Mosh-Pit Justice – Dealers in Devastation
Saturday, 3rd December 2016
Growing up in a Balkan country like Bulgaria, the chances become slimmer than most in privileged areas of the globe to gain access to your favorite styles of music – let alone every album you could ever want at your disposal. That’s where the story starts for the power thrash trio Mosh-Pit Justice – a group of close friends and former band mates with three decades of experience under their belts. Starting this act in 2012, they’ve quickly amassed a healthy discography of an EP and three-full length albums – of which the latest Stop Believing Lies showcases a lot of love for muscular-oriented power acts like Metal Church, Sanctuary, and Forbidden to separate themselves from the typical Bay Area US influence tree.
Bassist Mariyan Georgiev starts with the early challenges to even gain proper exposure to rock and heavy metal during his younger years. “I grew up in a Communist country, (so) it was very hard to find rock music. We managed to trade tapes. My first encounters with heavy metal were with bands like Accept, The Scorpions, and Deep Purple. Then later on, I discovered thrash metal. We are heavily inspired by (bands like) Metal Church, Sanctuary, and Forbidden – the melodies are the most important thing for us. We just loved how these guys will mix heavy riffs with some beautiful vocals, and actual singing.”
For Stop Believing Lies the band signed to Witches Brew, a German label very well-known in the underground for its dedication and strength in the thrash/speed metal genres as well as those offshoots. Letting us know how the relationship began, Mariyan states, “We have been in contact with Witches Brew since 2013. We wanted to work together, but at the time we had other obligations. Finally, 3 years later, we were able to do it. We are very happy with the release and working with the label. Hopefully we will work together again in the near future. Being a band from eastern Europe has its pros and cons… but overall if you put enough effort (in) and present a good product to the fans sooner or later you will be noticed. We are very happy with the support and recognition that we are receiving from all over the world. Mainly South America but the US and Europe are not far behind. We have positive feedback even from Japan, and that is very exciting for someone coming from a small Balkan country.”
The striking artwork has been another consistent hallmark for the group – thrash being one of the more important genres to make social/political statements not only through lyrical content, but also in the visual department. “The cover art is very important for a metal album,” Mariyan explains. “Maybe not (as much) today as back in the 80’s but it still makes a statement and kind of tells (you) what the band is all about. We usually do the concept for (our) covers ourselves, and we’ve had the pleasure to work with some of the finest artists in the industry. My favorite Mosh-Pit Justice cover is for Justice Is Served.”
It’s always interesting when taking in a band’s music to find out what some of their favorite releases may be in a particular genre – so in asking Mariyan about the best thrash releases to his ears, you may be a little surprised. “If I have to pick five albums I will go with: Dark Angel – Time Does Not Heal, Paradox – Heresy, Forbidden – Forbidden Evil, Testament – The Legacy; and Exodus – Bonded by Blood. Although if I could be given another record, it would be a fight between Metallica – Master of Puppets and Slayer – Reign in Blood. You also cannot overlook the efforts of bands like Death Angel and Heathen.”
For those who hope that Mosh-Pit Justice will become a live entity, it’s unfortunately not going to happen anytime soon as Mariyan resides in Florida while guitarist Staffa and vocalist Georgy live in Bulgaria. The guys rarely have off-time beyond their careers and the band activities. “It’s hard to find time for hobbies while working full-time,” Mariyan states. “Georgy is a big soccer fan, while Staffa and I like to work out. Our main hobby and second job is Mosh-Pit Justice but we are realists and know that (this) will never pay the bills.”
Since the recent US political election season has come to its conclusion, people the world over certainly have strong opinions and concerns over what will happen next. Mariyan is no exception in expressing his worries. “I’m very concerned about what is happening in America right now. It came to a point where the people had to choose between two evils so they chose the smaller (one). But is (Donald) Trump the smaller. We have yet to see. I’m not very optimistic for the future.”
Even as the new release hits the streets, Mosh-Pit Justice isn’t going to let time idle away. Curious to know about the future and if these guys also play in other bands during down-time from MPJ, Mariyan explains, “For now we are concentrating on the promotion of our newest album. We already started writing some new material but for now it’s just a pile of riffs, screams, and noise. As for the other bands the guys are in – Staffa plays with The Revenge Project, a very solid Bulgarian death metal band that is well established in the Bulgarian metal scene, and Georgy is with The Outer Limits- a Bay Area thrash metal oriented band also very well known in the Bulgarian scene.”
