In the Balkan countries, it is often easy to find like minded people who are interested in creating the same kind of music that you also like, but it isn't always as easy to find people who turn their passion into reality and actually make it happen. In recent years, there have been many, who have formed projects but sadly never got to record or release any material, and it is heartbreaking to see that dream come to die. However, there are still plenty of young and ambitious musicians who continue pushing their passion in order to make their dream come to life someday, whatever it takes. Case and point is an individual from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who goes by the name of Húrin Thalion. For almost two years I spoke with Húrin on a daily basis, and since then we would very often exchange our own personal experiences and share opinions on certain topics. He started with his two-member raw black metal Mraz with Vožd Jovan Pogani, but since the project went on hold, he would then form two of his own black metal projects, Hurin and Uralt, and even a doom/sludge metal band Monolith. Recently, his newfound project Uralt released its debut EP "Winterflame" on Bandcamp digital streaming via the Colombian label Masters Of Kaos Productions, and it is yet to be released on physical CD. Join me on this journey as we discuss his recent works, as well as his potential plans for the future.

Vladimir

Greetings Hurin! First of all, I'd like to wish you a warm welcome on behalf of the MetalBite crew. How are you doing today brother?

Hello my good friend, I'm doing fine and I hope you and your crew as well are having a nice day!

You recently released two songs from the upcoming EP "Winterflame" of your newfound black metal project Uralt, which although still mainly based on the same musical roots as your previous works, introduces a different kind of direction than your main project Hurin, more in the vein of bands like Satanic Warmaster and 90's Darkthrone. Can you tell me what is the story behind Uralt? How did you suddenly come up with the idea to form another project that deviates from Hurin? 

So the story goes from the release of the debut EP by Hurin The Night of The Futile, which featured a more raw production than intended. As it is known from my post the Hurin EP is created to show the first idea of Hurin before it took more of a melodic black metal approach. The feedback from the Hurin EP was amazing so one day I made a choice to continue what I started with and create a raw/melodic black metal project called Uralt (meaning "ancient" in German). Main inspirations for Uralt are Satanic Warmaster (as you mentioned), Horna, Csjethe, Inquisition and Tsjuder while Hurin goes along with the sound of bands like Ninkharsag, Dissection, Gates of Ishtar, Watain.

What I like about Uralt better is that there are much more dynamics with a form of different rawness and expression through the music, that your project Hurin seemed to be heading for on "The Night Of The Futile" demo. In comparison to all of your works from the past, do you think that Uralt is some sort of improvement of Hurin in terms of the atmosphere, the music and the foundation?

Absolutely, Uralt is a big step when it comes to my musical career. It holds a different approach when it comes to atmosphere and riffology, Uralt can be seen as a musical experiment. The album will be put into three parts; songs with a melancholic sound (that were heard on the Winterflame EP), songs with a melodic sound and songs with a more old school approach which will be heard on the upcoming album. So the album won't be just one idea-one sound, every song will be different from the other having mixtures of many sub-genres of black metal and all of it will be held together by rawness. So Uralt can actually be seen as some kind of sequel to The Night Of The Futile.

The EP is due to be released via the Colombian label Masters Of Kaos productions, which has worked with various black metal bands including some better-known ones like Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult, Beastcraft and Ofermod. How did you settle down working with MOK to release both Hurin's demo "The Night Of The Futile" and Uralt's upcoming EP "Winterflame"? Has the label offered a good deal in terms of physical releases, distribution and promotion?

The man behind Masters Of Kaos, Jay Parker, has been an amazing partner since the beginning. He had a major role in the success of Uralt and Hurin in terms of physical releases and promotion. Currently through Masters Of Kaos, only CDs will be distributed internationally, but recently I have come into contact with another label called Bál Records, a newly created label from Hungary. We came into an agreement to feature cassette tapes for Uralt's album and it will see the light of day and darkness of European night as soon as the album is released, so stay tuned!

Since you have been working on Uralt lately, does this mean that Hurin is temporarily on hold or are you still working on your self-titled full-length?

Hurin is temporarily on hold until the release of Uralt's first (and maybe second follow-up) album. Hurin's first full-length album will probably be released this summer with 7 songs on the record, as said previously with a melodic sound with moments from other genres like Swedish death metal in its songs. After the self-titled album I can proudly announce that Hurin will have its share of the stage, currently I'm in the search for live musicians that will join me for live performances.

