Dhwesha, in Sanskrit, literally translates into Aggression or Anger. Hailing from the Metal Capital of India, Dhwesha is a four piece Old School Death Metal band. Having gained a very good reputation in just about a year, Dhwesha are slated to perform in the inaugural Doom Over Bangalore gig alongside Kryptos, Dying Embrace and Bevar Sea. Here are 8 things that you probably don’t know about Dhwesha:
The first demo version of Yuddhabhumi had vocals recorded using headphones plugged into a mic jack, and yes it worked,
Ajay is probably the second biggest Judas Priest fan in Bangalore.
They practice in a garage.
Their song “Sattva Bali” has lyrics inspired by Lovecraftian themes.
They have played “Neeney Aalu” live only once till date at Trend Slaughter Fest II.
All the songs on the demo were recorded using a Squier Strat.
Their debut demo – Yuddhabhoomi is now available worldwide via Polish Extreme Metalzine/Record Label Till You Fukkin Bleed
Their influences include the likes of Bolt Thrower, Dismember, Grave, Vader and early Katatonia
Known for their power packed stage performances (and the occasional free beer give-aways during gigs 😛 ) Bevar Sea from Bangalore are a force to reckon with. Having released an impressive debut record, the band is set to play their first gig of the year at the inaugural Doom Over Bangalore. Here are 8 things you probably didn’t know about Bevar Sea:
1. Bevar Sea is an anagram of Save Bear.
2. Bevar Sea is banned from playing IIT Madras.
3. Nobody in Bevar Sea has a 9-5 job (at this point in time).
4. The Smiler is the only song from the debut album that still uses its original working title.
5. At one point of time (before their first live gig), instead of a 2-guitar lineup, Bevar Sea had one guitarist and one keyboard player.
6. Bevar Sea was one of the suggested names for one of Srikanth’s earlier sludgier projects. Eventually, it lost out to Dirtbucket, but after that project slowed down, Bevar Sea was chosen for the next project, which managed to maintain some traction over the years.
7. Bevar Sea has a couple of songs like ‘Melvin’ and ‘God’s Wounds’, which we used to play regularly when jamming as an instrumental unit, but soon after Ganesh joined the band, they scrapped them from the setlist since they didn’t work as well with vocals.
8. On some of the early demos, vocals were provided by Indy from the US psych/drone band Queen Elephantine, who was briefly in the country at that time.
Eight Octaves dedicates the month of May to Indian Classical music. Classical Revival campaign is aimed at celebrating the rich history of Indian Classical music and paying our tributes to some of India’s best musicians who have pioneered the genre. Like every month, we have an Artist of the Month for May too. But this time it is special. Here are few things which you should know about the legendary artist, and if you are into Indian Classical music, then you may be able to guess the name of the artist too!
Born on 12th of January, 1963. He started learning music at the tender age of 3 years.
At the age of 4, he gave his debut performance; which was broadcasted on the All India Radio!
At the age of 20, he received the President of India Award for winning the National Music Competition of All India Radio.
His originality as a musician earned him a lot of respect and he has travelled all around the globe playing in various concerts.
He is one of the few Indian musicians to be nominated for a Grammy Award! He was nominated in the year 2009 in the category of Best Traditional World Music Album.
Apart from all the laurels, he has created his own trademark instruments. He calls it the Trinity of Guitars – a 24 string hollow neck guitar named Chaturangui, a 14 string version named Gandharviand a 4 string lap steel Ukelele named Anandi.
So if you have guessed the person then good for you. If you could not guess his name then wait for a day and you’ll get to know his name 😛 1st of May we reveal our celebrated Featured Artist of the Month with a special candid interview with the man himself! Keep watching this space 😉
If you feel you haven’t done anything yet to make this Valentine’s day a special one, no worries..it’s not over yet! EIGHT OCTAVES brings to you TOP TEN LOVE SONGS BY INDIAN BANDS! Feel the love right away!
10. Mein Laut Aaunga – Kaash “Na ho ab udaas tu na kr ankhe num in sooni sooni raaton mein ayenge tujhse milne hum in sooni sooni raaton mein in pyaari pyaari baaton mein”
Missing your loved one? Long distance? Want to sing for her?A Feel the lyrics, feel the hope. An amazing number by Kaash to keep your hopes instilled this valentine.
