gig review

Cult Fest 2015 – A review

A few years ago, if word got around that Cannibal Corpse were to be performing in Bangalore, most of us would have laughed it off as a rumor, refusing to believe it. Now, a few days after the festival, some of us are still in a state of disbelief- that it actually happened! The first edition of Cult Fest took place on the 11th of April 2015, at Manpho Convention Centre, Bengaluru. This was no genre-specific festival, with the line-up boasting of a diversity of bands like Pyramids, Abraxas, Plague Throat, and international headliners Suicide Silence and Cannibal Corpse.

Gig day started off well, with the sun out in its full glory and a reasonably decent turnout even at the beginning of the festival. Pyramids, the winner of the battle of the bands, kicked off the show with a tight set. Short of time, as is the case with almost any band starting the events of the day, Pyramids were fun to watch for the couple of hundred fans who had arrived already. Certainly a band to keep an eye out for on the progressive scene if you haven’t heard of them before.

Pune metal band Abraxas followed up Pyramids with a strong hassle-free performance and kept the proceedings tight. Abraxas has a unique sound that needs to be mixed perfectly and spot on they were. Announced as the support act for Suicide Silence, the boys from Pune certainly kept the organizers’ faith in them with their set. It was also the first time many of us were watching Abraxas perform with their new line-up, and they have evidently improved remarkably over the last few years. Their music, however, has not moved away from being very typical, formulaic metalcore. Yet, that didn’t stop the crowd from kicking up a dust-storm in the pit and enjoying their set.

The scarce early crowd had started to grow in numbers during Abraxas’ performance and grew to fill the venue more by the time they ended a well-played set. Up next was a band which a lot of fans had flown in to see. As expected, the three piece act started with an explosive song and demolished their way through to the end of their set. Shillong’s Plague Throat have been to Wacken, and for good reason. Their Dying Fetus-like setup was like a prime ribeye steak being served to death metal fans’ woven hunger for that style of music. With an extremely low-tuned rhythmic approach to their wall of sound, the boys from Plague Throat interacted with the audience, got the pits going and made sure that the stage was set for the first international act of the evening, Suicide Silence.

The venue suddenly filled up significantly when Suicide Silence came on stage. It was a pleasant surprise to see the huge number of Suicide Silence fans who had turned up for the show, grooved along with them, and knew each song word to word, cementing the band’s reach to their Indian audience. The deathcore act from Riverside, California, played a super tight and energetic set that they unfortunately had to cut short because of the threatening weather. The highlight of the set however, were the vocals. Vocalist Hernan “Eddie” Hermida’s versatility was evident in this live performance where he literally leveraged every unclean vocal technique to give the band’s performance a fitting impetus. All in all, the wait to watch the headliners Cannibal Corpse was made worthwhile by these acts and the audience was definitely satisfied with what they experienced.

The most awaited band of the evening sent the crowd into a roaring, restless tizzy. As the rain started beating down and the blood red logo of Cannibal Corpse raised as the backdrop, the atmosphere grew monstrous as ever. The adrenaline rush grew from the time the techs were setting up till the instant the five of them walked in and took their respective spots- the most conspicuous being George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher. His dominant, mammoth like presence sent the crowd into a whirlwind of cheers and roars, and in an instant they started “Scourge of Iron”, and the crowd were mowed down by the rhythmic bulldozer of Cannibal Corpse. Note after note, groove after groove, Paul, Rob, Alex, George, and Pat showed the audience why they have established themselves at the pedestal of death metal. As the rain beat down harder, there were slush pits on either side, giving some the opportunity to indulge themselves in some mud play while the others cringed at the thought of having their clothes dirtied. The rain also prompted George to say that even Mother Nature could not stop them that day. As the set carried on without a glitch, we were taken back in time, from ‘Evisceration Plague’ to ‘Gallery of Suicide’ and back again to ‘A Skeletal Domain’. “Stripped, Raped and Strangled” was massive and to see George do it was truly fruitful. His windmills terrifyingly delighting, and the combined mastery of Alex and Pat O’Brien was truly divine to watch.

Watching Alex Webster in the flesh was truly a dream for many, and as most would agree, the highlight of the night. The mosh pits were well below expectation, and besides the general roaring and cheering, the crowd otherwise seemed weak. Except of course, when “Hammer Smashed Face” was announced, which is when everyone seemed to go ballistic- An understandable fact, considering that whether CC fan or not, it’s a go-to song for many a death metal listener. This was supposed to have been the last song, as the rains had made their mark and rendered the stage and the equipment unusable. A great blow to a lot of fans, who were expecting 20 or so songs and were witness to just about half of that. The set list was concluded with “Make Them Suffer”, a fine choice to end (as would have been pretty much any song), the outro comprising of Paul and Alex showcasing invincibility when it comes to death metal drums and bass. The vast monolith had finally called it a day.

