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goMAD Festival 2013 announced

The second edition of the much-awaited “Go M.A.D” Festival has been announced and promises an out of the world musical experience at the Fern hill Palace, Ooty from October 25-27, 2013. After the grand success of M.A.D 2012, the organizers are ready to make more noise, bring in more bands, splash more colors and invoke more craziness this October.

Confirmed bands to make the crowd go mad are Parikrama, Agam, Soulmate, Shobana Dance Academy, The Tank and the Bangas (USA) and Luke Jon Sheare (Aus), Jamie Ferrari (UK), Noori (Pak), Emergence and so on. And as far as we are concerned, the metal bands who form a part of this line-up are:

Blind Image
Lucid Dreams
Inner Sanctum
The Down Troddence
De’Sat
Bevar Sea

The M.A.D Festival is a three day event, which exclusively deals with Music, Art and Dance. The festival began in 2012 under the name of MAD Festival and is organized by Cobalt, a leading integrated marketing experiential company headquartered in Bangalore. The festival is spread over 44 acres, with a lovely camping area ,a curated market, a crazy adventure zone ,a bar in the woods, lots of food stalls, a play area for kids and a range of workshops by renowned artists & field experts. Additional to the fun, the MAD Festival has been known to support several environmental concerns.

Log on to their official website for more details on the event.

Blind Image to play Metal Asylum Fest, Dubai

Blind Image has just announced that they will be playing at the Metal Asylum Festival in Dubai sometime this November 2013.

Following their SE asia tour 2012 , Blind Image is now in the studio working on their upcoming third album which is expected to release by mid 2013. The band has already confirmed their tour of South East Asia (September 2013). Dates for the same will be announced shortly.

Regarding their slot at Metal Asylum, the band’s chief spokesperson Krishna says -“We played in Dubai in the year 2011 as a part of the global metal bash. The experience was unique and we are really glad that we will be hitting Dubai again this year for playing at the Metal Asylum festival which also feature various band across Europe and Egypt.

We will be hitting Dubai right after we come back from our SE Asia part 2 which will be happening this September.

These 2 tours will follow our third album’s launch which will be happening mid 2013. Prior to this we will also be touring India.”

The Metal Asylum festival is one of the biggest festivals that happens in Dubai every year and features a lot of underground bands from all over the world.

Check the official event page for more.

Blind Image to play at Asian Metal Festival, KL

Blind Image recently announced that they will be playing at the ASIAN METAL FESTIVAL in Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia , which is happening on the 9th of June 2013. The festival will be headlined by the legendary Indonesian band – Burgerkill. It also will feature various bands across the Asian sub-continent.

Blind Image did a tour of South East Asia (Part 1) in November 2012 . This will be the second time the band will be touring this region .

Krish, spokesperson for the band says – “We are really excited to be a part of this event. The memories from our last tour are still fresh. We enjoyed every single minute the last time when we toured this place and met some of the best people ever! And fans as well! When we finished the tour in November, we were confident that we have taken a solid first step in expanding our fan base over Asia and I think this just a result of that. The fans over there are just insane and thats the kind of crowd which every band would love to play for. We are also very happy that we will be sharing the stage with Burgerkill which is one of the most established bands from Asia. It’s really awesome to see that finally there is a stage for all the Asian bands to get enough exposure and create their own market. We are also very much looking forward to check out some of the other Asian bands and we hope to meet all the fans who had come for our shows during our last tour!”

Blind Image will also have their new, still untitled album ready by June 2013, and say that their tour will feature some of their new stuff, along with their older songs too, of course.

The band will announce a few more dates as a part of this festival shortly. The boys from Blind Image also released a statement that they will be touring India and few parts of Asia (apart from this particular festival) to promote the album.

Blind Image announce Australian tour and Noble Luke as new frontman

Chennai based metallers Blind Image have just announced their first international tour, which includes gigs across Australia from the 11th to the 19th of November this year. In another surprise announcement, they have revealed that their vocalist David Simon has quit the band, only to be replaced by Noble Luke- acclaimed frontman of Artillerie.