9. Blues Conscience – Kamasutra
How about some blues this valentine? The Indie boys from Blues Conscience, a blues revival band from Chennai started in the year 2008, India is one of our top 10 with their sinful ‘Kamasutra’. The song features Anej Ahuja on vocals/bass; Aum Janakiram on lead guitar/vocals; and Neil Smith on percussion. The band has played venues all across the country, including Blue Frog, and the Hard Rock Cafe. Jam the blues right now; middle of the day, middle of the night! J
8.Pal Chaahat – Udaan Udaan an alternative Hindi rock band that was formed back in 2007, and is presently based out of Chennai, in South India. With this song, the band does not fail to bring out the essence of love in every ‘pal’. “Jaye toh woh Jee leta hai apni pehli udaan”!
7. Mayakkara Poo vaasam- Sean Roldan and Friends A casual tamil love song in a dreamy tone. Sounding very different from what a usual melody sounds, ‘mayakara poo vasam’ makes it to top ten love songs. Slowly hear it and you will get an idea how to make friends with “love”. Music definitely cuts across all barriers and this sing is definitely one way of expressing your love for your dear one. “ mayakkara poo vasam..mayil onu varum nearm”..
6. Clarabella – The Mavyns
If you are a beatles fan, you would definitely know’ Clarabella’. Here the Mavyns present to you a different one!If you love rock, this song is definitely for you. The beautiful placement of notes in the song catches your attention. Listen to Clarabella and find out how indecent she is 😉
5. Maeri – Euphoria
“Teri ya meri ya pull gaya pull gaya haar te jeet hey mae ki karna mein jeet nu hove naje meet bindiya lagati toh kaapti thi palken maeri chunniya sajake woh deti vaadein kalke maeri meri haaton mein tha uska haath thi chaashni si har uski baat”
Love can be expressed in a lot of ways as we all know and this number surely takes it to the next level of feeling “ maeri” love.For the amount of emotions the song carries both in the lyrics and with the rendition, this song sure made it to the top ten love songs.
4. Aahatein – Agnee Although a splitsvilla theme song, we suggest that if you sing this song for your lover, there is never going to be anymore splits 😉 A song that would definitely make you go weak on your knees, Aahatein is a very beautiful rendition and the band ‘Agnee’ makes the listener feel ‘love’.
3. This Is It – Thermal And A Quarter The famous band from Bangalore consisting of Bruce Lee Mani – Guitars/Vocals, Rajeev Rajagopal – Drums, Prakash KN – Bass. In the fast paced world, where we hardly even have some time to spare for our ‘lover’ this song will awaken your ‘this is it’ moment. Keep hearing it till you find your ‘this is it’ moment. A good casual listen for all the love birds out there.
2. One Night Stand – Greyshack A very famous band in the Chennai circle, this band uses a variety of styles like Rock N’ Roll, Grunge, Funk and Blues. If you are fan of any one of the genres mentioned above, you are definitely going to love this song.The song in particular channels the kind of funk-influenced jam-band vibe witnessed during the times of the Blind Melons and Spin Doctors of the world.
1. In The Rain – Skrat Released this Jan, ‘In the Rain’ by Skrat featuring Shaktishree Gopalan (Nenjukulle – Kadal fame) , this song has topped the charts. The fantastic work with the guitars is noteworthy. Listen to it just once and you will be singing IN THE RAIN J
2012 was an amazing year for every kind of listener in India. There were fair number of releases in all genres; be it rock or metal, blues or jazz, every good citizen was robbed by artists coming out with an album. The large number of music festivals held throughout the year also helped artists to promote their albums and more number of people knew about the releases. This year saw releases from big names like Indus Creed, Thermal And A Quarter and many others. The rock legends, Indus Creed also came out with an album after 17 years. We also witnessed some great releases in metal like the Bangalore’s old school legends Kryptos, who released ‘The Coils Of Apollyon’ through a German label; Bevar Sea, a stoner/doom metal band from Bangalore; and the Delhi based Black Metal outfit, 1833 AD.
