Warpigs (band)

History

After several member changes, the classic lineup from 1997 consisted of the two Eszenyi brothers, György Újhelyi and Bálint Gátos. They split in 1999 with singer Peter Eszenyi leaving the band. Several singers were drafted to replace him, including Marci Lombos and Chris Alexander, but none of them stayed for long. In 2006 they started playing together again with Eszenyi as singer, having one or two gigs every year since. Bassist Bálint Gátos has been replaced with Péter Szabó (Igor, HAW) at concerts since 2010.

They played at several high profile gigs and festivals including Sziget Festival in Budapest and Volt Festival in Sopron, as well as opening for Dog Eat Dog, Bon Jovi, Biohazard and KISS.

The band took their name from the song War Pigs by British heavy metal rockers Black Sabbath from their 1971 album, Paranoid. Faith No More, which influenced the music of Warpigs, also did a cover of this song on their album The Real Thing. The song talks about war and the absurdities of those who make war without regard to the powerless people who are sent to die. It's sometimes called a protest song.

Their first video, Szandál, was directed by Nimród Antal, who later used the same idea for his first major motion picture Kontroll (2003). He and the band members came up with the idea for the video together, however, they are uncredited on Kontroll.

Hungarian Olympic champion water polo player Gergely Kiss is one of their biggest fans.

Gábor Eszenyi has since joined a new band called Jamestown in London where both he and his brother Peter now live.

Their single Monte Carlo is still regularly played on radio stations, for example on 3 September 2016, it was aired by Rádió Rock 95.8.

Members

Discography

Awards and nominations

Their second video for the song Monte Carlo, directed by Márton Nyitrai, won MTV Europe's Best Hungarian Music Video award in 1999.