I have known you ever since the daу you released the single "Krvavi EP" of your first ever project Mraz which you formed with Vožd Jovan Pogani. It seems like it was yesterday but it was in fact all the way back in October 2022. Tell me, what has become of Mraz? Are there any plans in the future for its return?

Mraz has been on-hold for some time because both me and my very close friend Vožd have been working on our own projects and we've both been busy regarding our private lives. But even though our mutual project Mraz is on-hold, we're actively collaborating and helping each other when it comes to our solo projects and hopefully when we get more time on our hands, our long-planned album will be recorded and released.

You seem to be very ambitious and passionate as a very young and coming musician, since you are constantly working on new music of different sub-genres, which is not a common thing with other musicians coming from this particular region where bands of this sub-genre don't get the recognition they deserve, or any worldwide success at all. What is it that truly inspires you to keep on going and keep making various forms of music no matter what? Do you tend to not pay attention to the issues that surround you and just focus on yourself?

What inspires me is the thought of holding my own CDs and cassettes, even vinyls one day... I listen to a lot of bands daily and in every one of those bands I find something that I would add or change, so instead of changing songs that other people made I create my own so I can listen to that same track and enjoy listening to it, it creates a feeling of fulfillment. I want to show my creativity and passion to like minded people who would listen to my songs and just thinking about someone saying "Wow this song is amazing, I have to save it in my playlist" really brings me joy knowing that I may have made a song that someone will listen for days on repeat and find pleasure in music. Because that's what music should be about, creating for yourself and other like minded people.

What is exactly the story behind your musical background and your evolving musicianship? How did you become a part of the scene and have any of the local bands and musicians been a big influence on you?

I started playing guitar when I was really young, around 8 years old but I gave up soon after. When I was around 13 I picked up the guitar again and started teaching myself all over again. Around that same time the idea of Hurin was created and the first songs were written and recorded with a phone microphone, an acoustic guitar and poorly programmed drums. I got my first electric guitar when I was 16 and some demo recordings were made, a few months after Mraz was recorded and released, which marks the beginning of my music career. As Mraz was released I started getting noticed by musicians from the scene and the first time I came into contact with the scene was when I sent you a message on Facebook that I heard your song on the radio! Since then I grew in popularity and became a respected part of the Balkan extreme metal scene and made some really good friends and acquaintances who had a big influence on me and my project. The front man of my local band Aberdar, Bojan (aka Buya) taught me how to use programs for recording, producing and mixing in a pub! Other than him, many other people from the local and Balkan scene helped me a lot to come here where I am now, which I will be thankful for forever.

Aside from your projects, you also play in the doom/sludge metal band called Monolith, and recently you had your first ever gig that was met with positive feedback from the audience. Has the reception that you received from fans encouraged you to keep going forward, and perhaps record an EP or even a full-length album?

Monolith was started as a band that was made for me and two of my friends to just have fun and play on the stage live, but after our first gig and that people heard our first song people started getting interested in something more which we didn't expect. Recently we parted ways with one of our original members, our bassist, whom I have created the idea on a night out. In his place came another great bass player and after that we made a choice to go down a different path when it comes to the genre, keeping our sludge roots but implementing riffs and sound from death metal and tech-death. We are taking things slow right now, focused on making songs and soon enough we will enter the studio and record an EP.

Is there anything in particular of your upcoming works that you are really looking forward to in the near future?

One particular thing I'm looking forward to is the release of Hurin's first full-length which will surely be my masterpiece knowing that I have been working on it since last year and I can't wait to record it and release it! Also Uralt has a bright future and I'm looking forward to the release of the full-length record, which will be on March the 1st.

Thank you so much for doing this interview, Hurin. I am really looking forward to hearing more music in the near future and possibly catching an opportunity to see Monolith perform live. Are there any final words you'd like to say before we wrap this up?

Thank you very much for doing this interview with me and I hope we can work together again! I have to thank everyone who has supported all my work and the dedication of my small but strong fan base. I hope that I inspire others to start recording and show the world their creativity and passion. Long live the Thalion!