Mezarkabul
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| Mezarkabul | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Turkey |
| Genre(s) | Heavy metal Power metal Thrash metal Anatolian rock |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Label(s) | RMP/Nuclear Blast, Century Media, Sanctuary, Nepa Müzik, Raks Müzik, Böcek Yapim |
| Website | thepentagram.net |
| Members | |
| Murat İlkan Hakan Utangaç Tarkan Gözübüyük Metin Türkcan Cenk Ünnü |
|
| Former members | |
| Ümit Yilbar Murat Net Bartu Toptas Ogün Sanlisoy Demir Demirkan Onur Pamukçu |
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Pentagram (Mezarkabul outside Turkey) is a Turkish heavy metal/power metal band formed by Murat İlkan (vocals), Hakan Utangaç, Metin Türkcan, Tarkan Gözübüyük, and Cenk Ünnü. Pentagram is known for integrating Anatolian elements into their music.
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[edit] History
Pentagram was formed in Istanbul in 1986 by guitarist Hakan Utangaç and drummer Cenk Ünnü. By 1987, bassist Tarkan Gözübüyük had joined and they started doing live shows. Their first songs were released in 1990 on the self-titled Pentagram album. In 1992, a second guitarist Demir Demirkan joined the band, as well as a new lead singer, Bartu Toptas, helping Hakan to concentrate on his guitar duties. Several gigs were played with the new line-up until Bartu decided to move back to Sweden. He left the band in march 1992 just when the band had started to record the "Trail Blazer" album. The voice in the beginning of "Secret missile" belongs to Bartu who left the band during the recordings. Substituting Bartu vocalist Ogün Sanlısoy was added to the line-up. They released their second album Trail Blazer in the same year and enjoyed a rapidly-growing fanbase - both in Turkey and worldwide. In 1993 guitarist Ümit Yılbar was martyred on the mountain of Cıraf while serving the Turkish Army in "a pointless and meaningless war" (cited from the booklet of "Trail Blazer"). They made the tribute song Fly Forever in memory of Ümit Yılbar and the band also dealed with this issue in subsequent songs as "1,000 in the Eastland" and "Anatolia" (both from the album "Anatolia").
For the next three years, the band toured in their homeland and over the world. In 1995, vocalist Murat İlkan replaced Ogün, and they started working on their next album, Anatolia. Anatolia was released in Turkey in 1997, and several weeks after the release, Century Media approached Pentagram for a worldwide release. The lyrics of Anatolia mainly deal with issues of war, pain and ignorance, often in an unusual way. In "1,000 in the Eastland" it is stressed that "thousands of people are dying in the East, all ignored by the West, where one death becomes a tragedy", at the same time emphasising that "fighting with hatred feeds the rich men".
They released a live album in 1998 called Popçular Dışarı (literally "Pop musicians out"). Guitarist Demir Demirkan departed, and was temporarily replaced with Onur "Mr. Cat" Pamukçu.
The band started recording their next album in 2000 in their own studio in Istanbul. Guitarist Metin Türkcan officially joined the band during the recording session. They composed 17 songs, and decided to split it up into two different CDs. In 2001, Unspoken was released worldwide. In 2002, Bir ("One") was exclusively released in Turkey.
For their releases in Turkey, they use the name Pentagram. However, due to an American doom metal band called Pentagram, they go by the name Mezarkabul (literally "Acceptance To Grave") for international releases.
They got a new concert DVD album by Sony music called 1987 in 2008 including their 20th anniversary concert in Bostancı Gösteri Merkezi on 4th February 2007.
[edit] Influence on Turkish music
Pentagram is often considered to be the pioneers of heavy metal in Turkey. Their work has inspired all forms of rock music, and helped it to gain popularity in Turkey. They were known to collaborate with the late vocalist of Vitamin, Gökhan Semiz, and Vitamin itself. Also, Tarkan Gözübüyük has worked with numerous artists and bands, producing, arranging and sometimes performing. For example, Mor ve Ötesi's (literally "Purple and Beyond" or "ultraviolet") groundbreaking album Dünya Yalan Söylüyor (literally "The World is Lying") had Gözübüyük as its producer. [1] Other than contributions to rock music, Pentagram members continued to contribute to popular music as well. Demir Demirkan, as he pursued his solo career, wrote the lyrics and produced the first Turkish song ever to win the Eurovision song contest. Tuna Kiremitçi, of the Vatan newspaper, wrote an article about the band, praising their contributions. [2]
[edit] Lineup
[edit] Current Lineup
- Murat İlkan - vocals (1995-present)
- Hakan Utangaç - guitar (1986-present)
- Metin Türkcan - guitar (2000-present)
- Tarkan Gözübüyük - bass (1987-present)
- Cenk Ünnü - drums (1986-present)
[edit] Former members
- Ümit Yılbar - guitar (1986-1989)
- Murat Net - guitar (1989-1990)
- Bartu Toptas - vocals (1990-1992)
- Ogün Sanlısoy - vocals (1992-1995)
- Demir Demirkan - guitar (1992-1998)
- Onur "Mr. Cat" Pamukçu - guitar (1998-2000)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Pentagram 1990
- Trail Blazer 1992
- Anatolia 1997
- Popçular Dışarı 1998
- Unspoken 2001
- Bir 2002
- 1987 2008
