If you hear the category 'melodic death metal' mostly Swedish band names come to your mind but this style has followers all around the world. One of them is a Hungarian band, CasketGarden, who chose their name after a Dismember song though they spell it differently, and while this clearly showcases their infulences, one can tell that they truly have their own style. In the five years of their existence, they have produced three demos and worked hard to become better known in the Hungarian underground and in neighbouring countries.
I talked with one of the founding members, Balázs, who is also the main songwriter, guitarist and one of the leaders in the band.
- Pls introduce CasketGarden and the members of the band to the readers.
- CasketGarden is a melodic death-thrash band from the Western part of Hungary, Europe, Planet Earth lol, from the town called Mosonmagyaróvár. We formed the band in the late summer of 1998, there were three members then: Attila, Peter, and me myself Balázs. We play this kind of metal since the band was formed only when we became better musicians, also in playing, at live performances, in song-writing, and in arrangement. In 1999 the line up was completed with Istvan the singer, and with the bassist (which is the most problematic place in the band). Now our bassist is Gábor Õri who is an ex-member of Zombie Holocaust. We all have to work besides the band, that's why our things can move forwards only very slowly.
- Whose idea was to pick `CasketGarden` as the name of the band?
- Our drummer's idea was this name. We wanted to choose some good sounding name, there were some other possibilties, but when Attila started to sing the song with his stupid Hungarian accent it looked to be the best choice lol. Today I don't like it so much because it comes from Dismember and our music is different from their sound.
- Tell us with your own words what kind of music your band plays.
- We play a very energic, fast, and brutal kind of melodious, atmospheric but modern thrash/death metal.
- Who, what bands are your major influences?
- Our influences are mostly from Sweden (like ATG, The Haunted, Dismember) but we like the older thrash era like Testament, Kreator and we are also into the half melodic/half brutal death metal kind of the late Carcass and such musics like the eralier Anathema, Paradise Lost. These two last bands' atmosphere is what we like. These are the influences, the source wherefrom we have started. These bands played such music in their latest periods, so it will be interesting how will our music change in the future. What is the future of this kind of music, when you only want to be better and better and not change to an other stlye.
- What band or bands got you into metal? What was your first metal album you bought?
- The first album that I bought was Appetite For Destruction of Guns N' Roses. But the first stuff that got me into metal was Ossian's Acélszív. It is Hungarian heavy metal band from the 80s and their first record was called "Steelheart" .. lol.
- Why did you chose guitar to play on? Do you play on other instruments?
- First I wanted to choose the bass, because of Cliff Burton's bass solo "Pulling Teeth" on the Kill 'Em All Metallica stuff! Later I wanted to play the acoustic guitar. After I learned after a month, my playing sounded better than Peter's (we learned together) and that's why I decided to choose the guitar. I`ve been playing on the electric guitar for 5-6 years now.
- What is the process of making new songs like at CasketGarden? Who has the basic ideas? Do the others take part in writing the lyrics, music, etc?
- Nowadays usually the main sketch is mine. With Peter we work out the songs and with Attila's own ideas it became a full CG song. The lyrics are always mine, because when I find out the main theme I usually know what the song will be about.
- How much time do you spend with the band normally when you are not preparing for a concert or for recording?
- What do you mean? The relationship among the band members or the other tasks like rehearsals, inties, mailing, e-mailing? I answer both.
We all are friends in the band. I always go out with them, they are my best friends. We drink together, we make parties together and make rehearsals 3 times a week. And the rest of my free time is mostly dedicated to the band too. Ususally I spend every day 1 hour with e-mailing, mailing, and answering to letters, other things etc.
- How often do you have the opportunity to play live? What's your best and worst gig memory?
We played quite lot in this year. About 30-35 gigs we had mostly on the western part of Hungary. We played 3 times in Budapest, and in this year (2002) we could play abroad, though only one gig in Yugoslavia. It was fascinating!
