GMA Interview Interrogation: Purgation (India)

By GMA's Bangladeshi correspondent Nabil Abaddon


Purgation is a five piece metal band that hails from the vibrant city of rich cultural background, Kolkata (Calcutta)! Within a very short history of existence, they have created quite a buzz around their hometown and all around India alike with their appearance at Bangalore-based yearly fest ‘Undergrind’ (shared the stage with Singaporean Grind legends Wormrot) and their Death Metal cover of ‘Terminal Show’ at a Motorhead tribute album from India. Purgation is all set to unleash their debut EP “Exterminated Malfeasance” via Slaughterhouse Records and is preparing themselves for their second invasion in Bangladesh for the upcoming Banish The Posers Fest. I caught up with Subhajit, the vocalist of the band over the net to talk about the band, their debut EP and what not! Here is how the conversation was like!

If you live in Bangladesh, you should surely check these young guns out at Banish The Posers Fest 2013.


Ave brother! How is the band doing currently?

Hey man, we are doing great. Our drummer is slowly recovering from a fatal accident. Although Debanjan is in Germany now, we are all set to kick some candy ass in Bangladesh.


So This is going to be Purgation’s second tour to the East Bengal. You guys played here in Death Skull Ritual II just 7 months back. How excited are you guys to come back for more at Banish The Posers Fest 2013? What is going to be the slaying strategy this time?

First of all we are very thankful to all our brothers from Bangladesh. They have been supporting us all throughout. Death Skull Ritual II was absolutely kickass. We were looking forward to more gigs in Bangladesh. Banish The Posers Fest is honestly one gig every band would have loved to play in. The lineup is insane and we had a killer crowd support back in DSR 2. We are really looking forward to this gig and of course we do have few surprises as well.


Did you try any local delicacy or street food in Dhaka last time?

Of course we did. We had a special dish from Dhaka (Don’t remember the name) but it was top notch.

Alright! Now let’s talk a bit about the band. Please elaborate on how the band initially started. What were the directions and motivational factors to start Purgation?

We were basically known to people as Flesh Protocol. Debanjan and I had formed the band and the sound we planned was already different from the ones we had out here. After a few months we went for a couple of changes in our line up with a second guitarist in our band.The line up at the beginning of new year, 2011 was Debanjan bro on guitars, Denzil on guitars, Ayushman on bass, Abhinava on drums and I on Vocals. Arijit replaced Abhinava on drums who left the band around mid August'12 due to some unavoidable circumstances. Actually the name of the band is Purgation and not Purgation Inc. We added the "Inc." word to our Facebook page just to identify it separately from our group. Now that Abhinava is back again we are all set to kick some serious ass.


How did the band name come about and what do you want to convey through it?

It was a random name just like we used to call it Flesh Protocol. Since the lineup was brand new, we decided to give a one word name to it. Purgation means "cleansing" to be very precise.


Purgation has been signed by Slaughterhouse Records for the upcoming EP ”Exterminated Malfeasance”. Purgation have also hooked up with Jeff Fischer from USA for the mixing and mastering duties. How did that come about?

We were more than delighted to know that JR Torina bro from Slaughterhouse Records was interested to get us signed to his record label. Ayushman was busy sending our demo tracks to few renowned record labels in the world. We had a few responses but JR bro was in with full support. The idea of an EP cropped up almost a year ago but we lacked enough resources to make it happen. Jeff Bro has been there for us all throughout. We mixed and mastered our Motorhead Tribute track from him. Somehow we got hold of Tushar Da (of Pentatonic Studio) who helped us a lot in recording, mixing and mastering our tracks.

Purgation was also featured in a Motorhead tribute album from India and you guys covered the track ‘Terminal Show’ which is one of the heavier Motorhead tracks. Purgation covered it quite decently with turned down guitars and growled vocals. Please tell us about the experience. What were the responses that you have received from the fans?


It was one hell of an experience. We are thankful to the whole crew that gave us this opportunity to be on board with some of the best bands from our country. I approached Srikanth Bro from Bevar Sea and he was really interested in giving us this opportunity. It was basically a home recording with drums programmed because our drummer was out of town. We really regret on that part, however Jeff bro tried his best to make it sound professional. We had mixed responses to be honest but the major part of the crowd appreciated the fact that we did not budge away from our area of comfort, Death Metal.


For those who don’t know Purgation, which song would you like to suggest to them and why?

"Communal Carnage"! This song reflects our sound perfectly. The lyrical aspect gets portrayed beautifully. Check Communal Carnage on YouTube.


How is the metal scene like in Kolkata in terms of musicians, bands, venues and gigs? I have heard that Kolkata used to be full of Metalcore bands and pretentious pseudo metalheads once upon a time. Then dedicated organizations like Putrid Ascendancy, KOSMA emerged strongly out of the fog and a new era started in Kolkata since then. How much has the scene changed or evolved you think? would you like to suggest us some bands from there?

The metal scene in Kolkata was more like bollywood. Fortunately the trend followers have all died with the inception of Putrid Ascendancy. It all started with Metalcore, Deathcore and finally it had come to a halt with the likes of Djent and other ass foolery genres we have nowadays. KOSMA is new and they are oozing with confidence and talent. We really have promising bands like Armament, Gypsy and of course Necrodeity who have already set an example for young lads trying to follow the right path.

Coming to a personal question, how did you get into Death Metal and who do you take your inspirations from?

From being naïve listeners to getting better day by day, we decided to choose the best and create the sound that helps us to deliver the message to the people more elegantly. Death metal had always been our first priority. We have our influences from the likes of early Suffocation, early Deeds Of Flesh, Immolation, early Morbid Angel, early Cannibal Corpse, early Cryptopsy, the list never ends.

Our primary inspiration is drawn from mighty acts like Autopsy, Grave, Benediction, Obituary, and Unleashed and of course Acts like Dying Embrace, Kryptos, Bevar Sea from our country and Orator, Morbidity, Nafarmaan from Bangladesh.


Most of the Metal bands these days portray atheistic or nihilist ideologies through their music. Whats your take on this? Also tell us what are Purgation’s lyrical themes based on?

There is no problem in portraying nihilist or atheistic ideologies in the form of music. The main concern is about the way you put it. It is very important to amalgamate the ideologies with the band’s sound. Our lyrical theme is totally based on anti-socialism, against the system, corruption and I use a bit of occultism as well.


What do you think of the Extreme Metal scene in Bangladesh? Do you listen to any bands from ‘Opar Bangla’?

The extreme metal scene in Bangladesh is f**king A. With bands like Morbidity, Orator and Nafarmaan one becomes anything but skeptical about the extreme metal scene out there. Then we have bands like Warhound, Enmachined, Nuclear Winter as well. Bunch of talented people who are really true to their music. The crowd is insane.


What do you have to say about the folks from Primitive Invocation?

The brothers from Primitive Invocation are doing a great job. Organizing such huge gigs requires lot of responsibilities. They are setting examples and helping people in other countries take similar initiatives as well.


What holds for the band in the future? Any sneak peak?

Well, we do have our EP on its way from USA. We are planning to release our EP on the gig day itself making it a grand occasion.


Alright mates. Thanks a ton for giving us your time! Really looking forward to see you guys perform in BTPF 2013. Hails! Anything you want to say to your fans? The space is all yours.

This is for our brothers in Bangladesh who are fighting against the political turmoil in their country. F**K THE SYSTEM!!

http://facebook.com/PURGATION