1. Greetings, Andras, at the beggining I am interested, how did the work on succesor of "Glory and Perdition" proceeded and what could you as the brain of the band tell us about it. Can we expect some guests, musical progression?

Greetings! The new album “The Arcane Odyssey” is quite different compared to “Glory and Perdition”. I would say this is a new beginning, a milestone in the carreer of Sear Bliss. This is definitely our most complete work to date. It is our strongest record both musically and production-wise. We worked on this album very hard, it took a few months to write it and also a few months to record it. I think you can definitely hear a significant musical progression on it. There are some guest musicians too, a trumpet player, a keyboard player, and a group of dedicated musicians who contributed to “Path to the Motherland” which is a song with a lot of folk influences in it.

2. At promo shoots and live performances you are not using warpaints. Do you think that it dont fit the music that you are playing? And what you think about black metal "fashion" full of inverted crosses, pentagrams and warpaints?

In my opinion Sear Bliss is a bit outside the average black metal bands, we are a bit different. We don’t see any reason to use warpaints. It means some kind of limitation and we don’t like rules. We are striving for originality and warpaints are no longer original. It was original 15 or 20 years ago but not now. Plus too many childish people used it. Anyway, the main reason is that Sear Bliss represents different values. On the other hand I’m still into black metal, so I have no problems with black metal “fashions” as you named it.

3. Could you tell more about lyrical themes you are singing about? And has Sear bliss some "idea base" about which are you playing and will be playing? Thorough you are not just typical band with typical lyrics.

In the case of “The Arcane Odyssey” we had a basic idea, though it is not a concept album. Actually two songs are in strong connection with the cover artwork which is based on an ancient Hungarian saga, the legend of the birth of the Milky Way. The rest of the lyrics are born by our own imagnation and reflects our thinking and feeling. Our lyrics deal with things outside everyday’s life.

4. I would add question to previous question which concerns many fans. How did you come with the idea of using Trombone? I dont think that there are many bands using so much brass instruments. Maybe you are inspiration for anothers (acording to "To the mountains" by Satyricon).

I don’t know if we inspire others but for Sear Bliss brass instruments became sort of a trademark. I love the sound of the brass, it is very powerful and therefore fits to metal music very well. I’m quite surprised why brass instruments are used in metal so rarely. By the way, the idea came when I formed the band. I wanted something original and since I had a friend who was playing in a brass band at that time and he was a metal head by the way, I invited him to our rehearsal. We were absolutely surprised how well it fits our music. This is how it started.


5. I saw several of your gigs and I would say that you enjoy live playing outdoor more. (I can´t ever forgot on Open Hell fest 2005). You have been in czech republic many times-how do you recall our country and czech fans?

Yeah, we played in Czech republic many times. It was always great to play there. Last time we played at Brutal Assault in Jaromer. It was awesome. We were totally surprised. It’s a very professional festival without doubt. Open Hell was also good in 2005. We like playing in your country. I have a funny story by the way. We played in Germany a few years ago and on our way back somewhere in Czech Republic our van broke down and we stayed in the middle of nowhere. Somehow we succeeded in reaching the nearest town and we had to stay there for a whole night because the trailer came for us only next morning. We got drunk like hell, we hardly remember anything of that night. It was a very nice town and the beer was excellent. We drank until morning with some crazy local guys. Then in the morning we nearly crashed on the highway, as the van was improperly fixed on the trailer. All of sudden, all of us became sober. It was a frightening moment. All in all it was a very memorable trip.

6. What music do you listen to? Would I find only black metal on your list or you sometimes sidetrack from the whole metal and listens to other "more calm" genres? Could you eventually recommend some bands? I would be glad if you name some less known bands from you country.

Besides black metal I listen to old school metal stuff like WASP, Motörhead etc. On the other I listen to ambient music something when I’m in that mood. From our country I recommend Sin Of Kain. They play black/death metal and they are quite good.

7. Unfortunately I hadn´t pleasure to see your dvd "Decade of perdition": Can you say what can we see on this dvd, and with which aspects would you draw attention of purchasers? Well there are not too much informations about it.

It is quite a huge release in its content. It contains our 10th anniversary in Budapest, filmed with 3 different camera angles. It has a 5.1 and a stereo track and they sound quote powerful. The other of the DVD contains a film of the band with a lot of interviews with band members and people surrounding the band. There are many backstage footage on it, some are very crazy. Plus there’s an extensive photogallery on it.


8. How are you feeling now? Aproximatelly after the half of the interview? Hehe I´m curious if you will notice that questions now are done by different person ;-).

I’m still OK :-).

9. Four years of inactivity hinted that continuation of Forest winds is far away. As the time was going things were evolving...Can you describe its progress until debut?

Forest Silence started as a one man band, founded by ex-Sear Bliss keyboard player Winter. Originally it was not black metal but ambient synth music. The third demo already contained black metal songs and drums, guitars. Philosophy Of Winter is a good interpretation of the carreer of Forest Silence and its musical progression from ambient keyboard music to ambient black metal.

10. Why do you think that Black metal and winter are tied together? Why is the winter so popular component?

Because winter is energy. Cold and grim.

11. First album and directly you´ve got contract with Candlelight, big achievement indeed. Do you have longer contract than on only "Philosophy of Winter"?

Actually it was Candlelight’ sublabel Appease Me who released it and it was for one album. The next album will be released by Candlelight.

12. All five songs are in mid to slow tempo and they act on the listener little lully. Melodies arent so different, but still they have point and they tightly hold the concept of the album. Album acts lively. Why this way? Way of sadness, melancholy, under the pressing weight of snows blanket.

The concept was to create an album where the songs are in unity. This is why they don’t differ too much from each other. The whole album is one big mass of sound. The songs are long in order to catch the perfect atmosphere.

13. How does the music of "Philosophy of Winter" acts on listeners? How its acting on you? Do you like calmness as it is in the name of the band?

I think this album has a very special atmosphere. When I’m listening to it, it is almost hypnotic for me. I don’t what the listeners feel but I guess it means different things from person to person. Yes, I like this calmness very much. I like the mixture of calmness and raging black metal. The result is Forest Silence.


14. Band started as Ambient project (its influence can still be heard), but on all of the sudden you deviated, and "restless" black metal entered Forest silence ;-)

Actually, it was conscious. Winter planned to release two ambient demo and a black metal one under the name of Forest Silence. It was a trilogy. “Philosophy Of Winter” is a mixture of this two different musical direction.

15. How did you enjoy last winter? In czech republic it was short but intensive. Total reversal if compared to last year.

Yes, it was a very short winter unfortunately. I miss those winters when everything was covered by snow for months. Winter is no longer so cold. We will surely suffer from global warming.

16. Do you plan some album in near future? Or you are enjoying your deserved rest?

We do not have time to rest as we have other bands and projects to work on but anyway, there will be a second Forest Silence album for sure and maybe re-releases of the early materials but everything depends on Winter because he is the leader of Forest Silence.

17. "Philosophy of Winter" Just the name hints to another question. Are you thinking philosophicaly in the band? When writing lyrics but even in other thinkings? And can you outline the lyric fragment from the album which is showing the real face of Forest silence?

I can’t tell too much about the lyrics, as they are all written by Winter but yes, there is definitely a philosophical edge in Forest Silence. This music is our philosophy.

18. Thank you for the interview, and we bid you many future acomplishments in the music field. Perhaps we wont have wait long for the new album under which you will distinctively sign. Last words are yours...

Thanks for the interview. Winter is coming…