Kolkata has been known for its cultural heritage for centuries. Producing some of the most well-known poets and musicians in India, it is often regarded as the cultural capital of the country. Hailing from this city of joy is Mortar – a pure Old School Thrash Metal outfit, aimed to produce original music and keep the fire of Old School burning. Come June 22nd, they will be playing in Bangalore for the first time alongside the likes of Kryptos, Dying Embrace and Bevar Sea in the inaugural Doom Over Bangalore. We caught up with the band for a little interview:
Eight Octaves: Greetings my bondhugon from Kolkata! How have you been?
Mortar: Amazing! Nice to see 8octaves throwing us questions again.
Eight Octaves: Your debut EP – Ground Reality got some really nice reviews, owing mainly for the hard hitting Thrash sound you have. How was the feeling as a band after getting such recognition in such a less amount of time?
Mortar: The huge audience support we got in a short period is really overwhelming. But, we also focused on the critics and lags and tried to improve. Not cling on to the good reviews and discard the bad ones.
Eight Octaves: How was the feeling when it was declared that you would be featured in the Motorhead Tribute album, alongside heavyweights like Dying Embrace, Bevar Sea and Millennium?
Mortar: How can one feel after such an offer? It was tremendous and nail biting as well. Till the last day we finished recording, we were under very much pressure. But, things eventually worked out and we were really happy with the output. Hard work paid off well.
Eight Octaves: Tell us about K.O.S.M.A. a bit, what does the group aim to achieve? What was the reason behind the initiative of having a series of dedicated Old School gigs, considering shows like The Pit is a very nice exposure for Metal bands?
Mortar: K.O.S.M.A (Kolkata Old School Metal Association), thrives to generate the underground old school bands Kolkata holds and give them a platform to showcase their talent. Mainstream metal gig organisers are here for a long time but they never looked up to the wider genres and to the ‘old school’ part. They always went along with the audience flavour at that time, which genre was the hype and thus it gave us an urge to create such shows.
Eight Octaves: This would be your first time performing in Bangalore. How are the preparations going on for the gig? Especially after your former vocalist – Nilabja, left the band.
Mortar: Things have been tough for us, specially Sam, for switching to vocals along with playing the guitar. Regular practise and constant support from our seniors, Vik, Nolan, Srikanth and others helped us a lot to carry on with our sound. We now have enough confidence to go on stage and perform along with the giants.
Eight Octaves: If I’m not wrong, you would be the 3rd Old School band from Kolkata to perform in Bangalore, after Purgation and Necrodeity. The Kolkata underground scene seems to have been getting some nice response in the past year. How does it feel to be the torchbearer of your home city and putting forward some good music for the country to listen to?
Mortar: Well, Armament and Dead Veneration also performed in Bangalore some months ago. So, it makes us the 5th band to play over there.
Kolkata has seen a sudden rise in the old school movement starting from 2011-2012. This is a huge impact on the overall Indian metal scene keeping in mind that normally mainstream bands are sued to copying each other. But now, the 5-6 old school bands in the city have distinct sounds and sub genres which they are building up. Surely, if the bands can hold on to their dedication, Indian scene will be much more spread to the global metal community in the coming years.
Eight Octaves: Who have been your biggest influences in music individually?
Mortar: Mainly 80s thrash from the Bay area, Germany and Canada. We try to keep our sound original and always took inspirations from the greats such as Exodus, Kreator, Nuclear Assault, Razor, Sacrifice, etc.
Eight Octaves: What are the main lyrical themes of your compositions? How do you go about composing a song? Is it the lyrics that come first? Or is the riff made first and the lyrics are written accordingly?
Mortar: Mainly society, war and religious atrocities. But lately, the next compositions are seeing some fantasy and horror lyrical themes.
We always have lyrics and lots of loose riffs in stock. When writing music, we sit together, check everyone’s opinion on certain riffs and main structures of the song and then form the phrasings around it. Sometimes, it’s the other way around. Anything can be the way. The ultimate result should be great.
Eight Octaves: Coming back to K.O.S.M.A. again, the Open Air concert initiative by K.O.S.M.A was pretty innovative. We don’t get to see such open air concerts in India, especially with a full-fledged Metal bands line-up. How did the idea come up? And how hard was it to find a venue suitable for such a concert?
Mortar: The venue, which is the main thing in an open air concert, luckily was gifted to KOSMA by a very good hearted gentleman to carry on with our shows. We looked at the venue for the very first time and said to ourselves, ‘Let’s do this?’ All the revenues of KOSMA are generated from the members and those who willingly contribute for a gig. So, we are very glad that we have a dedicated fan base who put up money for gigs and work their asses off to see something worthwhile.
India has the potential to carry a lot of metal shows. This topic has been discussed in many areas and every time, only lack of sponsors\investors comes forward as hindrances. So, what else to say? The scene needs investors? Everyone pitch in anything you can contribute and you will have ample money to pull off a small scale show. Either something or nothing.
Eight Octaves: Lastly, what can Bangalore expect from you as you take the stage on 22nd of June in Doom Over Bangalore? Anything special on the cards for the crowd at Doom Over Bangalore?
Mortar: Our regular set – consisting of the 3 originals from the EP, a new song that we are working on, a ‘Razor’ cover and since it’s the BOA pre party, maybe a welcome song for SODOM.
Mortar – I Am The Sword Cover (From the Motorhead Tribute India Album):
