Mezarkabul (Pentagram in Turkey) is a Turkish heavy metal and speed metal band formed by Hakan Utangaç and Cenk Ünnü. Pentagram is known for integrating Anatolian elements into their music.
Mezarkabul was formed in Istanbul in 1986 by guitarist Hakan Utangaç and drummer Cenk Ünnü. By 1987, bassist Tarkan Gözübüyük had joined and they started doing live shows. Their first songs were released in 1990 on the self-titled Pentagram album. In 1992, a second guitarist Demir Demirkan joined the band, as well as a new lead singer, Bartu Toptas, helping Hakan to concentrate on his guitar duties. Several gigs were played with the new line-up until Bartu decided to move back to Sweden. He left the band in march 1992 just when the band had started to record the "Trail Blazer" album. The voice in the beginning of "Secret missile" belongs to Bartu who left the band during the recordings. Substituting Bartu vocalist Ogün Sanlısoy was added to the line-up. They released their second album Trail Blazer in the same year and enjoyed a rapidly-growing fanbase - both in Turkey and worldwide. In 1993 guitarist Ümit Yılbar was killed by terrorists on the mountain of Cıraf while serving the Turkish Army. They made the tribute song Fly Forever in memory of Ümit Yılbar and the band also dealt with this issue in subsequent songs as "1,000 in the Eastland" and "Anatolia" (both from the album "Anatolia").
For the next three years, the band toured in their homeland and over the world. In 1995, vocalist Murat İlkan replaced Ogün, and they started working on their next album, Anatolia. Anatolia was released in Turkey in 1997, and several weeks after the release, Century Media approached Pentagram for a worldwide release. The lyrics of Anatolia mainly deal with issues of war, pain and ignorance, often in an unusual way. In "1,000 in the Eastland" it is stressed that "thousands of people are dying in the East, all ignored by the West, where one death becomes a tragedy", at the same time emphasising that "fighting with hatred feeds the rich men".
They released a live album in 1998 called Popçular Dışarı (literally "Pop Lovers Out"). Guitarist Demir Demirkan departed, and was temporarily replaced with Onur "Mr. Cat" Pamukçu.
The band started recording their next album in 2000 in their own studio in Istanbul. Guitarist Metin Türkcan officially joined the band during the recording session. They composed 17 songs, and decided to split it up into two different CDs. In 2001, Unspoken was released worldwide. In 2002, Bir ("One") was exclusively released in Turkey.
For their releases in Turkey, they use the name Pentagram. However, due to an American doom metal band called Pentagram, they go by the name Mezarkabul (literally "Acceptance To Grave") for international releases.
Mezarkabul is often considered to be the pioneers of heavy metal in Turkey. Their work has inspired all forms of rock music, and helped it to gain popularity in Turkey. They were known to collaborate with the late vocalist of Vitamin, Gökhan Semiz, and Vitamin itself. Also, Tarkan Gözübüyük has worked with numerous artists and bands, producing, arranging and sometimes performing. For example, Mor ve Ötesi's (literally "Purple and Beyond" or "ultraviolet") groundbreaking album Dünya Yalan Söylüyor (literally "The World is Lying") had Gözübüyük as its producer. Other than contributions to rock music, Mezarkabul members continued to contribute to popular music as well. Demir Demirkan, as he pursued his solo career, wrote the lyrics and produced the first Turkish song ever to win the Eurovision song contest. Tuna Kiremitçi, of the Vatan newspaper, wrote an article about the band, praising their contributions.
