EYESBURN [*]

Eyesburn is a Serbian hardcore punk band with influences of reggae music.

The band was formed in 1994, and the original line-up by former Dead Ideas guitarist Nemanja "Kojot" Kojić (guitar, backing vocals), who parallely worked as trombonist in Del Arno Band and bassist in Sunshine, Nenad Živić (vocals), former Bloodbath member Aleksandar "Alek" Petrović (drums), former URGH! member Vladimir "Laza" Lazić (bass) and Aleksandar "Gile" Radulović. The name, Eyesburn, was chosen as a comment on the Serbian TV programs which "burn the eyes".

The first release, the album Freedomized, was recorded live at Belgrade club KST. During this period Eyesburn mostly played in Belgrade clubs, occasionally elsewhere in Serbia. The band also started working on the band's first studio album Dog Life. However, the band's vocalist Nenad left the band just weeks before the band started recording in the studio, and Kojić took over the lead vocalist position. The album featured the songs written in English language and a cover of Bob Marley single "Exodus", featuring guest appearance by Del Arno Band vocalist Jovan Matić.

At the same time, Kojot started playing trombone as well, and the band started musical exploration of other genres, such as reggae, dub, drum & bas. On the various artists compilation Korak napred 2 koraka nazad, the band recorded a cover version of Haustor song "Šejn". Soon after, Eyesburn recorded their second album Fool Control, featuring a new guitarist Ninoslav "Nino" Filipović, which was produced by Saša Janković. The songs "No Free Time", "Foolin' (&)", "Warning Dub", and others, presented the album as an effective form of modern reggae sound. The title track, beside the track "Rizlu imaš, ličnu kartu nemaš" appeared on the soundtrack of the film "Munje" in which the band appeared as a club band.

As a result of their growing popularity they received an invitation for the pre-election tours "IT’S TIME" and "USE IT (your brain)". The band started performing in former Yugoslav republics and became one of the most active bands in Serbia. During 2001, and 2002, Eyesburn performed at the EXIT festival in Novi Sad, along with Tony Allen, Asian Dub Foundation and Fundamental.

In late 2001, the band released the CD Gabau!, featuring eight songs, two of which, "No Free Time" and "Foolin' (&)" were recorded live in Belgrade on June 22, 2001. As guests on the album appeared Disciplin A Kitschme drummer Will Parker, percussionist Leša, and vocalist Oliver Nektarijević. With the Jamaican dub poet Ank Steadyspear, the band recorded the album Cool Fire - Eyesburn meet Ank Steadyspear. The album was recorded separately, as Ank Steadyspear sent the already recorded vocal sections over the Internet, and the band recorded the music to the recordings. The band appeared live with Ank Steadyspear as an opening act for Lee Scratch Perry. The following year, the band's two songs, "Junglezburn" and "Foundation" appeared on two different Metropolis records various artists compilations.

In 2003, the band released the album Solid which, produced by Saša Janković, was more hardcore oriented than the previous releases. The band's growing popularity lead to an invitation from Max Cavalera to appear on the song Moses on the Soulfly album Prophecy and play on the 2004 Prophecy Europe Tour. Kojić also appeared on the Soulfly album Dark Ages.





Some of my favourite songs: