By Andrew Bansal
Hailing from Dhaka, Bangladesh, Orator is a death/thrash trio that has been around for the past five years, playing gigs in the Bangladesh underground scene, and sometimes beyond, in places like India. Following the 2010 release of their debut EP ‘Dominion Of Avyaktam’ and the 2011 demo ‘Live Crematorations’, they put out their debut full-length album called ‘Kapalgnosis’ earlier this year and will be taking part in the upcoming ‘Banish The Posers’ Fest in their hometown on November 16th. To talk more about this gig and the band’s past, present and future, I caught up with vocalist/guitarist Amit ‘Skullbearer’. Read the conversation below. If you’re in Dhaka, make sure you attend the gig next month. And for those elsewhere, this is a great underground extreme metal band worth checking out.
First of all, it’s great to have you on Metal Assault and I’m very excited to be talking to you. You’re playing the ‘Banish The Posers’ Fest in your hometown Dhaka on November 16th. What are your expectations from the gig?
Thanks for the honor. BTPF is going to be the biggest ever metal gig that took place in this land, and we all have great expectations from this event. Quite a few old school international acts throughout Asia will be playing at this gig. And, we have few very promising bands from our scene that are sworn to put up a killer show on November 16th. This will be massive. All thanks to the performing bands and the brothers at Primitive Invocation.
For the sake of people who’re not familiar with the scene in Bangladesh, I just want to ask you this: how often are you able to play gigs in a city like Dhaka? Do you get shows on a regular basis?
Here in Dhaka we have metal gigs happening quite often. But Orator as a band performs at very few gigs a year, hardly 2 to 3. That’s only the local ones.
You’ve been a band for the past five years. What has been the journey like for you, and are you satisfied with where you are in your career at this point?
The journey so far had been not without troubles and frustration but we did pull it off in the end. We were not that much satisfied until recently when we got the record deal from mighty Pulverised Records for the second full length. I believe as a Band, Orator has to tread much further on this fiery path of samhartantra.
You released your debut full-length album Kapalgnosis earlier this year. How much time and effort did it take for you to complete it?
Took us about a year and a half to write record and mix/master the songs. Few of the songs were written as early as the time of the EP back in 2009. We had to have all the patience possible and give our every effort on this album. And there was fun in all of it.
I found it interesting that you released the album on the French label Armee de la Mort records. Would you say there is more interest for your band, and for underground metal, in places outside Bangladesh?
There certainly is, few European labels are interested in releasing our materials, they also have stocks of our early releases. We also get invitations to play in some Asian countries. Underground Metal Zines come up with interviews. And, we are also talking on releasing split albums with few bands, Manzer and Kathgor and both the bands have shown their interests. So, yeah they do have interests in Orator, however small or big it is.
You’ve also played gigs in India in the past, I believe? I know a lot of people there who are big fans of yours. How have your India travels been and what did you think of the shows you played there?
The only gig we played was at the Trendslaughter Fest I, in Bangalore, and that was a hauntingly memorable experience, brothers welcoming us with flowers and unending booze. And, the gig itself was one of the best, watching legendary band like Dying Embrace and the rest of the great metal acts from Bangalore. It was a great time with comrades in arms and Metal!
What impact does your daily life and society in Bangladesh have on your pursuit of playing in this extreme metal band? In other words, how hard is it to be able to devote time to the band and achieve the results from it that you want to?
As long as one has a decent job and weekends, the heavy load shedding and traffic jam can become the only two obstacles while making music here in Dhaka. Frankly, we have this “mutual” understanding between us and the “society”, we don’t give a fuck and it doesn’t mind us at all.
You’ve listed quite a lot of extreme metal bands as your influences, and a few of the older ones changed their sound and went a more commercial route in later years. What’s your opinion on that? As an extreme metal band, is it just too hard to keep your musical integrity and resist the temptation of making a more ‘accessible’ style of music?
Honestly, we couldn’t care less. We have what we need from these great bands. Sepultura for instance, they are commercial now, but who gives a rat’s ass. The mind is fixated on their earlier releases, and that’s all that we cherish upon. If our ancestors changed their sounds to something different from their original tones then that too is a lesson that tells us not to deviate from the original, primitive sound that a band possesses. And, that’s why we see many old school bands coming up these days. But in general every band, like anything, evolves both lyrically and musically which cannot be denied or held back.
Your lyrics are based on occultism and similar themes. What’s your source of inspiration for coming up with these lyrics?
The aspects of anti-establishment, anti-existence and anti dogmatized religions that are present in the unorthodox left hand traditions namely Vama tantra and Qlipoth have always inspired us. The dreadful and stubborn nothingness that would eventually inflate us all back to the subatomic particles, an inevitable reality that inspires us mostly to produce what Orator represents.
Other than the upcoming ‘Banish The Posers’ Fest, what else do you have planned for the near future?
First priority is to work on the second album and we have already started that. Also looking forward to some international gigs. We might release some demo tapes in between 2014-15 before releasing the second full length through Pulverised Records. That’s all.
Visit Orator on the web at:
facebook.com/pages/Orator/320273501690
Visit Primitive Invocation on the web at:
facebook.com/PrimitiveInvocation