UN: Sceptic seems to have endured quite a few line-up changes since you formed in 1994. Do you think that so many line-up changes have held the band back at all? It must take awhile to break everyone in and teach them the new material. Do you think that you may finally have a stable lineup?

JH: I truly hope so. All those changes have surely slowed our development down cause like you said it takes time to get to know each other musically but on the other hand it’s a kind of experience too and I believe that all those changes took a positive effect on the band as well. I always look for good musicians to work with and how I see it is that I could try myself with different drummers for example and each one of them plays in a different way… I think that we all learned a lot as individual musicians but as a band we could probably be much further than we are.

UN: The band started under the name Tormentor but changed to Sceptic later on. What prompted the change? Did you guys discover the old black metal band called Tormentor? What influenced the new name, Sceptic?

JH: We changed the moniker because we changed the line up and our attitude to what we wanted to do with our band. We wanted to make everything work as it should and end this childish stuff as you could call our activity as Tormentor. The change of moniker was more a symbol of a new beginning and that from now on we really knew what we wanted and which way we decided to go. As a matter of fact we knew from th beginning that there were a 1000 of other Tormentors but we didn’t care as long as we were only a rehearsing band. The name Sceptic came from our drummer Maciek Zieba. I don’t really know how he came up with this idea but the moniker was short and easy to remember and that was exactly what we needed. We played our first concert as Sceptic in 1996, People who saw us then remembered it so there was no sense in changing it again.

UN: “Unbeliever's Script” has served as my introduction to Sceptic, but I read that you guys have two albums that were released previously. Has the bands sound changed at all over the years? I’m sure little things would change just due to the line-up changes.

JH: Some changes had to take place. As you know we recorded each album with a different line up and it’s obvious that every musician has a different playing style. Still we’re all the time around so called technical Death Metal however my opinion is that it’s a bit missed qualification. I simply call our music a Death Metal and I don’t like to play in any more precise terminology.

UN: Your last cd was released by Empire Records, but the band is now signed to Candlelight Records. How did the deal come about? It seems like a lot of bands from Poland are signing with the label, Crionic’s next cd comes out around the same time as yours in the States I believe.

JH: Maybe finally someone figured out where to get good bands from. And seriously I’m very happy that at last polish bands have more chances to show themselves to foreign fans. We really have lots of great music here and it’s your loss if you wont have a chance to hear it. Poland is still paying the price for communism and unfortunately not many labels have courage to sign polish bands. It seems that things are finally turning better and it’s great because polish scene has a huge potential. Just visit some web sites and you’ll know what I mean.

UN: I didn’t receive any lyrics with my copy of the cd so I was curious if you could explain the meaning behind the album name. I’m assuming the opening track which shares the same name would explain the concept, but like I said I didn’t receive the lyrics.

JH: Unbeliever’s script is about people who can’t or don’t want to be a part of our reality. They create their own world in which there is no place for our world imperfections, they write an alternative script for their lives. Unfortunately you can’t run away from reality and at some point they have to face but not prepared they can’t manage it.

UN: I was curious to ask if there are a lot of studios to record at in Poland that specialize in heavy music? Your new album has an amazing sounding production. How was the recording session for the album? Are you guys pleased with how the album turned out?

JH: Yes we are 100% satisfied, we achieved exactly what we wanted. We had an exact plan of how we see this album and what equipment we want to use in the studio. The sound engineers at Hertz where we recorded the material are great profesionalista and we didn’t have any problems to make everything sound as it should. We decided to record acoustic drums, including kicks, I recorded only two guitar tracks etc. Interesting thing is that we started the recording session from vocals. We had to do so due to Marcin’s schedule connected with his sport career. He recorded all vocals in 2 days!!!

UN: I was trying to figure out who Sceptic reminded me of, but it’s hard to narrow it down. A lot of riffs and melodies remind me of the more technical side of death metal with bands like Death, Pestilence or Cynic, while other riffs remind me a lot of Heartwork era Carcass. I also hear a bit of power metal in some of the soloing. Would you say that all of those bands influenced Sceptic?

JH: Death, Pestilence, Cynic, Carcass for sure. Beside that Nocturnus, Atheist, Sadist etc. These are my favorite bands and they all have been inspiring me for a very long time now. As for power metal I’m not a fan of this kind of music although songs about dragons and knights are very amusing. Nevertheless when I was about 10 I loved Helloween.

UN: I was curious to ask how the songwriting works within the band. Sceptic definitely doesn’t seem to be all about speed, in fact there isn’t much speed at all. Would you say that you guys are more concerned with writing interesting music instead of worrying about how many bpm’s a song is?

JH: You said it. It’s not a race and faster does not always mean better… I was never convinced by extreme music. I preferred to get surprised by something more that drummers strength and endurance. For me the most important in music is arrangement. It doesn’t matter that you’re the fastest in the world since nothing you play makes any sense. One part of song has to be a natural consequence of the previous part, the composition must be like one organism which can’t work without even one of it’s parts and not a turd of trash where no element sticks. And as for a song writing process I write guitars first and after that everyone work on their parts. I think it’s the best way to do it. The guitarist wont come up with better bass parts than the bassist etc. Each one of us has his influence on the creation of tracks.

UN: Would you say that guitar solo are a big part of the Sceptic sound? Hell, even the guitar riffs are pretty intricate. Would you say that guitar solos are an essential part of heavy metal? A lot of bands seem to think they are passe these days.

JH: I don’t know if it’s essential. I’ll be playing solos as long as I’ll have fun doing it. I like playing and listening to them. I think that every musician feels the need of putting something own and characteristic into a song. Besides I think that it makes music more interesting. I just hope you don’t mind listening to it?

UN: Does the band have any touring planned once the new album hits the streets? I read that you guys have toured in the past, how far have you traveled away from your home country? Do you guys have good turn outs when you play locally?

JH: Unfortunately there are no tour plans outside Poland yet. We’ll play 9 gigs in our country in June. I’d really like to do some touring abroad because the only time we went outside Poland was a gig ib Slovakia with Sadist. I know that there are some people who are waiting to see us but we’ll see what the future will bring.

UN: I’m sure you guys aren’t expecting fame and fortune to land on your doorsteps, but how far would you like to see Sceptic go? Would it be nice if you’d be able to make a living playing the music you love?

JH: That would be a dream come true. To do something you love the most, get paid for so that you didn’t have to do anything else and just concentrate on playing metal. That would really be great.