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1. Hails please introuduce yourself to the readers?
Hail Patrick and greetings to all the readers of Violent Demise webzine! Grob here, bass player of the four-piece, eighteen-year-old black metal band Kolac, from Belgrade, Serbia. Kolac has been around for quite some time now and seems to be one of the pillars of Serbian black metal scene. Other people’s words, not ours. Now, with the crucial third album out and about, we’re about to reap the spoils. Thanks in no small measure to Pest Records, our name keeps popping out almost everywhere and the offers for shows in and out of Serbia are plenty.
Prior to pushing out our self-titled album earlier this year, we’ve done two full length records and numerous demos, splits and live recordings. Having crossed Serbia live through and through, we’ve also performed abroad in Bosnia, Croatia, Romania, Spain… Many more are to come, since the response to “Kolac” seems overwhelming at this point.
2. When did you first discover Black Metal and who were the first bands that caught your attention? Who are some of the current bands that you have been listening to?
I’ve been a dumb teenager with all the hormones pumping all over when I read an article about all the notorieties of early Norwegian scene in the local music magazine called Metal Express. It was around the turn of the century, if I’m not mistaken. Naturally, it all sounded quite appealing, so I rushed to find bands like Mayhem, Burzum, Emperor, Thorns... I soon found that there’s much more to it than church burnings, murder or suicide. In other words, I was quick to realize the potential of this dark sound to elevate the listener above and beyond the juvenile, petty tabloid sensations. From then on, the stage was set for my imagination to run wild and soon enough, the idea of forming the band emerged and was materialized.
As for the current bands, there are too many to count. The thing is that, in the meantime, I’ve become a journalist, so I get to hear a whole lot of music due to my obligations for Abaddon Magazine. Hence, I’m hearing a whole lot of black metal (and otherwise). For instance, Infinity from the Netherlands have recently published a new record and it kills relentlessly! Mega recommendation! Nornír is a relatively unknown name, but a colleague of mine has written about it recently and I jumped on an opportunity to check them out. Our label mates Dimentianon also published an awesome material last year, though they fuse black metal with other extreme metal genres in their creation. My comrades in Xerión are always active. Sammath is another Dutch name which I enjoy whenever I can, along with Meslamtaea and Asgrauw. A couple of Hungarians have knocked me out as well last year. Frozen Wreath and Witcher. Black metal punks from Canada, Black Pestilence fail to leave my stereo for almost a decade now. As I’m writing these lines, I’m listening to the re-release of an old Polish death/doom metal band called Symphony Of Death. There are many more, of course.
3. Kolac was started in 2006 when did you and the other members get the idea to start this band? Are you satisfied with how things have progressed with the band over the years?
At the very beginning, Zlorog and I both had the same idea, to form one-man bands though which we could express our love for black metal. Fortunately, neither of us had a proper idea on how to do it all on our own. Talking to each other, one not-too-drunken evening, we realized teaming up is an idea that should solve all our problems.From then on, it was a bumpy ride. First, we had trouble finding a suitable drummer. It was the first of many issues we needed to overcome. One of which was certainly of creative nature. Listening to our early work today, it’s a weird feeling. Those were the days of utter minimalism, rawness and primitivity. That’s what we were able to present, so we’re not ashamed of any of those recordings, but they still sound way too unrefined. Still, we kept going and as the time went on, we improved. A lot! Our initial goal was to sound as close to our idols as possible. We thought that it is the only natural way to keep the black metal tradition going. And boy were we wrong! Turns out, the natural progression took us to a surprising result. We’ve stepped into the world where you actually can play around with melodies and rhythms, throw in a guitar solo even, and still keep cold, dark and violent atmosphere necessary for a black metal band.
It did make us satisfied, that’s for sure. It gave us a lot of freedom in composition and arrangement and with those came much more versatile, dynamic and ultimately, interesting songs.
After all, here we are, celebrating our third album, eighteen years since our humble beginning as a duo of barely abled youngsters with a lot of will, but little skill. Tells you a lot, doesn’t it!?
4. Who would you say are the bands biggest influences and have they remained the same over the years? For the readers unfamilar with your band how would you best describe your sound and style?
Our biggest influences, I believe, haven’t changed since the very onset of Kolac. Those were always bands like Immortal, Horna and Marduk. Finely spread over Scandinavia, right? Hahaha! We took what we thought we needed from those bands. I believe these three are the sum of everything black metal is about. Immortal has the melody, Horna has the atmosphere and Marduk has the brutal violence. These three attributes are what you need to successfully present black metal in my opinion.
