{"id":104742,"date":"2021-08-23T13:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-08-23T18:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/?p=104742"},"modified":"2021-08-22T22:58:14","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T03:58:14","slug":"a-history-of-czech-and-slovak-heavy-sounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/a-history-of-czech-and-slovak-heavy-sounds\/","title":{"rendered":"A History of Czech and Slovak Heavy Sounds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Franta from Master’s Hammer is investigatin’ spooky things in yr video.<\/p><\/div>\n

Intro<\/h3>\n

Czech Republic (now known as Czechia) and Slovakia have a deep and very interesting history both geographically and musically. The region has been an interest of mine since I was first aware of there being a metal scene back when Iron Maiden did their “Behind the Iron Curtain” tour and documentary. In the documentary they were playing in nearby Poland and Hungary as well as Yugoslavia. However, the band didn’t get to play anywhere in Czechslovakia as their 1988 Prague stop was cancelled by the authorities. Although, by the time ‘Maiden were able to finally play live in the area the one country was now two: Czech Republic in the west and Slovakia in the east. On the plus side, Bruce and the boys were able to play in Ostrava (in Czech Rep) and Bratislava (in Slovakia). Also, each show had a local opening act\u2014Zeus<\/strong> for the Czech show and the weirdly named Sexit<\/strong> for the Slovak show.<\/p>\n

Geographically speaking, there’re 3 main regions: Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the east and south, as well as Silesia in the northeast, near southern Poland. Despite their history of being in the Soviet-sphere, Czechia prefers to be placed in Central Europe, not Eastern Europe. Prague (the capital) is in Bohemia, whereas the smaller, more industrial Ostrava is in Moravia. For a good summary of the back and forth geography and politics of the region, go here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Fun fact: The compound word for “metal culture” in Czech is “metalova” which sounds like “metal lover” but with a Slavic accent. All bands covered here with few exceptions sing entirely in Czech or Slovak. Moving forward to the early ’00s\u2014a friend involved in the hardcore scene told me about raging bands like Prague’s See You In Hell<\/strong> along with growly death grinders like Ingrowing<\/strong>. Sure enough there was quite a decent-sized scene in these Central European countries. More research has found there’s heavy tunes from Czech Rep going back as early as the ’70s.<\/p>\n

The wild and diverse musical world of Jiri<\/h3>\n

Jiri Schelinger was a very eccentric vocalist and songwriter from Prague. He was able to sing in a load of different genres such as the “Schlager meets Sabbath”* number like\u00a0 1977’s “Lasky splin – Skec Oboe” to hard funky jams like “Skec Chlumes – Hrr na ne…”.\u00a0 Other Schelinger songs are based around country,\u00a0 moody love ballads, boogie rock, and even boogie punk\/metal stuff like the title track of “Lupi\u010d Willy” (from somewhere between ’76-’80). Oddly, all of these songs appear on the same album. Why there’s not a documentary on Schelinger by now is beyond me.<\/p>\n

On his 1975 debut Nem\u00e1m Hlas<\/em> Jako, Zvon<\/em> Schelinger covers Neil Young<\/strong>, Santana<\/strong>, and Black Sabbath<\/strong>. More importantly he doesn’t attempt yet another “Iron Man”\/”Paranoid” cover**\u00a0 Instead he interprets “A National Acrobat” in his native tongue. The fact that the song was only a year old makes it even more astounding. So while society under the Iron Curtain may have been cut off in many ways, Schelinger was hip to the heavy sounds. So much so he also decided to cover Sabbath’s “Into the Void” in 1975.<\/p>\n