Hordak are a Pagan Metal band from Madrid, Spain, and were formed in 2002. They have just released their 3rd album, "Under The Sign Of The Wilderness". Reducing the Folk element in favour of a more classic Heavy Metal approach, the album took some getting used to but was found to be a potent blend of Folk, Black, and traditional Heavy Metal, quite capable of kicking anyone's ass (Vile-Views review Here). The band consists of Autumn (guitars, vocals), Winter (guitars), A. Mansilla (bass), and J. Sierra (drums). Autumn spoke to me about the creative force behind Hordak, the meaning of their lyrics, their career highlights, and plans for the future.Vile Ent : What does "Hordak" mean linguistically, and what does it mean to you as a band? What is the creative motivation behind Hordak? Do you hold any spiritual, philosophical, or cultural beliefs that compel you to make your music?Autumn: Hordak is the name we chose for our band ten years ago for several reasons, so linguistically speaking, for us Hordak means something very important, as it describes our band. We all believe in our band as well as ourselves and try to take the motivation from different moods, situations and experiences in our lives. Each and every one of us has their different beliefs and spiritual way of living.
Vile Ent : Was the Black Metal upsurge of the 1990's important to the creation and development of Hordak? How about the arrival of "Folk Metal" or "Pagan Metal" bands on the Metal scene? What bands or artists are the largest influences on Hordak?
Autumn: Of course, 90´s BM is a great influence in our sound and the way we feel and enjoy music and we could say the same about folk and pagan metal, since their very beginnings until the present. It is almost a statement in all our interviews that when we are asked about our main influences we always mention the same four bands…Immortal, Forefather, Summoning and Running Wild in no specific order. Of course there are many other bands we enjoy, but they are the ones which have influenced us most.
Vile Ent : Tell me about the Pagan roots of Hordak - am I correct in identifying your ethnic background or cultural inspiration as Celtiberian, or perhaps Spanish, Galician, or another ethnic group? How does this heritage influence your approach to songwriting, playing your instruments, and presenting the concept of Hordak?
Autumn: The history and roots of our country and most of all the Celtiberian age is the main background on the Hordak lyricism. There are other interesting elements in our lyrics like, for example, European history, tales we like to create for our songs or based on ancient legends and stuff like that. Being in the forest surrounded by wilderness and to have a chance to play with my guitar gives me some experiences and brings to me special feelings and moods. When I feel this way I try to catch these moments and then be able to translate them to any moment in which I'm taking part in any Hordak´s event like, for example, composing, rehearsing or playing live.
Vile Ent : I notice that much of the imagery used in Hordak's work is that of Dark Ages or perhaps Medieval warfare and military history. How important is this subject to the members of Hordak? Do band members make any personal distinctions about themselves as pacifists or non-pacifists? Would you consider yourselves men of war, men of peace, or something distinct from such definitions?
Autumn: Well, to talk about ancient times and history means talking about wars and military way of living. For us is not a tabu to talk about it because we think that war is a human condition since we exist, so in the end you talk about that topics separately or all together. I don´t feel it's right to talk about my mates' opinions, for we all agree with some opinions, yet we disagree with others . In my opinion, I don´t consider myself a man of war but, if being a man of war means to defend your roots, or yourself, what is yours or fight for the things you want or the people you love, perhaps I should be called a man of war. Anyway I don´t support unnecessary violence, nor abuses.
Vile Ent : Does Hordak believe the human species has the opportunity to thrive, or that our self-destructiveness has made prosperity, even survival, impossible or unlikely? Is there a perspective given on this in Hordak's music?
Autumn: I think it is more than obvious that the human species is the only one that changes and adapts the environment to their needs, instead of adapting themselves to the environment. It results in as much problems as we have nowadays and a potential for significant danger in the future, so let´s see what happens in the future. Of course in Hordak we are very interested about that topic and in one way or another we try to focus some of our compositions on those kinds of events.
