The Free Hajduci: An Interview with Barnabás Ungár

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Originally named Echo of Dalriada and formed in 2003, Dalriada have already achieved lots in their home country with a series of albums that have all entered the Hungarian Top Ten. With their latest, AFM records debut Ígéret (“Hope” in English), the band plan to bring their brand of metal to the rest of Europe and beyond – a brand of metal heavily influenced by their homeland’s rich culture.

“Hungarian culture is very rich and we have many tunes that are almost forgotten,” explains keyboardist Barnabás Ungár, reflecting on their native folk music’s influence on them; “So it’s interesting for Hungarians to explore as well as many other cultures.”

He continues, elaborating on Hungarian folk’s appeal; “We listen to folk music when we’re travelling and regularly, we’ll all start to head bang to it! It’s the power of the music – it’s so different to so many other types of music, and has a vibe like no other!”

Not all of those on the Dalriada tour bus are from the metal scene. They also have a local folk band that are dragged on tour with them. “Fajkusz, the folk band that tour with us, are real local folk musicians and their knowledge of Hungarian music is amazing” he adds; “But our guitarist and vocalist András has really been studying the music and is an expert as well now. He’ll search out everything that connects our ideas with Hungarian history.”

The band’s roots in the genre stretch far back. Their desire to mix Hungarian folk and metal something Barnabás elaborates further on; “András started to play this genre of music back in 1998 and I think it was a real desire to be completely different, but also acknowledge our history that drove him on. Lyrics based on Hungarian tales and legends come natural to metal, just like folk music.”

It certainly isn’t surprising for a folk metal band to handle the subject of history. The band’s latest album is no exception. The album travels through many matters of historical importance, not that this is clear to those who don’t speak Hungarian. The language shares no commonality with Latin or Germanic languages, making it very difficult to understand for westerners. Though, one of the languages it does have something in common with is Finnish, a language many folk metal fans are used to hearing; “It’s one of the reasons actually why we asked Jonne (Järvelä, from Korpiklaani) to sing on Leszek A Hold, but to do it in Finnish. He sings parts of the Kalevala – a 19th century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Finnish and Karelian oral folklore – in the song, but actually in Finnish. I think it sounds great with our music; a really nice mixture!”

“ We have many tunes that are almost forgotten ”
- Barnabás Ungár

One of the problems with the association between Dalriada and the rest of the folk metal scene are the stigmas the scene has. Quite often the scene is quite strongly tied to the subjects of both war and drinking, something many metal fans have become weary about. Dalriada, lyrically, aren’t really come from the same place.

“Dalriada’s lyrics are about Hungarian tales of folklore, legends and heroic fighting as well.” Barnabás admits; “But our previous album to this one, Arany Album, was based on the poems of the Hungarian poet János Arany so I think we moved on and away from that. I actually think ‘folk-metal’ is more; there’s a lot more to it than drinking and war-culture! I mean, we actually have no drinking songs at all you know, haha!”

So what of this folklore that we keep hearing about? Obviously coming from the disadvantage of not understanding Hungarian, it is difficult to really determine what the music is really about. The band have been helpful enough to describe the subject matter in more detail on their website (even in English), but even then some of it is vague and mysterious. None more so than the album’s opener, Hajdútánc.

Barnabás explains; “Well, OK… To judge the Hajduci (or Haiduci) and talk about their story, you have to know a little about the time. Their presence in our history is not consistent because there are several different types of ‘Haiduci’, literally ‘Outlaws’. There’s a group who were kind of like ‘highwaymen’ – a local song Hajdú Dance relates the times when these highwaymen obtained food, money, or even love, by force if necessary…”

He continues; “But there was another group of the Hajduci called “The Free Hajduci” too, who were fighting for the country and freedom so heroically, according to certain sources, that they were described as ‘lion-hearted’ during the reign of Stephen Bocskai, Gabriel Bethlen and The Rákóczi. They often clashed with the legal order, the noblemen, and even with the middle classes and the peasants in the 17th century….”

“The Haiduci, always varying in number and living in bleak ’hajdú settlements’, never backed down or were suppressed. They followed their wants, by force of arms if necessary, and were fiercely independent. But later, the fate of these so-called outlaws who were accused of ‘failing to find their niche’ was successfully arranged, and they became part of the norm.”

Interesting stuff, though one has to wonder if this is all common knowledge for the people of Hungary. “The ‘Hajdú’ are pretty well known here, at least everyone has to learn about them in school.” comments the keyboard player; “But nowadays, children forget the meaning of this word quite fast, so it’s great that a band like ours can keep the ‘meaning’ of the word alive in our music!”

“ We actually have no drinking songs at all you know ”
- Barnabás Ungár

With six albums and a wealth of cultural influences in their music, it would seem a shame for the band to be kept inside Hungary. So the big question has to be, when will they be coming to the rest of Europe; “Well, we hope, really soon. Dalriada is already confirmed for some festivals abroad this year; Ragnarök and TANZT! in Germany, the Northern Lights Festival in Austria; we’ll play at most of the Hungarian festivals in the summer, and, after that, hopefully we’ll have the chance to tour with other bands in the Autumn. We’ll work hard for that because it’s time now to really take this band abroad!”

Written by James Donovan
More: Interviews, Dalriada