Interview: Atorc

Discovering new bands is one of the main joys of running this site, and there are – literally – thousands of them to pick from. Atorc got in touch the other day asking me to check them out and who’s to argue with a band of ruffians fronted by a beast of a man called “Hellbard”?

Let’s kick things off simply – who are you, where are you from and what style of music do you play?

Hello Moshville! We are five musicians with differing musical backgrounds who together are known as Atorc – a folk/melodic metal band from historic Suffolk.

How long has Atorc been a band?

Atorc was originally formed in 2012 as ‘Winterfall’ – we became Atorc when our original drummer left the band and took the name with him.

You’ve recently recruited two new warriors. What happened to the old ones – were they slain in battle? – and where did you find their replacements?

They left for a combination of personal reasons, differing ambitions to the rest of the band, and logistical problems. Our violinist was having to travel quite far to get to rehearsal and our old singer was putting most of his time and energy into acting! We wish them both the best of luck, they’ve been part of our evolution.

We found our vocalist Hellbard when he answered our ad looking for a new singer on Facebook, and knew right away he was the man for the job. As for our keyboardist Boudikath, similar circumstances – we found her through a musicians wanted sort of website and she quickly proved an invaluable asset, in addition turning out to be a childhood friend of our bassist’s partner – small world hey!

Your “Pure Folking Metal” EP is available on Bandcamp, but I hear talk around the campfires of a second epic…?

It’s in the pipeline! At the moment it almost feels like we’ve started as a fresh band because of the lineup changes, so we’re still getting used to writing together. But a few new songs have come out of it so far and they’re a step up from the old stuff and going down great live! We’d really like to re-record some of the Pure Folking Metal songs with the new lineup and a better sound now that we feel like we can really do them justice.

One of your number splits his loyalties with another faction who I gather are also releasing something new, if you feel it appropriate to plug them also?

We have no problem promoting their stuff, as it works both ways – bands have to help each other out or the scene suffers.

Hellbard is a busy man indeed, and plays guitar/vocals for prog rock/metal band Habu, who will be releasing their second album Infinite on April 29th! Check it out and pre-order at www.habuband.com. [their album just won “Album of the Week” over on Worship Metal – Mosh]

You recently suffered defeat on the battlefields of Metal 2 the Masses. Do you have anything to say to those who carried the spoils of victory?

Kemakil and Grimace deserved it as much as anyone, and really the night could have gone to anyone – the standard was so high, there was no immediate standout to pick as winner, which is a testament to the quality of metal acts in East Anglia. As for Atorc – we live to fight another day!

… and to your own fans regarding a rematch?

See you in the pit! No prisoners will be taken!

[UPDATE: Atorc were accepted into the semi-finals which take place on April 21st! Details on the event page!]

Do you have any more live appearances scheduled around our fair isles?

We have a nice busy gig schedule already for the year ahead – if anyone would like to know when to catch us at a venue near you, head on over to our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/atorcband

What can be expected from an Atorc live show?

Anyone who comes to our gigs will experience toe tapping, head banging fun with catchy folksy melodies and riffs that pack a punch. Live gigs are the heart and soul of the metal scene, so we always aim to give 110% when we play live and really draw people into our world.

Do you have any issues with people who pronounce the name of British Celtic queen as “Boudicea”?

We don’t have any issue with people pronouncing Boudicca as ‘Boudicea’ – we chose to use the Anglicised ‘Boudicca’ because it scans better in a lyric. If you prefer ‘Boudicea’ – cool.

Atorc: facebook | twitter | myspace | reverbnation