The east coast Australian tour was brought together by The Flaming Arts and Deadsets Promotions. The band will be supported by fellow label mates – Humonic.

Australian audiences can expect a solid dose of extreme/groove metal mixed with earlier circa 90’scontemporary leanings from Blind Image. Having released their second album ‘More Than Human’, Blind Image have moved on to a more mature sound of what they term “intelligent experimental/groove metal” which far removes them from their earlier freshman thrash sounds of “Psychobabble”.

Drummer Krishna had this to say about the tour- “This is very exciting and we are really happy that things are falling into place, finally. We have worked on this so hard with our management flaming arts and our booking Agent Anthony to make it work and we are glad it has finally been announced! This will certainly be a great exposure for us and a massive stepping stone. We have the privilege of being the first Indian metal band to hit the Australian shores and it will be an interesting experience to play along with some really quality bands from Australia such as Dawn heist, Kunvuk and Humonic. Can’t wait for it.”

Blind Image will, as part of their tour, headline the newly coveted Whiplash Festival in Canberra; which boasts of a mixed showcase of the very best in Australian Hardcore, Metal and Rock newcomers.

Debuting as the new vocalist for the metallers will be Artillerie frontman, Noble Luke.

Krishna says- “This was a real hard decision. But, eventually it ended up in a mutual way. We are happy that we are still maintaining a great relationship with David. He has been our best friend for the past so many years which is why we both understood each other’s priorities. With no doubts, David is such a talented vocalist but its just for professional reasons. Both, the band and David felt, parting ways was the best thing for the band. We really wish him a great future and nothing less.”

“Well, Noble Luke is definitely one of the best frontmen in India. We have had a couple of jams over the weekend and the chemistry was just unbelievable. He picked up the songs so quickly and even wrote vocal lines for some new songs. His idea on writing songs is pretty similar to the ideas what we have. So, we really feel that this is going to be a perfect blend. We are sure he is going to take the band to the next level as a front man and we are totally looking forward for our first gig with him.”

Noble Luke says, “The timing for this to happen couldn’t have been any sweeter. I am feeling stronger, better and more creative than ever, and I know Blind Image has been gearing up with a lot of kick ass new material. The collaboration at this point therefore seems perfect by design. I guess I am very fortunate to be on board now, and to work along side this band which has long been championing the causeof metal in the South. I’m getting goosebumps anticipating the carnage justitching to be unleashed. This will be one insane rush.”

The dates for Blind Image’s Australian tour are:

11TH NOV – THEPRAGUE, THORNBURY VIC
12TH NOV –WHIPLASH FESTIVAL, CANBERRA ACT
13TH NOV – THEVALVE BAR, SYDNEY NSW
18TH NOV – THE JUBILEEHOTEL, BRISBANE QLD
19TH NOV –SHEPPARTON HALL, SHEPPARTON VIC

Sponsors : VATER, SOULTONE, SONOR, ENGL, SLUDGE FACTORY, VOLTAGE MEDIA, WHIPLASH FESTIVAL

Cradle of Filth- Bangalore gig review

Every one of us has gone through a Cradle of Filth stage in the phases of heavy metal education. For some, that stage graduates to other sub-genres, and for a good many others, it stays on. And it looks like there are a hell of a lot of those who belong to that latter group, because Cradle of Filth is apparently the most successful British heavy metal band since Iron Maiden!

So the group at Spotlight Events and the Indian Music Conference decided to make up for the Cynic mess and brought down Dani Filth and the gang to Bangalore to perform at the Palace Grounds. There was heavy rain in Bangalore for the previous few days, so we kept our fingers crossed and luckily, it was a sunny afternoon during the soundcheck.

The first opening act- Blind Image, went on at around 5PM, and played a good set. They have played a couple of shows in Bangalore earlier, but this had to be one of their tightest so far. Their was some flavour added to their set when they were joined by Divine Heresy vocalist Travis Neal for “More than Human”. The band was decent and played mostly originals, but I really felt the LoG cover could’ve been avoided.


