Hungarian black metal veterans SEAR BLISS return to our Greece with their latest album "Heavenly Down", which has won over the audience with its unique experimentation.
The evolution of their sound during their 30-year career has transcended the boundaries of black metal, exploring more avant-garde paths with instruments that add a more atmospheric dimension to their sound, creating melodies with a great emotional impact on the listener.
Read below the answers of the band's mastermind András Nagy, to the questions of our editor Angelos Katsouras, and prepare yourself properly for Thursday, February 27, 2025, at Piraeus Club Academy, Athens.
RockOverdose: First of all congratulations for "Heavenly Down", it's truly one of the best albums of your career. How do you perceive it so far, 7 months after its release and what is the response you had so far?
SEAR BLISS: Thank you very much for the compliment. Well, I still find it not boring and listen to it every now and then, so that’s a good sign. When you record an album and especially during the mixing process, you kinda get sick of it because you have to listen to it so many times. In case of “Heavenly Down”, it’s still exciting and I’m proud of it. I think the production is pretty solid and we have achieved what we wanted to express. The responses were overwhelming. The most important fact is that there is no sign of fatigue after three decades and we still have a lot to tell with our music. For me “Heavenly Down” and “Phantoms” are equally important albums in our career.
RockOverdose: We saw the album being released almost six years after "Letters From The Edge", which also came six years after "Eternal Recurence". Do you consider it a coincidence, or did the pandemic play a part on its delay?
SEAR BLISS: It was a coincidence and I’m not happy with such long gaps. Unfortunately, it’s not easy for a band like ours to plan ahead. I mean, we have lot of commitments, families, jobs, other musical projects and we write music the old-school way, which is not easy because we live far from each other. The pandemic didn’t play any role in the delay. It was rather because of the unfortunate situation that our guitar play left the band quite unexpectedly and we had to start writing almost from zero. We already had a whole album written together with him but because he was heavily involved in those songs, we decided to write new ones and start a new direction. For the next album we don’t want to wait another six years. We are too old for that, haha. So, we have already started writing new songs and I hope we can release the next album in 2026. That’s our plan at the moment and we try to keep it.
RockOverdose: It's your second album for Hammerheart,which I feel has promoted the album really well. What is your relation with them and how did the cooperation start on the previous album?
SEAR BLISS: Yeah, they promote the album very well and we have a good relationship with them. I like their enthusiasm and Guido (the owner of the label) is a cool guy. He will visit us in the spring and for sure we will have some fun. We share similar taste in music and beer, so we get along very well. Sear Bliss and Hammerheart both originate from the 90’s, so it was easy to find a common language. We knew each other’s past and there was a mutual trust since the beginning of our co-operation.
RockOverdose: I feel that the new albums has a special vibe and dynamics like a 1st or 2nd album of a band, surely it doesn't sound like a 9th album at all, how do you believe this sound was produced? Did you do something different this time, or it just came naturally?
SEAR BLISS: It’s good to hear you sense that fierce vibe. Like I said, we still create music the old-school way. We still believe in gathering together in our rehearsal bunker. That’s the best way to write music. Also, we record like in the past, more or less. So, we went to this amazing studio in Austria and we used pretty old equipment to get an organic and old school sound. It’s very rare nowadays. The whole process was very exciting and inspiring. We were full of enthusiasm, just like in the old days. Maybe that’s why this album is so powerful. As long as we have this enthusiasm and faith, our albums will reflect that.
RockOverdose: We would like a comment on the marvelous cover of the album, which adds a lot to its value. Did you have a certain concept in mind? Is there a symbolism hidden in it? It took me back on my childhood ton an anime called "The 12 months" with the seasons changing.
SEAR BLISS: All we knew was that we want to work with Kris again. He really understands our music. As I felt some kind of connection with our first album during the writing process, I sent Kris the demo versions of our songs and we started discussing about the concept. In the end, as always, Kris came up with a stunning artwork. It is in perfect harmony with the songs, the atmosphere of the whole album and the message of our band. Yes, there are hidden symbolisms in it and it also reflects the passing of time, which was a key element on this album. There are references to Phantoms on it too because we wanted to show that we are still the same but a bit older and maybe wiser. Perseverance is extremely important and has always been our motto.
