Heavy metal had never been popular in Turkey; but only for its negative connotations. Media criminalised heavy metal music and culture, broadcasting scary news about satanism. Everybody who had long hair, wore black T-shirts and listened to this genre was declared a potential criminal. The police made routine raids at the market Akmar Pasaji and disposed of magazines, t-shirts and albums. Pentagram managed to record their albums amidst this crisis.
There are serious consequences to living a devil-may-care lifestyle and chasing after your dreams, in some corners of the world. It is impossible to avoid making a choice at the crossroads; whether to set off on a Frodo-esque journey with the broken compass of Jack Sparrow or to sail the safe waters. Almost everyone knows this cliché and takes a position against life accordingly. You have to accept suffering especially as an artist, or you will have to allow the rest of the world decide how your art will take shape. It is even harder to work in the artistic fields in Turkey. There are two options in this case: Either giving up and letting your dreams pass you by or stubbornly embracing your own music.
Pentagram definitely belongs to the second group as the band has been following the path they believe in and adamantly toil to make their music despite the hardships they face for more than 30 years in Turkey. Making heavy metal music, which does not appeal to the general audiences, in a geography where permanency of art is rare and taken one day at a time. We will take a look at their adventure of 30 years in this article.
Pentagram definitely belongs to the second group as the band has been following the path they believe in and adamantly toil to make their music despite the hardships they face for more than 30 years in Turkey. Making heavy metal music, which does not appeal to the general audiences, in a geography where permanency of art is rare and taken one day at a time. We will take a look at their adventure of 30 years in this article.
The bands debut album ”Pentagram” from 1990. Originally only released on tape.
The initial musical activities at the end of the 80s
The foundation of Pentagram was laid by Hakan Utangaç and Cenk Ünnü in the 80s. These high school friends got close due to their shared interest in music. Hakan Utangaç and Cenk Ünnü listened to the same music and had similar outlooks on life, which resulted in them becoming close friends. Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Slayer and Metallica were on top of the list of bands they listened to together. Keep in mind that there was neither internet nor private TV channels in Turkey in the 80s, causing a delay in the global happenings reaching Turkey. Therefore, the flow of information about the bands they admired was limited at best. The heavy metal news were followed thanks to the magazines brought by those who travelled abroad. Video clips of Metallica, Slayer and Iron Maiden recorded on VHS tapes were watched until they were memorised. Akmar Passage in Kadıköy was the main meeting point in spite of the coup d’état of 12th of September which caused invasive restrictions in every aspect of life around the country. The atmosphere was not really suitable for such genres at the time. You were in for a tough time if you had your hair long, ears pierced and wore unusual clothes. Society might end up seeing you as an alien from another galaxy. Pentagram’s emergence and the music they wanted to make in that period was a loud protest against the “restrictions” of the country; a rebellion flag against a group of grumpy, unlikable people bossing them around!
The in-depth problems of the Turkish music industry at the time posed another challenge to those trying to make music in the 1980s. The industry had not fully taken shape or matured yet, making it very unlikely for musicians who made independent and idealist music to survive. This was the atmosphere that surrounded the initial musical endeavours of Hakan Utangaç and Cenk Ünnü. Two friends dreamt of forming a band like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth or Slayer. Pentagram became a fully fledged band when their bass guitarist, Tarkan Gözübüyük joined them. At the time, Gözübüyük was completing his education in Bursa and was also involved with music. They talked on the phone and found similarities between their tastes in music and outlooks on life. With Gözübüyük’s involvement, the main framework of the band started to take shape. The bands name changed and finally became Pentagram. Hakan Utangaç drew their logo.
They wrote their first compositions in this period. The band didn’t have an album yet but their presence was getting noticed and their first concert took place in a wedding venue in Bağcılar. Arabesk music was taking Turkey by storm in those years; on the streets, in the minibuses, cinemas, on TV; the same sounds and faces were circulating. On the other hand, there were almost no live music venues aimed at a younger audience. This made such events important for young people who wanted to listen to different genres of music. This was also the first time Trash Metal was played live in Turkey! The excitement of the audience when Pentagram stepped onto the stage was like nothing else; they even broke some chairs and tables. The band was happy with the attention they received during the concert, but had to owe the venue money due to their broken property. This was when guitarist Ümit Yılbar joined the band.
The most “eventful” concert of the band took place in Moda Cinema, which became a legend whispered through the grapevine. More chairs were broken as soon as the concert started; glasses were broken and tables overturned… The band was happy about the attention of their audience once again, but they would end up having to pay for the damaged caused. Tarkan Gözübüyük reminisces about that concert: “It is impossible to explain the excited atmosphere of the concert, people still talk about that concert in Moda Cinema now and again. Ask those who were there, and everybody would tell you that it was rather bizarre. However, we were not happy about chairs getting broken. I even remember a scene after the concert when we were embarrassedly standing in front of the management of the venue.”.
Pentagram continued their table and chair wrecking concerts as Ümit Yılbar left the band and Murat Net took over the guitar. They started working on their first album during these years; however, they were unable to find a company to release the album right away. The record labels were reluctant to release a heavy metal album with English lyrics, thinking such an album would never bring any revenue. As the band members visited labels with their demos day by day, NEPA music saved the day and released the band’s first album, making the band’s dream come true. Cenk Ünnü and Hakan Utangaç grabbed the boxes filled with their album right away and started their first sale ever on the ferry. People ended up buying three or four albums to support Pentagram. In Cenk Ünnü’s words: “The got the boxes from Unkapanı and started to sell the albums on the ferry during our commute. Nobody agreed to make albums in English at the time, Unkapanı was the only place. That day marked a milestone. We had so much fun.”. Tunç Örer’s watercolour painting became the album’s cover design. Rotten Dogs and Powerstage were typical trash metal songs that became popular among the tracks of the album.
