Franc Teropšič, original drummer of Pomaranča, the central Slovenian heavy metal band of the eighties, has passed away.
At the turn of the seventies into the eighties, in 1979 to be exact, guitarist Mijo Popović and vocalist Zlatko Magdalenič set about putting together a new lineup. That band was Pomaranča.
Drummer Franc Teropšič soon joined Popović and Magdalenič, and with keyboardist Tomaž Žontar and bassist Marko Herak coming on board, he became part of a cult heavy metal five-piece.
It quickly became clear that Pomaranča, with their drive, their punchy guitar phrasing and Magdalenič’s screeching vocals riding wild, had pretty much taken the lead in a genre that was slowly blooming across the territory of the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia included.
With Pomaranča, Franc Teropšič recorded the first two albums, “Peklenska pomaranča” (1981) and “Madbringer” (1983), both of which went silver and still stand as the main pillars of Slovenian metal.
In 1983, Pomaranča were hit by turbulent upheaval, and Magdalenič, Žontar and Teropšič left the band. Franc came back in 1995, and with a lineup of Mijo Popovič (guitar), Goran Krmac (vocals), Marko Herak (bass) and Franc Teropšič (drums), Pomaranča recorded the album “Takoj se dava dol” (1995).
Most recently, Franc Teropšič took part in the making of “Železne stopinje”, the first real documentary about the development of Slovenian metal, released in 2017.
You can watch the film below, which is also up on YouTube. Franc shows up for the first time at 12 minutes 20 seconds, alongside his colleague Tomaž Žontar. In the film, the two musicians relive the birth and growth of Slovenian heavy metal, shaped by the seemingly small, modest steps of musicians who were giants in the eyes of Slovenian metal.
This year, a book called Železne stopinje also came out following the film and DVD, closely following the content of the film.
Franc Teropšič kept drumming with Pomaranča right up until his far too early death. In their later years, the band’s shows were always something of an exclusive because of how rare they were. Franc played his last show with Pomaranča on July 5, 2019, at that year’s edition of the annual metal festival Metaljot Raspaljot Open Air in Laško. Alongside Franc, the lineup that night was Mijo Popovič (guitar), Marko Herak (bass) and Matic Nareks (vocals, now with San Di Ego).
RIP, žalostna novica. Pomaranča so do današnjega dne ostali največji SLO metal band. V svojih začetkih so bili nedvomno najboljši jugo metal band, vsaj kar se mene tiče, je Peklenska Pomaranča bil in ostal najboljši metal album na teh prostorih, ne le Juge, ampak širše, južno od Donave. Je pa res, da so jih po uspešnosti kmalu prehitele Divlje Jagode, ki so po eni strani imele večje tržišče, bile so stabilnejše in predvsem gojile celovit image.
Sicer pa je bila Pomaranča tudi moj prvi rock koncert, na Madbringer turneji, mislim da 1983 na Srednji tekstilni šoli v MB.
Bravo Matija. Respect. Podpis pod tale tvoj komentar. 😀