1. Hello please introduce yourselves to the readers?
Hello! My name is Łukasz Kobusiński. I am the vocalist of Polish death/black metal band called Sarmat. I am representing the band for this interview.
2. When did you first discover metal music and who were the first bands that caught your attention? Who are some of the current bands that you have been listening to?
I was a teenager when I first listened to “heavier than played on radio during the day” music. First hard rock (Alice Cooper and his “Trash” album is the one I remember), then heavy metal (Iron Maiden “Killers”). And I just sank into thrash metal and then death metal when I was about twelve (thirteen maybe) years old. Bands such as Kreator, Slayer, Sepultura were the ones that have had a big influence on me. And when I discovered Death and Obituary first, then Morbid Angel and Morgoth, the sentence has been passed. I am death metal.I still own records of the most mentioned above bands in CD format.
3. Sarmat was formed in 2018 when did you and the other members decide to start this band? Are you satisfied with how things have progressed with the band so far?
The band started in 2018, I joined them in the middle of 2020. The two co-founders (both of them are guitarists) Daniel Szymanowicz and Krzysztof Kopczeński decided to join their forces, because none of them was playing in any band at the time. And they had many ideas and a lot of energy to spread.
I wasn’t decided to join the band even when I was recording the vocal parts to the “RS-28” debut album. I thought that it was just a session work only. It came later to me that I am the part of something that gives me joy and happiness and I joined the band formally.
At the present time we are fully pleased with the band’s situation. We have had a few troubles connected with the release of our album in physical form, but now, when we are preparing it on our own, everything seems to go in the right directi
4. What is the current line-up of Sarmat? How did you choose Sarmat as the name of this band and does it have a special meaning?
Daniel Szymanowicz is the main composer of the music and arrangements creator. He plays guitar, bass guitar and VST instruments. Krzysztof Kopczeński is the second guitarist. I, Łukasz Kobusiński, am the vocalist. We have no formal drummer – the drum parts on our debut album were recorded by the session musician, Krzysztof Klingbein. But he was interested in playing live with us, so we will be able to have live shows with him probably.
The name “Sarmat” is the conception of the friend to the band named Arkadiusz Stasiak. He has also engineered the logotype of the band. The band’s name has very literal meaning – it’s the name of the Russian super-heavy ballistic missile RS-28 SARMAT (known also as SATAN 2). This weapon is called The Weapon of Ultimate Destruction. By the way, our band’s name has nothing to do with historical themes.
5. “RS-28” is the bands debut full length which is being self-released did you plan to self-release the debut or would you like to find a label to work with?
We were looking for the label to cooperate with. We were hoping to do it with someone who has some experience in the underground metal scene. We have gotten two offers. We have chosen the wrong one, what we realized a few weeks after signing the contract. Due to the total lack of cooperation, delay in releasing our debut album on CD and avoiding contact by the label’s owner we decided to finish that quickly. We took the subject into our hands. Nowadays we are awaiting ordered CDs to come to us (500 pieces) and are preparing the vinyl format to release.
6. Does the whole band take part in the writing process or does one member usually write everything? How long does it take to complete one song?
We are rather a one man army in the composing process. The main music structures are being prepared by Daniel Szymanowicz (the guitarist). He composes the guitar riffs, makes the first drum parts arrangements and so on. Then we discuss his proposals and make some changes. After that process the compositions are ready to set the proper drum parts and vocal parts.
As for the time lasting him to compose, it depends on many conditions. Sometimes I get two, three tracks in the week period and another time it lasts for a month to get the one structure.
7. Who usually handles writing the lyrics and what are some subjects written about on the debut release? Which usually comes first the music or the lyrics?
The music always comes first. The lyrics for our debut album were written by a friend of ours. He wants to stay anonymous and I respect his decision. The main themes for the lyrics are human fears and obsessions, the dangers of the present world and the military industry theme also as well (but it’s not the main and the only subject).
I joined the band when all lyrics were ready. We are planning the lyrics writing process to be more complex next time. I have one lyric prepared for the next album and I have the idea that will become the main theme of the next release (I want to put it in the title of it). I am going to write one more lyric for sure, maybe more. But the friend mentioned above will stay with us with his ideas and his writing in the near future.
8. Where can the readers purchase the debut RS-28 besides the debut release does the band have any other merchandise currently available? If yes what is available and where can the readers purchase it?
Beside our profile on Bandcamp website, where You may buy the physical format (CD) and digital format from, our debut album in CD format is also available in Selfmadegod Records webshop and Szataniec.pl webshop (both of them are from Poland, but they sell to customers from around the world). I am also planning to sell the CDs via Discogs service by myself in the near future. We also have T-shirts with logo images printed on, two kinds of stickers are also in our possession – they are available via Bandcamp. And the vinyl format of the debut album is about to come.
9. Has the band had the opportunity to play any live shows over the years or do you prefer working in the studio? What have been some of the bands most memorable shows?
We haven’t played live yet. The band started in 2018 as a project without a full line-up. The guys were playing rehearsals without a drummer, the album was recorded with a session musician on drums. I started to work with SARMAT in the spring of 2020. It was the pandemic time, when all live shows were suspended. Nowadays we have a few offers of playing live and we’re considering them. It’s a big deal for us, because we haven’t even played a rehearsal together in the present line-up.