So let’s see what’s in for us in the year 2013:
1. Workshop
“When Satan and God had sex, the big bang happened. However since Satan was prone to multiple orgasms another bang happened…. and that’s how Workshop was formed.” – Well this is what their Facebook profile says and as humorous as this sounds, Workshop is doing a good in making people laugh and headbang at the same time. Hats off to Sahil Makhija for forming India’s first Comedy Metal Band or as he would say ‘Heavy Mental’. Workshop released their first album ‘Khooni Murga’ in May 2009 and we all burst into laughs with tracks like ‘She Folked Up, My Jazz’, ‘Cookie Monster’ and ‘Bunty Aur Mallika Sherawat’. And now the band decides to strike again with a new album, ‘Made Love To The Dragon’. The tracklist and for the new album was posted on their Facebook page and it does consist of some funny titles I must say. The album releases this January; till then sit back tight and take a look at the tracklist:
1. Made Love To The Dragon
2. Down To Dahisar
3. Bhoot Bungla
4. Munni Jawan Vs Sheila Badnam
5. Gajanand Dhige
6. She Came
7. Naagin Ki Nazar
8. Blues Motion
9. بنتيوماليكاشيرويت
The band also said that album will also contain a bonus tenth track for those who buy the album.
Kerela has contributed to the Indian music scene by producing brilliant bands right from the beginning. Motherjane, Avial, 13AD and Chaos have been metalling up our asses for a long time now. Another glorious band hailing from ‘God’s own country’ is ‘The Down Troddence’ who have succeeded to please us all with their vivid amalgamation of death metal and Indian classical which we witnessed in their masterpiece, ‘Shiva’ (check out Sushin’s mindboggling keyboard solo in the song). The band received a couple of awards at the Indigo South Asian Music Awards this year; one for best music video (Shiva) and other for best vocalist. Earlier this year after recovering from the departure of their guitarist, Rinoy, the band moved to Bangalore and announced that they would be recording an album with Keshav Dhar (Skyharbor). The band moved to studio on November 14 and after a week-long recording session, they completed the recording. The album is expected to be released anytime in February or March.
Trojan Horse is a technical groove metal band from Chennai. It started off as a two man project consisting of Hasnain (bass) and Siddhartha (guitars), both members of Carnage and were later joined by Vishnu (drums) and Siva (vocals) from Crypted. The band contributed a lot to the underground scene in Chennai and has headlined a lot of local shows. The band has been keeping their fans in touch with continuous updates on Facebook, right from the announcement of their first EP to finishing of the recording sessions. The album is now in its final stages and is expected to be released in late January.
When you start a band, the first question which comes to your mind is “What will the genre of the band be?” Most of metal bands incline towards thrash, death or progressive. But here is a band, which restrained from being included in any one particular genre and decided to experiment with every influence they ever had. The band is none other than the Old School-Progressive-Thrash-Death Metal band hailing from the Pink City Jaipur, WINTER GATE. A band that “brings up true and pure death metal all in a progressive environment”. And we surely did witness that in their EP, ‘Dis-Illumination’, released on March 13, 2012, which received nicely by the critics. I met the frontman, Devashish Dutt in a concert a few days back where he told me that they have completed the work on their new album and are now searching for a label to go through with the release. Though no announcements have been made, we can expect the album anytime soon.
Fragarak is a death metal outfit based in New Delhi. Formed earlier this year, the band draws revelation from “Fragarach”, an aboriginal sword of the Celtic mythology, accorded with the potential to dismantle the most resistive of all shielded protections, the themes of their tracks being cynical. Musically, they have a progressive approach to death which makes their sound unique, a vision quite similar to that of the Father of Death Metal, Chuck Schuldiner. The marvellous blend is not something which we can progressive death metal, which makes them absolutely different from the others. Last time I witnessed such music was in Chuck’s side project, ‘Control Denied’. In a recent, they announced that their new EP titled ‘Crypts Of Dissimulation’ will be released in early 2013. So, watch for it.
“Funky. Groovy. Eclectic. Vicious. Happy. Mellow. Furious. Quirky. Angsty. Bouncy. Think of a musical recipe which has a healthy dollop of all these ingredients and you’re thinking The Circus.” – This is how they describe themselves. The Circus is a rock band from New Delhi which comes out with absolutely brilliant psychedelic/progressive music which is impeccably fused with techno effects. They released an EP a while back which had covers of some of their favourite bands. The whole idea of the EP, as explained by the band, was to work and develop their sound so that they could carry some experience to the studio while recording their next album. So we can expect some more kickass stuff from the band very soon.
