1. Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?
The new album has been released just a few days ago, and there's has been not too much happened to the band since then, but I must say, I could not relax at all. It seems, there is a relatively great interest about the new album, so I have continuously something to do about it, and that is very good. On the other hand we are about to fix the line-up to be able to start making gigs.
2. Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past/
'Through fire... in the Sun' is the title of Verilun's second full-length album. Our debut, 'Home for the dead' was released 5 years ago. Writing the songs to 'Through fire... in the Sun' was like writing the songs again to the very first album. 'Home for the dead' had no influence on us at all, so maybe this is the reason why the new album is quite different from the previous one. It is more epic, more atmospheric, more melodic, but more powerful at the same time.
3. This is your first album, can you tell us a little bit more about what has been going on during that time frame?
Sorry, I do not fully understand the question, this is not our first album, if you don't mind I give here some info on the making of the recent album.
We have already started writing the songs to the new album at the end of 2016. And in almost exactly one year we completed all the songs. Since our drummer has quitted at the beginning of 2017, only Krisztian and I were working on the new stuff. In November 2017 we started recording the album with Tamas Laki at studio Sasfeszek (Eagle's Nest)in Hungary. Drums had been performed and recorded by Oliver Zisko, a well-known, talented and respected drummer of multiple musical genres and styles. We have finished all the studio work by the beginning of March this year, and one month later a single, called 'Upon the mountain's has been released by Sliptrick Records. One month later again on the 3rd of May, the full-length, 'Trough fire... in the Sun' been out, also by Sliptrick Records.
4. Some of the lyrics on the new album are based upon 'Hungarian Folklore', can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?
Two songs of the album are related Hungarian mythology and/or religion. 'Seven years and seven winks' is actually a tale about a magic steed, called 'táltos', who with his son defeats the dragon who stole the Sun, the Moon and all the stars from the sky, so people were living in instant darkness. 'Through fire... in the Sun' is about a theory saying, that our ancestors are living in the Sun, we can talk to them through fire, and at the end we can leave this world and depart to the Sun through fire.
The Hungarian folklore is very old and has a very comprehensive and deep meaning through symbols. It's very interesting to get to know how our ancestors were living, how was their relationship to the world they were part of, and what a deep knowledge they had about it. It's so sad, that instead of improving this knowledge we have forgot it almost completely.
5. What are some of the other lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
There are lyrics about the catastrophic situation of this decaying world we live in, our roles in this world and in this situation; there are some spiritual and more personal topics as well, and of course there is a song about planet Mars too from a very special aspect.
6. I know that the band is named after the Hunnish name or Mars, how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?
Like Martian metal? :-) I liked the idea to have a name in a language which does not exist anymore. On the other hand due to the very close relationship between Hunnic and Magyar people, Hunnish is very similar to Hungarian (magyar) language, so it is almost like having a Hungarian name.
Planet Mars and the mysteries about it is one of my fields of interests too, so this name came quite easily.
7. What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We have performed a lot of shows during the years. They were mainly gigs in clubs in Hungary with similar bands. There were better and worse gigs too, but in general I must say, we played live a little bit too rare mainly due the opportunities we had. This is something I'd like to change in the future.
8. Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
Sure! First we have to fix the line-up by finding a drummer. As soon as the line-up is complete, we'll start arranging the gigs.
9. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and death metal?
With our first album in general the feed-back from both press and news were quite good. And since the second album is out, a quite great interest has been shown about the release of it, I'm receiving day by day a request for information, interview, as well as some very positive reviews have already been shared with me.
10. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Considering the differences between the first two albums, and supposing that the third one might be even so different from the first two too, it is very difficult to answer this question. We do not use any guidance, do not have any plan when writing new songs. The ideas just popping-up, we try to grab them, and form them as well as possible. Sometimes I even had the feeling, that the songs were being written by themselves.
11. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
The two songwriters of Verilun (Krisztian and myself) have relatively different musical interests. Krisztian prefers a more rhythm based, complex, and technical death metal, while I try to bring some melodies, atmosphere in the songs, and I represent the black metal side of the band. I think this duality reflects in both Verilun albums, and this will be for sure the skeleton of the news songs too. I'm sure, by mixing these two musical approaches on a proper way, we'll end up with an interesting result again.
12. What are some of your non musical interests?
Nowadays I listen to non-metal bands, like 'Laibach', 'Die Antwoord', but I like 'Die Verbannten Kinder Evas' and 'Sopor Aeternus and the Ensemble Of Shadows' very much too. Next to metal I've been listening to the music of some other musical genres too for a long time, and to my opinion some of the are really close to metal, only the way of expression, the instruments being used are different.
13. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
It was an interesting journey for me to make this album, I've met very interesting things, learnt a lot during the songwriting period. There's one thing I may emphasize, and which could be relevant to the other areas of life too: if you want something and you are really content to do for it, you can be sure, you'll make it. There might be obstacles, you may lose the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you are persistent and you never give up, you'll reach your goal at the end.
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