Of course, none of us is deaf or ignorant. We are aware that black metal, as anything else really, grows and evolves. We’re finding new bands all the time and many of them we find quite inspiring. They make an imprint in our brains and willingly or not, they influence our creation one way or another. It’s a natural process, as I explained above. In the end, predictably, it goes through the blender of our imagination, so that the final result doesn’t sound like a simplified mimicking of other people’s work.
With all that in mind, I would describe Kolac as a black metal band, though with a healthy dose of thrash inside. Our black metal is overly fast but also rhythmically diverse. Melodic but dark and evil. Aggressive but without losing sight of atmospheric aura. Something like that. It may seem pretentious, stating we’ve got it all, so that each fan of the genre will love it uncritically, but all of us really believe we did a great job with the new album and the sound we presented on it.
5. The Self Titled full length has been released through Pest Rec. when did you and the band first come in contact with this label?
Wow! The question that nobody can answer… It was a long time ago, I can tell you that much. Adrian recently found our live album from 2010 in his collection. I think we first came in contact even before that. Probably around the time of our second demo, which we probably sent out to him to review. Maybe not, though. I cannot really remember. All the headbanging and cold beer have done their job properly, hahaha.
Joking aside, the fact that I cannot, for the life of me, remember exact dates, says nothing of the relation I’ve always had with Adrian. He is a long-term underground freak and he was nothing but supportive to Kolac all the time. We all knew his endeavours on many fields of metal battle, so when the opportunity arose to extend the partnership to one of band/label, there was little hesitation on either side. Honestly speaking, these were among the easiest deals we’ve ever done. Mutual understanding was planted way before there was talk of our album and the fruit of that tree had no chance of going rotten when the finalizing touches were in order. I knew in advance that Adrian will do his absolute best for Kolac, so all that is left was to try and do the best on our side. Odds were always on our side! After all, it is through Pest Records that we’re doing this exact interview.
Still, even if Romania and Serbia share a border, we are yet to meet in person. Thankfully, that is about to change soon enough!
6. How long did it take the band to write the music for the new release? Does the whole band take part in the writing process or does one member usually write everything?
Since our previous album, “Zauvek crni”, came out a whole decade ago, it would seem we took our sweet time to come up with its successor. In reality, “Kolac” came together relatively quick and easy. We did take a lot of time promoting the previous record and there was virtually no creative effort during all that time.
The title track though, for instance, our homonymous song, came together in 2016. It was the first we prepared for this album, but then there were a couple of years before two more came together. The rest were very much created in the last two years.
And that’s not counting the last two tracks on the album, “Jeb’o te Bog” and “Raskršten”, which were written even before our debut album and actually published before, but never quite right. On this record they are finalized and presented in the way we originally intended and they deserved. Especially “Raskršten“ which is our biggest “hit”, a constant in our live performance and a fan favourite for ages now.
As for the writing process, we took a different direction this time. Before, it was all Zlorog’s mind that took care of the musical side of Kolac. Already on the previous album we had Omadan IX on second guitar and he put a few finishing touches on “Zauvek crni”. This time around, most of the tracks were polished at countless rehearsals. It was again mostly Zlorog and Omadan IX who brought the guitar parts but the layers were added, shifted, mangled and mutilated until “Kolac” came out the way it did.
7. Who usually handles writing the lyrics for the music and what are some subjects written about on the new release? Which usually comes first the music or the lyrics?
Much simpler answer than the previous one. I’m doing all the lyrics and I’ve done so since Kolac originated. It was actually my one contribution to the creative side of the band, since the very beginning. I’ve mentioned above that Zlorog and I had one-man bands in mind prior to forming Kolac. At that time, Zlorog had issues with writing lyrics but had somewhat of an idea about composition. I was his opposite. Lyrics, I could deal with somewhat comprehensively but the musical side alluded me completely. A match made in hell, indeed!
What concerns lyrics on the new album, they follow the similar topics Kolac always dealt with. Completely intolerant disrespect towards organized religion, hatred and contempt for rotted away mankind, as well as a contemplation of the negative side of life itself. However, this time the lyrics are more focussed around a specific theme, that is, the use of a stake as an instrument of torment. By the way, Kolac means “the stake” in Serbian language, hence the choice of was easy to make. Now, not whole of the album revolves around kolac, but it is close enough. We call it a loose concept album, exactly because of that. For instance, the introduction at the opening is a slightly sampled excerpt from the movie “Banović Strahinja”, where a protagonist is actually being impaled. It leads into the title track, which is a call for revenge upon the religious criminals of the Middle Ages who used the stake abundantly. “Monsieur de la Nuit” is a tale of a French serial killer who ended up on the stake as well, though the stake was never used as brutally in western Europe as it was by the Ottomans in the southeast. That song leads you into “Eppur Si Muove” and I’m sure all the readers know what happened with the free thinkers like Galileo, Giordano Bruno and their likes.
