Hello
Here is a new interview with Spain's Hordak a band that plays Pagan metal together a very unique sound.The band recently released their fourth cd titled "Padre" so if you are a fan of well written and performed pagan metal then this is a band you will defintly want to hear today.
Regards
Patrick
fiendformetal@live.com
Interview with Hordak done by Patrick
1.Hello when did you all first meet each other? Was it long before you formed the band Hordak? How did you all choose the name Hordak for the band name?
Hello there! Here´s Autumn War from Hordak. Winter and me met long before forming Hordak, back in our days of school, so we know each other since we were eight years old more or less. Years later, in 2002, we founded Hordak, when we were seventeen, as a way to explore and develop our musical inquietudes.
Not long after we founded Hordak I met A. Mansilla, for he had a death metal band called Last Deception, together with L. Mansilla and J. Sierra and they needed a guitar player. Few years later they joint Hordak, for we started playing alive. The rest is history.
We chose the name Hordak becaused we liked the name and reminded us of our childhood. Hordak is also the basque for “Hordes”, which is simply amazing.
2.What is the current line-up for the band?
The current line-up is formed by:
Autumn War – Vocals, guitars Winter War – Guitars -studio-
A. Mansilla – Guitars
L. Mansilla – Bass guitars
J. Sierra – Drums
We would like to mention that J. Sierra and A. Mansilla are in charge of the recording, mixing and mastering of the albums as sound engineers. So far , they are responsible for “Under The Sign Of The Wilderness” and “Padre”.
3. Hordak is getting ready to release their fourth cd to date "Padre" how long did it take the band to write and record the music for this release?
Concerning the writing, it couldn´t be said how long did exactly take, because there are always some ideas coming and and going, here and there, and sometimes you bring a riff but it doesn´t work until much later or on the contrary you start writing a song and it´s over by the same day you started with it…Concerning the recording, mixing and mastering, it was a whole different thing because due to our jobs and different personal situations, we recorded during the spring and left the rest for the early autumn…so, about three months I guess for the whole thing.
4.Who usually writes the lyrics for the band what are some topics and subjects the band writes about?
It is me, Autumn war, who usually writes the lyrics. The topics I like the most are nature, the Spanish Celtiberian heritage, the cycle of life and death or the eternal turn of the wheel to mention a few. It depends on what music brings to my imagination I write about this or about that. For example, the new album, “Padre”, which is the Spanish for “father”, is dedicated to the sun and every lyric on the album is related to the sun one way or another. The lyric “Father sun – Father Dragon” was written by Lavin Uruksoth from the Cantabrian Pagan Metal band Crystalmoors. He is a good friend of the band and a fantastic singer. He also recorded the vocals for that track and we think that the final result is killer.
5.As mentioned Padre is Hordak's fourth release how do you feel Hordak's music has changed and evolved over the years?
It has evolved naturally to a more mature sound and a more elaborated music but the essence is all the same. I guess it is the same with us, as the time passes by, we change and grow up, but in many ways or in the essence, we are the same so, this fact influences the music you create.
6.Has Hordak ever made a video for any of their songs? If yes how did you like the experience? How long did it take the band to shoot the video?
There is an official videoclip of the song “Spreading the firewings”. The video is a compilation of images recorded during different shows and mixed up as a classic live/official video. We wanted to show how we perform our music alive with Hordak. It was created between Hordak and Nuria Burgos and you can watch it on the net, for example, youtube. It was also included as a multimedia bonus track on the re-released of our first album “War Has Just Begun” by the Russian label GS productions.
7.Are their any plans to make a video for any of the songs off of Padre? If you had the choice what song would you like to see a video done for?
Nothing for the moment, but we shall see.
8.Does Hordak ever play live very often or do you prefer to work in the studio?What have been some of your most memorable shows to date?
We like to play live, but the conditions need to be the right ones. Some promoters do excellent jobs but some other not and some people underrate the work you do, the effort you take to prepare a gig and the music you create, there are many things to bear in mind before accepting to play a gig.
Last summer we palyed in Germany for the first time at Barther Open Air festival and was amazing.
Also I remember the show/festival we played back in January of 2007 with Wolfencross, Cyhiriaeth, Foscor and Berserk, for sure, one of our highlights.
9.Are their any shows or tours planned for 2016? If yes where are some places the band will be playing?
We would like to play as many gigs as possible, but there´s nothing booked for this year yet. Anyway, if conditions are ok, we are glad to play anywhere.
10.Hordak comes out of Spain's metal scene what is your opinion of Spain's metal scene?
I am not 100% into it, but I know that is growing fast lately. As long as it enriches the scene is welcome to me.
11.Who are your all-time favorite bands from Spain? Are their any new bands you feel the readers should watch out for?
One of our icons have been Nazgul from Madrid, who together with Berserk, Cyhiriaeth, Crystalmoors, Elffor, Numen, Foscor, Wolferncross and some others, where the pioneers of what could be called the first wave of “Celtiberian Pagan Metal”.
We also like many different kinds of music and Spain has very good bands and musicians who we like, not necessarily into metal scene.
12.Besides Hordak are any of the members currently working with other bands?
Yes, all of us except Winter are involved in a classic Death Metal band called “Last Deception” since 2002. At this moment things are kind of on hold with the band, but we will for sure return.
We recorded a couple of tracks for the third album of the worldwide pagan/folk project called Folkearth some years ago.
A. Mansilla plays bass guitars in a Black Metal band from Madrid called “Frozen Dawn”…A. Mansilla and L . Mansilla play in a band called Gotteron, which musically speaking combines a lot of different musical styles…and I think that´s all
13.Besides the new cd "Padre" does the band have any of their other releases or merchandise available for the readers? If yes where can the fans but it from?
There are currently available our third album “Under the sign of the wilderness”, a few copies of our first album´s re-release “War has just begun” as well as t-shirts. If anyone should be interested, can get in touch through our e-mail paganbonfires@gmail.com or browse our website www.paganhordak.net
Our merch is also available via Casus Belli Musica, our current label.
14.Thank you for taking the time to fill this interview out.Do you have any final comments for the readers?
My pleasure! Thanks very much for your interest and support and thanks to anyone who take the time and interest to read this interview. We are Hordak and we play Celtiberian Pagan Metal. Cheers!
