There
was Mood in the beginning. The first and probably only Hungarian doom
band at that moment. Dudes gathered in 1993 and played till broke up
in 2001 with four full-length albums in their discography. It’s
obvious that five professional musicians (they had two guitarists
back then) couldn’t just disappear and from the ashes of 1 band two
new arose – traditional one under the name Wall of Sleep and more
savage outfit with hard southern approach Sterochrist.
Later
two Wall of Sleep members found Magma Rise, so in the end we have
three groovy bands playing slightly different styles of doom instead
of one. Aren’t you tired of this arithmetic?
Okay,
okay! Then here’s the interview with Kolos Hegyi, the man who plays
guitars in both Sterochrist and Magma Rise. I needed to hear some
news about both bands first-handed, so I ask him few questions about
this and that…
Salute Kolos! How
are you? What’s new in Stereochrist life? Haven’t heard anything
from the band for ages!
Hi,
I’m fine! The truth is, that although Stereochrist is still alive,
it hasn’t been active lately. Sometimes we do one show, but
everybody’s busy with their active bands. It’s quite interesting
that last year we did one show on Budapest’s A38 ship, which was
recorded and broadcasted on national TV as well in high quality.
Hopefully we will get it soon and can publish in social media. It was
a great show!
How did it happen
that Stereochrist had got on TV?! What is this show about?
This
channel runs a series of live shows on A38 boat. We were a part of
this with our 10th
anniversary of the release of ‘Live Like a Man’. It was just a
normal show that they recorded with several cameras in HD. There was
no modification on the recording later, so they really showed how we
sounded like.
And the new album?
Do you plan to record some new dirty tunes soon?
There’s no actual
activity on the new album. All of us are busy with the other bands.
Kolos, you and
Balázs are only constant members of Sterochrist original lineup
since 2002, your vocalist Dávid Makó who left the band in 2009
returned 5 years later… Who’re people who run Sterochrist today?
The
current line-up consists of Dávid Makó (Devil’s Trade, Haw) –
Vocals, Gáspár Binder (Haw, Torn from Earth, Prosectura, Dog
Attack) – Drums, László Herczeg (Magma Rise) – Guitars, and of
course Balázs (Asphalt Horsemen) on bass and me (Magma Rise) on
guitars.
The band was formed
after split of classic Hungarian doom band Mood, which did split in
two camps – Stereochrist and Wall of Sleep. How do you see
principal differences between two bands?
After the split WoS
moved into the direction of the classic, melodic doom, while
Stereochrist approached it from the dirtier end. Our music was
influenced mostly by the bands from New Orleans. By the way, in Magma
Rise we are still following the doomy path of Mood, where our singer
is the ex-member of WoS, Gábor Holdampf.
These bands were
supported by PsycheDOOMelic Records, the label who did help a lot
European scene in the times when doom was in its low point. How did
you collaborate with Mark?
Márk
(owner of PsycheDOOMelic Records) is also a Hungarian guy, a huge fan
of Mood. Later he released Stereochrist as well, together with Metal
Hammer. He is no longer in the business, currently living somewhere
in south-America. I just ran into him on a Magma Rise concert in
January and had a good talk.
Sterochrist – Live
Like a Man (Die as a God)
By the way, how do
you value achievements of Mood back in the days when it was active?
Times
have changed and what we thought as a small audience and CD sales
turned much less today. Such a pity that Mood have never played
outside of Hungary. This could have been a good opportunity.
How would you
describe main features of Sterochrist? What were your intentions when
you work over the first album “Dead River Blues”?
Stereochrist
is a riff-oriented, aggressive metal music with quite simple
structures, sometimes with a touch of doom and southern influence.
When we did ‘Dead River Blues’ we didn’t think of the style at
all. These songs were born naturally without any hesitation. The 3
ex-members of Mood (Tamás Koltay, Balázs and me) did the music
part, the singer, Péter Felföldi brought his unique vocals and
lyrics. All finished songs appeared on the record.
The
second album “Live Like a Man (Die as a God)” sounds a bit more
brutal and heavy than “Dead River Blues”, you recorded it with
new vocalist Dávid Makó and drummer Csaba Kludovácz. How did they
influence on the band’s sound?
Obviously
the new members influenced it. Dávid’s tonality and style was much
more defined. And the band did 3-4 rehearsals per week, which made us
solid and unified also in sound and in songwriting. During the
recording phase we were trying to sound live as much as possible, so
we recorded the whole album live at once in the rehearsal room with
Barna Hidasi (the sound engineer, we are still working together with
in Magma Rise and Asphalt Horsemen). The outcome was way better than
the first record.
What’s about the
lyrics? Did it change comparing the debut? What are your songs
usually about?
Since
we are talking about two different people with two different
personality and mentality, lyrics are much different. While Peter is
an introverted person, David is a real front man type. Lyrics were
written by them, about their personal feelings.
As
I guess you and Balázs are main songwriters in Stereochrist, did you
feel the need to move further with the third album “III”? I’m
meaning – you have a pretty effective formula of playing heavy
low-tuned music, what else did you want to add to it?
We didn’t want to
change directions on this album either, we just let the songs flow
naturally. This album is more colourful as there are some thrash and
some southern slow-down stuff as well. Péter Felföldi was on the
vocals again, so there are more melodies.
How did “III”
record session go?
‘III’
was written with the new drummer Gáspár Binder, who drums groovier,
which also affected the music. The whole material became groovier. At
the beginning David was still around but he didn’t bring any ideas.
We also involved Károly Lőrincz (Asphalt Horsemen) at that time,
but before the recording phase Peter Felföldi returned, so we
recorded the album with him. The method was the same as on the first
album: each instrument was recorded separately – the studio was not
ready for simultaneous recording.
Can
you pick up one song from each of Stereochrist albums which
represents the best of the band on that period?
I
can’t pick only one, there are 2-3 good examples of the band’s
current status. All Along the River and Holosonic from the first;
Ghosts of a Culture’s Pride, Ride Blind or Destroying Ruins from
the second, Shallowman and The Long Hard Mile from the third (which
is my personal favourite)
Do you remember
technically most difficult album in Stereochrist discography?
Stereochrist’s music
is not really difficult. The structures are logical, so you don’t
need any special preparation for a show! One rehearsal before the
show twice a year and we are ready to rumble!
I saw news that
Magma Rise almost finished new full-length album, what can you tell
about it? How will it differ from “The Man in the Maze”?
We
haven’t recorded an album since Man In The Maze. We released an EP
‘False Flag Operation’ with 4 originals and 1 Trouble cover song,
and last week we recorded couple of songs for a new EP including
Black Sabbath’s ‘A National Acrobat’ where Karl Agell (C.O.C.;
Leadfoot, King Hitter) will be on vocals. It’s almost a tradition
to invite our favorite singers to cover a classic song.
When do you plan to
release new EP? Do you already have schedule and the label?
Should be out by the
end of the summer through a German label, Daredevil Records.
Kolos, you play doom
since 1993. This genre isn’t most popular one and as I know Mood
and Magma Rise didn’t get intensive feedback from listeners abroad.
What make you play this music through all these years?
Honestly, playing music
is rather a hobby. At the beginning I liked gigging the most, but now
writing new material inspires me more. Obviously this is a love,
otherwise I wouldn’t do it. Practically family, work and music are
the three pillars of my life.
Words by Aleks
Evdokimov and Kolos Hegyi
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