The best gig was in Beograd where 500 people were there. The audience went really wild from us they broke the cage in front of us, stage diving and moshing all over and the place was totally full! The UG seems to be really strong there, we were interviewed by a radio station, the gig was advertised on giant posters. Incredible! I would like to thank also this way for all to the organizers!!! Slavic fanatics rule!!!
In Hungary maybe Eger (in year 2000) was great where we played with Dying Wish. There we were only 4 in the band, but it was a very succesful gig from the side of the audience and from the view of playing too. Maybe it was a great gig because this was the first time when we were out of the pressure of the person we didn't like in the band. We fired him few days before the gig. And some hometown or Nagykanizsa gigs are also among the bests.
The worst was the gig with Monastery in Pécs. It was not the failure of the headliner band, but the failure of the owner. We cannot play at all, because this kind of music was too loud for the club owner. He said "Take the volume down or fuck off and go home assholes!" The main band played only 2 songs. We would be the last but we got no possibility, and we traveled to Pécs for free!!! Long Live The Hungarian UG!!!!!
- What song of yours should people listen to before any other?
- 'I Witness'!!! It is the first real CG song! And all songs on the new promo-stuff!
- Tell us 3 good reasons why people should listen to you?
- Because, we are the best! Hehe No, just joking! First it is very rude and everyone can ease up his/her aggressivity. In spite of this it is very sensible, so if you want to listen something rude with atmosphere it is a good choice. And the third thing that "it's only rock'n'roll but I like it"!
- How can people hear your music?
- With their ears! lol Good question, I think it needs time. Time to look through and through the brutallic side and glimpse the beauty in it.
- What song/songs of yours do you like the most? Why?
- I like all of them. Also the old ones. My favourite nowadays is the newest one of course it will be called "Song Of Tears" or "Ash" I don't know yet. It is a really thrashy piece with heartbreaking chorus part. We haven't played it at concerts yet but I like it very much! And from the already released songs "7th scar" or "The Day When silence Died" is my favourite.
- What are your plans with the band for the future?
- We want to concentrate on foreign countries mostly. You know in Hungary the UG is very poor and weak. In very surrounding country there is a bigger scene than Hungary has got. But what we want is, first of all, a very good promoted, good sounding and very pro-made full-length. We got an offer from the Slovakian label Metal Age. We haven't signed it yet, we haven`t talked it over with them yet but we don't wait too much from it. Though it is good to know that there is interest towards us in abroad, too. It would also be a better choice then a Hungarian label, because just take a look at their scene, it`s obvious that is far more strenghtful as ours.
- You sound a bit negative on your local scene, what is it like?
- Yes, you are right. I don't like the local scene because there are very few bands who are really talented, and mostly they don't get possibilities, because they are too "risky". I don't like the local scene because the gig-organizers, club-owners take the bands as a necessary bad thing, they need them "just to sell more alcoholic drinks to the assholes during the concerts", and they don't give a shit on the music itself. I don't like the Hungarian scene because there aren't given any choice between two shit bands, you can choose only one what is given in your face by the only one metal media. When they said XY is a shit, then the fans don't try to listen them. Sometimes I feel there is no Underground Spirit at all.
- What would you like to achive with the band?
- It would be great if we could reach a cult-underground status in Hungary, as for example Mood or Newborn did. It would be great. In abroad we want to spread our name as much as we can.
- Where do you see CasketGarden in 5 years time?
- By a quite good metal label! lol We want to be then a 2 or 3 album band with few but fanatic fans!
- You`ve released three demos so far. Are you satisfied with the situation of the band now?
- You know, we wanted to release a full-length album after our second demo. But I'm quite glad that it happened differently. We became far better in this 2 years after the "...Of Grief" stuff, so maybe our debut will be far more blasting later.
But I'm not satisfied with our situation abroad but seems it may change, because everywhere we sent our promos we got very good reviews.
- Your latest demo was released in august 2002 and at your concerts you are already playing new songs. When may we expect a new record from you?
