Interview Interrogation: Chris 'Stoz' Storozynsk from Forged In Black (England)

Forged In Black are arguably the best thing to come out of Southend since the expansion of London Southend Airport, Phil Jupitus' career taking off and of course (dare we say it) Busted. Forged In Black were originally called Merciless Fail and it was under their former name that they secured a slot on the New Blood Stage at Bloodstock Festival 2012.

Forward on a year and Merciless Fail changed their name to Forged In Black after their first EP 'Forged In Black'. Since 2013 Forged In Black have released 1 album - Forged In Black (2013) and 3 EP's, The Tide (2013), Fear Reflecting Fear (2016) and Sinner Sanctorum (2017).

Chris 'Stoz' Storozynsk gave GMA the low down on their past success, the current state of the Essex Metal scene, touring plans and their new music video 'Pay The Price'.... be prepared to be Forged In Black.

"The song ['Pay The Price] has an anti-war theme... a concern that world leaders are not thinking of the consequences of their actions."

Forged In Black has not stopped working since your Bloodstock appearance, will we see you back at Bloodstock next year?

     "Hi GMA, Stoz here, and good to speak to you again. We had a fantastic time at Bloodstock 2012 after winning the Metal to the Masses competition. We’d love to return at some point on a bigger stage with our music, and are looking to book up quite a few festivals throughout Europe in 2018 alongside the release of our new album, which we are currently writing. We have just released our newest EP “Sinner Sanctorum” which is available to download on iTunes or purchase via our social media channels."


You just released your new music video 'Pay The Price', what has the reception been like?

     "The reception has been great, lots of people liking and sharing on social media, it was a very well produced video and really hammers the song home. We have released two music videos for songs on our new “Sinner Sanctorum” EP which can be viewed on YouTube and our social media pages."


Are you worried about being perceived as politically motivated with this video?

     "Well, not really. The song has an anti-war theme yes, and a concern that world leaders are not thinking of the consequences of their actions. It’s my observation of the current state of affairs. We have written many songs now about many different themes."


Andy Pilkington (Very Metal) created the video, what was it like approaching him? Does the video reflect the song's meaning?

     "Andy has done a fantastic job on the video and we are all very proud of the result. Our management team put us in contact with Andy and we are glad he had space in his very busy diary to fit us in and work with us on it."

It seems that things are going your way a lot lately, where do you see Forged In Black in 5 years time?

     "Well I'm sure we will still be forging away on new music and our live shows, but ultimately a record deal would be nice."


The Essex metal scene doesn't appear to be as pro-active in recent times, what are your thoughts on this?

     "Yes unfortunately the Essex scene seems quieter then others, I think because of venues closing and the lack of new young promoters putting shows on, but that is understandable in this current financial climate. There are still some great musicians and bands coming out of Essex though and the talent is still well and truly there waiting for a light to shine on it."


Will you be doing a UK tour in late 2017 / early 2018, are you looking to play abroad?

     "We are currently writing for the new album, which we will be recording in April 2018 and is being produced by Romesh Dodangoda, so all hands are on deck to write some great new stuff, which we’d love to show off in the UK and Europe."


Since Tim Chandler left last year, will you look to recruit another guitarist or stick as a four-piece.

     "Well Tim actually left I think about 2 years ago, and since then we recruited the talents of one fine Mr Chris Bone, who is on our new release “Sinner Sanctorum” and has been playing live with us for some time."

'Sinner Sanctorum' EP is out now

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