Every time I think about the word “Underground” usually all sorts of dark and grim thoughts arise. It’s like one of those goons standing at the end of a dark alley, with some kind of a folding knife in their hand. Well that is somewhat the reality of underground bands too. They are the badasses of the music scene. They want no fame, no recognition and like to stay hidden in the dark alleys. Contradicting popular beliefs, underground bands are underground because they choose to be. Not because they lack talent. I’ve seen some bands, who have the potential to become one of the best in the country, but they choose to be underground because they want no part of that fame. It’s only the love of music that drives them.
Now that being said, the question that arises is – Isn’t it necessary to give them a bit of recognition for their contribution to the scene?
Well to start off with, every band starts as an underground band. They will perform in local pubs and maybe a few college fests to begin with. Then comes the moment of truth, the band has a choice to make – to carry on doing the pub shows and the occasional college fests or, make it big and perform in some national level fests, get recognized, maybe get an album deal and then tour the country. Bands taking the second option will be termed as mainstream thereafter. While the ones who choose to stick to the roots are the underground bands. So the bottom-line is if there were no underground bands, there would be no mainstream bands either, and hence no band good enough to represent the country in the International level (which India lacks at the moment). So it should be obvious to have some sort of an award ceremony to reward the best of the best.
But the thing is underground bands do not want such recognition. All they want is their music to be heard. Hence for them, the crowd turning up for shows is the biggest reward. No trophy or cash certificate can replace that feeling. But the current scene does not look promising at all. People don’t show up in local gigs, they never used to as a matter of fact. And with the rise of International acts coming to the country, the local gigs have dried up; as everyone wants to save money for the big events. This has resulted in cases were the bands are not even paid for the shows, as the turnout is so low that not enough revenue can be generated to pay the venue charges and the bands.
Only a few underground gigs are organised yearly. But of them all only Trendslaughter Fest and Underground Fest in Bangalore have a dedicated fan base in the country. Except these two, one hardly gets to hear about proper underground gigs, blame it on the lack of publicity or just a lack of management personnel to host a proper gig; nonetheless the number of gigs is very low. Though it seems other cities are catching up with Bangalore, most prominent of them all was the Ritual Ascension Fest held in Kolkata this year. It got a very good response for a debut event.
With such a bad turn out in general and lack of gigs, the existence of underground bands is at stake. Even award ceremonies can’t help them. The only thing that can be done is to have frequent mainstream-underground gigs. Most people will oppose this idea, but that is the only way these bands can get some exposure and retain the fan base. Something of similar sorts was seen during the first edition of The Mighty Riff, where Bevar Sea was seen sharing the stage with current crowd favourite – Inner Sanctum. The crowd response was good enough for a local gig. More initiatives like that can be taken to help the scene flourish.
Maybe a nation-wide underground fest may help too, different bands going to play in different cities. That would inspire some new bands to stay underground and not go into the mainstream because, the music scene is like the animal food chain; one link in the chain gets disrupted, the whole chain is broken. Hopefully the scene will improve soon and we’ll have a mainstream-underground harmony.
Talking of popular underground fests, Cyclopean Eye Productions presents Trendslaughter Fest 3rd edition, to be held on 10th of February 2013 in Bangalore. The fest will be headlined by Blood Division from Singapore. So if you are anywhere near Bangalore during that time, make sure you drop in, trust me you won’t be disappointed.
My addiction to music and to this lovely instrument started in the year 2006, when I was in Kolkata. Back then I used to sulk into the heart-wrenching melodies of Knopfler’s ‘Boom, Like That’ and the sorrowful harmony of Gilmour’s ‘High Hopes’ but I never thought that I would ever be privileged to even hold the holy axe. But on one particular day when I was in my first local gig, the moment I heard the guitarist pinch on the D note and raise E to F# in the concluding solo of ‘Comfortably Numb’, I knew that I’m learning this instrument and I’m playing this solo.
Guitar solos have been the soul of rock and metal music and almost every individual longs for a song to be graced by a brilliant solo. 2012 saw the release of many rock and metal albums with some really good guitar work. So let’s check out the top 10 solos from the year.
