Dear readers, in this article, we have the pleasure of offering you an interview with a Polish band with a Doom metal sound, with a new album due out in 2025. We welcome Smoke Rites.
Hi, it is a pleasure to have you among our pages, how are you?
Ćukasz: “All good, Thanks! Itâs a pleasure!“
The band formed recently, how did the project and the choice of the name Smoke Rites come about?
Ćukasz: “The band was formed in the end of 2020 in November.
The first line-up was:
Ćukasz Borawski – Guitars
Maksymina Maxi Kuzianik – Vocal
Marek Lis – Bass
MichaĆ KamiĆski – Drums
We figured out the name for the band when we finished recording our first EP, The Rite of The Smoke. The name is a combination of a lot of things that you can hear in our music.“
Your style incorporates elements of Doom Metal and Sludge, how would you describe your sound and how did your passion for these sounds come about?
Ćukasz: “Yeah! I think itâs more Sludge Blues right now, but for sure, you can hear in our riffs a lot of Doom and Sludge stuff. About the passion, weâre listening that music for a long time, every each of us has his favorite bands. My are Black Sabbath, Bongzilla, Weedeater, Electric Wizard, and of course mighty SLEEP.“
A sound steeped in references to the Occult, how did your interest in these themes come about?
Ćukasz: “A lot of references to Occult can be found on our first EP The Rite of The Smoke. Iâm using a lot of fuzz pedals with my old Laney Protube Aor amp on this EP. That combination with lyrics made our EP so special.“
MichaĆ: “As you could expect vocalists are mainly responsible for the lyrical content, and it is no different in our case. Our previous vocalist Maxi brought those influences up and we went along. Later on, when Tomasz took over vocal duties the whole vibe changed, obviously.“
We recently posted the news about the first single âDeath is a Five Letter Wordâ from your upcoming album, do you have any information about the new work?
Ćukasz: “Thank you so much for that! Yes right now weâre preparing new songs for that album. It will be more Sludgy with a lot of Blues references.“
The single features ToĆ’s singer Monika, what did she bring to the sound of the track?
Ćukasz: “Weâre playing with ToĆ and Weedcraft a few shows in Poland. I can say that when I heard Monikaâs voice for the first time my mind was blown away. She is very talented, her vocals on the Death is a Five Letter word are amazing! Check out the last album of ToĆ!“
MichaĆ: “She brought an eery, underlaying atmosphere that complements Tomek’s harsh, almost demented vocals wonderfully. This makes the song stand out. Working on this was a real pleasure.“
Will there be other guests in the album line-up?
Ćukasz: “We will see :))“
The release date is scheduled for September 2025, do you have any plans to release other singles to anticipate the album?
Ćukasz: “Yes! In June, weâre planning to release the second single from the upcoming new album.“
The first single is a mixture of solid instrumental parts and intense vocals, what themes do the lyrics of the track and the album in general deal with?
Tomasz: “Death is a Five Letter Word is a song about death seen as a part of life. Something sad and scary, but also common and inevitable. All lyrics are rather gloomy and depressive, a study of the dark part of human nature.“
Many of our readers and your fans wonder if there will be a chance to hear your music live in the near future, do you have any plans in this regard?
Ćukasz: “Weâve planned a few shows right now, and of course, we will play some new tunes there! Come to our shows!“
Do you have any particular memories or anecdotes you would like to tell us about your live experiences?
MichaĆ: “Don’t think so. The only thing stuck in my mind, and it’s more like a ‘wtf moment’ rather than an amusing anecdote, was when sound guy’s spotify started playing tunes on top of our first song’s intro. Thankfully the situation has been resolved quite quickly, without too much damage. Other than that and usual struggles that any band could have like random hardware malfunctions, poor sound conditions or whatever, our shows run quite smoothly.“
Your first release was from 2021, how has your sound evolved since then?
MichaĆ: “Production wise, every our relase sounds a bit different which is direct result of using different recording studios and producers, each of whom left their unmistakable mark on our sound. Our latest offering sounds, at least to me, more ambient, more open, more in the vein of 70s recordings than anything else, although will our next album sound like that I cannot surely say. Musically I think, we are in no way different now, from what we were doing at the beginning. Maybe, a bit slower, a bit heavier overall, but that’s it.“
Poland has a rich cultural tradition, how do you see today’s music scene in your country and more generally in your genre?
Ćukasz: “Agree on this! We have a lot of great bands in the Stoner-Sludge-Doom scene, like Belzebong, Weedpecker, Weedcraft, Neon Mud and Weird Tales. You can check a lot of cool bands from Poland on the last Weedian album – Trip To Poland II“
What advice would you give to young artists approaching music with sounds like yours?
Ćukasz: “Do what you do, play it loud, and remember: In Fuzz We Trust!“
Do you have any other activities or artistic passions outside of music?
Ćukasz: “I think itâs all connected. Iâm a vinyl collector, and in my free time, I listen to old releases from my favorite bands.“
I thank the band for the interview, wishing them all the best for the release of their new album and the continuation of their artistic career.
Purchase their music on Bandcamp: https://smokerites.bandcamp.com/
