Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Trunar is a project rather than a band. We come from the city of Polacak (a.k.a. Polotsk, Polocko, Polazk, Palteskja, Paltesjuborg) which is in the north of Belarus. By the summer of 2007 we had several songs and just decided to record them. In order to make some kind of "release" we had to give the project a name - and there you go, "Trunar", which is "coffin maker" in Belarusian. It's necessary to say that we and our friends used this name earlier for a couple of projects that didn't really go anywhere. Trunar is rather an open band, which means that our friends/allies can contribute to the material. For instance, we used several riffs and two song lyrics written by two people who didn't take part in the recording. The work matters more than its creator.
How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?It's a bit incorrect to say that a band has a style. It is a given piece of music that is of certain style. Not a band. Our only record can be described in the following way: heavily distorted guitar with tremolo picking, as well as occasional palm muting, of power chords and minor and major thirds; screaming vocals; drums that shuffle in blastbeats half of the time in order for the melody to be the axis, and play stiff half-time and single-time rhythms where riffs are more rockish; occasional keyboards that mostly double the guitar; song structures that are mostly narrative and successive but sometimes verse-chorus-verse; predominantly simple melodies in minor key that sound ceremonially at times; riffs of a more metal type, i.e. based on 1 or 2 tonal centres, and of a more rock type, i.e. based on common chord progressions.
It's post-black metal/hard rock, if you please. While composing the material for "Christs Not Christians" we were influenced by Judas Iscariot, late Mayhem, Gorgoroth, Burzum, Dimmu Borgir.
Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
Who told you he should? We're not marketing. We need to be heard and read, not to be bought. So, I'll paraphrase your question: "Why should a metalhead listen to your demos/albums?" - Because we have something to say. The ideas are partly present in the lyrics, partly in the booklet for the CD, partly in the music itself. There's a chance that someone finds them inspiring and right and thus his or her motivation to fight for what is right grows. Of course, if you don't speak Belarusian or Russian, there's little you can understand, but the CD was meant for our people in the first place.
What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?
We released the "Christs Not Christians" demo by our own means, then the management of WoD and DCP heard it and liked it and released it as an album. And that's it for now. Earlier, a friend of ours recorded an ambient demo under the name Trunar, but I don't know whether he even made an artwork for it and whether it is available anywhere. "+N+" has received some positive, ambiguous and hateful appraisals from individuals and media.
Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
No we don't, as we have no concert line-up. We have no time for this all, unfortunately.
What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?They should know we're from northern Belarus. That's all. We lack self-marketing skills to answer the second part of the question.
What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
In order for the project to exist, the only thing we can do is write new songs. This process is slow these days. It'll be a long time until we have enough material for a new album. If it ever comes out, it will probably contain no rockish riffs and no keyboards.
Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
One might download our music and read our short manifesto on the internet. If you wish to buy or trade CDs, you should contact Wings of Destruction.
January 2010