Rock Report was a fanzine from Czechia, written in Czech. But here's an interview translated to English for you.
ANACHRONIC (CZE)
At the beginning of this year, the first album by the Pardubice band Anachronic, which was formed in Jandov Propasta in the autumn of last year, will be released on our market. Since we have not yet had the privilege of getting to know this band or their music in more detail, we decided to introduce Anachronic to the readers of Rock Report through a letter-interview with the band's leader Vláďa Hauk.
Could you introduce Anachronic in more detail?
We have existed as Anachronic since 1990, when we got back together after some time, unnecessarily disrupted by the war. Before that, we were active as the band Usurpator with practically the same line-up. So after the war, we started again with the following members: Vladimír Brett (1969) - g, Mirek Maršík (1972) - ds, Vladimír Hauk (1968) - bg, v. We knew that we wanted to do something new, so we canceled the old, somewhat youthful, reckless metal name Usurpator and, following Vladimír Brett's idea, we named ourselves Anachronic. This name means something like passing by or out of time and should characterize our music.
In this line-up we recorded our first demo called Mimo čas in April 1991. It was recorded live in a rehearsal room, so it wasn't very good in terms of sound and it wasn't very perfect in terms of musicianship. Nevertheless, the demo received mostly positive reviews in various fanzines. In this line-up we also played several concerts, mostly at festivals. In the autumn we added a second guitarist, Pavel Herynek (1970), and thus we achieved the basic line-up that is still valid today. We chose four songs from the Mimo čas demo and started preparing new songs for the next program. In January of this year we recorded a new demo in the Past studio in Hradec Králové, which we sent to various record companies.
Are you interested in what else we do? Of course, we would like to make a living from music, but unfortunately that is not possible yet. I work in Param, VI. Brett in the hospital doing X-rays, Pavel in VCHZnabouchačky (he has to support his family and so he has no choice but to risk dangerous work) and Míra is a dental laboratory technician.
What can you say about the style of music? We try to play a little differently than other bands. You could say that the music on the album is based on thrash basics, although there are minimal classic cutting parts. We would like people not to consider us a purely metal band, because we think that our music could have something to say to a wider audience.
What we like to listen to... We are fed up with the classics (Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax), lately I really like Faith No More, Voivod. You could say that we have stopped making distinctions between different musical styles.
How did you get into recording the LP?
As I said, we sent the studio demo to various record companies and we also sent one to Petr Jand. After some time, he contacted us and said that he liked it and offered us to record an album for his company BESTIA, and since negotiations with another company that showed interest did not lead to anything, it was decided. The album will be released at the end of January in an initial edition of thousands of copies from each carrier + an additional CD in English.
How was the recording process and who did you work with on the album?
We recorded the album from September 1st to September 10th, 1992 at the Propast studio. First, we recorded drums for two days, then bass (half a day), then we searched for the guitar sound, and for the next five days we recorded guitars, vocals, and solos. The last two days were spent mixing. It seems like a short time, but thanks to the fact that the initial sounds were already perfect, everything was done and the result is excellent. We prepared for the recording for about two months, simply by trying to play along with the recorded drums. Ten days for an album is not enough, but who will give you more for your first album?
I think that Studio Propast is one of the best studios in our country, mainly due to the quality of the technicians. The record was produced by Petr Janda, although most of the music-control work was done by Tomáš Vráb. When Janda showed up there, we were so nervous that we were not able to play anything. The first day in the studio, Petr Ackerman was with us, who actually set the sound of the drums, and then Tomáš Vráb did everything until the end. He has nerves of steel, just like Acky, and we had a good time with them.
How satisfied are you with the result of the filming?
I've already talked about the result, it's a beautiful raw sound with a character somewhere between Megadeth and Slayer (I mean sonically). There are ten things on the album, mostly they are emotional matters. Some songs characterize resistance against authorities (religion, crowd power) or against the consumerist way of life. Most of the motifs are carried by VI. Brett, then together we more or less rework and compile them. The first two lyrics on the album are mine, the rest were also written by VI. Brett.
What did working in the studio bring you?
Every time we go to the studio it's a great experience, you learn a lot. Because we've been to the studio before, it wasn't that surprising, we knew what to expect, so we were able to prepare quite well. Still, it wasn't without problems and we have to prepare much better next time.