The others are very much close in line, even if there’s no direct connection with the stake. It remains implied and somehow in the back of one’s mind throughout.
Oh, not to forget, we’ve always put down the lyrics first. It was Zlorog’s “inability” to compose without lyrics that drove us to it, but after all these years it does come natural to all of us. I also don’t think I could sort out the words with music already in front of me. Also, it seems only logical that the composer needs to feel the message he needs to convey and then to transcend it into notes. I guess that might work the other way too, but in our case, it was always lyrics and then music.
8. Has the band had the chance to play very many live shows over the years? If yes where has the band performed and what were some of your most memorable shows to date?
In this regard, I feel we could’ve done much more. Sure enough, we spent too much time with an incomplete lineup, or with a couple of drummers from Germany (greetings L’hiver) and Croatia (greetings Nyktophilean). Both these guys were awesome and willing to traverse hundreds of kilometres for a rehearsal or a gig, but it is still too much hustle for either side and an impossibility to organize anything on a bigger scale.
Then again, we lacked contacts. Namely, I was always the one with contacts, the managerial side of Kolac. However, I had contacts with labels and distros where I used to buy music, so I could find a label to publish our stuff. I had contacts with press, magazines and fanzines which I love reading and where I could send our stuff for reviews. But I never knew many concert promoters, especially not outside Serbia. Luckily, our current drummer, Sirius, he’s got all the skill and tenacity needed to hunt them down. Now, we have a full schedule for a forthcoming future and are about to promote the crap out of this album.
Still, with all the deficiency of our past concert arrangements, we had quite a few memorable moments. Most memorable, by far, our trip for a mini tour of Spanish province of Galiza, all the way to the northwest of the peninsula. We had two awesome shows in Ourense and Vigo, plus had the best of times with amazing people we have the privilege to call friends. Nocturno and Daga from Xerión, Txomy from Loita Underground, Strangled With Guts and many more, Robert of Fermento… All of them made our days in Galiza an outstanding experience.
Then it was the three-day stint through Serbia and Croatia with brothers from Defiant and Black Pestilence. A whole lot of fun!
In Serbia, there are always the wild nights in Šabac and Bečej. Belgrade is the natural source of live mutilation, since it’s our home base.
9. Are their any tours or shows planned in support of the new release?
In short, yes, there’s a whole lot of stuff happening at the moment. In just a few days we are starting our live bonanza with a show on the first day of Empire Metal Festival in Belgrade. Next week we have Bečej and then we’re off to Niš, Kragujevac, Zemun, Belgrade again, Doljevac, all of them in Serbia, then Croatia for a black metal festival, some more Serbia and autumn in reserved for a four-day madness in Romania and Serbia, and a thrust down south into Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece. The plans, so far, end in the spring of 2025 when we are supposed to go for a proper European tour. So, as you see, we’ll be massively busy in the coming period.
10. Besides the newest self titled full length are the bands previous releases still available for the readers to purchase? Besides physical releases does the band have any other merchandise currently availible to buy? If yes what is available and where can the readers purchase it?
Both our previous albums are available for purchase on CD, though “Zauvek crni” is running low in stock. As for other music, all of it is sold out at our side. However, many of these releases could be found at various underground distributions and label mailorders. So, if anybody is looking to complete the Kolac collection, try your luck at those friendly guys who are hiding in the shadows to offer the best deals for obscure gems of underground metal.
As for the other merch, we do have t-shirts with the new album’s cover in two colours, black and papyrus, but also the one with the cover of our previous promotional EP. We’ve also got patches, basic logo patches, rectangle and shaped, and also our emblem round patch (the pentagram pierced with a sword). Buttons are also available, logo and emblem ones.
For all of that, you should contact us directly, ask and we will make a deal. In that way, all the proceeds go to the band directly (or label, which we also encourage very much) and no multibillionaire gets their greedy paws on a single penny of your hard-earned money. You can contact us through e-mail on kolacband@gmail.com, or through our social network pages at www.facebook.com/kolachorde or www.instagram.com/kolac.official.