- Yes, we play some new songs. Those are newer then the "Non-Existent" tracks and they will appear on this first full-length. We want to record a full length in march or april 2003, that should be released 1-2 months after.
- Pls tell us a few words about the lyrics on `The Non-Existent`. What are your inspirations to the lyrics?
- This 3 lyrics are about the despising society. About the situation when so called "normal" people are despising you because you take on that you want to be different from those manipulated, brain-washed assholes this "normal" society stands of.
The first song is about that you are a "Non-existent" in their eyes. "The Day When Silence Died" is about the power of accumulated silent rage. And "7th Scar" is about their God who created senses for the man, but nowadays just a few of them use these senses, and understand what is happening in this world. How painful is to feel
So you can see there are no inspirations no stories in the lyrics just feelings.
- After seeing the covers of three of your releases, it`s seems it is almost the same statue on all of them. Is it something like the symbol of the band?
- No. Actually, on our first demo's cover there is a beautiful sunset.
And those are not the same statues. From " Of Grief" title conculded something like this statue. It quite good cover because, one of the songs is about that "soulless reliefs" we are and "I Witness" is about blindness of bureaucracy. This statue with his bandaged eyes expresses these all with her griefy grey beauty. The cover of "The Non-Existent" promo is only painting about a statue. And when we burned that statue on the other cover then why not to shoot this one on the new??? Hehehe
DESTROY!!!
- Since this interview is made for an online magazine, the question is obviuos: do you have a homepage or are planning to launch one in the near future?
- Unfortunately we haven't got an own hompage yet. It is among our plans, I'm collecting the datas, reviews, pictures etc. I think it will be realized in the very near future. Till that, check this: www.mp3.com/CASKETGARDEN
- Last question for now, what is your actual playlist?
- 1. Testament-First Strike Still Deadly
2. The Haunted- The Haunted Made Me Do It
3. Arcturus-The Sham Mirrors
4. Entombed-Morning Star
5. Down-II
- Thanks for the interview. Any message for our readers?
- FOREVER BURN!!!
To read the UM review on CasketGarden's The Non-Existent click here.
To read the band's detailed biography, click here.
I talked with one of the founding members, Balázs, who is also the main songwriter, guitarist and one of the leaders in the band.
- Pls introduce CasketGarden and the members of the band to the readers.
- CasketGarden is a melodic death-thrash band from the Western part of Hungary, Europe, Planet Earth lol, from the town called Mosonmagyaróvár. We formed the band in the late summer of 1998, there were three members then: Attila, Peter, and me myself Balázs. We play this kind of metal since the band was formed only when we became better musicians, also in playing, at live performances, in song-writing, and in arrangement. In 1999 the line up was completed with Istvan the singer, and with the bassist (which is the most problematic place in the band). Now our bassist is Gábor Õri who is an ex-member of Zombie Holocaust. We all have to work besides the band, that's why our things can move forwards only very slowly.
- Whose idea was to pick `CasketGarden` as the name of the band?
- Our drummer's idea was this name. We wanted to choose some good sounding name, there were some other possibilties, but when Attila started to sing the song with his stupid Hungarian accent it looked to be the best choice lol. Today I don't like it so much because it comes from Dismember and our music is different from their sound.
- Tell us with your own words what kind of music your band plays.
- We play a very energic, fast, and brutal kind of melodious, atmospheric but modern thrash/death metal.
- Who, what bands are your major influences?
- Our influences are mostly from Sweden (like ATG, The Haunted, Dismember) but we like the older thrash era like Testament, Kreator and we are also into the half melodic/half brutal death metal kind of the late Carcass and such musics like the eralier Anathema, Paradise Lost. These two last bands' atmosphere is what we like. These are the influences, the source wherefrom we have started. These bands played such music in their latest periods, so it will be interesting how will our music change in the future. What is the future of this kind of music, when you only want to be better and better and not change to an other stlye.
