It may seem that silence embraced us, but, actually, we were more active than ever. After the release of "The Haunting", we played a lot of gigs in Hungary, Austria, Germany and Slovakia. The reason why you didn't hear anything of us at that time is because we didn't tour Europe to support "The Haunting". Actually, we were offered to tour with Ancient in May 1998 but we had to cancel it due to my studies. It's a pity. We were promised by our label to tour later but nothing happened. So we had many gigs and we played at several festivals but that's why we are "popular" in Hungary rather than in Holland. The fact is that our label didn't support us.
They thought that the success of "Phantoms" will sell the new album. On the other hand, they started to concentrate more on the progressive rock bands, they were not interested in black metal anymore, so the promotion was weak and this is what caused the silence around us. However, we were very active and we wrote the material for the new album. We were really disappointed, so we moved apart. The responses were quite good on this album, anyway. It became really successful in Greece, Slovakia, Hungary, etc. Still, a tour definitely would have helped a lot.

Yes, you are right, "The Haunting" is definitely a difficult album. It needs more than one listening. They liked the album but were not pleased with it, as they wanted shorter songs, you know. Anyway, I believe "The Haunting" is difficult because of the strange sound, too. We wanted a bombastic sound but we were not allowed to stay in Holland for the mixing, which was completed by Mascot with no sense at all.
They fucked up the sound. It's shit. You can hardly hear the drums while the keyboards are very loud, there's a lot of effects on the instruments. I hate it. Next time we will not make this mistake.

I have already answered your first question. I enjoy touring more than anything else. When we toured with Marduk in 1997, it really was a milestone in the life of Sear Bliss and in mine as well. So I hope we can experience it in the future when our new album is out. To be on tour is not so easy, I mean you have to travel a lot. For example, we did 8200 kilometres in 12 days. It's quite tiring but I enjoyed it very much.

You are right but you should know that a band can't organize a tour without its label. The tours depend only on the label. So without their support we can't go on tour. We would be on tour all the year if we had the opportunity. If your label does not support your tour, you can't do anything.

We have just finished the recording of two brand new songs. It is for promotional use but we are very satisfied with the result, so we will sell it in limited edition. The sound became much better than on "The Haunting", however, we spent only five days in the studio.
We are looking for a trustable label with this mini CD. I hope we will find a good one. We have already received some offers but we will wait for the reactions with this new material.
Anyway, the whole material for the new album is written. It will contain seven songs and it is going to be the most powerful stuff by us so far. As I told you, there was no inactivity in the band. We have been writing and polishing songs for almost two years now.

Yes, it's the same over here. People buy the most expensive clothes and shoes because they think that's the most important thing. The income is very low in Hungary, so there remains no money for their homes. Money is always the biggest problem over here but, fortunately, there is a strong progression in our country, so life is a lot easier than 5 or 10 years ago. We also have difficulties but I don't care.

Yes, there are big differences, so that kind of view is wrong. Fortunately, Hungary is an advanced country compared to those you mentioned. You can find and buy anything in Hungary, just like in your country. Hungary developed very much in the last ten years, it's not the typical eastern country as most western people think. They don't even know where Hungary is.

Hungary is a big influence on us. I love living in this country. The situation is very difficult for a young band but fortunately Sear Bliss is quite well known in Hungary, so we have facilities and it is easier for us to find a sponsor and that's good. Though we are now used to working on our own. Anyway, the fact that we recorded our last album in Holland and that we toured Europe helped a lot. We are the first Hungarian band to have reached all these and it's really surprising in our country. So we get support but envy too.

The Hungarian scene isn't that big but strong and there are a couple of unique bands. I hope they will get international recognition too. Anyway, Tormentor and Evensong have contract from abroad. They are cool. Check them out.

No, it's not difficult to get our CDs. I'm into metal since 1987 and I started to find our more extreme music later. I still remember that the first metal album I heard was "Inside the Electric Circus" from WASP. It changed my life. It shocked me. I still love them. The Hungarian scene was very strong before the 90's but there was no chance for them to get international recognition. Those were quite troublesome years back then. Only Tormentor became famous in the underground. As I told you, now things are changing.

I think the use of trumpet is also outside the limits of metal, however, it fits very well into our music. Our drummer is involved in a jazz band, he improved a lot, so you can expect more exciting drumming on the new album, however, musicwise it will not be so experimental this time. The songs are going to be very fierce. Of course, we have some surprises.

It's art, definitely. Real music is a kind of self-expression and not a product to sell. It's art as long as it comes from within. When we create music it comes right from our hearts, that's why I dare to call it art.

I always forget if a good melody comes to my mind, haha. Actually, I play the guitar for hours, so the ideas come when I rehearse. If I got a couple of catchy melodies, I try to create the whole song in my mind, then I take the guitar and play it. That kind of song writing process is the most comfortable for me. Usually, I polish a song for a quite a long time. I often change it while I get the final result.

Yes, the music we create is very honest as we express ourselves. We express our moods and feelings with our music. It's only natural to create ourselves. We are what we are. Five dark people with a message.

Dreams have a great impression on us. Yes, you are absolutely right, I like to be far off this planet. In our new songs this fact becomes clearer. I always long to leave this planet for a while and it reflects in our music. I like being alone and I create music when I'm alone and then this is what I feel, so you hit the nail on the head. Yeah, it's an escape. An escape from the sickness of mankind. We are all sick and we do not deserve to belong to the clarity of nature.

They are close friends of ours. They knew our music and the songs very well, so they created the lyrics for us which we liked and thought would fit well to the songs, so we used their ideas. We like these lyrics. The names of those who contributed to the lyrics are: Attila Halász, he's been a great friend of mine for a long time. He taught me to speak English and he helped Sear Bliss a lot when we started. Anyway, he lives in Australia. László Fodor is a friend of ours and he is the editor of the Stygian Shadows zine and David Bowers is a Sear Bliss fan from the States and we are in contact for years now. It's not difficult to sing their lyrics as they are much better than mine. I mean they reflect exactly what I feel. I feel those lyrics as if they were mine, as these feelings dwell in my heart but I can't express it that way.

The last thing that staggered me? Hmm… the failure of the Mars Surveyor. This expedition had a great significance for mankind but no signs reached the Earth, unfortunately.

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