Warpigs is a Hungarian

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

formed in 1993 .

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 The Sziget Festival ( hu, Sziget Fesztivál, ; "Sziget" for "Island") is one of the largest Music festival, music and cultural festivals in Europe. It is held every August in northern Budapest, Hungary, on Óbuda Island, Óbudai-sziget ("Old Bu ...

in Budapest and

Volt Festival The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defi ...

in Sopron, as well as opening for Dog Eat Dog,

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

Biohazard A biological hazard, or biohazard, is a biological substance that poses a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily humans. This could include a sample of a microorganism, virus or toxin that can adversely affect human health. A bioh ...

and

KISS A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

. The band took their name from the song

War Pigs "War Pigs" is an anti-war protest song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1970, it is the opening track from the band's second studio album ''Paranoid'' (1970). Overview The original title of "War Pigs" was "Walpurgis", ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

heavy metal rockers

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

from their 1970

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''

Paranoid Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concer ...

''.

Faith No More Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/r ...

, which influenced the music of Warpigs, also did a cover of this song on their album ''

The Real Thing The Real Thing or Real Thing may refer to: Film and television * The Real Thing (film), ''The Real Thing'' (film) or ''Livers Ain't Cheap'', a 1996 American film * ''The Real Thing'', a 1980 television documentary by James Burke (science historian) ...

''. The song talks about

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

and the absurdities of those who make war without regard to the powerless people who are sent to

die Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

. It's sometimes called a

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

. Their first video, Szandál, was directed by

Nimród Antal Nimród E. Antal (; born November 30, 1973) is a Hungarian Americans, Hungarian-American film director, screenwriter and actor. Life and career Antal was born in Los Angeles, California, to parents of Hungarian people, Hungarian descent. In 199 ...

, 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 Dr. Gergely "Gergő" Kiss (born 21 September 1977) is a Hungarian former water polo player. He was considered to be one of the best left-handed water polo players of his time. Kiss is one of ten male athletes who won three Olympic gold meda ...

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

*Singer: Péter "Petas" Eszenyi *Drums: Gábor "Hekk" Eszenyi *Guitar: György "Jimbo" Újhelyi *Bass: Péter "Pó" Szabó *Bass: Bálint Gátos (currently not a member) *Keyboard: Peter "Dudu" Dózsa (currently not a member) *Extra Vocals: Bence Balázs (currently not a member)

Discography

*''Collected'' (1995, demo) *''Rapid'' (1997 Polygram) *''Quartz'' (1999 Polygram/3T) produced by Emmy-winning recording engineer Donal Hodgson. *''Analóg'' (2000, EP)

Awards and nominations

*''Rapid'' was nominated for the Golden Giraffe Award in 1998. This is the most prestigious Hungarian music award, presented by the Association of Hungarian Record Companies (MAHASZ). The award is currently known as the Fonogram Award. *''Quartz'' was nominated for the Golden Giraffe Award in 2000. *Monte Carlo was included on MR2 Petofi Radio's top 100 list of the past 10 years at No. 68. The list was compiled in 2011 March. Their second video for the song Monte Carlo,http://vimeo.com/26733461 Monte Carlo on Vimeo. Retrieved 2 July 2012 directed by Márton Nyitrai, won MTV Europe's Best Hungarian Music Video award in 1999.

References

External links

Warpigs Official SiteWarpigs Official Facebook pagePhotos: Warpigs live 23. March 2005. at Banális Közhely
{{Authority control Hungarian rock music groups