10. Bevar Sea – Abishtu
‘Abhishtu’ is a song from debut self-titled album of the Stoner/Doom Metal band from the metal haven of India, Bangalore. This nine-minute long track offers some heavy headbangable riffs and two really transcendent and sublime solos accompanied with a perfectly stoner atmosphere. The first solo appears at about 2:11 and acts as a short bridge between two verses, played very gently with properly selected notes. The second longer solo starts when the heavy riffs of the song drown into a very ambient mood at about 4:00. The guitarist takes us through the transient part with delicate slides between perfectly selected notes and back to the hefty part with beautiful bends. An admirable thing about the solos is that they are very simple, within the scale and yet succeed to mesmerise us.
9. Kryptos – Starfall
Kryptos, being the old school legends of India, continue to please us with perfectly tailored songs on their new release ‘The Coils Of Apollyon’. ‘Starfall’ is the seventh track from the album and just like the remainder of the album, it consists of some splendid guitar work. The solo on the song is played by both Nolan Lewis and Rohit Chaturvedi who take us through the song with a minute long duet. It starts at about 3:23 and features both the guitars playing classic licks, remaining within the scale. The solos mainly consist of simple arpeggios and runs along the minor scale but yet turn out to be very melodic and impressive.
8. 1833 AD – Wiser Than The Wisest
Black metal is not so well known for guitar riffs or solos, but has always attracted cult followers, who look for a dark and evil like ambience in their music. But won’t the whole pleasure be amplified when we get the devilish environment with some really kickass solos? 1833 AD gives us that pleasure. Their new album, ‘My Dark Symphony’, consists of really brutal progressions, some brilliant solos and of course the darkest atmosphere. ‘Wiser Than The Wisest’ is one of the best tracks of the album and also has the best solo on the album which not only elevates the mood but also demonstrates some really fast runs along the fretboard. The runs are mostly done on the scale in triplets, which changes with the change in chords and cover a good amount of fretboard.
7. Chronic Xorn – Wrath’s Black Rain
We talk of guitar solos and not talk of Bengalis; that’s not happening. Chronic Xorn, the No. 1 metal act of Kolkata (ReverbNation) came out with a fantastic album and whipped us with some beautifully tailored solos. The solo on ‘Wrath’s Black Rain’ starts off with melodious licks with clean guitars in background and moves into higher octave with distorted chords in the background. Suvam covers a nice amount of fretboard while going through some really heart-rending bends. This solo, no. seven on the list, will surely mesmerise you with its melodic and sentimental nature.
6. Rectified Spirit – Bloodrush
Rectified Spirit, a band that was had formed in 2005, split up in 2009, again reformed in 2011 and with some new members on board, make a comeback with a solid self-titled debut album. This versatile band cites influences from a broad variety of bands ranging from bands like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple to Meshuggah and Dream Theatre. The album consists of some insane work on guitars. The second song from the album, Bloodrush, features a kickass solo. The solo has everything: the speed runs, the deadly sweeps and excellent coverage of fretboard. The quick changes in the rhythm have been accounted for very nicely. Check out these crazyheads from Guwahati for some more insane music.
5. Chronic Xorn – From Mercy
Another heart-bleeding solo from the album! This song features Travis Montgomery from Canadian metalcore band, Threat Signal in a guest solo. Needless to say, this solo made it to number 5. The solo starts with fast arpeggios accompanied with some sweeps and taps and transcends into a melodic section with the same notes combination played in triplets. The speed changes and melodious licks will shake your every bit.
4. Oxymoron – Indebted
Oxymoron is metal outfit hailing from Lucknow and after listening to them, I was convinced that the complaint about lack of good guitarists in India can finally be buried down beneath as I came across some fine compositions in their debut EP. Indebted, the second track on the EP, features some really groovy progressions and a mind blowing solo. We can witness some splendid sweeps and insane shredding all over the fretboard, that all with a very simple rhythm in background. This simply shows the broadness of one’s mind which is really necessary while composing a solo.
3. Orion – Devoured Existence
Orion, also a debutant, is a Progressive/Technical band from Mumbai. Their EP, ‘The Banks Of Rubicon’ is a gold mine for progressive listeners, offering a huge variety of ravishing progressions and stunning solos. The solo on Devoured Existence ticks in at about 2:18, being a full technical treat. The piece reminds of Muhammed Suicmez’ solos, which we haven’t witnessed in a while (and maybe we never will). The solo offers us the same sweep-tap combination we experience in Necrophagist solos. I must say the solo has been done very neatly and we can look forward really good work from these guys.