A shout out has to be made to S&D Audio, who, despite the imminent storm and unfavourable conditions for their own equipment, went on with the gig. It has to be said that the downpour was quite heavy as Cannibal Corpse was about to take stage. Though prepared for the rains, some of the sound equipment took a beating. Wires were lying in water because the ground near the stage had turned into sludge and the stage itself had become unsafe to use. Much gratitude has to be expressed to S&D Audio, without whom even watching as much of Cannibal Corpse as we did, wouldn’t have been possible.

Cannibal Corpse was not just a gig, it was an experience, a serum injected into our respective memories, venomous and incurable. A night very few will forget and even fewer will not want to re-live.

This review is a combined effort by the entire Headbangers India team.
Photographs by Subhramani Sathyanarayan.

April 17, 2015
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Twisted Metal: A review

In a scene where promoters are few in number, sponsors are non-existent for gigs, and bands almost always play for free, it only makes sense to follow the DIY model if metal needs to survive in India. We’ve seen so called ‘event management companies’ run by a bunch of college kids mushrooming in multiple cities, and even large scale events like Bangalore Open Air are adopting the crowd-funding model. Success has always been a big question mark, but one gig that followed the same approach and reaped multiple benefits was Twisted Metal.

Organized by a bunch of bands who got together and decided to test the waters. Twisted Metal was conceptualized as a gig that would feature a variety of metal genres with a sort of ‘twisted’ line-up, and that would be arranged from scratch by all the members themselves. After weeks of planning, the show finally kicked off at Pebble Jungle Lounge in Bangalore, on the 24th of August. The venue was open-air, and the sound set-up was perfect, with acoustics being very apt for metal bands. The gig started about half an hour later than scheduled, and Neolithic Silence kicked things off that evening.

Their set had a mix of covers and originals, and set the energy perfectly for an evening of good, heavy music. I’d have to make a special mention of drummer Yadhu, who played with a back brace- just
recovering from an injury, and still, turned out to be one of the best performers that evening. Neolithic Silence has come so far over the years, and this new line-up is one of the best things to have happened to the band. Doom descended on the venue some minutes later when Djinn and Miskatonic got on stage. When I watched them for the first time more than a year ago, I was confused, like many others around me, about why the music was so gloomy, and why the riffs weren’t faster. Over time, I have begun to understand their style a bit better, but I also notice a lot of newbie’s looking at perplexed as I might have back then. They have gotten a lot tighter- drumming has become crisp, vocals have moved into a more comfortable zone and of course, bass and guitars stand out as heroes. As I mentioned in one of my previous reviews, it would be great to have visualisation along with their set to experience their music in a more holistic sort of way.

Live Banned were up next, and had hinted about a metal version of their usual crazy set. Many of us were curious, but also slightly doubtful about how they would fit in. But boy, they proved us wrong. They were easily one of the heaviest acts that night! And they did more than just add distortion to their existing songs. Escher’s Knot vocalist Abijith joined them to add the gutturals for “Death Dance”. They also did their customary medley-of-songs thing, with a lot of popular, recognizable metal riffs. It was one surprise after another, a burst of energy and in all, an absolutely killer set. All bands need a lesson or two from these guys about stage presence and crowd engagement! They also had some mental costumes and black cloaks to accentuate the madness. The altered line-up was brilliant- with Yadhu playing the drums instead of Dheeru, and Siddarth on guitars, instead of on keys. Though all bands were fantastic that night, Live Banned was easily everyone’s favourite- simply because they put up something that was completely unexpected, and blew everyone away.

We returned to sanity with Lucidreams and some old school heavy metal. I had last watched this band at a Sunday Jam gig, and they weren’t very good back then. But with a new and improved line-up, they have made it worth sticking around for 20 years! Very Dio-inspired, their music is quite a nostalgic trip. They played some new material from their upcoming album ‘Bollocks’ and it was very impressive. They also played a cover of “Holy Diver” and also Sabbath’s “Heaven and Hell” (they moved into a region that’s pretty much monopolized by Bevar Sea) and did a pretty good job too! Their song patterns are traditional, with long and melodic guitar solos, but the emotion that comes through is quite intense. Vocalist Vineesh is all Ronnie James Dio in his mannerisms and singing style, but far from being an imitation. Lucidreams was another welcome surprise that evening, and I’m really looking forward to watching them more often.

Bhoomi. What a fucking awesome band. I don’t usually use profanity as an adverb, but at the moment, I can’t seem to find anything that’s more of a superlative than that! These guys have been around for a long time now, but their music never gets boring or repetitive. They too played quite a few new originals, and their growth as a band is so evident in the songwriting and the melodies. The band has an infectious energy on stage and guitarist Tony stole the show that night. Bhoomi was my personal favourite at Twisted Metal.

