Extreme, aggressive and with a deathgrind ferocity, the band Wingless cranks out original rapid-fire metal on the band’s current album, The Blaze Within. Sometimes described as black metal or even thrash metal, do not try to pigeon-hole these musicians, because that approach would be a huge mistake. Based in Kraków, Poland, Wingless has created its own brand of metal music which goes beyond labeling. Hold on because there is much more to the Wingless story.
The sound of Wingless lies somewhere between the sonic thrust of Napalm Death and contemporary metalists Mgla. Available on Bandcamp, a growing favorite from The Blaze Within is “Great Shineless Brightless,” where blistering drums, bass and guitar support typically guttural vocals throughout the entire 5:06 track. Another standout cut from the album is “Unheard Sublime,” which reveals more of a hard rock vibe. These are just two examples of why Wingless merits your attention.
Metal Music Artists
Judging by the tunes on The Blaze Within, metal music is obviously alive and well and living in Kraków under the name Wingless. But you don’t have to be from Poland to enjoy the band; the music speaks for itself.
Music Interview Magazine caught up with the founding member of Wingless, Greg Luzar, who spoke about the group’s current album, Poland’s metal music scene, Mgla and more.
Interview with Greg Luzar of Wingless
Who are the members of Wingless and what instruments do they play?
We are a group of music passionates who like playing, rehearsing and creating songs. Working and living in
Kraków, Poland, it’s one of the beautiful cities in our country and each of us has a lot of experience in local metal bands. As for the members, Wingless is Greg Luzar – guitars, bass; Olaf Rózanski – vocals; and Pawel Solon – drums.
How and when was the band formed?
I formed Wingless in 2012. I asked my old friend Olaf to help work out my vision of the band. From the beginning, I was convinced I made the right choice collaborating with him. After recording our debut album, Hatred is Purity, we parted ways with the original drummer and then a few weeks later, the bass player. We recruited a new drummer, Pawel Solon, who started playing with Wingless in 2013. We tried collaborating with a few different bass players but unfortunately none of them had the skills we expected. Finally, in 2015, I decided we would be a trio and during gigs we would use the help of a session bass player. I think it was a good decision and so far it’s worked well.
Describe the music of Wingless. What have been the band’s influences?
It’s hard to describe what kind of metal we play. It’s definitely metal, but we don’t want to categorize our music as “death metal” or any other kind of metal. If you want to know what genre it is, you have to listen to our music. Then you can call it what you want. We’re used to telling people Wingless is a metal band, that’s it.
Tell our readers about the making of The Blaze Within? Where was it recorded?
The Blaze Within was recorded from Oct. 2015 to Feb. 2016 and is the band’s second album. The recording sessions took place at 67Studio with Dominik Burzym, the sound engineer. It’s his own studio, which is located near Kraków. Dominik mixed and mastered the album too. The entire album was recorded and prepared as a trio. By the way, it was a very intensive recording session. I was responsible for the guitar tracks, album production and recorded and arranged all the bass guitar tracks as well. I’m satisfied with the production and sound, which is just like I imagined. The process of writing The Blaze Within was quite smooth and easy. I’m usually the main composer in the band, but we arranged most of the songs together with drummer Pawel Solon. By the way, I have to mention Olaf’s vocal parts were fantastic. You have to listen to this album because every song contains so much feeling, groove and atmosphere. The digital version of the album debuted on Sep. 08, 2016, while the CD was released in Jan. of 2017.
Fill us in on Poland’s Death Metal scene.
A lot of recognizable bands exist in Poland now. Names like Behemoth, Decapitated and Vader are only the tip of
the mountain. But in Poland it is not only about death metal. You have to remember that we have a very strong black metal scene with a lot of acts. I think the most popular right now is Mgla. They are a band from Kraków, just like Wingless, so it’s a nice coincidence. If someone wants to know more about the Polish metal scene, especially death or black, you can find plenty of information via Google or Metal Archives. You can love or hate metal, but every band I mentioned is worthy of attention.
What’s next for Wingless?
Currently, we are in the middle of writing material for our third album. We have about eight songs that are finished and another three or four in progress. It definitely will be a step forward, just like “The Blaze Within.” We’d like to start recording the next album in Apr. or May of 2018. I can’t wait. The next album will be more intense, dark and heavy. The songs will contain a lot of doom and death metal elements, as well as new arrangements. We’ll also be playing gigs this fall and winter and of course promoting “The Blaze Within.” So, if you have not checked out this album yet, do it now. You can find us on Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
Photo images: Xaay
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