2. Skyharbor – Catharsis
‘Blinding White Noise: Illusion & Chaos’, the most awaited album of the year was finally out and guess whom did the mastermind, Keshav Dhar, bring in to play this solo for him. Yes! Marty Friedman, the man behind the heart-wrenching solos of ‘Tornado Of Souls’, ‘Skin O’ My Teeth’, ‘Symphony Of Destruction’ and countless no. of solos! Apart from the soul touching bends and heart pinching vibratos, Marty came out with some dreamscaping runs, pretty similar to classical solos played on fiddle. This is a solo not to be missed!
1. Indus Creed – Dissolve
And to top the list, of course the most acclaimed acts in the Indian rock scene; and they had to top the list after releasing such a wonderful album after 17 long years. Indus Creed has always been known for their excellent work on guitars especially during their live performances in which they prolong their solos on stage. ‘Dissolve’ kicks in straight with a stunning solo and exhibits one of the best works of Indus Creed. Clearly there seem to be no words to describe the sheer brilliance of the solo. Let the radiance of the piece simply penetrated through your heart. The moment I heard it, I just knew that this was going on top.
It has been a big year for music so far! This has been across all various platforms and styles – from international metal acts touring the country to revival live music scene to Dubstep reaching the shores of India.
We at 8octaves have been trying to compile a best of list for the year across various genres. It has been a tough call especially when it came to electronic music. Though electronica in India has been there around for more than two decades It is recently that there has been an explosion in the scene with artists/DJs/performers/event organisations/festivals springing up in various pockets of the country.
There is a dilemma in choosing the best of in electronica, one that the scene is not big enough to hail some artists as the greatest and the variables chosen to decide the various stars of the year might get biased. Nonetheless we have considered releases, quality of music released both aesthetically and production wise, fan following, events and promotion done by the artists to make this best of list.
However we have decided that this is not a rank based list but more a basket of the top artists in the scene. Considering all this here’s the best of list for electronica for 2012 in India –
One of the veteran producers of the psychedelic trance music in India. 2012 has been phenomenal year for this maestro. He released his album Seance on DvSM Records late last year and has been shooting tracks since then across various labels around the world.
One of the few dj turned producers to make the list. An interesting prospect to make a mark on the scene in the days to come. Part of labels MarkTub Music, Outside the Box Music, Mirabills Recordings, Baires Records, Dazzle on Records, Spherax Records. One of the headlong acts of God’s own music festival in Cochin early next year
B.L.O.T. (Basic Love of Things) (Electronica/Techno/Dubstep)
Filmmakers, music producers, DJs and one-time lawyers, this multidisciplinary duo are one of India’s leading audiovisual and experiential collectives.
Sandunes is the recently introduced project of the highly talented and good looking Sanaya Ardeshir. With two EP releases in the year already and Mumbai-Delhi-Bangalore tour, she is building base in the highly diverse electronica music scene in the country.
Member of highly reputed Jalebee Cartel, has built a quite reputation around his self titled solo project. The man has done gigs in various countries and has more than 7000 followers on soundcloud. Other members of Jalebee Cartel, Ash Roy and Calm Chor (Ashwin Mani Sharma) have launched similar projects this year.
Brothers Rishabh and Pratik make heavy forest styled psychedelic music. The production quality is top notch. They have featured on releases of a number of international labels and have even performed at international festivals.
Dualist Inquiry is the branchild and solo project of Sahej Bakshi, a producer, guitarist and performer. A rising new electronic talent of the country, known not only for production but also his performances.
Been around since nineties, Udayan Sagar aka Nucleya has presented an interesting new direction in the growing electronica scene in the country. Co-founder of Bandish Projekt, he has already released 14 Singles, a studio album “Bhor” and a number of collaborations.
B.R.E.E.D (Dubstep) B.R.E.E.D aka DJ Nasha is a veteran to the dance music industry and one of the few who actively continues to be a part of it. Currently he enjoys being ambassador of Dubstep music in India. Though not so musically unique the man has been a crowd hustler for over a decade.
They say, “Dude you know how to play a guitar, you’re soon gonna be on stage and everyone will be lined up to watch you and your band play!” Well that’s easier said than done. Little do they know that it’s no child’s play to search for musicians who not only want to play the same kind of music as you do, but also possess a similar vision that you have for your band. This becomes even tougher when you’re in a country like ours. It takes a lot to form a metal band, given the diverse nature that it has; you find a good drummer but he wants to play groove metal whereas you want to play thrash.