Next on-stage was Bangalore’s Inner Sanctum. This band has been getting progressively better with each gig, and by far, their performance at this show was the best I’ve seen in a while. Their stage presence was nothing short of explosive, and thankfully, the sound was decent, and that’s the least a band can ask for. Their set-list consisted of some older stuff from the ‘Provenance’ EP, as well as a couple of new tracks. Inner Sanctum was mind-blowing, to say the least, and luckily for them, the rain gods seemed to have waited for them to finish because just when they got off stage, the skies opened up.

This was not so lucky for Devoid, who were supposed to go on next. Rain is manageable, but what we were stuck in the middle of was a thunderstorm. There was no shelter, and the mass of black t-shirts stood under those ferocious open skies, chanting “Cradle of Filth” and “Start the fucking show”. Though Thor seemed like he’d show everyone the middle finger, the metalheads withstood the downpour, waiting for more music (live music, not Motherjane tracks from the CD).

So, it seemed like the show would go on, and Devoid started their set. The rains, the music and about a thousand drenched headbangers- it couldn’t get more ‘metal’ than that. Devoid was super tight, but unfortunately for them, the sound on the P.A. suffered the wrath of the rains. They played most of the tracks from ‘A God’s Lie’, like “Battle Cry”, “Possessed” and even squeezed in “Black Fortress”. The highlight of their show was when Gaurav Basu (Inner Sanctum) joined them on stage for “Beersong”. These acts are proof enough that Indian metal is no longer amateur and can in fact, kick some serious ass!

Just as Devoid got off stage, the rains subsided, and Cradle of Filth got ready to come on next. Their soundcheck took a while, and in the meanwhile, the crowd kept itself entertained by examining (I’ll be politically correct here) all the destroyed painted faces and messed up make-up of the CoF fans. It continued to drizzle continuously, and finally, almost forty-five minutes later, the dry-ice took effect, and the band made its appearance dramatically. Quite expected anyway, since it was Cradle of Filth! They started off immediately, and there was not too much of interaction with the audience. This could’ve been because the drizzle was steadily getting heavier and the band may not have wanted to waste too much time with useless banter. But Dani Filth did take the time off to get the crowd to chant “Fuck police brutality” as the Bangalore cops started beating up people in front, near the barricade. The barrier collapsed after a while, and it was chaos. But the moshing continued as the band continued to play to the frenzied crowd. Sadly, the sound was pretty bad, and there were times when the guitars, keyboards and backing vocals were not audible at all. Cradle of Filth is a great band live, but the sound wasn’t at all in their favour that night. They played a mix of old and new songs, like “Humana Inspired to Nightmare”, “Lilith Immaculate”, “Her ghost in the fog”, “Nymphetamine” and “From the Cradle to the Enslave”.

On the whole, it was a great show, despite the rains and sound issues. IMC has certainly earned its name back, at least partially! We definitely are looking forward to more shows from their end, and at the next one, let’s throw the men in khaki right in the middle of the circle-pit, shall we?

Check out a video of Inner Sanctum’s performance here:

Blind Image drummer to endorse Soultone Cymbals

Srikrishna Natesan, drummer from Chennai based metal band- Blind Image, has just been signed on as an official endorsee for Soultone Cymbals. To find out more on his endorsement, and a little more on the band, we asked him a few questions. Read on for more.

HB: Congratulations on the new endorsement! Give us details… How did it come about?

Krishna: Well honestly, it all started when I realized that I was broke and didn’t have enough money to expand my existing set up with some new cymbals which will help my band sound good on stage. So I had this conversation with my friend Rahul Gopal, who is also an awesome drummer. As we all know he is now endorsing Sabian and Mapex in Chennai and he asked me to look in to the option of trying for an endorsement. I just started doing some research and at the same time and I was fortunate enough to try Soultone Cymbals when one of my friends visited India from USA and it sounded fantastic.

