The Czech screamo, dark screamo post-hardcore band ZMAR is set to release their new LP, “Napořád” on May 10th, 2023, through Zegema Beach Records and Dingleberry Records. The LP’s title, which means “Forever,” is a reaction to the lyrics of their previous full-length album, and despite the name, the message of the band is still political.
The lyrics and its critique of modern society reacts to social phenomena such as social pressure for uniformity and productivity, the rise of disinformation, far-right and conservatism, anti-feminism and violence against women, hate speech and hate crimes against LGBTQIplus people, social isolation during the COVID-19 years, and the war on Ukraine. The entire album is dedicated to all victims of violence, hate crimes, and war.
To build anticipation for the upcoming release, the band is premiering a song called “Báječné místo” (A beautiful place), which is an adjusted Czech translation of a poem by anarchist and pacifist American poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, titled “World is a beautiful place.”
Zmar found the lyrics of the poem to capture the ruination, helplessness, and resignation of the COVID-19 years and the war on Ukraine.
Zmar was founded in the autumn of 2014 in Prague, Czech Republic, as a side project, and has been influenced by 90s emo/screamo and blackened hardcore. The current lineup came together at the end of 2015 and started playing live as a regular band in May 2016.
Their first demo was released in June 2016, and the first self-titled 12-inch LP was released in May 2018, followed by a Split 7-inch LP with Croatian emo violence band Mališa Bahat in August 2019.
Zmar has played heavily in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, mostly DIY shows with befriended Czech and Slovakian emo hardcore bands such as Nulajednanulanula, Rutka Laskier, Kruhy, Ahoj, and Shallov.
They also did two EU tours with Nulajednanulanula in 2018 and 2022 and are preparing another tour together in June 2023 to support the new release of Zmar.
The band’s name, “Zmar,” is an archaic Czech word that could be loosely translated to English as ruin, downfall, destruction, or chaos.
Their music is raw and emotional, and their lyrics carry a powerful message, and the newest single is a great example of that.
Catch the band live at the following stops in Europe:
26th May: Maribor – MC Pekarna (with Dead Dog Summer)
27th May: Krško – Secret Show (with Mališa Bahat)
2nd June: Plzeň – Divadlo pod lampou (with Rutka Laskier)
EU Tour with Nulajednanulanula:
15th June: Wien – Rhiz
16th June: Salzburg – SUB
17th June: Graz – SUB
18th June: Bratislava – Cyklokuchyně
19th June: Dresden – Riesa Efau
21st June: Bruges – Sprout
22nd June: Paris – Le Cirque Electrique
23rd June: Mannheim – JUZ Mannheim
24th June: Würzburg – Kellerperle
23rd July: Praha – Café na půl cesty (with Ostraca, Nidare)
“The World Is a Beautiful Place” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
The world is a beautiful place
to be born into
if you don’t mind happiness
not always being
so very much fun
if you don’t mind a touch of hell
now and then
just when everything is fine
because even in heaven
they don’t sing
all the time
The world is a beautiful place
to be born into
if you don’t mind some people dying
all the time
or maybe only starving
some of the time
which isn’t half bad
if it isn’t you
Oh the world is a beautiful place
to be born into
if you don’t much mind
a few dead minds
in the higher places
or a bomb or two
now and then
in your upturned faces
or such other improprieties
as our Name Brand society
is prey to
with its men of distinction
and its men of extinction
and its priests
and other patrolmen
and its various segregations
and congressional investigations
and other constipations
that our fool flesh
is heir to
Yes the world is the best place of all
for a lot of such things as
making the fun scene
and making the love scene
and making the sad scene
and singing low songs and having inspirations
and walking around
looking at everything
and smelling flowers
and goosing statues
and even thinking
and kissing people and
making babies and wearing pants
and waving hats and
dancing
and going swimming in rivers
on picnics
in the middle of the summer
and just generally
‘living it up’
Yes
but then right in the middle of it
comes the smiling
mortician