11. What does Black Metal mean to you?
Don’t get me wrong, but if anybody’s fishing for an answer like “oh, it is beyond life and soul and so much more than music, way of existence…” you’re looking at a wrong band here. Black metal is a form of expression we found suits us and our needs best. If we could express what we need to express with thrash metal, we would do it. It just doesn’t suit us. Like I mentioned above, black metal has a few aspects you can present through it. The thing is that with most metal (or even music in general) subgenres, you can delve with one or maybe two kinds of emotions. Black metal is there for violent anger, atmospheric pondering, depression or depravity, angst or sorrow, a kick in the teeth or a kick when you’re down. You can scream your lungs out and whisper in solitude. Ferociously tackle the strings or skins, melodically ponder on them or unnervingly rip them to shreds. The way I see it, no other form of music offers you that. Except maybe classical music.
In other words, black metal is a vessel, but we, as individuals or a group of individuals, are at the helm, guiding it where we want to go. Our thoughts, emotions, ideas are what powers it and that is the only thing that is “trve” or “kvlt” about it.
12. Kolac comes out of Serbia's black metal scene what is your opinion of the black metal scene in Serbia over the years?
Black metal was never that big in Serbia. The crowds here always favoured death or thrash metal. That being said, despite not having the numbers, Serbia always had immense quality when it comes to black metal. The Stone (Stone To Flesh previously) is the biggest name, by far, even in international circles. It will likely forever be the first band anybody anywhere thinks about when asked about Serbian black metal. May Result, now defunct, the brainchild of the same man behind The Stone, is the other one. Then comes Svartgren, Wolf’s Hunger, Posmrtna Liturgija, All My Sins, Propast, Zloslut, Zaklan, Triumfall, Terrorhammer… Many of them were short-lived or offer a humble discography, but the quality is unmistakable. Trust me on this, browse a bit. You can thank me later.
We’re a small and rather poor country, so our bands don’t have that much chance to go on big tours or play major festivals. Because of that, these bands often get overlooked and underestimated, but once again, the quality is absolutely there.
13. Who are your all-time favorite bands coming out of Serbia and are their any new bands you could recomend to the readers?
Aside of the already mentioned The Stone or Svartgren, you cannot go about Serbian metal without getting to know Bombarder (the oldest still active band from these parts). They’ve got a new album out recently and it is absolutely worth your while. Infest is massive here, with their combination of death and thrash metal. Nadimač is the key name for thrash crossover scene in Serbia. Scaffold is also a very old death metal entity. Alogia on a power/progressive side of stuff. Kraljevski Apartman as a classic heavy metal band (though they’ve declined in quality very much in the last fifteen years). Nula is a phenomenal sludge metal band, whose album killed anybody in sight in 2022. Bane is the name to go to if you’re a fan of Dissection. The Father Of Serpents are there if you feel particularly doomy but don’t want to hear the same My Dying Bride album over and over again.
As for the newcomers, you should check out the all-girl melodic death metal band Nemesis. Their second album came out recently. Also, the young heroes of black metal scene, Praznina, Ljuska and Pustoš. Oathbringer is a German type of traditional heavy metal whose two albums are awesome. Kobold is making a mess for a longer while now, though the members are still fairly young. I’ve recently been acquainted with modern metal kids in Havarija. Ascend offers something along the lines of Children Of Bodom, only a bit heavier and more up to date, with a lot of metalcore touches.
I’m probably forgetting tons of great acts, but hey, internet is there to help you out. Trust me, there are masses of great bands for you to pick in Serbia.
14. Besides playing in Kolac do any of the members currently work with any other bands or solo projects? If yes please tell the readers a little about them.
At this moment, Sirius is also a member of groove/thrash metal band called Orest. The band is not too active unfortunately, but you can still catch them live on occasion. They published two albums, but the last one came out seven years ago. Omadan IX has a couple of solo projects that are yet to emerge from the depths of his mind in full light. Zlorog and I are employed only in Kolac.
Sirius used to perform with Zloslut for a short while, before they disbanded. I was a member of Redenik, a thrash metal band, but that was also a short-lived experience. I’m also proud to have done guest bass for Xerión as part of their twentieth anniversary edition EP “Drou”.
Come to think of it, only Zlorog has never strayed outside of Kolac.
15. Thank you for taking the time to fill this interview out do you have any final comments for the readers?
Thank you, Patrick, for the opportunity to spread words about Kolac in Violent Demise webzine! Salutations from Serbia to you and the readers of your venerable zine! It was a pleasure to answer this interview! KOLAC https://www.facebook.com/kolachorde https://www.instagram.com/kolac.official/ Pest Records https://pestrecords.ucoz.com/ https://pestrecords.bandcamp.com/album/kolac-kolac https://www.facebook.com/pestrecords https://www.instagram.com/pest.records/
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