 

So I gathered info on Soultone endorsements and approached them. I recorded myself playing at a few of my shows and in the jam room and made a portfolio and submitted it to Soultone. One week later, BANG BANG! They sent me a mail with the big news that they are happy to make me a part of the Soultone family and I was thrilled for 2 reasons –

1. I am getting new cymbals. (Awesome sounding cymbals)

2. I am endorsing the same cymbals that have been endorsed by one of my all time favorite drummers – NICK MENZA- ex Megadeth.

The best thing about Soultone is how they treat the customers. From big names to small names – everyone gets the same treatment. IKI LEVI (CEO Soultone) is one awesome person and a unique businessman, I must say. And also all their artist relation managers are so awesome and very helpful. They are so patient and very prompt in responding to emails.

 

HB: You must’ve worked quite hard to earn this! Tell us- For how long have you been playing the drums? And what’s your practice regime like?

Krishna: I’ve been playing for around 5 years. I approach drums not just as percussions but as an instrument which can speak musically. That’s the kind of style I am trying to develop. You will understand what I am trying to say if you listen to drummers like Gavin Harisson, Carter Beauford, Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd and also some metal drummers like Derek Roddy, Martin Lopez, Chris Adler, Nick Menza . All these guys, they make the drum kit to speak and they take the kit beyond boundaries.

My practice regimes:

I spend a lot of time playing on the pillows. I cultivated this habit few years back when I met Rahul Gopal . He helped me out to clear my wrist basics with basic Paradiddles on the pillows and for the feet I have a practice pad. I try to apply whatever I play with my hands on to my legs. I came across this endurance exercise prescribed by Derek Roddy, which is a real good warm up before shows and jams.  Also I force myself to play with small kits. Eg, drum kits with one tom or just one floor tom, apart from snare and bass drum. It naturally makes you creative and makes you to do a lot within a constrained space. I mean, if you can be creative inside a box, you’ll be ten times outside the box, that’s my working principle. During weekends I put some extra time by playing along with songs (especially certain drum lines of Gavin Harisson and Martin Lopez because I find them so unique and I try to make it sound at least 60% accurate). Playing to metronome is such a key point in drumming and also exploring various styles. I play metal music with my band but I try to put my jazz influence in to use. I mean imagine Gavin Harisson playing for Lamb Of God – what he would’ve done to the drum lines. It’s quite an interesting thought actually. I like to experiment a lot.

And most importantly I am gifted with good musicians like my band members. I mean I have to give credit to David, Shri and Dmattio (ex Blind Image guitarist). I was very close minded once and these guys helped me come out of that shell and gave me some perspective. We all have grown up as musicians together in the band. Shri is a crazy guitarist and the most underrated in India. I mean any one who knows the song “Glitch In The System” and “Allegiance In Defiance”, knows how crazy this guy riffs and nailing drum lines to compliment his riffs is challenging and I love that challenge. It keeps me on the go all the time. David made me to come out of the full – on metal trip and made me to explore more bands which just changed my drumming style so much. D’mattio who is now in L.A – well I think most of all know how crazy he is on the guitar and what an amazing musician he is and I learned to cut down all my overplaying from him. Guess he rubbed his musicianship on me. So in one line I can say that my band Blind Image is the very reason behind this little success of mine.

Apart from this I try to transcript drum charts for my songs. This is a good exercise for me to remember my drum theory. I want to play by just reading charts some day (I am little over ambitious here, I KNOW!)

 

HB: Some of your favorite bands are…

Krishna: Pink Floyd, Metallica, Megadeth, Opeth, Dave Mathews, Jamiroquai, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Pantera, Porcupine tree, Multiplicity, John Butler trio, Mutemath, MarsVolta, Chick Corea and Incubus.

 

HB: So what’s your kit going to be like now?

Krishna:

  • 14 inch Soultone Custom Brilliant High hats
  • 16 inch Soultone Custom brilliant crash
  • 18 inch Soultone Custom brilliant crash
  • 20 inch Soultone Custom brilliant ride
  • 18 inch Soultone Custom China Crash
  • 12 inch Soultone Custom china crash
  • 8 inch Soultone Custom splash
  • 10 inch Soultone Custom splash
  • 17 inch Soultone FXO B crash
  • Premier drum kit
  • Gibralter hardware
  • Pearl Pedals
  • Vic firth and pro mark sticks
  • Vic firth Isolation Headphones

 

HB: What advice you would like to give for the upcoming drummers in India?

