Interview with Thee Orakle

Thee Orakle features is a very professional sounding band from Portugal. After releasing the first full length "Meraphortime" we where able to get a hold of the band to hear what they have to say about their latest release and their musical trayectory in general.

Infernal Masquerade: Thanks for the interview and let’s get started with the questions, shall we?

I.M: The band has been around since 2004 you provide us with some details about the band’s history?

Thee Orakle have been always a group of friends that only wanted to follow their dreams! As each year passed by the aims where slowly reached and the band got some good reputation with the EP “Secret” on 2007… The critics said that we were a promissory band and we got so much straighter that we decided to continue trying to reach our goals! After almost a year constructing Metaphortime, we’ve reach the point that we all wanted…finally having an album! Then the label came and at this point the tour we arranged is going just great. In Portugal we have a promissory base of fans and market and at the same time we’re negotiating distribution outside Portugal as well as gigs too! So everyone who read this and likes our sound, please help us in what you think you can…Everything is possible!

I.M: How do you think the band has evolved musically and lyrically since it was formed?

Like everything in life the band evolved musically and lyrically as time passed through us. We don’t have a defined line to guide the music or the lyrics that we do. Instead we have a feeling that surrounds us seven by knowing each others so damn well and the music we create always matches somehow with the lyrics we write (at this album mostly). We are now in a mature phase of the creation but always learning with everything that can influence our mind!

I.M: What is the concept of your new album “Metaphortime”?

The story we tell on this new album it’s the immortal path of a man that choose us to be the tailors of his never-ending dilemma! All goes around Alchemy and the aims he search for his life… Every music tell us a moment of his life and the booklet of the CD show some pictures of what could have happen or of what he used on those times. Until this day he mentally suffers but really rested know for showing his endless life and knowledge to everyone through our album! 

I.M: How would you describe “Metaphortime”? Are you satisfied with the end result? If you could, what would you do to improve the album?

“Metaphortime” it’s our gold mine. We all appreciate to much this work and we are in every ways very satisfied with the result. The recordings were just amazing, the mixture and final production where just like we wanted with Daniel Cardoso (UltraSoundStudios, Head Control System) and the Artwork by Phobos Anomaly matched perfectly with the pictures we had in our heads!
If we could, maybe we would change some little parts, but nothing special because we like it like it is!

I.M: How does the songwriting happen for the band?

Well, the songs are written by me and Pedro. We have the normal feeling of writing when we feel to… something spontaneous! But for this album that had a story to tell I created the guide lines and even the short story to show Pedro what I’ve imagine and at this point the musicians where also informed about the story and each chapter to try to create a mixture of  music and lyrics that where well related of the feeling to transmit! Each song was made musically and then lyrically matched. I divided the lyrics with Pedro and everything went just fine like this.  

I.M: Why do you guys choose to use the English language for your songs?

The English is nowadays the common language to every world. So that’s why…
But we have also a part of Latin on the lyrics. Mostly it’s because we don’t want to have any frontiers in our work to anybody. It’s like if we used Portuguese, it could sound very well but you should have a lot of work to understand us. Like this is easier to the general persons!

I.M: You have several guests appearing in the album. Can you tell us more about them?

“Alchemy Awake” is the song we choose to invite Yossi Sassi from the Orphaned Land to play the Bouzouki. It’s a very ethnic music and the friendship we made 2 years ago, gave us the freedom to invite him and he soon accepted! He his really a good person and very nice friend, always with a wise advice and good energy to keep working hard!
“White Linen” is the…how can we say…shortest song, like a single but not imagine like that at the recordings… Daniel, the producer, and Pedro Mendes our co-producer liked so much the song that we invited them to participate. Daniel sings with me on the chorus and Pedro plays the guitar solo!
“Feeling Superior Knowledge” it’s the last track and an instrumental one that elevates more the idea we wanted with the two guests on violin and transverse flute, Hugo Santos and Tatiana Campos. They are both music students along with our guitar player Ricardo.

I.M: What is your opinion on the current trend of many Metal bands to more into a more ‘commercially safe’ sound to gain mainstream popularity? Will this happen to Thee Orakle?

I cannot answer something about the future… We all want to live only for this dream and with music but we know every ways have their traps so we just let us go, but always working to do want WE want and believe!

I.M: What are the main musical influences behind Thee Orakle? Any local bands, personal projects, etc, that you would like our readers to check out?

We are seven persons, seven minds, many different tastes and a lot of different thoughts… We all listen to Metal, but we all listen to other music styles, we are not closed inside Metal world… some listen to Jazz, or Folk, some like more ambient stuff, others prefer old Rock’n’Roll… so we don’t have a main influence but a lot of them, I think that as it sounds now, Thee Orakle is Thee Orakle’s sounds! Every Thee Orakle member likes playing with friends and makes some home jam sessions but nobody has another serious personal project.

I.M: After releasing a great first album, are you feeling that the pressure is on? (in terms of your future releases? How are you prepared to handle them?

Like I said before, we don’t make plans at long term… Personally I have already thought about that pressure that might happen, but we have a lot to conquer before that so let’s focus on this present way and not with that uncertainty future! ok?  (lololol)

I.M: You recently signed with a Recital Records. Can you tell us more about this?

Recital Records it’s the biggest Portuguese metal label that made us a good proposal. They help us on the booking, made the complete Portugal distro and promotional material, and we are now trying to negotiate with foreign labels to sell the CD out of Portugal too…So we are on the right side of the river!

I.M: Well we are running out of questions, so are there any other things you want to add?

Just want to say thank you for this opportunity, and to tell everyone that can listen to our music at www.myspace.com/theeorakle and please, any comment it’s well received! If you already like our work, just let us know and keep supporting us…Thank you!

I.M: Thanks for the interview and good luck with the new album!