Orator is undoubtedly one of the fiercest and most gruesome bands that South Asia has offered to the world metal scene. Currently signed with Pulverized Records, Singapore, the band is in process of recording and releasing their second full-length album. Here is a brief interview with the band.
Hail,
Orator! I always wondered what the significance of your band name is. Why
‘Orator’?
Hail! Simply put Orator stands for an individual, a sort
of mascot who orates what we want him to orate through our songs.
“Kapalgnosis”
was a strong testament of Orator’s craftsmanship and abilities. What was the
whole writing process of the album like?
We wrote some of the songs as early as the EP, like “Firstborn”
or “Necrocosmic”. The process was simple, Vritra and I came up with riffs which
we adjoined to conjure a skeletal form of the songs and play at the rehearsal.
Most of the songs were done with Mephistopheles at the jamming pad. That’s the
most important element while writing our songs, the rehearsal sessions!
It has
already been a year and a half already since you released “Kapalgnosis”. I
heard the two rehearsal tracks, “Reprobate Cosmocremator” and “Purveyors of
Shunya Marg”, you shared in the band’s Facebook page, from the upcoming album.
Please tell us something about what we can expect this time. Any new components
in the album?
You can expect nothing but speedy and uncompromising
riffing alongside old school death/thrash metal drumming and bass lines. Thrash
and speed metal elements will be dominating the new songs. There will be some
slow paced songs to change the mood here and there. But overall we hope to
represent the style we have dubbed “thrashened death metal”.
As
much as the fierceness of Orator’s music, your lyrical themes were also something
that intrigued me when I first heard the band: ‘Quantum Nothingness, Aghori,
Destruction (Qliphoth old)’, as Encyclopaedia Metallum states. Would you please
describe these terminologies for those who aren’t very aware?
That would really be a long discussion but in brief these
terms are from which I derive only what’s necessary for Orator without going
too deep into them. It’s how we connect the terms to each other’s through
either describing events, mostly related to the process of self becoming or the
nullification of cosmic orders.
Aghoris
are ascetic Shaivaite sadhus. Coming from a predominantly Islam community, what
influenced you to incorporate these ideas?
We do not take Aghori as a saintly Hindu figure sitting
and uttering mantra from scriptures. To us Aghorism is individualism. An Aghori
is that individual, who is beyond the shackles of belief, societal norms and
against religious oppressions. He is mad against the establishments and any
form of material limitations. That Aghori is an Atheistic Avadhut.
Can we
say that Orator itself is a manifestation of these tantric elements, or is
there something beyond these?
We based our theme on Tantra to have access to the occult
lexis and myths. Orator extracts the gnostic juices out of tantric philosophies
and transmutes them into our own orations.
How
much do you think personal experiences (apart from musical influences) shape
one’s music?
Initially, I mean during the EP personal experiences were
put into the lyrics very strongly. Ritualistic and theoretical occult
experiences were used on the debut album as well.
In a
very atavistic form of death-thrash metal like what you guys play, how
difficult is to make the music sound innovative and original, yet sticking to
the primitive roots?
It should not be difficult, not that much at least once
the band members know what kind of sound they want, this does help
differentiate from the influential band’s sounds.
Do you
think that incorporating ethnic instruments and sounds to your music is, apart
from adding a local flavor to the music, also helpful to add that originality?
Yes, I strongly agree to this. However, it is always
better to avoid overusing such instruments.
Skullbearer,
you were also formerly involved with Weapon with Vetis Monarch. I believe it
was during the time the band was just starting out before he moved to Canada.
What is your impression on Weapon really making it to the top (although it’s
sad that they disbanded lately)? Any memories from your past band? Do you keep
in touch with Vetis Monarch?
Nope I have lost contact with Vetis Monarch few years
back. Lots of memories so to speak, some are great and some are okay. Feels great
to have seen a band I once played made it to the top but saddens because of its
untimely death.
Orator
is a descendent of Barzak, a more black metallic forerunner. What changes led
you to change the name as well as the style of the former project? Was there a
change in the objective of the band?
Barzak had to be disbanded because none from the old
lineup was ready to continue with music anymore in 2008. So once I met Vritra,
we decided to change the band name to Orator. It was then we also wanted to
have a death/thrash metal sound. I always wanted to have a purely thrash metal
side project. So, I saw this as an opportunity to combine the death metal and
thrash metal sounds in one band, Orator.
For
you guys, what do pseudonyms mean? Is it like corpsepainting your names?
Name is a name, but they do represent someone’s influence
and ideology.
Is
imagery an essential component for a metal band?
I don’t think so, but then again it varies from band to
band depending on the type of metal music they represent. I can only speak for
Orator and for us it’s not necessary to have attires.
Apart
from being a means of self-expression, music can be a form of rebellion,
resistance, preaching, and so forth. In Orator’s case, what is the most
apposite among these?
All of these you have mentioned, resistance or rebellion
strongly connects to our lyrical themes in a metaphorical way. And we
preach/orate that metaphor.
Can
music be a form of entertainment? What is the case with Orator’s music?
Definitely music is a form of entertainment, and Orator
is too, well for the right niche at least.
What
is your definition of freedom?
Freedom is each of us; we are part of a greater
simplicity of freedom shredded to chaos and asymmetric restlessness. So when we
accumulate and rebel as freedom fighters, we achieve freedom.
What
is the biggest threat to the world right now?
Media propaganda backed by politicians and organized religions.
Then again who cares?
As an
underground band, do you care about what your audiences want?
As long as the monitors are working well, we don’t care
much. But the recent Singapore experience was epic with Calving from Pulverised
Records and AhBoy from TNT Studio, Singapore on the sound. Best live output we
ever had! Thanks to both of them!
Talking
about the Bengali scene, I, for one, think that Bangladeshi metal bands as well
as the bands in West Bengal, India (with the new wave of underground bands in
Kolkata), are inclined more into the old-school verge of extreme metal, like
Orator, Morbidity, Nafarmaan, etc. in Bangladesh, and Necrodeity, Mortar,
Armament, etc. in Kolkata, unadulterated by modern forms of the genre. What do
you say on this?
I can proudly say that all the bands you have mentioned
from both the countries are doing great and more and more killer bands are
coming up with great potentiality, Nuclear Winter, Enmachined, Thrash (BD), for
instance. Our scene and that of Calcutta are very young but promising. We have metal
musicians who are also good listeners with good influences. They are much more
capable than the support and publicity they receive from the shitty metal
scenes and labels out there.
Have
you heard of any Nepalese bands or the scene here?
UgraKarma, we have played with them at Trend Slaughter
Fest in Bangalore in February 2014, killer band, great guys. Dying our Flame is
also a great band emerging from Nepal.
One
band you’d like to share your stage with?
Razor (Canada)
What
does Orator like besides metal and the tantric invocations?
Beer and weed, lots of them, please!
Lastly,
any quick ending words?
Trust in metal! Fuck the rest!