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Mezarkabul - Biography


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2001-
Their Turkish logo.

1987-

Biography

Pentagram was officially formed in 1987 in Istanbul. Mezarkabul is a second name for the band, that's used on the international releases because of a copyright problem. Pentagram's work is all about relating to life (physically, mentally and spiritually) in a creative way."Progressive Rock" of 70's, "Heavy Metal" of 80's and the ancient art forms of Anatolia and Mesopotamia are the basic influences in the band's musical approach.Pentagram was formed by Hakan (guitar) and Cenk (drums) in 1986, and after Tarkan (bass) joined in 1987 the group had their first live appearances. Being the fastest, heaviest and loudest thing ever happened in Turkish music scene, Pentagram immediately became an underground legend but it wasn't until 1990 that the band released their self-titled debut album. Aiming to promote the group's music abroad, the album contained English lyrics and was still received well by the Turkish record-buying public. The band added Demir (guitar) and Ogun (vocal) to the line-up and released their second album TRAIL BLAZER (Nuclear Blast Records) in 1992, with sales going well beyond expectations. The progression in the music was indicating a future greatness that Pentagram was on the way to develop a unique style of their own. Having performed many live shows between 1992 and 1995 both home and abroad, the band became a frequent guest for domestic and foreign TV and radio shows, further increasing their profile. Ogun was replaced by Murat on lead vocals in 1995, and the band signed to Turkish label Raks Muzik Yapim for two albums. The quintet began recording ANATOLIA album at RMS Studios in early 1995. The album was engineered by Martin "Cru" Spencer, mixed by Charles Turkmen, and mastered at 301 in Sydney, Australia by Steve Smart, giving them a very professional production team. It was just after the release in Turkey in 1997 that Century Media negotiated a worldwide release for the album. Containing nine English songs, three Turkish songs and one instrumental track, Anatolia is one of the most serious musical works produced in Turkey over the last decade, and Pentagram have succeeded in forming an original sound and adapting Turkish social and musical concepts to international standards. Pentagram have released a LIVE album in 1998 that was recorded in Istanbul Open Air Theatre and finished with their deal with Raks. Same year, Demir (guitar) have been departed and temporaryly replaced by Onur (Mr. Cat). The band have signed with Noise Records in 1999 for a four albums contract and agreed with Bccek Yapim for the Turkey releases of these albums. After finishing their military services, the gang started to work on their new album with producer-engineer Charles Turkmen in summer of 2000. Recordings have been made in Sierra Studios-Athens and completed in the band's own studio in Istanbul. 17 tracks were recorded in these sessions and Metin (guitar) have joined the band during this period. After the mixings (in RMS-Istanbul), and the mastering (by Nick Webb at Abbey Road Studios-London), Pentagram have decided to collect their 95 minutes of new material in two different albums. First one with English and enstrumental tracks was named UNSPOKEN and released in late 2001. The second one contains songs with Turkish language and will be released only in Turkey by B?cek Yapõm in February-2002.Because of a copyright problem, Pentagram is being called "Mezarkabul" on the international releases and media since the summer of 2001.