- What band or bands got you into metal? What was your first metal album you bought?
- The first album that I bought was Appetite For Destruction of Guns N' Roses. But the first stuff that got me into metal was Ossian's Acélszív. It is Hungarian heavy metal band from the 80s and their first record was called "Steelheart" .. lol.
- Why did you chose guitar to play on? Do you play on other instruments?
- First I wanted to choose the bass, because of Cliff Burton's bass solo "Pulling Teeth" on the Kill 'Em All Metallica stuff! Later I wanted to play the acoustic guitar. After I learned after a month, my playing sounded better than Peter's (we learned together) and that's why I decided to choose the guitar. I`ve been playing on the electric guitar for 5-6 years now.
- What is the process of making new songs like at CasketGarden? Who has the basic ideas? Do the others take part in writing the lyrics, music, etc?
- Nowadays usually the main sketch is mine. With Peter we work out the songs and with Attila's own ideas it became a full CG song. The lyrics are always mine, because when I find out the main theme I usually know what the song will be about.
- How much time do you spend with the band normally when you are not preparing for a concert or for recording?
- What do you mean? The relationship among the band members or the other tasks like rehearsals, inties, mailing, e-mailing? I answer both.
We all are friends in the band. I always go out with them, they are my best friends. We drink together, we make parties together and make rehearsals 3 times a week. And the rest of my free time is mostly dedicated to the band too. Ususally I spend every day 1 hour with e-mailing, mailing, and answering to letters, other things etc.
- How often do you have the opportunity to play live? What's your best and worst gig memory?
We played quite lot in this year. About 30-35 gigs we had mostly on the western part of Hungary. We played 3 times in Budapest, and in this year (2002) we could play abroad, though only one gig in Yugoslavia. It was fascinating!
The best gig was in Beograd where 500 people were there. The audience went really wild from us they broke the cage in front of us, stage diving and moshing all over and the place was totally full! The UG seems to be really strong there, we were interviewed by a radio station, the gig was advertised on giant posters. Incredible! I would like to thank also this way for all to the organizers!!! Slavic fanatics rule!!!
In Hungary maybe Eger (in year 2000) was great where we played with Dying Wish. There we were only 4 in the band, but it was a very succesful gig from the side of the audience and from the view of playing too. Maybe it was a great gig because this was the first time when we were out of the pressure of the person we didn't like in the band. We fired him few days before the gig. And some hometown or Nagykanizsa gigs are also among the bests.
The worst was the gig with Monastery in Pécs. It was not the failure of the headliner band, but the failure of the owner. We cannot play at all, because this kind of music was too loud for the club owner. He said "Take the volume down or fuck off and go home assholes!" The main band played only 2 songs. We would be the last but we got no possibility, and we traveled to Pécs for free!!! Long Live The Hungarian UG!!!!!
- What song of yours should people listen to before any other?
- 'I Witness'!!! It is the first real CG song! And all songs on the new promo-stuff!
- Tell us 3 good reasons why people should listen to you?
- Because, we are the best! Hehe No, just joking! First it is very rude and everyone can ease up his/her aggressivity. In spite of this it is very sensible, so if you want to listen something rude with atmosphere it is a good choice. And the third thing that "it's only rock'n'roll but I like it"!
- How can people hear your music?
- With their ears! lol Good question, I think it needs time. Time to look through and through the brutallic side and glimpse the beauty in it.
- What song/songs of yours do you like the most? Why?
- I like all of them. Also the old ones. My favourite nowadays is the newest one of course it will be called "Song Of Tears" or "Ash" I don't know yet. It is a really thrashy piece with heartbreaking chorus part. We haven't played it at concerts yet but I like it very much! And from the already released songs "7th scar" or "The Day When silence Died" is my favourite.
- What are your plans with the band for the future?
