As well as Norway, M2TM has ventured across Europe to a country that has given the world substantial numbers of quality metal bands, Poland. Setheist won this year’s event, and their drummer Tomas was happy to give us a lot of detail. As usual, we started with the history of the band.
Tomaz: Present line-up was formed in 2013 in Lublin, Poland, but the band's history dates to 2007 when they were locally known by the name of Seth. In Autumn 2014 our debut EP The Flash of Creation was released and was warmly welcomed by the Polish metal scene. This gave the band the opportunity to start gigging alongside such bands as KAT & Roman Kostrzewski, Saratan, Exlibris, Thermit, Wild Pig, Spirit and more. On 8th May 2017 our debut LP They was released and has been receiving quite enthusiastic reviews since then. Generally, our music could be described as female fronted metal offering a well-balanced combination of unpredictable, progressive riffs and catchy melodies accompanied by aggressive drums and stand-alone clean vocal lines.
Tomaz: Present line-up was formed in 2013 in Lublin, Poland, but the band's history dates to 2007 when they were locally known by the name of Seth. In Autumn 2014 our debut EP The Flash of Creation was released and was warmly welcomed by the Polish metal scene. This gave the band the opportunity to start gigging alongside such bands as KAT & Roman Kostrzewski, Saratan, Exlibris, Thermit, Wild Pig, Spirit and more. On 8th May 2017 our debut LP They was released and has been receiving quite enthusiastic reviews since then. Generally, our music could be described as female fronted metal offering a well-balanced combination of unpredictable, progressive riffs and catchy melodies accompanied by aggressive drums and stand-alone clean vocal lines.
The band's stage experience consists of shows in small and big clubs in Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and The Netherlands as well as huge open-air festivals such as Rockovani Fest in Czech Republic, Przystanek Woodstock Festival and Rock'n'Rose Fest in Poland. In late 2018 the band recorded a 3 track EP Tre Colori inspired exclusively by the works of Maestro Dario Argento (an Italian 70's giallo horror films director). All 3 tracks are to be published in the form of music videos, the first of which Argento (Saber Tooth Tiger) was released in March 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prBrLes0oWs. Once this is done the EP will be available both online and on CD.
Paul: Tell us who the current line-up is?
Tomaz: Maksymina " Maxi" Kuzianik - Vocals, Tomasz "Longo" Ciecieląg - Guitar, Tomasz "Kieł" Lato - Guitar, Tomasz "Długi" Krawczyk - Drums, Błażej "Blaze" Grygiel - Bass. We use nicknames 'cause there are 3x Tomasz in the band!!
Paul: Describe the band’s sound and influences
Tomaz: The bands sound is 100% analogue we don't use any digital amps. This fact connected with progressive riffs and aggressive drumming results in a lot of contrast when accompanied with clean vocal lines. This is what, we believe, makes Setheist's music unique and kind of difficult to categorise into any of metal genres. We try to avoid intentional influences when making music but some of the bands that all band members like are: Death, Devin Townsend, Slayer, At the Gates, Sceptic Flesh, Epica, Nightwish, In Flames, Ghost, Metallica, Dimmu Borgir and many more.
Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?
Setheist: That would be our two releases a 2014 EP and 2017 debut LP a new release that’s on the way and our 60-minute show at 2017 Przystanek Woodstock Festival where there were about half a million people.
Paul: Let’s move on to Bloodstock and your road to the festival. Please tell us about your journey.
Setheist: This is going to be pure madness! The band's headquarters is in Lublin (a city in Eastern Poland) and we need to travel by van to be able to carry the amp heads and all the other equipment necessary to achieve on stage our vision of the band's sound. This means there's a 25-30-hour journey ahead of us. None of us has ever driven on the left so it's gonna be fun when we reach Dover.
Paul: We know from our friends in bands that getting to the M2TM final is a great feeling. Tell us about the build up to your final and how you handled it
Tomaz: That's really a crazy story because we took part in 2018 M2TM and we got to the finals then but unluckily for us the organisers unexpectedly had to change the date of the finals to fit in the headliner's concert schedule. Unfortunately, we had already had a gig booked in Holland on that new date, so we had to withdraw from M2TM, but we gave our slot to one of the bands we met at semi-finals. The organisers seem to have liked what we did and as a result offered us a slot in the finals next year (2019) which we were lucky to win despite hard competition.
Paul: Tell us who the current line-up is?
Tomaz: Maksymina " Maxi" Kuzianik - Vocals, Tomasz "Longo" Ciecieląg - Guitar, Tomasz "Kieł" Lato - Guitar, Tomasz "Długi" Krawczyk - Drums, Błażej "Blaze" Grygiel - Bass. We use nicknames 'cause there are 3x Tomasz in the band!!