... this is were we end the story. Since the first years of a bands history is mainly what interest me. Also when the band released their next album in 1997, "Anatolia" the raw Thrash Metal was more or less gone. But if you are interested in that, continue reading the original article here.
 |
| Akmar Pasaji, located in Kadikoy, Istanbul, is a historic shopping arcade renowned for its second-hand bookstores and music shops. Established in 1982, it has become a cultural hub, especially popular among students seeking affordable textbooks and music enthusiasts searching for vintage records. |
They wrote their first compositions in this period. The band didn’t have an album yet but their presence was getting noticed and their first concert took place in a wedding venue in Bağcılar. Arabesk music was taking Turkey by storm in those years; on the streets, in the minibuses, cinemas, on TV; the same sounds and faces were circulating. On the other hand, there were almost no live music venues aimed at a younger audience. This made such events important for young people who wanted to listen to different genres of music. This was also the first time Trash Metal was played live in Turkey! The excitement of the audience when Pentagram stepped onto the stage was like nothing else; they even broke some chairs and tables. The band was happy with the attention they received during the concert, but had to owe the venue money due to their broken property. This was when guitarist Ümit Yılbar joined the band.
The most “eventful” concert of the band took place in Moda Cinema, which became a legend whispered through the grapevine. More chairs were broken as soon as the concert started; glasses were broken and tables overturned… The band was happy about the attention of their audience once again, but they would end up having to pay for the damaged caused. Tarkan Gözübüyük reminisces about that concert: “It is impossible to explain the excited atmosphere of the concert, people still talk about that concert in Moda Cinema now and again. Ask those who were there, and everybody would tell you that it was rather bizarre. However, we were not happy about chairs getting broken. I even remember a scene after the concert when we were embarrassedly standing in front of the management of the venue.”.
Official music video for Secret Missile '93
Pentagram continued their table and chair wrecking concerts as Ümit Yılbar left the band and Murat Net took over the guitar. They started working on their first album during these years; however, they were unable to find a company to release the album right away. The record labels were reluctant to release a heavy metal album with English lyrics, thinking such an album would never bring any revenue. As the band members visited labels with their demos day by day, NEPA music saved the day and released the band’s first album, making the band’s dream come true. Cenk Ünnü and Hakan Utangaç grabbed the boxes filled with their album right away and started their first sale ever on the ferry. People ended up buying three or four albums to support Pentagram. In Cenk Ünnü’s words: “The got the boxes from Unkapanı and started to sell the albums on the ferry during our commute. Nobody agreed to make albums in English at the time, Unkapanı was the only place. That day marked a milestone. We had so much fun.”. Tunç Örer’s watercolour painting became the album’s cover design. Rotten Dogs and Powerstage were typical trash metal songs that became popular among the tracks of the album.
Demir Demirkan and Trail Blazers period
The band underwent a transformation following the release of this album; Murat Net left and Demir Demirkan joined the group in his place. Demirkan joined the band during a period when finding equipment and recording were challenging jobs at best. He talks about those days: “There were barely any recording studios, equipment, drums, guitars or people who knew how to record vocals at the time. Generally speaking, everything was done by trial-and-error. There was no internet and we tried to learn as much as we could from magazines such as Guitar Player, trying to reach the sound quality and power we heard on LPs and cassettes. Say we had made the album; who would listen to it and how? Today’s Turkey is weird; it was even weirder back then. We must be the last generation who sees themselves as Westerners in this country. We were an idea born from a misunderstood, misrepresented country; a notion of the Republic and civilization; the last players of a game that passed through the grapevine. In reality, we stood apart from the majority. Of course, we did what we deemed was right and followed our own path. The band members had strong egos and this made us a powerful band. Pentragram has another gravitational pull in addition to its music, and that is the power of strong egos proceeding towards a shared goal. Undoubtedly this is a strong force to reckon with.”.
The band underwent a transformation following the release of this album; Murat Net left and Demir Demirkan joined the group in his place. Demirkan joined the band during a period when finding equipment and recording were challenging jobs at best. He talks about those days: “There were barely any recording studios, equipment, drums, guitars or people who knew how to record vocals at the time. Generally speaking, everything was done by trial-and-error. There was no internet and we tried to learn as much as we could from magazines such as Guitar Player, trying to reach the sound quality and power we heard on LPs and cassettes. Say we had made the album; who would listen to it and how? Today’s Turkey is weird; it was even weirder back then. We must be the last generation who sees themselves as Westerners in this country. We were an idea born from a misunderstood, misrepresented country; a notion of the Republic and civilization; the last players of a game that passed through the grapevine. In reality, we stood apart from the majority. Of course, we did what we deemed was right and followed our own path. The band members had strong egos and this made us a powerful band. Pentragram has another gravitational pull in addition to its music, and that is the power of strong egos proceeding towards a shared goal. Undoubtedly this is a strong force to reckon with.”.
This was when Ogün Sanlısoy took over the vocals. The band started recording their second album Trail Blazer with the change in band members. This album is striking with its anti-war lyrics and progressive melodies. It also had an emotional and tragic side: The band dedicated Fly Forever to Ümit Yılbar, who died while fighting in Southeast Turkey in 1993.
The Gulf War and the national events of the period caused a shift towards protest in the band’s psyche. In addition to Fly Forever, No One Wins The Fight, Secret Misille, Vita Es Morte became the most popular tracks of the album, helping to spread Pentagram’s name.
 |
| Headlines in Turkish media trying to connect everything Metal to Satanism |
... this is were we end the story. Since the first years of a bands history is mainly what interest me. Also when the band released their next album in 1997, "Anatolia" the raw Thrash Metal was more or less gone. But if you are interested in that, continue reading the original article here.