- We want to concentrate on foreign countries mostly. You know in Hungary the UG is very poor and weak. In very surrounding country there is a bigger scene than Hungary has got. But what we want is, first of all, a very good promoted, good sounding and very pro-made full-length. We got an offer from the Slovakian label Metal Age. We haven't signed it yet, we haven`t talked it over with them yet but we don't wait too much from it. Though it is good to know that there is interest towards us in abroad, too. It would also be a better choice then a Hungarian label, because just take a look at their scene, it`s obvious that is far more strenghtful as ours.
- You sound a bit negative on your local scene, what is it like?
- Yes, you are right. I don't like the local scene because there are very few bands who are really talented, and mostly they don't get possibilities, because they are too "risky". I don't like the local scene because the gig-organizers, club-owners take the bands as a necessary bad thing, they need them "just to sell more alcoholic drinks to the assholes during the concerts", and they don't give a shit on the music itself. I don't like the Hungarian scene because there aren't given any choice between two shit bands, you can choose only one what is given in your face by the only one metal media. When they said XY is a shit, then the fans don't try to listen them. Sometimes I feel there is no Underground Spirit at all.
- What would you like to achive with the band?
- It would be great if we could reach a cult-underground status in Hungary, as for example Mood or Newborn did. It would be great. In abroad we want to spread our name as much as we can.
- Where do you see CasketGarden in 5 years time?
- By a quite good metal label! lol We want to be then a 2 or 3 album band with few but fanatic fans!
- You`ve released three demos so far. Are you satisfied with the situation of the band now?
- You know, we wanted to release a full-length album after our second demo. But I'm quite glad that it happened differently. We became far better in this 2 years after the "...Of Grief" stuff, so maybe our debut will be far more blasting later.
But I'm not satisfied with our situation abroad but seems it may change, because everywhere we sent our promos we got very good reviews.
- Your latest demo was released in august 2002 and at your concerts you are already playing new songs. When may we expect a new record from you?
- Yes, we play some new songs. Those are newer then the "Non-Existent" tracks and they will appear on this first full-length. We want to record a full length in march or april 2003, that should be released 1-2 months after.
- Pls tell us a few words about the lyrics on `The Non-Existent`. What are your inspirations to the lyrics?
- This 3 lyrics are about the despising society. About the situation when so called "normal" people are despising you because you take on that you want to be different from those manipulated, brain-washed assholes this "normal" society stands of.
The first song is about that you are a "Non-existent" in their eyes. "The Day When Silence Died" is about the power of accumulated silent rage. And "7th Scar" is about their God who created senses for the man, but nowadays just a few of them use these senses, and understand what is happening in this world. How painful is to feel
So you can see there are no inspirations no stories in the lyrics just feelings.
- After seeing the covers of three of your releases, it`s seems it is almost the same statue on all of them. Is it something like the symbol of the band?
- No. Actually, on our first demo's cover there is a beautiful sunset.
And those are not the same statues. From " Of Grief" title conculded something like this statue. It quite good cover because, one of the songs is about that "soulless reliefs" we are and "I Witness" is about blindness of bureaucracy. This statue with his bandaged eyes expresses these all with her griefy grey beauty. The cover of "The Non-Existent" promo is only painting about a statue. And when we burned that statue on the other cover then why not to shoot this one on the new??? Hehehe
DESTROY!!!
- Since this interview is made for an online magazine, the question is obviuos: do you have a homepage or are planning to launch one in the near future?
- Unfortunately we haven't got an own hompage yet. It is among our plans, I'm collecting the datas, reviews, pictures etc. I think it will be realized in the very near future. Till that, check this: www.mp3.com/CASKETGARDEN
- Last question for now, what is your actual playlist?
- 1. Testament-First Strike Still Deadly
2. The Haunted- The Haunted Made Me Do It
3. Arcturus-The Sham Mirrors
4. Entombed-Morning Star
5. Down-II
- Thanks for the interview. Any message for our readers?
- FOREVER BURN!!!
To read the UM review on CasketGarden's The Non-Existent click here.
To read the band's detailed biography, click here.
