Interview With Malaysian Death Metal Band Kathgor

First of all, you are participating in the ‘Banish The Posers’ Fest in Dhaka, Bangladesh on November 16. How are preparations going for that?

So far, the preparations are going well. Even though we have problems with our line up in the very last minute (our guitarist went missing and untraceable and the guest bassist couldn’t make it due to personal reasons) we managed to solve it through by asking the help from Ray (Savage Deity) and Vritra (Orator) to be our guest guitarist and bassist for the Dhaka Ritual. This is our first show in Dhaka and we will do our best!

I think it’s awesome that you and Lobotomy, two bands from Malaysia, are playing a show together in Bangladesh. Were you pleasantly surprised by the fan following you have in that country, and to be contacted by the promoters of this show?

Yeah, it’s good to travel with the members from Lobotomy since we are all friends. Oh yes, I was actually quite surprised and I am glad that we have fans in Dhaka. To be honest I am quite excited to see the metal scene there myself. I am very curious. After watching Orator’s performance last December in Bangkok (my first time watching them live) and 4 months ago here in Malaysia, makes me want to explore more bands from Dhaka.

Ahhh yes, I still remember my first meeting with the promoter in Bangkok last year, a great guy indeed. We managed to stay in touch after that. Met him again 4 months ago with members from Orator here in Malaysia. We had great times. And we’re going to meet him again in 2 weeks! He told us that he likes our performance and songs and invited us to play in Dhaka.We really feel honored and we thank him for inviting us to play alongside with all the great bands there.

So far, you’ve released two demo EPs. Have you had a chance to work on a full-length release since the 2011 release of your second demo ‘The Lord Of Infernal Blasphemy’?

Yes. The first demo was self-released and most of the copies I sold and traded outside from Malaysia. There’s a repressed version of the first demo “Descendants from the Depth” with a different cover artwork (Fizan from VAULT did the artwork) that was released by a local label Basement Records. The second demo “The Lord of Infernal Blasphemy” was released by an Italian label called Terror From Hell. I was in contact with Stefano years before he decided to release our second material.It was a good deal.About the full length, we are still working on it.We are supposed to come out with the full length sooner but because of line up problems that we’re having, we have no choice but to hold it first.It has been on hiatus since then.We want to do our best for this full length and we don’t want to rush things too fast.

This might seem like a generic question, but you do have an interesting name so I have to ask: what’s the meaning of the name Kathgor and what’s the origin behind it becoming your band’s name? 

Before I set up this band I have thought of so many names. Then I came across this name Kathgor which means the accuser, it’s a Greek word which refers to one who brings condemning accusations against others and is also an attempt to malign the character of god and his plans. At that time I felt that name is suitable and I used it straight away.

You’re playing ‘Banish The Posers’ Fest with a bunch of other extreme metal bands. In what way do you think you’re different from the other bands on the lineup?

Each band that will be performing for this Dhaka Ritual has their own ways that makes them different than one another. We are honored to be playing alongside with all the great bands that comes from various countries. As for Kathgor, our line up for Banish The Posers Fest this November comes from 3 countries, Bangladesh,Thailand and Malaysia and that’s what makes us different than the other bands.. Other than that, we play old school death metal in the most extreme aggressive way. And we will play a new track that’s never been released before specially for DHAKA!!!!!

How much time from your daily lives are you able to devote to your band? How easy or hard is it to find rehearsal rooms, studios and gigs in your hometown/country?

We rehearse once a week…. four times or more in a month. We are not full time musicians and there are other commitments that we have to consider too. But because of our burning passion,we are still devoted. It is not that hard at all actually to find a rehearsal room here. We have gigs organized every week. Sometimes 2 or 3 gigs on the same date.

Your dark lyrical themes obviously go together very well with the musical style. How do you come up with the lyrics and what’s your source of inspiration? Does it involve a study of books, movies or anything like that?

Basically my source of inspirations comes from everywhere. When I wrote Descendants from the Depth it took me 10 minutes to finish the whole lyric. It depends on my mood and deals with what I feel at that time. I am always attracted to everything that is dark, mysterious and evil. It may sound cliché, but like I said, my inspirations comes from many sources. So far, I wrote all the lyrics in the first and second demo and also our new songs.

I’m going to ask you something that I also asked Lobotomy but I’d like to get your perspective on it. Since Malaysia gets to host international bands on a somewhat regular basis, which shows have you had a chance to attend and which one has been your favorite so far?

It was 8 years ago in 2005 that I had the chance to see Kreator perform live right in front of my eyes.To me that’s the best show that I have seen so far.

In your opinion, how important is it for a country like Malaysia to get these international shows for the development of the local scene and inspire more and more metalheads to start their own bands?

Inviting more international bands to play in our country is actually an eye opening experience for the local metalheads here. But to say its important, yeah it does help in a way. The undeground metal scene here started in the early 80s and we have bands that released their albums the same year as the bands from overseas. For example Brain Dead released their album “From The Ecstacy” in 1992 the same year Malevolent Creation released “Retribution” and Incantation “Onward to Golgotha”. Sil Khannaz released “Conception of Madness” in 1993 the same year as Morbid Angel released “Covenant” and so on and so forth. There are too many bands here. At that time many gigs were organized and most of the bands were inspired by the local bands that they see at the local gigs.

Aside from this show in Dhaka, what else do you have coming up in the near future? 

Well, we will have a split 7″ EP with a band from US that will be released by Slapbet Records (Sg), mcd which will be released by Witchhammer production (a deal that’s been on hiatus for so long..arghhh) and a 12″ LP which is a compilation of both demos + 2 new unreleased songs that will be released by Basement Records (Mys). There are other projects too but its not confirmed yet. As for the merchandises, do contact me at:

armyofhell666(at)hotmail.com

or write to me at :
RSD,
PO Box No.41,Pos 2020 Kajang,
43007 Selangor,Malaysia.

Thanks for this interview my friend and we will see you soooooooooooooooon Dhakarghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!