RockOverdose: What gives you motive all these years to continue? You reached 30 years of existence in 2023, still going the hard way of non commerciality. Did you think in the beginning that you would last this long and have the respect of fans out there?
SEAR BLISS: Motivation comes from my obsession to metal music and it originates from my childhood. I had a firm decision to become a metal musician since the age of 9. I played in bands since the age of 13 and I formed Sear Bliss when I was 15. Maybe it sounds weird but to be honest, I knew it would last long because of my naïve enthusiasm and stubbornness. The good thing is that my passion hasn’t faded since then. In addition, to have people who like what we are doing is really the greatest thing.
RockOverdose: I was lucky enough to catch "Phantoms" upon release, which hooked me up forever with you. How do you feel that this album is still acknowledged as one of the best debuts in metal sound? What is the importance of it in your history? Do you have any personal debuts of other bands deep in your heart?
SEAR BLISS: The mid 90’s were magical times. Anyone who was present there would agree for sure. We had a very good chemistry, an unseen bond between us when we wrote and recorded that album. And the magic was also there. I remember that things happened incredibly fast and we were very young and eager. I loved that era and it was good to be part of that. Looking back now, I believe the key to the success of Phantoms was the seldom constellation or unity of the members who created that album. We have managed to capture the atmosphere we wanted to embodied and it happens pretty rarely in case of debut albums. My favourite debut ever probably is Bergtatt from Ulver. That’s a truly magical piece of art.
RockOverdose: You return to Greece for a gig soon, which are your memories from your previous visits? The gig in Crow especially remains one of the best I've seen in ages, it was all much better than the albums.
SEAR BLISS: We have many fond memories from our visits to Greece. We have lots of great friends over there and we love playing in your country. The gig in Crow was an awesome experience for us. Climbing to Acropolis was also phenomenal. Our show with Kawir was really cool too but I remember that I had the worst hangover ever that day. I was asked to be DJ the day before the show and I enjoyed it a little bit too much. There was an awesome vibe, cool music, nice bar, extremely dear staff and I was offered lots of local spirits. Usually I don’t drink strong liquors but refusing was not an option in that situation. I have blurry memories of drinking ouzo with the waitress. The morning after I seriously believed that I’m gonna die. We missed our soundcheck because I felt so sick. I almost threw up in the cab on our way to the venue. At the end I managed to play our set with a bit less handbanging. Our visit to Thessaloniki was memorable too.
RockOverdose: As an experienced musician with a very unique band, which would be your advice to people starting their band right now and what should they be careful of? What kind of difficulties did you face with Sear Bliss and how did you manage to overcome them through the years?
SEAR BLISS: I’m not sure our experiences would be valid in the current scene. The world has changed so much since then. We are from the pre-internet era. Things were so different on so many levels. Everything has different meaning now. It was totally different to record an album back then. It was totally different to release an album back then. It’s crazy to see what is going on now compared to the 90’s. Yet, one thing that has not changed is that you have to be committed to what you are doing and you have to be obsessed and dedicated. If you have those things and you follow your heart and what you believe in then you are on the right track. If you have a dream, a vision, just like I had in my childhood to become a musician, go for it. Try to find your own sound and personality instead of following other’s footsteps. We faced many difficulties in the past and maybe we made some wrong decisions too but there is nothing I regret. Our enthusiasm and perseverance helped to overcome any issues.
RockOverdose: We would like to thank you for your time and wish you to go on as you did all these years. If one day the end comes for the band, how would you like to be remembered and how much of all you dreamt about did you manage to achieve?
SEAR BLISS: Like I said, it was my dream from my childhood to make music and play metal as long as I can. I will never forget what I felt when I first heard bands like WASP or Iron Maiden. That changed my life and opened a new chapter for me. So, I dare to say that I have achieved what I dreamt about. I’m still doing what I love and my obsession has never waned. It’s always heartwarming to hear or read that there are people to whom our music means a lot. That’s the biggest achievement one can reach.
On behalf of RockOverdose.gr,
Aggelos Katsouras
27.02.2025 - SEAR BLISS, Drama Noir Live @ Piraeus Club Academy, Athens
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