Vile Ent : Is it important to Hordak to be heavier or more extreme than other bands, or to execute more authentic Folk-influenced Metal than other Metal acts? What distinguishes you from other Pagan Metal bands and other Metal acts in general?
Autumn : For us the most important thing is being ourselves and feeling comfortable with that. We love what we do and don´t care very much what other bands do or behave, because we prefer to focus our time in composing, arranging, rehearsing…And not to waste it trying to contest for the throne of Metal and that´s perhaps what distinguishes us from other bands…Anyway, we are what we are and it is the only thing we need.
Vile Ent : What are Hordak's professional objectives? For example, are you aiming for "world domination," a "cult following," simply to develop as serious musicians, or do you care for any such things at all? Which of these are the most crucial : album sales, concert attendance, merchandise sales, or simple public exposure? I ask this in relevance to how they affect your future plans and realization of your objectives. How would you say being a Pagan Metal band based in Spain differs from the conditions faced by similar bands in other countries?
Autumn: Our main objective as band and as musicians is to improve as much as we can and for the moment trying to enjoy our band as much as possible, because we can´t expect to have many resources or support in our country but the underground media and public. We spent lots of money and time doing our own recordings, merchandising and self-releasing of our albums but we are proud of our work and the only thing we are a little disappointed about is the lack of gigs abroad Spain…But we are willing to keep on working and we hope our time will come to manage or share some tours and stuff like that, it is just a matter of time.
Vile Ent : What have been the most rewarding accomplishments and experiences for Hordak? Certain shows, albums, or perhaps other professional or artistic victories? Have these milestones had a positive effect on the band even after the initial experiences of success? Are you encouraged to continue playing music as Hordak, or discouraged or unsure?
Autumn: There are lots of them, but to mention one…When we first were called to play in Switzerland without the support or any help of any promotional or touring agency, being a complete unknown abroad Spain we felt a lot of confidence as a band and as musicians. There were a lot of crazy moments during the trip and even thought the concerts could have been better, two years later we returned Switzerland and we showed what we are able to do ;)
Let´s see what the future has prepared for us, for the moment we will try to concentrate our energies to keep the good work up!! Thanks for the interview, patience, interest and support!! And thanks also and as usually to Markus Eck for arranging it for us, we toast to you!!
Vile Ent : Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions Autumn and Hordak, I wish you all the best in the future!
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Hordak Web Presence :
http://www.paganhordak.net/
http://www.youtube.com/user/paganhordak
https://www.facebook.com/heathenhordak/
http://www.myspace.com/paganhordak
Vile Ent : Was the Black Metal upsurge of the 1990's important to the creation and development of Hordak? How about the arrival of "Folk Metal" or "Pagan Metal" bands on the Metal scene? What bands or artists are the largest influences on Hordak?
Autumn: Of course, 90´s BM is a great influence in our sound and the way we feel and enjoy music and we could say the same about folk and pagan metal, since their very beginnings until the present. It is almost a statement in all our interviews that when we are asked about our main influences we always mention the same four bands…Immortal, Forefather, Summoning and Running Wild in no specific order. Of course there are many other bands we enjoy, but they are the ones which have influenced us most.
Vile Ent : Tell me about the Pagan roots of Hordak - am I correct in identifying your ethnic background or cultural inspiration as Celtiberian, or perhaps Spanish, Galician, or another ethnic group? How does this heritage influence your approach to songwriting, playing your instruments, and presenting the concept of Hordak?
Autumn: The history and roots of our country and most of all the Celtiberian age is the main background on the Hordak lyricism. There are other interesting elements in our lyrics like, for example, European history, tales we like to create for our songs or based on ancient legends and stuff like that. Being in the forest surrounded by wilderness and to have a chance to play with my guitar gives me some experiences and brings to me special feelings and moods. When I feel this way I try to catch these moments and then be able to translate them to any moment in which I'm taking part in any Hordak´s event like, for example, composing, rehearsing or playing live.
