Blackened Horde: How did the band get started?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: The band was formed in the beginning of 2008, but activated significantly when it was joined by Fiosaiche, who completed the lineup.
Blackened Horde: What kind of music do you play?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: Contrary to one might think, this is quite a difficult question, as that one of the guiding ideas was to create music, which would fall outside any traditional classification. Undoubtedly, we play extreme metal with large inflows of coldwave, free jazz, among others, and, of course, classical music. How to name this conglomerate in short – I have no idea!
Blackened Horde: How has the fan response been?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: Considering how strange and difficult to listen this music is, the response is better than I expected.
Blackened Horde: Where did the band name come from?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: The idea is taken from Milton’s “Paradise Lost”: the first dawn after Armageddon. The spelling is a subtle reference to King Crimson, in my humble opinion, the greatest band of all time.
Blackened Horde: Introduce the band members and what they do in the band.
Piotr “Marvin” Słopecki: Of moderate height, a bruiser crammed like a rhino, with a suspicious gaze. In terms of appearance, you could expect anything from him. But surely not that he is a Ph.D. and gives lectures at a music academy. In the band he plays the piano and composes all piano arrangements. Has his word in the outlining of the compositions. Heavy drinker.
Paweł “VaU” Radziszewski: If he gave as much effort practicing his vocals and guitar playing as he spends pumping himself at the gym, by now, he would be a world-renowned star, no doubt. On a daily basis, he corrupts the youth as a high school teacher, even though he looks like he finished an SS school for non-commissioned officers in field conditions rather than a university. Drinks heavily when possible, mostly during the weekends.
Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: A typical highbrow, i.e., same type as Marvin. He is a Ph.D. candidate in the field of archeology. Even worse, he tutors at a university. When needed, he is highly cultural and respectful, a cynic and a mocker – if need be. On the debut material he recorded drums and guitar solos. Currently, the main guitarist and FX programmer. Drinks and smokes. A curse of an unknown origin turned him into a beer gourmand of indefatigable appetite.
Piotr “Wilq” Chlebowicz: Me, Myself and I. Thinnest of the bunch, which is not to say: petite. Romanticist with an aristocratic face, hardened with tens and hundreds of ring and street duels, which left some indelible, yet subtle marks on my otherwise splendid curvature. Somehow, also with a university degree. A dawdler – vexatious, cynical and sarcastic. Something of a leader for the band, this is mainly visible in my constant nagging, galling, whining and bragging. In addition, I play bass and do harsh vocals. A non-practicing abstinent, despite a serious shortage of weight in relation to other band-mates, my superb condition and wide experience allow me to keep an adequate, high alcohol–drug profile.
Blackened Horde: Who writes the music? Lyrics?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: “Omnia pro Patria” is mostly written by me, the opening intro was forged by Fiosaiche, the second instrumental is a shared product of Marvin and a session keyboardist. Some guitar riffs and arrangements are VaU’s authorship. The sophomore material is co-written by Fiosaiche and me. All piano lines and arrangements have been written exclusively by Marvin. Lyrics are mostly born in the void of my tormented soul.
Blackened Horde: And where do the lyric ideas come from?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: Of my numerous interests in the fields of history, philosophy and religion.
Blackened Horde: What is your view in Satanism and Occultism?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: Sunrise Black comprises of people with different views on religion, so I wouldn’t like to delve into the subject too much, especially since this issue is very delicate in nature. I can say that I am a person quite well-read and well-versed in these matters. We can discuss this topic in greater detail if we ever happen to sit together in a high-proof spirits’ neighborhood.
Blackened Horde: How many albums/CD’s have you released?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: “Omnia pro Patria” is Sunrise Black’s first album.
Blackened Horde: Tell me about some the songs on the latest CD?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: “Firefest” – the song is about the celebration of the first of November (Celtic Samhain, the Night of Weles, christian All Saints’ Day, Halloween…), its pagan origins and roots of its reminiscences in the modern world. In addition, this is both Marvin’s and my birthdate. “Rigor Mortis I: Pro patria Polonia” – text about Polish soldiers during the Second World War, those fighting on the Western Allies side, as well as the ones who had to fight alongside the Soviet army. The “Black Devils” was a name given to members of Polish 1st Armored Division by German combatants. This unit took an active part in the fighting in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. “Charles Baudelaire’s Les Litanies de Satan” – musical interpretation of a poem written in the form of a canonical litany by a renowned French poet in Polish-language translation.
