Doomed Confessionary: Bartosz Kulczycki & Marcin Jastrzębski (Hypnosaur)
Photo credit: Łukasz Nowako
Hypnosaur is a four-piece stoner/rock’n’roll band from Warsaw, Poland. Founded in 2017, Hypnosaur has since released two EPs, »Illusion« (2019) and »Undead Invaders Born To Die In A Maze« (2024), and two full-length albums, »Doomsday« (2022) and »Afterlife« (2026).
Hypnosaur’s latest album »Afterlife«, released in May 2026, is a continuation of the universe initiated on the »Doomsday« record. The lyrical layer focuses on the problems of misinformation and the impact of technology on society, framed within irony and satire.
Musically, it is a step forward: both in terms of composition and production, as well as a more expanded instrumentation (theremin, percussion instruments). The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Haldor Grunberg (Behemoth, Me And That Man, Dopelord) at Sound Of Records Studio.
Hypnosaur are Bartosz Kulczycki (lead vocals, keyboards), Marcin Jastrzębski (bass), Michał Siedlecki (guitar, backing vocals) and Marcin Szóstakowski (drums).
Can you say a few words about your band?
Farf: We’re Hypnosaur and we play jurassic punk! We come from Warsaw, Poland or from another dimension, whatever sounds better for you. And there’s four of us, same team from the very beginning of this band.
Bart: If you’re reading this, we are a band that you should give a listen to!
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Farf: I think the biggest challenge was (and is) to reach new listeners. We don’t struggle when it comes to all the songwriting, artwork ideas, videos, etc. The promotion however is a tough subject nowadays – specifically in a DIY band like ours. We don’t have support from a major label, management or any booking agency, so we need to push each aspect on our own, and that sometimes might be really tough and frustrating. But we love it, so we’ll keep doing it anyway!
Bart: For other bands I played in, the main issue were always the people in the band. You cannot form a good band with people that you don’t enjoy spending time with. When on the interpersonal level everything is in order, you can build further. We’re very happy with the music we create, but like Farf says, it’s tough to be recognized, because there are so many great bands on this planet and most of these don’t get the attention they deserve either.
What can you be most proud of so far?
Farf: Personally I’m proud of everything we’ve achieved so far. Of course someone may have had some bigger expectations regarding the amount of gigs or album sales or whatever else, but I think we’re in quite a good place – specially remembering what I said before, that we’re a 100% DIY band. And I know that there’s still much more to come!
Bart: The new album in general. I love each and every song from it, I try to celebrate every good opinion or review that I get, and I can’t wait to see where we go from here.
What was your biggest regret?
Farf: I try not to have any. We do everything as well as we can at the moment. Thinking that we could’ve recorded something better or do something the other way after months or even years doesn’t get you anywhere. I try to think about the future only, and right now my mind is slowly turning its focus on our fall tour and next releases.
Bart: When we record music and I have those moments like “hey, this part could be re-recorded and played a little better”, I try to push the band to do it better now. In the early days I ignored those things and actually regretted it afterwards, but as the time goes on, I am more and more picky on those little things not to have anything to regret in the future!
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
Farf: Our tour “Hypnosaur Invades The South” which covered Romania, Croatia, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary was our coolest and biggest adventure yet. I really enjoyed playing Soundart Festival in Bucharest. But I always hope that our best gig is still to come.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
Farf: Wow, that’s a tough one. Should I say about positive or negative surprises? About music or for example ticket prices and monopolistic behavior of some companies? I could probably write a book on that one, so I’m gonna stick to one, local thing that really made me happy: there’s a really strong group of young kids in Warsaw playing glam, thrash, metal and they have really no burden of old farts from radio stations telling them what to do. They just go out and rock hard – way better than when we were their age. So that’s a really cool surprise lately.
Bart: We supported a Norwegian band that I love last year during their gig in Poland. They are not a huge name but they still have some recognition in their genre, they have fans all over the world, tour the whole Europe, play the biggest metal festivals, not as a headliner though, but during the day. I would say, that is quite successful already. It turns out that this is not enough even to make a living. This was a sad surprise for me.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Farf: You probably won’t believe me, but let’s go for last week’s history: Dua Lipa (one of my all-time favorites, no bullshit), The Asteroids Galaxy Tour (I listened to them a lot around 2012 and just got back to it, some songs still rock), Kneecap (love the new album, »Fenian« is my most played song in the last weeks), Marmozets (»Cut Back« is a banger), Blondie, Viagra Boys, Duran Duran. I will probably listen to a lot of B-52’s soon as I’m going to finally see them live in June.
