Delhi seems to be getting hotter! Sad that the North Zone of Wacken Metal Battle has been knocked off this time, but I truly believe that we could have got some really good bands to see this time. Fragarak, a Progressive Death Metal Band from Delhi, just came out with an album and is probably one of the best debuts India would have witnessed so far. We caught them for a bit of chat about their new album and general stuff. Read on!
Eight Octaves: Greetings from Eight Octaves! Your debut ‘Crypts of Dissimulation’ is being well received by the critics and fans. How does it feel?
Ruben: Thank you for interviewing us! Needless to say – It’s a great feeling! There have been compliments claiming that our sound is unique and potent. We’ve been acknowledged by our listeners, and it feels good. We are really overwhelmed to see so many positive responses for the debut album, keeping in mind that we have been around for just over a year.
Eight Octaves: The album was released in just a year from formation of the band. That’s a goal which rarely any band in India achieves. What made you guys enter the studio so soon? How did you manage to pull this off?
Supratim: We had most of the tracks except for the last acoustic track written a month before entering C6 studios. All the songs were written in over a span of four to five months, and during these months we were locked in, and had our focus on regularly practicing and fixing the arrangements for the tracks, we definitely had a nice time doing that, too. I assume that was how we were able to achieve the goal – being sure of what we were looking forward to, we just didn’t slow down.
Eight Octaves: ‘Crypts of Dissimulation’ is a great record; I mean the sound is so mature and you have such a good control on it. Did any of you have had any previous experiences in playing for a band or recording an album?
Ruben: Most of us were a part of different bands before. Sagar, Kartikeya and myself were a part of the same band though, but we decided to discontinue the band because of some tension going on and went on to form Fragarak.
Eight Octaves: Tell us something about the early days of Fragarak.
Ruben: After Sagar, Kartikeya and I left our previous band, we took some time off to think and decide about the new band we wanted to form and the type of music we wanted to write as a band. We were also looking for a lead guitarist and a vocalist of the same music background to fill in the lineup back then. That’s when we got to know about Arpit and were really happy to study of the similar taste and influences he had in music as us. We were really impressed by his deft lead guitar skills and asked him to be a part of the band, which he happily accepted! We got to know about Supratim through Kartikeya as they attend same college. At that time Supratim was also looking for a band to join.
Supratim: Kartikeya happened to be one of those few guys in my college who shared similar musical tastes. While few of the song structures were almost complete, I was asked by Kartik to attend the initial jams, as they were still in search for that voice to channel the energy in their sound. A few jams and adjustment in vocal techniques for over a couple of months, and fortunately enough, I fit in to fortify this 5-piece foundation. And though we jammed as an anonymous ensemble for almost a month, we finally decided on Fragarak, after countless names were tossed around.
Eight Octaves: The band’s name and depiction comes from ‘Fragarach’, a sword that belonged to Manannan mac Lir and later, Lugh Lamfada from Irish Mythology. What brought your interest in Irish Mythology?
Supratim: The name should rightfully depict our musical theme. The lyrics are dominantly themed upon the society and the lies it portrays as undeniable truth. Derived from “Fragarach” which is empowered to shatter the toughest of all shields, Fragarak aims to attack the unrevealed deceptions shielded by the system and hence the name!
Eight Octaves: When I listen to your music, I’m reminded of the melancholic melodies from Opeth’s ‘Orchid’ and the heavy progressions from Death’s ‘The Sound of Perseverance’. Whom would you cite as your primary influences?
Ruben: ‘The Sound of Perseverance’ is definitely one of our favourite records of all time. We are really influenced by the death metal sound of the 90’s, not to mention as musicians, Cynic, Edge of Sanity, Dissection and Death have inspired us a lot to write music. We also like Lord Belial, Vinterland, King Crimson, Rush, Spiral architect etc.
Eight Octaves: What is your general song-writing process?
Supratim: To start with: Ruben, Kartik and Arpit sit together and work towards designing the song structure. Each of them contribute to the overall backbone of a song and finally come up with a rough structure laid down on GuitarPro, also containing the basslines. There are initially gaps in the structure, which are eventually bridged over a couple of more days, along with changes here and there with better thought-of riff inputs from the three of them. The finalised GP file is then sent over to me and Sagar. I start the lyrical phrasing on the song keeping in mind the contextual theme to be portrayed in each song. Meanwhile, Sagar innovates on the drum lines. Following this we have continuous jam sessions and the lead solos, interludes are resolved to finalise all the arrangements on the song. All that being said, it takes usually a couple of weeks to complete the offering on one song.
Eight Octaves: What are you views on the scene of metal music in New Delhi? Do you think that it can tackle the already developed scenes in Mumbai and Bangalore in near future?
Supratim: The over-rated ‘metal scene’ here is sadly downtrodden with typical trend-driven elements dominating the sound of most upcoming bands! However there are few bands still sticking to proper stuff, there is still hope from lesser-known but better underground legions. There is not much of a scene apart from the regular college organised illogical “battle/ competitions” and few gigs at proper venues played by the regular scene-established bands.
Ruben: To reach out to the level of comparatively better situations like other cities, we need more ventures from organisers/ sponsors along with cooperation from the venues and participation from the city’s metal population to turn up for local gigs and support the upcoming bands. That’s how the foundation for an efficient scene can develop.
Eight Octaves: Besides doing the awesome job of playing in Fragarak, what is that you guys do?
Ruben: Well besides making music, most of us are students having to deal with the regular burdens of assignments and exams, apart from Arpit who is involved with his job. Managing attendance during the work hours of weekdays, we still find enough time to jam, create music, listen to more music and also have our own share of branded entertainment.
Eight Octaves: What are your plans now that the album has been released? A national tour maybe, to promote the album?
Supratim: Yes, we would be playing a couple of shows in the coming months promoting the album, starting off with the launch gig in Delhi with support from brother bands. Apart from the northern circuit, we look forward to playing and securing gigs in other cities like Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, etc. We have already received orders for the album CDs’ from listeners all over India, along with request to perform at their local shows. It would be a great opportunity to collaborate with the different regional organizers in order to reach out our music, live to the metal fraternity out there.
Links: https://www.facebook.com/fragarak.india
https://fragarak.bandcamp.com
https://www.reverbnation.com/fragarak
https://www.youtube.com/fragarakTV