Blackened Horde: Do you have any side projects?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: Fiosaiche did a few different things, e.g., he is working on a solo project called Pariah Progeny, a dynamic thrash/death, VaU and me are supposed to record vocals for the EP, he also cooperates with Praesepe, both musically and lyrically. Marvin recorded two solo LP’s with classical music, and took part in numerous compilations as a pianist and organist.
Blackened Horde: Who are some of your musical influences?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: King Crimson has always been my greatest inspiration, this will not change. After that comes Arthur Brown. In terms of strictly metal music: Nocturnus, King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Cynic, and many, many more. Classical music is equally important for me: Nicolo Paganini, Franz Liszt. And ELEND… Bassists: Steve diGiorgio, Sean Malone. Vocalists-Bassists: David Vincent (the old days), Glen Benton, Phil Lynnot, Anthony Dolan, and – the best of the best – Greg Lake. Marvin’s inspirations come mostly from the widely understood classical music, he made his Ph.D. on Bach and is a specialist in this field. Too many things to recite herein. In addition he loves Sisters of Mercy and cold wave classics, such as Joy Division and Clan of Xymox. VaU is all about King Diamond/Mercyful Fate, Arcturus, Borknagar and choral music. Vocalists that inspire him are King Diamond, Vortex, Garm, Michael Kiske, Kai Hansen. Guitarists: Andy LaRocque, Michael Denner, Michael Weikath. Fiosaiche – Bay Area, East Coast and Teutonic thrash, Florida death metal, British death/grind, speed metal derivatives, quality beer and Motörhead. Guitarists: Jeff Waters, Gary Holt, Bill Steer, Erik Rutan.
Blackened Horde: What is the band like when you play live? Have you guys ever played in another country? How big of crowd shows up at shows usually? How is the crowd response when you play?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: Sunrise Black was formed as a studio project. Due to work and personal commitments of band members who, in addition, live in different cities, we don’t play concerts. We have some offers, so maybe in due time we’ll start playing live. It is tempting.
Blackened Horde: What do you think of the US Black Metal/Death Metal scene?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: Well, I don’t really keep up with what’s happening now, staying in the area of old aces: Nocturnus, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, Death, Sinister, Acheron, Possessed… There was an awful lot of great bands back then and plenty to choose from. Unfortunately, after the last album Morbid Angel is gone for me forever. And, you know, as for me, if something is less than 10 years old, I still view it as something new. That may be why I still see bands such as Nile, which I hold in great esteem, as relatively new things. American scene has always been extremely strong and potent, I don’t think this will ever change.
Blackened Horde: What do you think of the Overseas scenes?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: I understand that by overseas you mean what’s outside US. Well, we’re overseas. Is there any sense in reminding of the always strong scenes like British, German, Scandinavian, Polish, Brazilian, Swiss? I think not. They held their ground and always will, no question. We can, in short, discuss other: France, Spain, Greece, Russia… I think that there is a plethora of great bands originating from these countries. For a long time, there has been a very interesting scene in Japan, mind you. Nowadays, I think it’s worth to mention the Near East – some great bands appeared there, I hope they will rise above the niche they sit in currently. Too little place to talk about all this in detail!
Blackened Horde: What are some of new favorite black metal/death metal bands?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: Duh! A hard question. I can start recite: Disma, Bastard Priest, Putareon, Demisery, Tribulation, Abysmal Dawn, Blast Rites, Entrails… Really, there is so much. But that’s great, honestly – the more, the merrier.
Blackened Horde: When do you guys plan on writing any new material?
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: Well, the new material is actually written in the vast majority, but when it comes to us, these things take time, so I can’t really tell when a finished product can be expected.
Blackened Horde: What does the future hold for the band??
Piotr “Wolf” Chlebowicz & Paweł “Fiosaiche” Kucypera: I see a bright future for us. Heh, seriously: the nearest plan is to assemble a lineup that will be capable of occasional touring and adequate to record the new material. And after that, who knows?
Contact them at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunrise-Black/112316508964395
http://sunrise-black.bandcamp.com/