Vile Ent : I notice that much of the imagery used in Hordak's work is that of Dark Ages or perhaps Medieval warfare and military history. How important is this subject to the members of Hordak? Do band members make any personal distinctions about themselves as pacifists or non-pacifists? Would you consider yourselves men of war, men of peace, or something distinct from such definitions?
Autumn: Well, to talk about ancient times and history means talking about wars and military way of living. For us is not a tabu to talk about it because we think that war is a human condition since we exist, so in the end you talk about that topics separately or all together. I don´t feel it's right to talk about my mates' opinions, for we all agree with some opinions, yet we disagree with others . In my opinion, I don´t consider myself a man of war but, if being a man of war means to defend your roots, or yourself, what is yours or fight for the things you want or the people you love, perhaps I should be called a man of war. Anyway I don´t support unnecessary violence, nor abuses.
Vile Ent : Does Hordak believe the human species has the opportunity to thrive, or that our self-destructiveness has made prosperity, even survival, impossible or unlikely? Is there a perspective given on this in Hordak's music?
Autumn: I think it is more than obvious that the human species is the only one that changes and adapts the environment to their needs, instead of adapting themselves to the environment. It results in as much problems as we have nowadays and a potential for significant danger in the future, so let´s see what happens in the future. Of course in Hordak we are very interested about that topic and in one way or another we try to focus some of our compositions on those kinds of events.
Vile Ent : Is it important to Hordak to be heavier or more extreme than other bands, or to execute more authentic Folk-influenced Metal than other Metal acts? What distinguishes you from other Pagan Metal bands and other Metal acts in general?
Autumn : For us the most important thing is being ourselves and feeling comfortable with that. We love what we do and don´t care very much what other bands do or behave, because we prefer to focus our time in composing, arranging, rehearsing…And not to waste it trying to contest for the throne of Metal and that´s perhaps what distinguishes us from other bands…Anyway, we are what we are and it is the only thing we need.
Vile Ent : What are Hordak's professional objectives? For example, are you aiming for "world domination," a "cult following," simply to develop as serious musicians, or do you care for any such things at all? Which of these are the most crucial : album sales, concert attendance, merchandise sales, or simple public exposure? I ask this in relevance to how they affect your future plans and realization of your objectives. How would you say being a Pagan Metal band based in Spain differs from the conditions faced by similar bands in other countries?
Autumn: Our main objective as band and as musicians is to improve as much as we can and for the moment trying to enjoy our band as much as possible, because we can´t expect to have many resources or support in our country but the underground media and public. We spent lots of money and time doing our own recordings, merchandising and self-releasing of our albums but we are proud of our work and the only thing we are a little disappointed about is the lack of gigs abroad Spain…But we are willing to keep on working and we hope our time will come to manage or share some tours and stuff like that, it is just a matter of time.
Vile Ent : What have been the most rewarding accomplishments and experiences for Hordak? Certain shows, albums, or perhaps other professional or artistic victories? Have these milestones had a positive effect on the band even after the initial experiences of success? Are you encouraged to continue playing music as Hordak, or discouraged or unsure?
Autumn: There are lots of them, but to mention one…When we first were called to play in Switzerland without the support or any help of any promotional or touring agency, being a complete unknown abroad Spain we felt a lot of confidence as a band and as musicians. There were a lot of crazy moments during the trip and even thought the concerts could have been better, two years later we returned Switzerland and we showed what we are able to do ;)
Let´s see what the future has prepared for us, for the moment we will try to concentrate our energies to keep the good work up!! Thanks for the interview, patience, interest and support!! And thanks also and as usually to Markus Eck for arranging it for us, we toast to you!!
Vile Ent : Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions Autumn and Hordak, I wish you all the best in the future!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hordak Web Presence :
http://www.paganhordak.net/
http://www.youtube.com/user/paganhordak
https://www.facebook.com/heathenhordak/
http://www.myspace.com/paganhordak
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