Bart: When I hear such questions, I suddenly forget all the bands I love, but when it comes to bands that I listened to a lot over the last month, let me say Starbenders, The Cruel Intentions and Confess. On the other hand, if I had to pick my favorite album of 2025, that would have to be either »Trivia Goddess« by Year Of The Goat or »Giants & Monsters« by Helloween.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Farf: Well, I don’t really consider myself a musician 🙂 But I have to say that one phrase stuck to me lately. I booked a Yawning Man gig here in Warsaw last November and I gave the guys Hypnosaur records – but »Afterlife« wasn’t out yet. And I told Bill Stinson something like “I’m giving you those, but we already have a new one out in a few months and it’s gonna be better” and he just replied “That’s the game”. I think it’s really good to always develop and go forward, so yeah, I think this might be the best advice I got.
Bart: Probably the best one I’ve heard was from Behemoth’s Nergal, whose advice was simply “don’t”. I’m partially kidding because we still DO play music and we LIKE it. But what you can get from this advice is: don’t raise your expectations too high if you want to play rock and you’re not interested in whatever is trendy at the moment. Do it for the fun, not for success.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Farf: Some may say that disco, italo disco, eurodance, etc., but I don’t really feel guilty while listening to it. Those bands have bangers that most of rock bands could only dream of. If I really have to find something: I don’t eat candy bars at all but I love ice cream Snickers, Bounty, Mars, etc. And that’s really bad shit with terrible ingredients, so probably here I feel a little guilty.
Bart: Spicy snacks and coke. Musically? Bands like Beast In Black. I mean, Beast In Black is great and I am a huge fan, but it’s not a band that can be treated seriously.
Can you say something more about current music scene in Poland?
Farf: Sure! Polish scene has grown in recent years and it’s really strong. Sometimes I even think that too strong – as it happens that there are 3-4 gigs that would interest me on the same day 🙂 There are some underground bands that already rose to a status when they’re playing festivals and gigs abroad and have a really decent following, like Dopelord or Sunnata. There’s a strong metal scene, which is not really my cup of coffee. There’s also a lot of bands that are our friends and have been here for a while – started before us or at a similar time – and are still growing: Wij, Penthouse, Daffodil Pill. But as I mentioned before, it’s most important for me that the kids are playing rock again – with all the shitty hip-hop stuff being the most listened genre in the country. So for example Red Ripper and the whole emerging glam scene in Poland is something that interests me the most.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
Farf: In the fall we’re going on our biggest tour in Poland yet: we’ll visit more than 10 cities and we’re gonna literally be all over the country – from Northwest to Southeast. The current list of confirmed gigs looks as follows:
16/10 – Katowice – Piąty Dom
17/10 – TBA
18/10 – Warszawa – Chmury
23/10 – Białystok – Podlaska Adamczycha
24/10 – TBA
13/11 – Szczecin – Piwnica Kany
14/11 – Wrocław – Liverpool
20/11 – Łódź – Iron Horse Pub
04/12 – Tarnów – Przepraszam
11/12 – Bydgoszcz – Over The Under
12/12 – TBA
And I’m really excited, because we’ll go to places we’ve never been to before. Apart from that, I really hope that the new album will open some new doors for us and that in 2027 we’ll be able to play more festivals and gigs abroad!
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Farf: Keep goin’! After all, it’s our hobby and fun thing to do, not a job. So we’re gonna play and record stuff as long as it makes us happy!
Bart: We will continue what we are doing and see where it takes us. We are never going to be a band of four virtuosi, as none of us is a music school graduate or anything. But I, personally, want us to be the living proof that four guys with a hobby can create something really really cool.
How can people best support your band?
Farf: Buy merch and come to the shows, obviously! We’ve just opened our new official store: hypnosaur.sumupstore.com where you can buy all the goodies. And we’re really proud of the merch we managed to prepare with »Afterlife«.
Bart: If you like what you are hearing, use the “like” or “share” buttons, add the songs to playlists, show the music to your friends, and if you have the opportunity visit shows and buy merch.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Bart: Support the bands that fly under the radar because they are the ones that really need it. Support real music and don’t let AI kill human art. AI is great for many things, but art is not one of them.
Farf: And rock on!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well