At the start of 1996, I was contacted by Mascot Records from Holland to create a cover for a band from Hungary that they had just signed. This band was of course Sear Bliss ! There already was a cover artwork, but it wasn't approved by the label. I'm not sure why I was contacted . I hadn't done that many covers at the time, but that's how I got the assignment. Actually, it was my first cover for Mascot records (later on " Two Moons Records" was created as a sub-division).

I was given total freedom by the record company. However, I wanted to know a bit more about the music, so I received a tape with some songs. Also, I didn't want to throw away the concept of the artwork that the band had sent in [created by Csaba Csejtei and Zoltán Csejtei]. So I started to work on that and after listening extensively to the music and studying the original design, I started doing some sketches. I kept the two trees with the female features, but I also added a few concepts of my own. I invented the eagle, the White Witch and even the snake. I tried to get totally into the atmosphere of the music before I started painting. What's strange is that even though I didn't understand much of the lyrics, I managed to put a lot of it in the artwork. It was only afterwards, when the CD was released, that I was able to actually read the lyrics. I was completely amazed about how well everything I had done fitted together! When I met Sear Bliss on tour (many years later), I told Andras about this, and he thought that it was just intuition on my behalf. But personally I believe that it's really a strange thing, which turned out to be not the only strange coincidence.

Anyway, the lyrics to "Phantoms" are really intellectual and inspiring, which brings me to a more symbolic explanation of the cover artwork. According to me, the theme of the album is about the strength of the human soul when it combines with the spirit of nature. So when you look at the artwork; you'll see the eagle flying towards the sky as a focal point. This represents the human soul, releasing itself from its plain existence and soaring to a higher level. The eagle is in fact the soul of the person who's listening to the music. You'll also notice the female figure in the distance. This is the White Witch who represents an ancient goddess of nature and who releases the eagle ( the soul ) from it's earthly prison. The White Witch also represents the mystery of creation - life and death. Another detail on the cover is the serpent in its small cave under the trees. At the time I added it to give the artwork a sense of danger. Like in the Garden of Eden, there is an evil lurking. To symbolise that beneath the soil, there is much going on!

The cave would turn up on other Sear Bliss covers, as well as the White Witch and the female apparitions in trees or rocks.

I still remember when I first held the finished "Phantoms" CD in my hands! It was during the summer of 1996 at a Festival in Belgium. There was a Metal Market and there was someone from Mascot records who brought the CD's with him. I was really relieved that everything looked good! It wouldn't be the first time that an artwork got ruined because of bad printing! Anyway, I would soon be doing the next artwork for Sear Bliss!