Krishna: Don’t listen to advice. But give suggestions a thought. Advice is a big word for me. We all are learners here. But I can share what has worked for me.

Play for the music, compliment other instruments, explore the space in the music, be open minded, listen to a lot of different type of music, and wear your passion on your sleeves.

Lastly – If you have a dream go grab it. It will be hard but just keep going. It’s worth it. At least you will live a life.

 

HB: This question is for David. Now Blind Image has it’s first endorsee. What you think about this? How has Krishna influenced Blind Image musically?

David here. I am really glad Krishna got an endorsement deal from Soultone cymbals. I don’t think I have seen anyone more hardworking and focused on drumming than he is and if anyone deserves this, it’s definitely got to be him. What he brings to Blind Image is a change, breaking away from the stereotypes of Heavy Metal drumming. Completely open to all forms of good music, he takes techniques from great drummers and adapts them according to his signature style. Now that Krishna is a part of the SoulTone family, I think this will motivate him to master the drum kit even more. Everybody from Blind Image keeps ribbing him about his fancy cymbal work which he never fails to show off and I think it is only fitting that he is currently endorsing Soultone cymbals. All the best Krishna!
SATAN!

 

HB: You being signed on to Soultone is a big step for the band. What other stuff is coming up for Blind Image in the coming months?

Krishna: We’ve been planning a lot of things. To start with, we are writing new material and there is something big that we are planning for the band and we will announce about it in sometime. It is going to be an eventful year for Blind Image. As the saying goes “There’s a calm before the storm” so we will keep you all posted.

 

Unseen Underground Ragnarok 2010

Unseen Underground continues to keep metal alive in Chennai, apart from other cities around the country. Last year, Ragnarok 2009 gave metalheads a chance to party on New Year’s eve. And after the success of that, the show is back for a 2010 version.

Unseen Underground along with HMI Guitars announces ‘Ragnarok 2010’, starting at 8pm on the 31st of December 2010, and going on past midnight, till the early morning hours of 2011.

The line-up includes Blind Image, Crypted, TWKC, Zealous and more! The show will take place at Geoffrey’s Pub, Radha Regent, Arumbakkam, Chennai.

For further details/ queries, contact Nicky at unseenunderground@gmail.com

‘Ragnarok 2010’ is also presented by Geoffrey’s Pub, Explocity Magazine, SS Music, Chennai Live 104.8FM and of course, Headbangers India!

Brute Fest, Bangalore

brute festBrute Fest, an extreme metal featuring metal bands from around the country will be held this 17th of October at Kyra in Bangalore. Be there to witness some real metal, with “passion and excruciation with the the most extreme bands tearing the stage apart.”
Date: 17th October (Sunday)
Time: 11 AM – 6.30 PM
Bands Performing:
Abandoned Agony (Brutal Death Metal)
Blind Image (Technical Thrash/ Groove Metal)
Gorified (Deathgrind)
Corrode (Melodic Death Metal)
Arcane Ritual (Epic Black Metal)
The Mechanix (Technical Groove Metal)
A U (Goregrind)
Dark Desolation (Black Metal)
Blood Orchid (Progressive Thrash)
Nekronym (Brutal Death Metal)
Entry: Rs.200
Venue: Kyra, 100 feet road, Indiranagar, Bangalore
For more details, contact Sumeet: 9731340101

Smack-dab in the middle of the shitstorm!

Smack-dab in the middle of the shitstormThe VH1 Story-Tellers format for gigs is now being adapted by our bands. Chennai based Blind Image, in association with Shruti Musicals presents ‘Smack-dab in the middle of the shitstorm’, the Blind Image story. And yes, the show is also supported by Headbangers India! 1645