After a somewhat dry season in 2012, Sahil Makhija makes a comeback with not one, not two but three studio albums this year. You have already heard him in Workshop and you will be hearing him in his main project Demonic Resurrection later this year. But for now, the second studio album of Reptilian Death, his solo death metal project, comes out on May 22 and it features Vinay Venkatesh, the vocalist of Bhayanak Maut. Let’s see what Sahil has to say about it:
Eight Octaves: Greetings from Eight Octaves! So finally, after a wait of seven years, Reptilian Death is coming out with an album! What are your expectations from the album?
Sahil Makhija: I have no expectations honestly because this is new. The band, the music, the look is all new. I’d rather not have any expectations than have some and be disappointed. So while I do hope that the album is liked and well received I’ll just sit back and wait for the reactions.
Eight Octaves: ‘The Dawn of Consummation and Emergence’ displays more elements of death metal than grindcore and in my opinion, the sound is pretty mature and cult fans would surely like it. How satisfied are you with the album?
Sahil: I’m extremely proud of the album. I feel that on all counts the album was given its due right from the recording of acoustic drums to the mixing and mastering to the artwork and so on and so forth. I decided to take my time and do everything correctly rather than rush it. I actually recorded guitars 3 times for this album because the first time my amp blew up after 10 songs so had to redo everything and the 2nd time I was not fully happy with the playing and tone so I did it a 3rd time.
Eight Octaves: How exactly did Vinay get involved in the album? How was the experience of working with him?
Sahil: After the last EP I started writing new material and I kind of decided that I did not want to do any lyric writing or vocals on the new album. I began exploring the options of who I could get to sing and also front the band and honestly I’m extremely picky about my death metal and there isn’t a single Indian death metal vocalist that I felt had what I was looking for RD and that is when I thought of Vinay. I’ve worked with him previously with Bhayanak Maut’s EP Malignant back in 2005 but DR and BM have toured a lot together and he’s a monster live and just the persona I wanted for RD. He readily agreed to be a part of the project. He’s great to work with and we’re able to bounce ideas off each other and he bought a very different flavour to the band with his lyrics and vocals. Totally took me by surprise (in a good way). It was a great experience working together.
Eight Octaves: Reptilian Death has been pretty on and off in its 12 year long career.Would you attribute this to the trouble generally faced while findingapposite musicians in India or to the fact that you had to divert your attention to Demonic Resurrection every now and then?
Sahil: Demonic Resurrection has always been my main project and RD was just my outlet to play drums and write some death metal stuff and have fun. So I was never really pushing the band to do anything or go anywhere. For this new record there was a conscious decision to give RD the same attention I give DR and Workshop. Now things have been set in motion and we’ll see how they go.
Eight Octaves: Going back to the early days, what led you to start this solo project in spite of already playing in Demonic Resurrection?
Sahil: I think people forget that a single band can only take up so much time in the life of a person so I had free time. I had no social life, I never went out. I would just sit at home and write music so there was always time to write stuff that was not DR material and that is how it came about. Even today people always wonder how I can focus on 3 bands but they don’t realize that each band jams only twice or thrice a week and every band has different members who have other things to do in life as well so it’s just a little bit of time management.
Eight Octaves: What do you think about the current heavy metal scene in India? Is there any other Death Metal band that you have been following?
Sahil: My favourite death metal bands from India have been IIIrd Soverign, Exhumation, Narsil, Gutslit and Myndsnare. I think the current scene in India is great. We’re a growing hub for metal and while we still have tons of issues and problems and struggles I think we’re still doing pretty well for ourselves.
Eight Octaves: I’ve noticed this about the songs by bands from Mumbai that they are based on a lot of groove and breakdowns and tend to sound very commercial. To what reasons would you credit this trend? Please share your views on this.
Sahil: I think music is a reflection of people and their surroundings. It’s like the same reason every 2nd band from Chennai plays ‘funk’. It’s how in the early days Bangalore bands were all playing ‘progressive rock/metal’. Mumbai as a city is modern, commercial and a hub for everything. I guess that is why most bands here have a modern sound. I don’t really understand how any kind of music can sound ‘commercial’ though. Even an old school band is commercial if they sell their CDs and indulge in commerce. Also it’s really annoying the negative context of this ‘commercial’ sound. Good music is good irrespective of genre of style. It may not appeal to everyone but that doesn’t make it a bad thing. So coming back to my point I believe that each local scene is a reflection of the city and its culture even if it’s not a conscious decision.
Eight Octaves: Reptilian Death, despite being a death metal band, follows the black metal trend of sporting various attires during live shows. What is the reason behind this thematic representation?
Sahil: I don’t know if it’s a black metal thing. Kiss did it before everyone else. Ghost does it, so does Gwar, Lordi, Slipknot, Mudwayne etc and none of these bands are black metal. I would say my inspiration for doing a costume came from The Berzerker a death metal band from Australia. However our look is completely different. It did end up being a little bit like ghost but our look is not constant it will change at some point.
Eight Octaves: Finally, how are your preparations for the upcoming shows in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore? Have you got anything special lined up for your fans?
Sahil: Hahaha I don’t think we need anything special. People haven’t seen us live ever except for those 50 people at Deathfest. So it’s a new experience for everyone we don’t need anything special. Reptilian Death is what is special and we’ll be playing our new album for the fans.