Paul: Describe the band’s sound and influences
Tomaz: The bands sound is 100% analogue we don't use any digital amps. This fact connected with progressive riffs and aggressive drumming results in a lot of contrast when accompanied with clean vocal lines. This is what, we believe, makes Setheist's music unique and kind of difficult to categorise into any of metal genres. We try to avoid intentional influences when making music but some of the bands that all band members like are: Death, Devin Townsend, Slayer, At the Gates, Sceptic Flesh, Epica, Nightwish, In Flames, Ghost, Metallica, Dimmu Borgir and many more.
Paul: Prior to Bloodstock, what are some of the highlights for the band so far?
Setheist: That would be our two releases a 2014 EP and 2017 debut LP a new release that’s on the way and our 60-minute show at 2017 Przystanek Woodstock Festival where there were about half a million people.
Paul: Let’s move on to Bloodstock and your road to the festival. Please tell us about your journey.
Setheist: This is going to be pure madness! The band's headquarters is in Lublin (a city in Eastern Poland) and we need to travel by van to be able to carry the amp heads and all the other equipment necessary to achieve on stage our vision of the band's sound. This means there's a 25-30-hour journey ahead of us. None of us has ever driven on the left so it's gonna be fun when we reach Dover.
Paul: We know from our friends in bands that getting to the M2TM final is a great feeling. Tell us about the build up to your final and how you handled it
Tomaz: That's really a crazy story because we took part in 2018 M2TM and we got to the finals then but unluckily for us the organisers unexpectedly had to change the date of the finals to fit in the headliner's concert schedule. Unfortunately, we had already had a gig booked in Holland on that new date, so we had to withdraw from M2TM, but we gave our slot to one of the bands we met at semi-finals. The organisers seem to have liked what we did and as a result offered us a slot in the finals next year (2019) which we were lucky to win despite hard competition.
Paul: What about when you were announced as winners? What were the emotions like?
Tomaz: It was a big surprise because we had thought there were bands among the competitors who are better recognised in Poland. Even more surprise came our way when we heard the verdict was unanimous and that the headliner of the night (Pro Pain) liked our show most of all too. We were very happy to hear that.
NOTE: That is very impressive. Pro Pain played the main stage of the festival in 2015 so there can be little better endorsement.
Paul: So, moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?
Tomaz: Well, we always do our best to make our shows energetic and as audience focused as we can. One may expect lots of movement on stage, even from the drummer. We also use some decorations connected with the main theme of our last release. But the most attractive lure is, we believe, our music which is an unusual mixture of the band members' musical tastes ranging from death/black metal to melodic heavy metal ballads.
Paul: Which bands are you looking forward to seeing there?
Tomaz: We're planning to arrive on the Friday evening depending on how smoothly the journey will go (we're coming by van), so we'll probably miss most of the Friday bands. The ones we're most anxious to see on the following days are Dimmu Borgir (their drummer is our friend, so we expect a huge afterparty), Cradle of Filth, Anthrax, Parkway Drive and of course Scorpions.
Paul: And finally, tell us a guilty pleasure about each member of the band!
Tomaz: If anyone wants to hear our answer to this one you need to find us at Bloodstock and ask the question yourself!!
Massive thanks to Tomaz ‘Długi’ for the time and the detailed responses. The band are making enormous efforts to get the to festival and you should clearly reward them with support on Sunday afternoon when the band hit the New Blood Stage. They fully deserve it. We wish them every luck on that journey.
Thanks for
Tomaz: It was a big surprise because we had thought there were bands among the competitors who are better recognised in Poland. Even more surprise came our way when we heard the verdict was unanimous and that the headliner of the night (Pro Pain) liked our show most of all too. We were very happy to hear that.
NOTE: That is very impressive. Pro Pain played the main stage of the festival in 2015 so there can be little better endorsement.
Paul: So, moving on to the festival itself, what can we expect from you?
Tomaz: Well, we always do our best to make our shows energetic and as audience focused as we can. One may expect lots of movement on stage, even from the drummer. We also use some decorations connected with the main theme of our last release. But the most attractive lure is, we believe, our music which is an unusual mixture of the band members' musical tastes ranging from death/black metal to melodic heavy metal ballads.
Paul: Which bands are you looking forward to seeing there?
Tomaz: We're planning to arrive on the Friday evening depending on how smoothly the journey will go (we're coming by van), so we'll probably miss most of the Friday bands. The ones we're most anxious to see on the following days are Dimmu Borgir (their drummer is our friend, so we expect a huge afterparty), Cradle of Filth, Anthrax, Parkway Drive and of course Scorpions.
Paul: And finally, tell us a guilty pleasure about each member of the band!
Tomaz: If anyone wants to hear our answer to this one you need to find us at Bloodstock and ask the question yourself!!
Massive thanks to Tomaz ‘Długi’ for the time and the detailed responses. The band are making enormous efforts to get the to festival and you should clearly reward them with support on Sunday afternoon when the band hit the New Blood Stage. They fully deserve it. We wish them every luck on that journey.
Thanks for