First of all, we would like to thank you for accepting our interview and for allowing us to celebrate and promote your beautiful and brutal album “The Disfigured and the Divine“. We’ve been listening to 2 the promotionals tracks nonstop! Let’s begin.

1. It’s not a secret to anyone that the metal scene is made up mostly of males in bands. How was EMASCULATOR born? Why its name? Why is it only made up of women, and why Brutal Death Metal and not another style of the Metal?

M: I recruited the most talented female musicians I could find for this project out of a desire to continue to collaborate with women in the brutal death metal genre. We all also participate in other bands with men, but this is our opportunity to collaborate with other like-minded women.

⁠2. What motivates, or inspires EMASCULATOR to write and perform live music?

M: We all have our own sources of what inspires us. We are life-long musicians. Playing live is a part of that journey.

⁠3. From what we know about its 4 members, all of them have participated in many other bands and are active in some others. How much time do they dedicate to their other bands? For example Mallika, with UNFATHOMABLE RUINATION, Teresa with CARTILAGE, Morgehenna with POONTICKLER and Cierra White with HARBOURED.

M: I have one band in the UK (UNFATHOMABLE RUINATION), that is true. I reside in Prague, Czech Republic. I am probably most known for my former band ABNORMALITY. Morgehenna’s other main band besides Emasculator is PoonTickler. Teresa is very active in CARTILAGE, and Cierra is active with OAK, ASH & THORN, HARBOURED, and LAST WORD.

4. Your debut EP will be released this coming September 25 by the renowned record label New Standard Elite. How do you become part of such a prestigious label?

M: After our 2022 demo “Depraved Disfigurement” was released we began working on new songs. At that time we also shopped the demo to labels we knew well and respected, and at last arrived at a satisfactory agreement with NSE. I already had a working relationship with them because another band of mine, Nidorous, is also on the label.

5⁠. Speaking about your debut EP “The Disfigured and the Divine” and the theme of the recent video “Eradication of Asuras“, which talks about the Hindu Goddess Durga. What can you tell us about the theme of the lyrics of the other songs.

M: Every song on the album centers around a different goddess, her strengths and her mythology, mainly Hindu goddesses. It is not only about them, but how I relate to them as a woman, a mother, and my own life experiences.

⁠6 The artwork was made by its You. Could you tell us about the idea and the process behind creating it?

M: I was planning for a long time to feature the goddess Chhinnamasta on the cover. There is a lot of symbolism in her image that ties in to many of the themes throughout the album, and also the title which I had first. I decided to paint the cover with traditional media, which I hadn’t done in years. I am trained as an artist in traditional media in art school, but over the years I did a lot of digital painting in my career and also as a freelance artist. In this art I wanted to return to my roots as an artist, and also as a (mixed-race) American with heritage from India.

7. ⁠Mallika, where does your love for painting and making album covers come from, knowing that you have done work for ABNORMALITY, where at some point you were their vocalist, ANIMALS KILLING PEOPLE, GUTSLIT, FORMLESS, SONIC ASSAULT, among others. Where do you draw your inspiration from?

M: In my album cover work I take direct inspiration from the music. It’s easy to do when it’s my own band. I know the music and lyrical content thoroughly. When it is a commission, I listen to what the band is looking for, and what they are going for with the music and storytelling.

⁠8. Do you think that women’s bands are given the same or less support than bands made up of only men? Have you experienced any prejudice within the scene? and also, do you have a message to other females to inspire, or invite them to pick up and instrument and annihilate like you guys do?

M: I’d rather not comment in detail about that at this time. Of course I have faced many challenges, prejudice, sexism over 20 years of playing metal. For young women coming up in the scene, my advice to you is don’t give up. Stay true to yourself and your dreams and seek out female role models and mentors.

9. ⁠From your point of view, can you make a living nowadays from extreme music, whether it’s through the selling of CDs, merch, tours, royalties, etc.?

M: It depends on where you live and your cost of living, but 99.99% of the time you cannot make a living from extreme metal music alone. Most of the big bands in our scene work at other jobs when they aren’t on tour. We are doing this for passion, our love of brutal death metal, and enjoying playing music, we are not in it for money.

⁠10. What future plans do you have for EMASCULATOR?

M: My vision now is to take EMASCULATOR on the road, and prove ourselves as a live act as we have proven ourselves musically. We have some exciting plans for 2025, including what has been announced, Nice to Eat You festival in Czech Republic.

⁠11. What do Mallika, Teresa, Morgan and Cierra do in their free time when they are not making music, what are your hobbies?

M: I like to spend time with my family. I also enjoy hiking in nature, snowboarding, and traveling. Cierra likes weightlifting, hiking, camping, horror movies, traveling, astrology and is a big fan of Lord of the Rings and when she is not playing with her main bands, she is a touring drummer for other bands (paid gigs). Morgehenna likes weightlifting, going to shows, roller skating, reading, hiking with her dog, and photography. Teresa “Ria” also likes weight lifting, anime, video games and cosplay sometimes. She loves horror films and cryptids, aliens and conspiracy (for fun), watercolor, and adores cats.

⁠12. Do you guys know anything about the metal scene on our continent: bands, people, etc? Will you tell us about any that might have caught your attention?

M: I had the pleasure to play in South America in 2013 at Bogota Death Grind Fest where I met promoter Daniel Paz and his band Amputated Genitals (Daniel is the best!), and also bands like Goreinhaled. I also have been familiar with Internal Suffering because they relocated for a time to NY, in the northeast US near where I’m from (Boston).

⁠13. Finally, would you send a greeting to your followers on our continent?

M: Thank you for listening and supporting the band. We hope to play in South America one day soon!