I prefer to work in the studio personally, but playing live shows might be good as well.
10. When bands are able to play live again after the pandemic is over are their any plans to tour in support of the debut release?
Yes, as I mentioned above, we have a few offers for playing live. None of them is a regular tour offer (they are rather for the single shows), but each of them is for something more than a usual club gig. We are planning to play live with Krzysztof Klingbein, who was recording the session drum parts for the “RS-28” album. He has said earlier he will be interested in if the offers come. Now we have to settle the details, work the schedule on and so on.
11. What does Underground Metal mean to you?
I had to think for a while before answering this question. The main meaning for me is “PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE WORLD WHO ARE DEVOTED TO THE METAL MUSIC”. For many years I was trying to separate the underground from the mainstream in my thoughts, but I have never been able to explain even to myself where the separating line goes exactly? For the last few weeks I was working for the promotion of Sarmat’s debut album and I was contacting every single person that I was able to get the contact to. The responses for my tries were very various – from enthusiastic ones to… no reactions. But I found many people who are devoted to the metal music no matter if they work for mainstream media or only on their own.
They are the Underground Metal for me, the same as the bands playing and sharing the metal music. The same as the labels spreading and promoting this kind of music. And the regular, normal people as well, who, like me and You, are metal fans, buy records and merchandise, go to live shows.
You are the Underground Metal, my brother. I am too. That’s it.
12. Sarmat comes out of Poland's death, black metal scene. What are your thoughts over the scene in Poland over the years?
I gave up my singing in the other band three years ago due to the total lack of energy in me and because of being exhausted from the situation there (our drummer died a year and a half earlier and we couldn’t find anyone playing drums to join the line-up). From that time I was (let’s describe my state this way) “frozen” for the next two years. I will probably be the same till now if Daniel Szymanowicz doesn’t offer me recording the vocal parts for the debut album of Sarmat. So I am not able to tell what is going on in the scene in Poland at the present time. Many bands are forming just now, changing, releasing albums and so on. The pandemic era is rather responsible for many people creating more music that they were used to creating before the time. It’s hard to keep up to date all the time.
But there is one thing I dislike very much and it brings back bad memories. It’s the view of an empty hall just before the gig starts. I have had an occasion only few times to see such a terrible thing, but it’s a fact. There is nothing worse for the band than to prepare the equipment, set the sound and play without an audience. I do respect the few people who went to see the gig, but it would be easier to invite them to come to the rehearsal room (even pay them for the trip there and back) and played there for them. I expect the situation to be different after the pandemic and all the lock downs, because people will be hungry for live music. But I still remember these few situations from before – it was shitty.
13. Who are your all-time favorite metal bands coming out of Poland and are their any new bands you feel the readers should check out soon?
Armagedon – this band is my favourite one coming out of Poland. I will always recommend their music. From the new bands I may recommend Deivos (well, this band has recorded 6 albums, so it is not the new band actually – it’s just I have discovered them recently). You should also check out Mastabah (great band) and Trauma if You don’t know them.
14. Besides bands are their any honest and reliable labels or distro’s you could recommend to the readers?
We have plenty of labels releasing stuff of the metal bands like Pagan, Selfmadegod, Szataniec, Deformeathing, Godz ov War, Old Temple, Defense, Act of Sin, Ossuary, Agonia, Witching Hour, Mythrone, Putrid Cult. The two of the mentioned (Selfmadegod Records and Szataniec.pl) are the distributors of our debut album in CD format and will distribute the vinyls as well, when they will be available, I suppose. I may recommend these two for sure. And I am a customer that has bought a few records from Deformeathing, Defense, Pagan, Witching Hour, Old Temple, Godz ov War – all of them are reliable and You may depend on the people working for these labels.
15. Besides working in Sarmat do any of the members currently work with any other bands or solo projects?
Daniel Szymanowicz plays guitar in the band called Bi-corpor. They play heavy music, but their genre is closer to industrial I suppose. Well, maybe “mechanical” is the better word to describe their style. And it's definitely not as fast as Sarmat’s music style.
16. What do you like to do in your free time?
I am a men’s volleyball fan, so I like to watch matches of Polish teams in the national league and the Polish national team games with other national teams. I like to travel and visit not so well known places in my country, so I go for a trip from time to time. And I am still getting to know new metal bands, so I buy some stuff sometimes.
17. Thank you for taking the time to fill this interview out do you have any final comments for the readers?
Thank You, my brother, for Your great support and help in spreading Sarmat’s band name around the globe. We do appreciate each action like this interview done by metal listeners like You. We are nothing as a band without people who listen to our music.
And for all the readers - check out the lyric video for the title track from our debut full length album “RS-28”. It is published on Sarmat’s band channel on YouTube. And feel free to purchase our stuff if You think it is worth purchasing – the Sarmat’s profile on Bandcamp is active and we are ready for sending our CDs and merchandise everywhere You want us to send them. And CDs are also available in our distributors web shops – Selfmadegod Records and Szataniec.pl.
Thanks again! And see You somewhere, sometime maybe. Band Contacts https://sarmat1.bandcamp.com/releases https://www.facebook.com/sarmat7v7 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiv3i4nJQroG8R6H22rZ1Lw
