Hail to you! Well, nowadays things are going well over here, however some things must be changed and we really hope it will happen soon. As far as the band is concerned, we are pretty busy richt now as we are preparing ourselves for the recording of our second album and some gigs are planned for the summer. We are spending most of our time on the band, as we rehearse six times a week. Besides this, we had some changes in the line up in the last months. So you can see we have some challenges to face. However, I think it's good that there are a lot of things to do, it seems people are interested in Sear Bliss and that's very important for us.

Well, Sear Bliss came into existence in late 1993 with the aim to create a special atmosphere with our music. We wanted to give a fresh flavour to the metal genre. Our plans were serious and after a long period of total silence we have released our first tape entitled "The Pagan Winter" in 1995. The responses were surprisingly good and "Two Moons" showed a big interest in Sear Bliss, and we signed a deal with them. We recorded our first album entitled "Phantoms" in January 1996. We had some really succesful live performances in Hungary and we toured in Europe with Marduk and Tsatthoggua in the beginning of this year. That is the past of Sear Bliss in a nutshell.

Oh, the story is that I was really interested in poetry and I was reading a poem of Charles Baudelaire back then in 1993 and I found the phrase "sear bliss" there. It seemed so original for a band name, and that's why I've choosen that.

Yeah, Two Moons did a great job without doubt. They promoted Sear Bliss very well, that's for sure. We were really surprised by the success of "Phantoms". We were longing to show the best we can do, I think that's why this album is so raw and powerful. We think originality is very important in this type of music and we are trying to breathe a fresh flavour into the metal genre. I think it's also helped the success of "Phantoms".

Oh, that's a good question. With our lyrics we make people use their own mind and imagination. We are inspired by our own thoughts when we write lyrics. Basicly they are based on real events but we use our own fantasies and when a lyric is born it can mean different things from person to person. I mean, our lyrics can be interpreted in many ways. Let your own imagination fly and you will understand our words which fit into our music perfectly. There is a close connection between our lyrics and music and together with our cover artwork we try to express a picture about the things that Sear Bliss is about.

Well, I don't think we are a very succesful band, however it's true we reached more than I expected. Yes, a trumpet is quite unusual in the metal scene. We use it not because we want to be popular or something but because we like this instrument. It shows that people are open to the unusual things, that are a bit outside the norm. I think music must be fresh and exciting and we definitely try to do that.

No, it wasn't strange at all, as we used the trumpet from the beginning and also our early songs were written with the view of using trumpet in them. Yes, it was trange for the audience when they saw us for the first time. The idea came when I formed the band. I wanted to experiment with different things and the use of a trumpet seemed a good idea. Gergely was a great friend of mine for many years, and I asked him if he was interested in a bizarre mix of metal and classical music. At our first rehearsals it became quite clear that we were on the right track, and that his instrument fits into our music perfectly. Actually, we use the trumpet to express better what we want to express: our moods, feelings and thoughts.

The Hungarian scene is quite small but not average at all. The bands are trying to be original over here and that is very good. There are very promising bands in Hungary and I hope once they all can reach international acceptance. For example, the band called Mood is so fucking powerful. There are other great bands like VHK and Korai Öröm. They have got nothing to do with metal but they deserve to be mentioned, because of their originality and the revolutionary music they create.

What?!?! Maybe it sounds strange, but we are not Hungarians' number 1 metal band, but something like number 18. Only bands like fucking Tankcsapda are popular. Perhaps this is because we sing in English but on the other hand, this type of music is in a very underground way. In the underground we are very popular over here. When we play a gig, the club is filled totally and it feels so great. For example, last time we played at a festival in our town in front of 3000 people. The audience showed big interest for us, and people went crazy when we started playing. It's strange because when we play, the clubs are packed but if you read a music magazine you can hardly find our name. It shows that the underground is very strong over here. Don't think that Tormentor was popular. There were just a few people who knew them. The magazines didn't made interviews with them at all, and there are people in the metal scene who never heard about them.

The response was very good. Our friends and families were really surprised by the success of our band. There were some people, especially in our small town, who thought we couldn't reach anything with our music. So many people envy us, but we don't care at all. Unfortunaly, I have lost some of my friends, as I have been a very busy man, and they can't understand this.

Actually, we were only rehearsing a lot in those times for ourselves. I remember one of us said: "Hey, we have four cool songs, let's record them." And then we did it. Of course we took it very seriously but we didn't expect those good responses.

Well, we still love "The Pagan Winter", we feel it close to our heart. It was our debut, and it means a lot for us. We think this demo is good enough to deserve to be released on MCD. The tape was quite popular in the underground, and we sold 800 copies of it. Though I think most of the people only know "Phantoms". After the release of " Phantoms" a lot of people have been interested in Sear Bliss, and we saw there was a demand for our demo but in the meantime it has been sold out totally. I think it's only natural that now it is available on MCD. Our fans will be interested in it for sure. There won't be much of it, but those who are interested, can buy it. The CD received a great cover artwork and we've put a 12-minute-long new bonus trach on it, so you can hear the past and the present of Sear Bliss. It is not because we wanted money, as we haven't seen anything even from our first album. Anyway, the total playing time is about 33 minutes, for the price of a MCD!

Yes, that's right. We will be over there from the 1st of August, to record our new album. We will record it in the "Beaufort Studio". We heard good things about this studio, and we are excited to see how things will go. You know, we want a hellish sound. Our new songs are powerful enough and I think with a great mixing it must be the way we want to reach. Anyway, we will record seven songs for this album. Some titles are: Hell Within, Unholy Dance, Behind You, and Left in the Dark. About the music, I think we really got the right feeling this time.

If we had wanted to earn money with our music, then we surely would have played something like trendy music, for example fucking dirty rock music, which is very popular over here. You know, our music is quite esoteric and you can't earn money if you sell only a few thousand copies of your album. We have seen no money from our music at all, so it will surely be a dream to earn money with it. We always do what we truly love. I'm totally into the music we create, and I will be unable to write something totally different.

Well, thank you for this great interview! I hope I can see your town, as I know that one round of the European Rallycross Championship is organized in Valkenswaard each year. I am a fan of Rallycross and also my father was a rallycross race car driver. We always were preparing to go to Valkenswaard because of this, however it has never happened unfortunately. I hope it will change. Well it has nothing to do with the band, so let's talk about music again. Check out "Conquest of Hell". It will haunt your dreams. Hopefully a tour will follow, but that's too early to say something about it right now.

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