalist in this genre. I always planned to invite him to do some vocals for Sear Bliss. We asked him to contribute to the Grand Destiny and Forsaken Symphony albums too but he wasn't available at that time as he has many projects abroad and he was always busy with them but this time it came true and the result is just perfect. He contributes in two songs.

Andras: Thanks for your compliments. It is the credit of some very dedicated persons who helped us with this. At the moment a guy called Csobi runs the Website. We are very thankful to him. Yeah, we got a new message board, thanks to Angel at Metal Coven!!! It's a great support and we really appreciate her kindness! You can visit it at: http://www.metalcoven.com/wforum/viewforum.php?f=20

Andras: We are on Red Stream for three years now and everything is just great. The relationship is very good between us. Patrick is really dedicated to what he is doing and it's definitely a lot better to belong to them than to be on a big label among 50 bands but at the end of the row. Red Stream supports us in everything and they are absolutely honest and this is what matters. We are allowed to create what we want. This deal is basically based on a mutual trust and that's good.

Andras: I'm glad you like it. On our new album we gave the trombone even more creativity and space. We use these instruments to add an unique touch to our music. We think each music needs to be exciting and there's no use copying certain bands or styles. You have to explore and expand your boundaries otherwise it's a worthless exercise. When black metal started in the early eighties with Venom and Bathory, they were unique and original and this is what I miss in today's black metal bands. One should find his/her individual inner voice and express it. I don't say we are the most original band or something but we are striving for expressing what represents only us and we dare to try out unusual things.

Andras: Sure, we use them on stage too. These instruments play an important role when performing live. For the technicians it's not easy to mix so many instruments at the same time but if it's done correctly then the magic is there and it can be very impressive.

Andras: Haha. Yeah, we might be untrue for him but I see no reason to paint my face. If he feels he needs to do so, it's OK for me, I don't care but I think Sear Bliss is a bit outside of the average black metal music plus I think corpse paint is not an original thing now. It was great in the early 90's but now it's not a fresh thing at all. Too many bands used it in the last ten years.

Andras: Actually I played the guitars on the last Forest Silence material. Winter is one of my best friends and Forest Silence has always been my favourite band, so I was very happy he asked me to play the guitars. Forest Silence is a very special music. Very dreamy and majestic. You can download some excerpts from www.searbliss.hu if you are interested. I would definitely be interested in playing on the future releases of Forest Silence. But first of all we are looking for a record deal. Fortunately we got some offers.

Andras: We would really like to play in the US I hope this will come true one day. Yes, we try to do everything to play at a fest over there. Of course, it depends on our new album. If it sells good then maybe it'll be possible. Anyway, we have a lot of gigs outside of Hungary. We played in countries like Holland, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Slovakia. We will have many gigs abroad in the next months. Usually we play in Germany, Holland and Austria quite often.

Andras: Yes, Kris painted all the cover artworks of Sear Bliss. We love his works and the way he paints but this time we used another artist, namely Jozsef Tari. He is definitely the most talented painter I know. He created incredible paintings which were made mostly for his band Aura Aetas but he made an artwork for Venom too (The Wastelands ´92). He has just finished our artwork which I will hopefully see tomorrow. I`m very excited. This guy is a maniac. Plus he is the biggest fan and collector of Venom which is also great. Back to the covers, yes it`s very important for Sear Bliss to have a perfect artwork. This time we have this delay with the release of the new album because of the artwork but I`m sure it was worth waiting for that. Wait and see...

Andras: I absolutely agree with you. There must be a perfect balance between the artwork and the mood of the music. It is very important.

Andras: Yes, we are planning a Benelux tour again but nothing is confirmed yet, though we have a couple of offers. Plus it would be great to go on tour with a bigger band. I hope we can work something out in the near future. In the meantime we have a lot of gigs. Next week we will have two gigs in Germany and then we will play at many festivals in Hungary, Austria and Germany. After these summer shows our plan is to support "Glory And Perdition" with a tour, hopefully in September. We will see...

Andras: The Hungarian scene is quite small but there are some very promising bands from each genre. Some bands I would recommend are Gholgoth, Forest Silence, Christian Epidemic, MagUra.

Andras: Yeah, it would be cool to release those songs we perform during the play, however these are not metal songs but interesting enough to record them. Plus we play a couple of Sear Bliss songs and sometimes only fragments of our song as well. I really don`t know if we will ever have the chance to record it. Time shall tell. By the way, Attila Vidnyanszky is my nephew and he is a very well-known and talented director. It was great to work with him and the actors. Even I had some sentences in the play. It was very exciting. A totally different genre. It was a very challenging thing to play in theaters. You have to concentrate more than on an usual gig. Sometimes you can`t play loud, sometimes you have to. You have to take care of what the actors do and you are not allowed to improvise, you have to follow the screenplay. We learnt a lot from this experience.

Andras: I play the bass in Sear Bliss besides the vocals. Plus I took over the keyboards for almost two years now. It means we have no keyboard player on stage, so we use a hard disc recorder now. I love synthesizers. I was experimenting a lot on the recording of "Glory And Perdition". I love playing the guitar too, even if I`m not a good guitar player. But I have many ideas and it gives me pleasure to play it. As I told you, I played the guitar in Forest Silence. All these instruments are my hobbies too. I mean, I play the synthesizer if I have the inspiration for that. Sometimes I create some new and exciting sounds. I love the process of it. Or sometimes I just play the melodies that come to my mind. I have a lot of recordings at home which I will use later. Ìt´s not sure that all these would fit into Sear Bliss. I`m planning to do a project maybe. In the future, if I will have enough time to realize all my ideas. But at the moment Sear Bliss takes all my time.

Andras: I have a lot of hobbies but the most important is music. I love creating music. I love playing my synthesizer, I love playing my guitar. I need them because I need to express my feelings through music. I couldn`t live without it. Also I collect CD`s and LP`s. My other hobby is riding my motorbike. That`s great. Plus sports like snowboarding and windsurfing are what I`m doing in my free time.

Andras: I couldn`t name a band that inspired us directly. I listen to music not for inspiration but for my own pleasure. The music I listen to depends on my mood. The band we all loved when we started Sear Bliss was Pan-Thy-Monium because they were so unique and original. Nowadays, the band I like and respect very much is Blut Aus Nord. They are innovators. I like original music only. Unfortunately, you can`t find many now...

Andras: Thanks for this exciting interview. I enjoyed answering your questions. Thanks for the support. Check out "Glory And Perdition".