Hazerfan featured in GILDED SERPENT Magazine's Community Kaleidescope
Turkish journal's review about the Monterey 10th Turkish Festival and Hazerfan: www.turkishjournal.com/i.php Our CD review released in EXPOSE Magazine, by Paul Hightower, 2007 S.F. Bay Area-based Hazerfan have been around since 1998 thought his is their only album to date. The group gigs relentlessly, steadily building an audience for their fusion of eastern and western sounds. On the western side, Hazerfan are decidedly hard rock and metal with chugging, distorted guitars and a pounding rhythmic assault, even occasionally slipping into speed metal courtesy of guitarist Goktan Kural's blistering lead playing. The eastern side derives from traditional Middle Eastern folk music modalities in the material, along with the use of hand percussion and violin that adds further ethnic spice to the arrangements. This side of Hazerfan's stage act gets a huge boost courtesy of voluptuous singer Beth Hada's belly dancing (occasionally with snakes!) - I've never seen the band live, though based on photos from their web site I would guess that male audience members have a hard time taking their eyes off of her. It's easy to imagine Hazerfan covering Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" (which they do) though they have a modern flair to their sound that also reminds me of Faith No More or even Red Hot Chili Peppers. Expose' readers will warm to songs like the instrumental "Evil Eye" or closer "Uzun Hava/Hyperspace" that reveal an affinity for the sort of eclectic blending of progressive and rock styles seen from Azigza. The band has undergone some lineup changes recently but they have talent and a solid musicial foundation to build on. I look forward to hearing where they go next. Jacob Richardson's Review about Irelands' 32 show with Cloakwheel and Shiloh (February 19, 2007) from Powerslave Magazine Hazerfan’s performance breathed with an organic liveliness. Their style was very rich and lush Prog Metal with a slight New Age vibe swirled into their ethereal grit. Listening to them sounded like being lost in a dark medieval forest haunted by hungry werewolves, mischievous imps, and fire breathing dragons. It’s music that Frodo would totally rock out to if he were tatted up and tore through The Shire on a gun metal gray Ducati 916. Besides the staple guitar-bass-drum core, Hazerfan used a clarinet and keyboards for additional sound experimentation. The layers added by the synth successfully produced an atmosphere of ominous darkness. It made their songs sound more epic, more urgent, and more engulfing. Exceptional percussive work pummeled with a deep ferocity churned each song with a deep sense of approaching danger. By the end, I was hungry for my Opeth albums. An instrumental belly dance and sword show by the bikini topped vocalist was an effective way to punctuate their set. To read the full review of the show at powerslave website click here Selcuk Erez's Article, Cumhuriyet Gazetesi, 18 October 2004 Murat Bayhan's name mentioned as a main influence of a Turkish drummer along with names of masters such as Gene Krupa,Ian Paice,Carmine Appice,Cozy Powell. click here for whole article A write up about our band and our latest album release in Turkiyepost News website(www.turkiyepost.com), Turkey Son albüm yaz sonu ABD’de Hazerfan 'Lost Nowhere' ile geliyor Özellikle Ankaralilarin yakindan tanidigi Hazerfan, son albümleri “Lost Nowhere” ile ABD’de listelere girmeye hazirlaniyor. Oryantal ve progresif rock etkilenimleri olan orjinal heavy rock parçalarla yepyeni bir tarz yakalayan Hazerfan, son albümleri “Lost Nowhere” ile ABD’de müzik listelerine girmeye hazirlaniyor. Orientation demosuyla Amerikali bagimsiz plak sirketi Falcata Galia Recordings’in dikkatini çeken Hazerfan 2002 yilinda "Lost Nowhere" adli albümünün kayitlarina basladi. Amerikali Beth Hada’yla yalnizca vokalde degil perküsyon ve piyanoda da kendini yenileyen grup, “Lost Nowhere”in vokal kayitlarina da basladi. 2006 yilinin Yaz aylarinda albümün ABD’de yayinlanmasi sonrasinda da "Lost Nowhere"in Türkiye’deki müzik marketlerin raflarinda yerini almasi saglanacak. Oryantal ve alternatif öðeler içeren rock agirlikli tarzlarini özgün çalismalariyla destekleyen Hazerfan grubu su ana kadar Amerika’da San Francisco, Berkeley, Campbell, Sunnyvale, , Livermore, Gilroy ve Fairfax kentlerinde konserler düzenledi ve cesitli festivallerde yer aldi. To read the whole news about us click here Review of our album "LOST NOWHERE" in Strutter Webzine by Gabor Kleinbloesem, Netherlands Original band mixing influences from Turkish music with classic hardrock/metal riffs. Of course this sounds not like any other band out there, which is a good thing for sure. The band has a female singer (BETH HADA) who indeed sounds like someone from the Middle East, while the guitarplaying is classic Hardrock orientated, with some BLACK SABBATH guitar riffs, but also JIMI HENDRIXish guitarwork. It all sounds quite impressive on all 9 songs on the CD, with most of the songs balancing in the same sort of style, which is midtempo and groovy. I can only recommend you to check out this original band from California at: http://www.hazerfan.com and e-mail them at: hazerfan1@yahoo.com (Points: 8.2 out of 10) To read the original review click here Listen to the archive of our guest appereance at the Critic's Carnival