Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Haiduk (Canada)





T: Hails Luka! Why the name Haiduk for the band?

H: A “hajduk” is a resistance warrior who lives in the forest, in Serbian, which is my background. I thought it sounded cool and fitting for a death metal solo project.

T: You have produced your first CD. “Plagueswept”. How about criticism and reviews from zines?

H: “Plagueswept” got pretty mixed reviews ranging from critcs who butchered it to people who really liked it. The demo is material written a long time ago and it’s a very raw quality recording, so I was never surprised if it didn’t appeal to many people.

T: In this CD. “Plagueswept” vowels involved in Matthew and Mark. Do they belong to other bands or just went to the CD. “Plagueswept”.?

H: I performed all the vocals for “Plagueswept” at a local studio belonging to Matt and Marc Johns. They oversaw the recording of the vocals and they used to play in the band “Johns”.

T: Now you have a new CD. “Spellbook”. How about you think of the response of the people? Does the style of the first CD has changed to the second CD or kept?

H: “Spellbook” is completely different from “Plagueswept”, and signifies the change of direction for Haiduk towards faster and angrier and more aggressive extreme metal. The demo was slow and experimental but there’s no more time to waste on experimenting, it’s full force ahead!!

T: Your band is only one person? Do you have musicians of section? Why live performances?

H: Haiduk has always been and always will be a solo project, in recordings and live shows.

T: Do you think in future recruit members for the band? Or you think you do not need? as they say it is better alone than in bad company.

H: That’s a good saying. I have plenty of good company but still prefer to be alone. Ever since a young age I always worked on music alone and never got used to or had the slightest desire to work with any other musicians.

T: Does your beam belonged to another band and you decided to form your own?

H: I never belonged to any band.

T: Your same think the lyrics? Topics did you talk about? What inspires you? and what you yourself do arrangements of music and mixing?

H: I’m into a lot of escapist stuff: high fantasy, fictional demonic themes, black magic, sorcery, medieval warfare…. Almost all Haiduk themes are fantasy-based with th exception of some Slavic-inspired mythology stuff on the demo. “Spellbook” is a full concept album dealing with black magic. I’m inspired by knowledge and power, manipulation, subtleness… The arrangements are designed to try and pack as much power into the shortest amount of time and feature fast transitions that never allow the listener to sit back.

T: What is for you the cover art of the CD "Spellbook"?

H: It’s the cover of a dark book which pulls you inside and you can’t look away, causing you to go insane as the symbols of evil pull you into a vortex.

T: You make a death / black metal. What bands will serve as inspiration to create your style?

H: Way too many fucking metal bands to list, but every band I like has good and bad albums, or albums that I’ve never heard, so I’m never comfortable citing anyone as a true inspiration. Almost all of my favorite bands have put out shit albums or in some way betrayed heavy metal as I see it.

T: What this CD. "Spellbook" can you tell us which song by song about? Are there any in lace a song with another? Letters? Your songs are rather short?

H: Each song is a spell in the book, therefore they are all connected. The lyrics are embedded into a larger text in the booklet. The lyrics are short because I hate death metal bands where the singer is constantly growling during the whole song. I like to hear more guitar riffs and music.

T: What can you tell us the underground scene in canada? Are there any new bands that we listen? Do you think the Canadian scene has evolved?

H: It doesn’t really matter where a band is from anymore nowadays, I think, with the internet connecting everyone. Comparing scenes from different countries is no longer relevant. Canada is a large and diverse country and there’s nothing specific I can say about “Canadian metal” as a whole, other than that we all drink and smoke weed.

T: Well to end this brief yet profound interview with haiduk. What would like to add to the readers of The Legion Of Tchort Zine & Compilation? In what way can purchase the latest CD of your band?

H: “Spellbook” CD is available at: www.haiduk.ca $10 - free shipping international.