Interview: Curse Of Khatru - "We had no expactations but creating music that we love"

 

Your self-titled debut album is now in stores. How does it feel to see the tangible results of your hard work?

Ace Riker: It´s allways a satisfying feeling when you hold the CD or the vinyl for the first time in your hands after this long time of hard work.

The album features 11 tracks evoking the best of death metal. What inspired you in the process of creating these recordings? Did you ultimately achieve the goal you set for yourself at the beginning of this journey?

It was a really natural process of creating. We wanted to do music in the vein of the Death Metal releases from the early nineties. A time when this music sounded fresh, new and exciting. That was the main inspiritation, not to copy Band A, B or C. 

You describe this project as "unleashed, aggressive, and song-oriented". With that in mind, how would you encourage listeners to pick up your album? Or even better, someone who hasn't had much exposure to this type of music?

If you are into authentic music without any "trend thinking", then you should give this album a try. You can hear our pure enthusiam for extreme music and the songs trasnmit this feeling very well I guess. 

You live and record in Germany. According to official sources, the death metal scene there emerged in the 1980s. How did your adventure with this musical genre begin? What is so special about death metal that made you decide to record an album in this style of music?

I listen to this type of music since the early 90´s. Back then Death Metal was new and exciting. I was a teenager back then and I guess I found something like a home in this type of music. I mean Heavy Metal generally and Death Metal in particular. 

In Poland, we say that beginnings are difficult. There are many things you need to know before taking the next step. So what was the hardest thing for you when you started preparing to work on your first full-length album?

We are no newbies in the Death Metal scene. We three make music together now for a long thime. We played in a former band for years. But on the other hand we wanted to take things easier this time. No pressure, just creating good music without any expectations. In my opinion the scene lacks a little bit on bands like this... too many bands look at trends, clicks whatever. That´s not authenitic.

When talking about the beginnings, it's impossible to ignore the issue of expectations. So what are your expectations for the release of "Curse of Khatru"? At what point will you decide that the album has fully met them?

As I said before, we had no expactations but creating music that we love. And I guess we achived that goal. It was more like a journey...we took one step to another and so the album becomes its form as the songs grew together.

Some claim that the word "khatru" in your band's name means "as you wish" in Yemeni. Others dispute this claim. And what does it mean to you, guys? What is the origin of Curse of Khatru name?

The bandname consists of two components. First one: I´m into vintage computer games. Perhaps some of you still know the Amiga classic "The Curse of Monkey Island"? The second part comes from my favourite Yes album "Close To The Edge". The last song on this record is called "Sibirian Khatru". So here we are: Curse Of Khatru.

Rob Halford once said that heavy metal is immortal, but we humans are not. The specific subgenre of metal is irrelevant here; I'm more interested in the aspect of eternity. In the context of these words, how do you perceive your role in the minds of listeners? What is the key to stay in their memories for as long as possible?

I guess you have to do music in first place for your own. I´m proud of all the music I recorded within the years. The most people were as will forget you and your music really quickly. Today there are so many bands and every day new ones pops up. Expecially when you look at instagram and other platforms everything is so fast and not really persistent. It´s a good advise to distance yourself from all of this. That´s not real. Be yourself and do the music you love. Get in touch with the people but don´t ingratiate yourself. 

Once the dust settles on your debut, it will be time to plan for the future. Have you already booked a longer tour or a series of several performances?

No, but we are looking to play live in the future. It would be really cool to do some club shows or festivals. We will see.

Speaking of performing, what is your dream venue to play?

With our former band we played at Killtown Death Fest. I guess that was one of the coolest festival we´ve ever played...so it would be cool to play there again. But as I said before we really looking forward to play live again. So if anyone wants to book us, drop us a message: curse_of_khatru@web.de.