Sear Bliss - Grand Destiny CD Review

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2005-05-03 : Woody Woodpecker
Pretty good over all. Brass sounds nice...intense stuff contrasts nice with slower riffage.
At the tail end sounds they ran out of idears. But reccommended.
2003-09-17 : PM
Sear Bliss - Grand Destiny (8,5/10) - Hungary - 2002
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Red Stream
Playing time: 46:39
Band-Homepage: Sear Bliss

Tracklist:
The Slowing Of Time
The World Beyond
Death In Torment
Arx Idolatriae
Labyrinth Of Pain
Hate Blade
Black Heart
God Man
Moments Of Falling
Infinitude
It was a long time silent around the Hungarian guys of SEAR BLISS. But now the Black Metal band strikes back with their new record "Grand Destiny". This was already recorded in 2000, so it's not a really new album. Unfortunately, I can't tell you why it took such a long time to release that because I don't know the reasons. But who cares, let's on with the music.
After the short and genre typical intro "The Slowing Of Time", the band kicks off with the Black Metal crusher "The World Beyond". I'm instantly reminded of DISSECTION's "The Somberlain". Not only that singer András Nagy sounds like Jon Nödtveidt, the used melodies are very similar to DISSECTION, too. Don't worry, SEAR BLISS are not a DISSECTION clone. Many of the entirely strong songs include orchestral parts, which partly root from synthies but also stem from real musicians. At least all wind instruments are original. So you can again and again listen to a buzzing trumpet between harsh blastbeats in songs like "Death In Torment" or "Arx Idolatriae". SEAR BLISS offer varied things. The mentioned blastbeats, orchestral and epic parts or simple midtempo parts contribute to the variety of the songs.

There is not only primitive shredding to find but also a nice, melodic solo. Just listen to the pretty cool "Black Heart" or "Labyrinth Of Pain", which is my favourite. Of course, it needs sometime to cope with the strange wind instruments. And I also asked myself again and again: "Is this Karl Moik and his Black Metal Stadl?". But if you can deal with them, all songs work out perfectly. The last track "Infinitude" shows the band even dreamy.

All the "true" Blackies won't have some fun with "Grand Destiny" but the others should deal with it, I think. Without overdone praise, you have to range the band into the intersection of bands like DISSECTION, IMMORTAL, MÖRK GRYNING or DIMMU BORGIR, because all bands can be found in the music of SEAR BLISS. But without copying them, like said before. But the Hungarians could work on the sound, it's not 100%. The drums could be more powerful and the whole thing a bit thicker. But that shouldn't take too much away from the class of "Grand Destiny". I'm pretty anxious if the Black Metal exotics will come near to the big ones of the genre. I hope it for them because "Grand Destiny" is really well-executed.

Tips: "The World Beyond", "Labyrinth Of Pain", "Black Heart"... (Online September 13, 2003
2003-09-17 : Britton
What a superb album! The band would be excellent all by itself, but the addition of that brass section just adds so much. I love bands like this that aren't afraid to add traditionally non-metal instruments to their muisc.
2002-08-04 : Nephilim : Link
Sear Bliss is one of my favourite bands. I have to tell you that before you begin to read my review about the new album of this Hungarian band. It has always been a special band for us in some aspect, as you can read about it also in the interview, so it was a great pleasure to put their new CD into my CD player. After releasing "The haunting" in 1998 they had to pass some long and hard years because of some entire problems of the band and because of their former label, Two Moons. But they did work, and the result of this can be heard on "Grand destiny". This record needs some time of listening to get used to it because of some changes in the music. After the more experimental and more atmospheric world of "The haunting" this album became a more direct black metal album, but of course with a special Sear Bliss-touch. The guitars are not so down tuned as last time, but I think both István Neubrandt and Péter András Horváth did a very good job on the CD. The synth (Tamás Kondor as a session-player) didn't get such a strong role as last time, and it reminds me this time of their first album, "Phantoms". Maybe the most important change was that beside trumpet (Róbert Pintér) they also used trombone and barytone (Zoltán Pál), so the brass insets could be played in more parts, which gave a kind of orchestral feeling to the music. Regarding the sound, I think now they spent some more time with the details than last time, but still I think the spinners became a bit weak in some parts. Although I must say that Zoltán Schönberger played great on this album, much better than last time. The music became much more aggressive, there are less atmospheric parts than on "The haunting". Concerning the atmosphere the determining feeling is a strange darkness rather than that mystical mood on "The haunting". This album sounds me, as if it was a kind of continuation of "Phantoms".

