Italy is turning into a bit of a driving force in metal music, particularly marrying melodies and strong female vocals with heavier sounds. Kormak are another shining example! Time to find out a bit more about them…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We live in different but close cities, but we can say that we are all from Bari: a city in the southern part of Italy.
How did you meet?
The group was born from an idea of our singer Zaira, who tried to find among the people she knew the musicians who were closest to the idea she had of the project.
How long have you been playing as a band?
The band was born in late 2017 and since then there have been a few line-up changes but that still respect the same spirit.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
We are passionate about literature and fantasy settings, “KormaK” (as well as “Cormac” or “Kormack”) is a recurring name linked heroic figure in various fantasy contexts.
What are your influences?
We are a mainly “Death Metal” band which however makes “Melodic” and “Folk” its strength point. Our influences take up the European metal canons.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Unlike what can be stereotyped as “Folk” or “Celtic” metal, our interpretation refers to our geographical folk music: a mixture of internationality and territoriality.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
We can say that the lyrical themes follow those of the album itself. We try to build concepts based on specific topics (as it was “Madness”, now it is “Biblical”) which are then developed during the whole writing of the album.
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What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Since the beginning we have travelled a lot and done several shows, both in our country and in Europe, during which we try to create dark and suggestive feeling to the listener (also making him experience part of our homeland with the typical sounds).
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
During the concerts we always try to stay in character, the real madness happens after.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
“Cort” bass and a “Jackson” guitar for the sound structure, then a “Cassidy” lead guitar (our guitarist Alessandro is an endorsed artist). All this processed via “Mooer” pedalboards. Our singer uses a “Sennheiser” microphone while the drums are a “Mapex” tornado.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
At the moment we are promoting the release of our second full length which will be followed (global health situation permitting) by a promotional tour.
What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?
Hoping for a better future, we will continue the promotion of the album by recording a new video clip (in addition to the one recently released) and then aim to return to the scene.
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If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
We would really love to support Arkona and would like to bring our brothers in arm Kanseil on this journey. A very talented band coming from the north of Italy.
Check out this month’s Headline Act Playlist on Spotify and YouTube