by Eric "Carnivalman" Brooks at The Dividing Line Progressive Internet Radio (you will need a Winamp to be able to listen to the streaming audio) Listen to the archive of our appereance at the Orient Express radio program by Ahmet Toprak at KKUP Radio Review of our album "LOST NOWHERE" in Turkish Progressive Music Website by Gerald Van Waes, Belgium Hazerfan : Lost Nowhere (TÜ/US,2005)***° Hazerfan had various changes. Murat Bayhan and Goktan Kural after the band Time Machine had formed Bonustrack in Turkey. Then the name was changed to Hazerfan. Then both Turks moved the band to San Fransisco in 2003 and quickly found a very compatible, female singer/lyricist Beth Hada who seems to be inspired by the power of the band. Also new to the band is Cris-P, on electric bass and Patti Weiss, on violin. The music is really great and powerful hardrock. The production and evolution I think has improved the music. It is driven by great drumming, electric bass and emotional electric guitars. Various tracks have oriental, Turkish melodies (also in violin) but not necessarily. The combination of bass, drums (partly Turkish), electric guitar, electric violin (mostly oriental), together with the general oriental/Turkish flavour and beyond really gives a very attractive sound. Recommended to any serious hardrock fan ! To read the original review click here Review of our album "LOST NOWHERE" in "Born to Die Zine" by Gnom , Poland HAZERFAN "Lost Nowhere" CD'2004 These which visit our side regularly (and read my reviews obviously) they will not be surprised that again I dug out some odd band, the band is not necessarily clean metal. This time East met West . Well, HAZERFAN coming from The United States and they create the music qualify as heavy rock with influences alternative, progressive and first of all with influences oriental music. That is it is the mixture of heavy rock and traditional Turkish, oriental folk music. On the front of band stands the vocalist - Beth Hada (the proprietor of beautiful sensorial voice, oscillating in oriental scales of voice), which together the violins of Turay Dinleyen and Faut Calkan (creators the oriental masterly melodies) brings in the huge dose of oriental climate. The rest of team (the men's part) create Murat Bayhan (the drummer, ideally joining intricate oriental rhythms with enough heavy rock playing) and Goktan Kural (the guitarist, skillfully give to the whole rock-metal energy and guitar melodies). Arrangements includes from typically oriental scales and melody to rock progressive patents with traces of metal, funk and jazz. The tunes bring many emotions, melancholy, positive energy or else gentle darkness. The musicians additionally use (out of the violins) the flute and gentle keys which more strengthens oriental atmosphere and ideally harmonize with the guitar playing. To read the original review click here Our show review released in powerslave.com website (11.15.2004) Amanda Allan's review of our 11.10.2004 Blakes on Telegraph Show is released in Powerslave.com. Here is the part about us from that review: Turkish-inspired rockers Hazerfan have a psychedelia-by-deduction aspect. The Beatles' foray into the introduction of Indian instruments into their music can be viewed as a predecessor to the general direction of Hazerfan; however, Hazerfan are not merely a Western rock band with an Eastern timbre--Hazerfan is a fusion in the true sense of the word. Not as Eastern as Kula Shaker nor as Western as Nile, Hazerfan is somewhere between the two. Certain Eastern qualities stand out in Hazerfan's music, such as the use of electric violin to lend a gypsy quality especially in the emphasis of the raised 7th tone in harmonic minor and the airy often reverb-pedaled vocals with the Eastern-style shifting between accidentals. Vocalist Beth Hada is not as cold tonally as Natasha Atlas but at apex points reaches a similar though warmer brassiness, which compliments the cool minor quality of the violin playing in approximately the same note range as the human voice. The guitar, bass, and drums alternate frequently between Eastern and Western characteristics, drawing on an exhaustive supply of influences from classic rock to blues and funk roots as well as more Eastern phrasings and devices. Hazerfan's flavor resembles that of Zeppelin's "Kashmir", which the band covered--the driving violin line, strong drum/bass unity, and a fuzzy/scratchy guitar sound. The music has a spinning momentum to it, like a whirling dervish or plumes of smoke. There is a metal element at play here, although a more classical one, such as that of old Ozzy or Aerosmith, particularly evident in Hazerfan's use of stop/start devices. Compositionally, Hazerfan layers elements equally as complicated as those which Facing New York coordinates, going in at least as many different directions thematically but also unifying well at crux moments. "Hyperspace" being the absolute standout track, epitomizes the cohesive catchiness of these East-West blues/folk-metal elements in harmony. Hazerfan is a particularly excellent example of the virtues of absorbing as many influences as possible, even if it doesn't invoke certain stereotypically metal tropes. To read the full review of the show at powerslave website click here Info about HAZERFAN released in Music Box website |
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