The founding members of Selftorture, Ozan Tol and Mehmet Stevenson, probably never imagined that strumming an acoustic guitar on a late summer night would be the outcome of band that has earned a place amongst other solid acts in the Turkish underground. Prior to this event, both members always threw back and forth the idea creating music that incorporates hardcore with the intensity of other forms of extreme music, such as influential bands like Turmoil and Napalm Death. That night triggered a spontaneous urge to arrange and organize some jotted down lyrics and riffs. Within a couple hours the basic layout of the bands first song, “Selftorture”, was complete. The lyrics of the song were based on the rigorous struggles that individuals go through to develop an identity and fulfill personal objectives amongst a social order, regardless of ones location and culture. It seemed only natural to give the same title to this project. The only thing missing was a couple of more musicians that would be ready to dedicate themselves to the same vision.
Since Ozan and Mehmet were already active members of other bands and devoted supporters in the extreme scene, they started to spread the word that they were looking for people interested in taking part in the venture. To their surprise, within a week, two close friends active in other bands, guitarist Cenker Yilmaz and drummer Oktay Fistik, had a keen interest to participate. Although each member came from different styles of music (Hardcore, Death, Thrash and Black Metal) the aim was clear. All shared the same passion for hardcore and spent every bit of spare time they had (apart form school, work, or both) for the following 2 months to write new material in the same living room the idea originated. Once jam sessions started to be a routine, through a mouth to mouth network of bands and musicians, the word was out that familiar faces from the underground had joined forces in a new band. The hype led to an offer from the Eskisehir Rock Festival organization to attend as an opening act, which would be their first official gig. Little would have guessed this event would result in the steady productivity the band still displays today.
The energetic stage performance, a quality the band is still recognized for today, in city of Eskisehir stroke the immediate attention of a record label from Istanbul and another based in the capital of Turkey ( Ankara ). This motivated the band to more play more shows throughout the country and in the meantime helped them settle on signing a contract with Zoo Sound, located in their hometown Ankara . A total of 8 tracks were recorded in two weeks under the title “Mislead” and released in the early months of 2002. This short debut album helped increase the bands growing fan base and landed them the chance to be in the concert line-ups of solid Turkish organizations like the annual International Rock Station Festival (attended two consecutive years). The bands stable pace continued until the summer of 2003, when they entered the studio to record their sophomore effort, “Person-A”. In comparison to the sound and style of the raw first release, the band widened the scope of their musical range. The addition of experimental and technical arrangements revealed a band willing to push their limits in a search of musical direction, where as “Mislead” was a stepping stone for four diverse characters determined to try something new.
The start of 2006 was a major turning point for the group. The rhythm section, bass player Ozan and drummer Oktay, parted ways leaving front man Mehmet and Cenker the responsibility to refocus and continue the band that was now their center of attention. With many national club venues and festivals [ Rock The Nations Open Air Festival: Caliban, Cenotaph(TR), Amon Amarth, etc… / Rock Republic Open Air Fest: Slayer, In Flames, Sick Of It All, etc...] under their belts, the remainder of the original roster prepared new songs while in search for new members and a new record label. Early in this process close friend Semih Ornek, known for his contribution to the scene, stepped up to fill the drummer position full time. The trio started practicing and fine tuning the songs in preparation for their next recording session. After observing their progress at a jam session, representatives of the recently established Anger Epidemic records heard of the bands situation and offered to license and finance the recording of the upcoming album. The band was honored by Anger's close interest and agreed to cooperate almost immediately.
Once the tracks of the 3 rd legal release, “Dead Center”, were finished the band approached long time local scene enthusiast Engin Kamarot to complete the line up. Engin was excited by the request and took part without delay. The new album release date is set for November 2006 and will offer listeners, new and old, a stripped down combination of the past releases emphasizing the bands hardcore and death metal roots on a mature and personal level with further intensity. Following the release, as always, the band will start to tour on a tight schedule. For six years now the band has managed to breath and overcome all the obstacles set in their way. Their redefined structure, approach, and sound will be the soundtrack of their fore coming efforts.
Current Line-Up:
Mehmet Stevenson: Vocals
Cenker Yilmaz: Guitars
Engin Kamarot: Bass
Semih Ornek: Drums
Official Url:
www.selftorture.net