Despite all the teething troubles, we witnessed a lot of bands this year in n number of festivals which brought a surge of excitement in the whole country. Let’s check out the bands which stood on top in this fruitful year. They are in no particular order
Kryptos
1998. When metal just existed in the dark alleys and we had almost zero bands in the country, these noble warriors stepped up and put up a force that would lead the metal scene in India. They introduced India to the global metal scene by successfully completing a cross country tour of Europe, the first one to do so, and posed a big inspiration to the infinite bands which the country today bares. This year saw the release of their third studio album, ‘The Coils Of Apollyon’, first through Iron Fist in February and then through AFM Records, Germany in September. The album received massive critical success scoring really good on both Indian and international portals. Apart from the release and successful local gigs, Kryptos also opened from two legendary thrash bands Kreator and Testament.
Zygnema
As soon as these people won Rolling Stone Metal Awards in 2011, we just knew that they’re going to metal up our asses in the upcoming years, and sure they did. Zygnema is a Mumbai based Thrash/Groove Metal outfit that had one hell of a year. The band, known for their groundbreaking performances, smashed up hell lot stages around the world this year, right from the small ones in colleges to the massive W.E.T. Yes, you heard it right. After clearing Wacken Metal Battle’s Mumbai leg and then the scoring in the final, Zygnema conquered the masses in Wacken Open Air Festival, the second band in India to do so.
Skyharbor
These guys were requested by none other than Chris Adler (drummer, Lamb Of God) himself to open for their very first gig in the Resolution World Tour. Starting out as a simple bedroom project by Keshav Dhar, Skyharbor is often acclaimed to be India’s most high profile band and is hugely appreciated by many big names around the world. Apart from conquering Clark’s Exotica, these geniuses also came out with their most-awaited debut album, ‘Blinding White Noise: Illusion & Chaos’ via Basick Records which features master musicians like Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth), Daniel Tompkins (ex-Tesseract), Vishal J Singh (Amogh Symphony) and Sunneith Revankar (Bhayanak Maut). They made an appearance at the Euroblast Festival playing alongside the likes of Scar Symmetry and Tesseract and headlined Strawberry Fields in Bangalore. This band is definitely doing a good job in giving Indian metal scene, a global recognition.
Inner Sanctum
Message to the organizers: If you are getting someone big to headline your event, consider these guys to open the event as they are gonna rip the stage off. Starting from Cradle Of Filth and Metallica last year to Vildhjarta, Kreator, Slayer and Testament this year, these guys have covered them all. The story behind the Rock ‘N India gig was even more interesting as they beat the mighty Kryptos in a nail-biting online voting contest to decide the band who would support Slayer alongside Brahma.
Eccentric Pendulum
Eccentric Pendulum is a Progressive Metal outfit (to cut it short) from Bangalore and definitely had an outstanding year. Apart from headlining some local gigs, the band supported Opeth, Karnivool, Kreator and Gojira in the n number of international concerts which happened in this splendid year and seized the gigantic SWR Festival in Portugal with the likes of Immortal, Gorod and Candlemass. The band also bagged a lot of awards like Best Drummer, Best Bassist and Best Album at Rolling Stone Metal Awards and the Best Drummer at Jack Daniels Rock Awards, making it a brilliant year for the band.
There’s an old saying that your actions in the very first seconds of January 1 become the theme for the rest of your upcoming year. Never had I given this aphorism much of a thought until this year. As the countdown to 2012 began, I was standing at one of those local gigs held in a pub as a mug full of beer was clamped to my hands. The year had commenced and little idea I had that it’s going to be this huge and so full of metal for me or perhaps for any metalhead in the country. Not only the number of international gigs happening increased exponentially but there was also a gigantic wave of local bands coming out with small and big releases, travelling across the country in aid of promotions. All in all, we all had a lot of fun in drinking up and moshing around.
It all began with one of India’s most awaited college fests, Saarang which has an event known Rock Show. It featured Inner Sanctum (who are everybody’s number one choice for an opening act), Blind Image (Chennai’s No.1 on ReverbNation), the pav bhaji lovers Scribe and the Swedish djent monsters Vildhjarta. The madness from the show wasn’t over that just a week later the underground kings Dying Embrace pulled us to India’s largest underground fest which was headlined by the mighty Abigail from Japan and Cauchemar from Canada. Again after a gap of seven days, I was there in Bangalore on February 5 to witness the progressive giants, Opeth who headlined the Summerstorm Festival.
