Albums of Purgatory Interview Bastardized

Albums of Purgatory: Firstly, How would you describe your music?

Kurt: it's melodic with lot's of vengeance and sadness in it. We put it alot of tempo variations, taking both sides of the extremes. It's got keyboards, singing and the lyrics come in poetry form.


AoP: Who would you say has influenced you and the band?

 We are listeners to a huge range of stuff.. from the cranberries to COF..  we would draw out insprirations here and there...Some of our main primarily influences are My Dying Bride, slayer, pyogenesis Sentenced & Dark
 Tranquillity But the playlist would include bands from a much larger variety of other
 genes.. dance, rock, metal, gothic, break beats... Whatever we find nice.

AoP: How long have you been together?

 Kurt: since 1993 till now.

 AoP: Do you have any history before the formation of Bastardized?

Kurt: Kurt, Jinyao & Jimmy were remnants from a hardcore/punk band. As the band  split up due to musical differences, the three of us later formed the current  Bastardized playing grindcore. Our music evolved & soon we found ourselves  comfortable playing melodic death metal, which we had continued playing  till now. Mahmud, previously also from another death metal band (ex-exile)  filled in the position of bass. As we know him personally, playing with him wasn't of any problem. Robyn, Jinyao's classmate, later filled the position
 of keyboards. Now we finally have a complete lineup.

AoP: What would you say is your proudest moment so far?

Kurt: proudest? I say playing death metal itself is a form of our PRIDE ! ha!

Every band formed has the intention of being recognised as part of the scene, however, this would take time. We have been through the phase of being criticised and filtering the direction of our music. And the best part
of all is to be able to offer our music to listeners who appreciate our style of music. In 1998, our one and only E.P. was signed to Valentine Sound Productions in Malaysia for distribution rights. That was the first time
ever, a Singaporean band to be under their belt. It was also considered one of the most tedious and proud moments of our music life. ..and there also this gig that we enjoyed most at Noah's Ark , it's sort of like a major gig that time... staged alongside with our friends and other death metal bands. It was really great fun.

AoP: Do you have a favourite track that you have done?

Zhenhui & Kurt - Deflowered, as it is the first song which started with  keyboards in the initial song writing phase. and it's got mix that really  gets me in the mood.

Jinyao - Personally I would prefer Our Memories Banquet, though this song has been completed for 2 years now, it still gives me the feel that I sought for. A combination of melodic and cynical riffing styles. With the keyboards
taking the leads for certain sections, it brings out a lot more of what I've expected.

AoP: What is your favourite all time song?

Jimmy - Haven ( DT )
Kurt - the same ( DT )/ for my fallen angel ( My dying Bride )
Jinyao - Jotun (In Flames) / Haven (DT)

 AoP: What would you say are the most influential albums in metal?

 Jimmy - Dark Tranquillity (Haven)
 Sentenced (Frozen)
 My Dying Bride (The Light At The End Of The World)

Kurt - I say stuff like slayer's older albums would have inspired many to start forming metal bands back then ,bands like morbid angel,Death.. were one of the earlier bands that help build the metal today...not forgeting my
dying bride's turn loose the swans.

Jinyao - When we started playing, it was stuffs like Slayer, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Hypocrisy that makes up most of our influences but as time goes by, we listen now more to Dark Tranquility, In Flames, Sentenced, Paradise
Lost, Cradle of Filth, My Dying Bride... that has more melody content.

AoP: What have you got planned for the future?

Jinyao - Currently, we are still working on 3 more tracks before stepping into a studio for recording of a 8 track full-length album. We are hoping to release this album as soon as possible, because it has been on going for 8
years till now. Reason why this happen is due to the fact that we have been bonded to other commitments like work, night classes, family and stuffs like that.... The album will be titled "The Solemn Moments". 5 tracks have been completed and some of the titles were mentioned above like DEFLOWERED, OUR MEMORIES BANQUET, CUPID'S DEATH, METAMORPHOSIS, SWEET PURPLE BUTTERFLY. If every goes as planned, late this year will see the unleash of "The Solemn Moments".

AoP: Where would you like to see yourselves in five years time?

Jinyao -We hope that by that time the Metal scene here in Singapore will be more recognised and diversified. Probably by then we would have a third recording done and we could consider performing in overseas if there are any opportunities. Making a video of our songs is also one of our dream, but it's not gonna be an easy task.

 Kurt - .. musically We think we are gonna be much more experimental, some  of the things we can imagine maybe are female vocals, electronic beats,  sounds effects..., or even a DJ Strach .. but that's all just guess work
so far... :-)

AoP: Finally do you have any funny stories to share with us?

Kurt: yep our bassist Mahmud is a story by himself and a real funny one ! ha! his got all these sick jokes and silly actions he like to tell/do during jams like masturbating his bass neck ... & silly ones like using his bass to
reflect light on our faces while we r playing...ha ha!

AoP: Thank You for your time and good luck for the future.

Kurt: Thanks you! we have a website at www.bastardized.org it's got quite some stuff on us. You can check it out.. cheers!