Sear Bliss interview in Terrorizer 35

Mention Hungary to any self-respecing dweller of the Black Metal underground and his eyes will instantly light up. "Ah, Tormentor!" The connection is inevitable, especially considering the amount of attention vocalist Attila Csihar's fleeting relationship with Mayhem has drawn to the sadly defunct band; not to mention Nocturnal Art's recent vinyl and CD pressing of the 'Anno Domini' demo and Dissection's respectful interpretation of 'Elizabeth Bathory', a highlight from said tape-trading classic, featured on last year's Wrong Again Records compilation.

However, now there are new kids on the eastern bloc. Sear Bliss, namely, who have just had their debut album 'Phantoms' released by the Mascot subsidiary II Moons. Bassist and vocalist András Nagy, for one, is thrilled by the opportunity to present his music to a wider audience.

"You see, it is quite difficult to break out of Eastern European countries. The biggest problem here is Hungary is that the popular bands sing in Hungarian to pull big crowds. They are happy with the national scene, but we want more than that. Because we sing in English we have to look beyond Hungary for better promotion and international recognition.

"I think we need to be different because otherwise we wouldn't break out of here," he speculates further, when asked why he thinks most Eastern European bands tend to be more original than their Western counterparts. "When I formed the band I wanted to create something original. That's why I decided to use the trumpet. In the future we will give more creative space to the unusual instruments and try to write even more original music to expand our sound."

Sear Bliss' sound is more than expansive as it is. A mixture of bombastic Dark Metal and subtle melancholia, it is neither here nor there. And its roots certainly do not lie Up There, as András is only too keen to point out.

"We try to do different things because we are not from Norway, we are from Hungary. I think it is very important to be original, and we have developed our own style with Hungarian influences. We look to our country's past for inspiration. I like some of the Norwegian Black Metal bands, but we don't want to copy them. The biggest problem nowadays is that everyone wants to sound like the Norwegians. And there are a lot of bands that copy the old Black Metal bands too. When Black Metal emerged in the Eighties the old bands were doing fresh and new things, but now everybody copies them. That's not so good. I think people should create something different.

"There are some Black Metal elements in our music, but I think we are more than a simple Black Metal band, he continues. "Anyway, Black Metal is supposed to be Satanic. We aren't Satanists. For Sear Bliss, the image of God - and in fact any god - means nothing. There are six of us, and we all have different personalities. If you play in a Black Metal band then everybody must think about the same things. Our music is a result of six very different personalities and it's full of emotions. We want to express more than simply one feeling."

Which, András explains, is why he incorporates the mellow tones of a trumpet into his compositions, in addition to the more predictable use of acoustic guitars and keyboards.

"With those instruments we can express different things, like beauty and desire. With the speed of the drums and the guitars we represent power. The trumpet is more harmonic. Our music is like a mixture between anger and desire.

"Sear Bliss is basically about feelings," Herr Nagy concludes. "We write our songs in different moods, and that is why you hear all sorts of different emotions on the album. I think our music is also a little fantastical, and we fantasise a lot in our lyrics. They are very gloomy and mysterious, full of secrets. But there is a little bit of truth in every one of them."