The dark intro is followed by the merciless grinding "The world beyond" which reminds me of a great blizzard. A very good opening indeed. The brass parts can be heard in "Death in torment" for the first time, which is a typical Sear Bliss song with dynamic changes and acoustic insets. Maybe the best song of the CD is "Arx Idolatriae", which makes me shiver with its fast riffs and other-worldly brass parts, any time I hear it. I think this is a continuation of "1100 years ago" on "Phantoms" and not just because of its historical and Hungarian theme, but because of its mood and musical themes. (They say, it's about a castle in Transsylvania, where pagan ceremonies were held in the early middle-age, according to an old Hungarian saga. Later a roman was also written of it with this title.) By the way they told that a videoclip was also made to this song, which can be downloaded from their homepage. The acoustic opening theme of "Labyrinth of pain" offers you a lonely feeling as if you were standing on a high and barren cliff in the howling wind... "Hate blade" is a fast and aggressive one just like the opening one. The brass parts sound very evil here just like the voice of András Nagy. Concerning the heavy opening riff of "Black heart" it is maybe the nearest one to the world of "The haunting". In the slower "God man", you can hear one of the most beautiful solos on the CD. The other one can be heard in "Moments of falling", which is my favourite number on the album beside "Arx Idolatriae". It's so fantastic as these two guitarists build up a shivering riff before the fast part from the sad opening theme. The finishing "Infinitude" has a different synth-part with an organ sound, but it's a great finishing of this album. It slowly takes you back to the real world. This is a very good album, comes with a very nice and high quality artwork of Kris Verwimp. You mustn't miss it!
2002-08-04 : PRELUDE TO DARKNESS : Link
Recommended by the very Atilla! We cannot start this review without pointing out that this is a majestic album. When we played it for the first time we realized the recommendation was totally right, Dark Metal with hypnotic arrangments and epic atmospheres. This album navigates through a post black metal stream with certain melodic tempos and other more furious that definitely show the warrior roots of this skillful and experienced musicians. The dark tunes on "Grand Destiny" also count on the musical support of instruments such as barytone, bayonete, trombom and synths, all composed in natural way which bestows this very interesting instalment unquestionable touch of originality. Moreover, the relentless and howling vocals of Andras (bass-vocals) give to both the musical ambient of the album and deep inspired lyrics, a darker and impassionated touch. Both the production and artwork on "Grand Destiny" are remarkable as well... Inject your dark soul the only sensation Grand Destiny's capable to grant it.
2002-07-17 :
Sear Bliss - Grand Destiny (8/10)

This album took me a few listens to really get, but after that point, I found it well worth the effort. Sear Bliss is a Hungarian band playing somber, grim, atmospheric Black Metal. For the most part what Sear Bliss are doing has been done before, but they do it well. The one element that Sear Bliss include that is different from anything I've heard in Black Metal before is the use of a brass section. While the concept of trombones and trumpets in Black Metal doesn't sound like a match made in Hell (a match made in Hell being a good thing in this case), it actually works out quite nicely. The album goes between mid-paced to fast Black Metal and slow somber parts. In the faster parts, the brass adds a triumphant feel, and in the slow parts, it really enriches the somber mood. Synths and acoustic guitars are used at points as well, but they are used tastefully. Fear not that you will encounter some slickly produced, keyboard-drenched over-romantic album ala Ladle of Soup or Dino Burger. The production is at just the right level, clear and clean enough to capture the somber atmosphere of the brass, but still raw enough to capture the feeling of real Black Metal. I am also fond of the vocals, which are a gargled rasp that remind me of Nargaroth and old Sigh. This is a good album. It won't change the face of Black Metal, and it hasn't made me rush off to buy all of the band's previous works (this being their 4th full-length), but it has earned repeated listens, and makes me curious to hear how they develop in their next album, which I'm confident I'll pick up.
-Abraxas
2002-07-07 : Attila Schmid
Awsome Black Metal Band From Hungary combining trumpets. If Your A Black Metalhead that hates the primitive old skool Shit. I highly recommend this album.