The craziness continued after Lamb Of God played in Bangalore for the second time. But sadly, this event did not take place in Bangalore’s or rather India’s metal haven Palace Ground as the Karnataka government had banned any sort of live shows taking place on that piece of land. This issue raised a lot of voices from the fans and it also caused even more trouble for the organizers to get a decent venue to host their gigs. One such event was Bangalore Open Air, the Indian edition of the great Wacken Open Air, headlined by the German thrash legends Kreator. The sudden ban from the authorities must have given the organizers a nice run and might have ended being a reason for such a poor turnout despite of such a promising line-up.
Nolan Lewis, the voice and guitars of Kryptos, says, “The ban on concerts in Palace Grounds is ridiculous. Basically it’s just a scam to extract more money from the owners of the grounds. While the local government gives lame reasons like traffic jams and crap, they have no problems hosting political rallies there and clogging all roads leading to and from the grounds. It’s a total joke.” Also during this time, certain American acts such as Nile and Iced Earth were finalised by organizers. The announcements were made and tickets were sold too. But the shows were forced to cancel due to denial of visas to the band because some “undisclosed” issues in the Indian Embassy in the States. Iced Earth was supposed to headline Bangalore Open Air along with Kreator and Suidakra was called in to fill up their spot.
After all this mash-up, a fair question was raised in everyone’s mind: “Will there be any more gigs in India?” The question was answered shortly by DNA Networks who are the pioneers of music event organizing in India when they announced that Slayer would headline Rock ‘N India 2012. And shortly after this, something opposite of “no more gigs” happened. Within weeks, bands like Megadeth (NH7 Weekender, Noida), Children Of Bodom (The Great Indian Oktober Fest), Gojira (Indian Metal Festival) and Testament and Periphery (NH7 Weekender, Bangalore) were announced and a surge of exhilaration ran among the heavy listeners throughout the country. The last three months were so packed up with shows that people had to make really difficult choices like Children Of Bodom or Megadeth and Testament or Gojira. This unnecessary war between the organizers might have landed us in difficult situations but we sure did enjoy to the core.
Does this mean that India has now become a recognized destination for artists on tour? Will we get marked on the tour map of every band? Time will tell us that. This is not the only thing that these gigs have contributed to but they have also helped local bands a lot by giving them opportunities to open for these international acts. Inner Sanctum, a Bangalore based band, has gained a lot of recognition recently as they shared stages with Metallica, Slayer, Cradle Of Filth and Testament. They outnumbered the old school nobles Kryptos in a vote-out held on Facebook and opened for Slayer in Rock N’ India along with Brahma. Eccentric Pendulum, who performed in Wacken Open Air last year, have played their sets before the likes of Opeth and Gojira.
The large no of shows have not only helped Indian bands in achieving fame but they have also targeted a lot of people and created an awareness of this form of music. This has led to an increase in no of local gigs which generally have a good turnout. Devashish Dutt, frontman of Wintergate, a progressive death metal band from the pink city, Jaipur says, “This year has been very important for us as we saw the invasion of so many international acts. This must have had a big impact on the people in accepting the metal culture in India. I’m sure it has pushed a lot of zeal in young musicians too. And I just hope it keeps rising. I wish to see more bands from different genres to come up too.” Wintergate came out with an EP titled ‘Dis-Illumination’ this year and they are now working on a full length album which is expected to be released early 2013.
In terms of releases, 2012 has done fairly well in all subgenres of metal. We saw the old school giants, Kryptos releasing their third album, ‘The Coils Of Apollyon’, through a German label which received very positive reviews both in India and Europe. The doom/stoner metal band Bevar Sea released their self-titled debut album in October. Skyharbor, a band invited by Lamb Of God themselves to open for them, released their debut album featuring the likes of Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth), Dan Tompkins (ex-Tesseract)and Sunneith Ravankar (Bhayanak Maut) among the guest musicians. This year was a treat for black metal lovers as artists like 1833 AD, Solar Deity and Heathen Beast came out with some brilliant releases. So, in short the events of this year have made the Indian metal scene pretty hot. They have been a boon for local artists with upcoming albums and have driven many bands to come out with releases. I believe that India is going to see a lot of metal next year.