Threinody was the final act at Twisted Metal, and there couldn’t have been a better way to end the night. It was all about pure thrash (and there was nothing twisted about that) that came with some restricted moshing (venue rules… bah!) and loads of vigorous headbanging. This was one band where the audience enjoyed their originals as much as their covers. Whether it was “In Extremis” or “Phobia”, the crowd was charged up all through the set. They interrupted their set to hand out free shots, and everyone held up their glasses to pay tribute to their ex-band member who passed away some time ago. For one of the few times, Threinody got to play their setlist entirely, without having to cut down to accommodate other acts. They were a powerful way to conclude the show. (They are also responsible for my broken neck, by the way).

The gig had an attendance of around 230 people, which is fairly good going by Bangalore standards. It was a relief to not have sound issues, and what was even better was that the show started a little behind schedule, but eventually settled into the pre-fixed time table. All bands had enough time on stage, and nobody had to compromise in any way. The show ended on time, and there were no glitches. The bands were happy, the crowd was happy and the weather Gods were happy too- they didn’t play spoilsport that evening. In all, the DIY model worked for these bands in their first attempt. This isn’t a surprise though, considering all the members have played at so many shows over the years, and their experience has taught them lessons that they implemented.

Overall, Twisted Metal was a success story, and kudos to the bands for pulling this off. Now how about a second edition?

September 8, 2014
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Insurrection V.3 – A review

After months of anticipation and last minute changes, the third edition of Insurrection finally took place on Sunday, 15th June, at Bak Bak Bar in Bangalore. Organized by Sound Awake, the gig promised a diverse line up including an international headliner- Underside from Nepal. It was an exhausting gig, in a positive and negative sense, but mostly worth our while.

After a two hour delay, the show started with Analyzed Consequences getting on stage and struggling with technical glitches. The opening backing track kept stopping because of the loose connections and the unstable stage. That got them off to a (literally) shaky start, but they powered through their set. Though labeled a djent act, they were more modern progressive metal. Despite being an instrumental outfit, they managed to keep the audience just as involved. Unfortunately, the brilliant guitar solos were almost inaudible to those away from the stage, and the china cymbal was too loud, often drowning out the rest of the instruments. But Analyzed Consequences was one hell of a tight act, and surely is a band we need to watch out for.

Bad Taste went up next, and left a bad taste in all our mouths after their set. The bass was out of tune, and the band as a whole seemed unrehearsed. I was expecting something better from Charlie and his new lineup, but was disappointed. Thankfully, Grossty followed, and as always, they were so much fun! Sudden surprises with “Rasputin” and ‘koothu’ beats added the entertainment quotient to the evening, but even their regular stuff livened up the venue, with the audience shouting “TV is full of crap” along with the vocalist. They got my vote for band of the evening, for sure.

Sound glitches continued during Djinn and Miskatonic’s soundcheck, delaying the already delayed show by a few more minutes. Drummer Siddarth capitalized on this and kept the audience entertained with a couple of drum solos. It was great to see Djinn back in action, but I felt that they shouldn’t have been made to go on stage soon after Grossty. The two bands are at the far two ends of the spectrum when it comes to energy levels (in terms of genre, and not performance). Organizers should have considered this when putting the running order together.

Next up was Threinody– Bangalore’s very own old school thrash band. Theirs was a short and tight set with a mix of their popular originals like “In Extremis” and “Surrender to the Blade” along with a cover of Kreator’s “Phobia”. Guitarist Josh has been replaced by Siddarth Kamath, and though the latter did a fab job, I missed the guitar richness that Josh added to Threinody’s sound. Siddarth Naidu is a great frontman, and though very casual, he always makes it a point to personally thank some people in the audience, and this time, even called bassist Narayan on stage to wish him for his birthday!

Mumbai’s Albatross were up after Threinody, and also had a very short set. There were technical glitches again, and the speakers kept going off and on, causing quite a bit of distraction midway through their performance. They’ve played a couple of times in Bangalore, but somehow, have always been restricted because of a lack of time. They again had an abbreviated performance of only about four songs, and that was very disappointing. And it probably angered me a lot more when the band after them, Final Surrender, got to play for almost an hour! Though I do understand that the concept of favoritism shouldn’t exist between local and outstation bands, I expected there to be fairness in terms of time allotted to all the bands too. Final Surrender brought out some decent metalcore, but did not work on how they sounded on the P.A. The drums were ridiculously loud, and the bass occasionally competed with that. Though the people immediately near the stage seemed to be having a blast, the band sounded unbalanced outside.

Underside ended the night with a set that mostly comprised of their originals. They wasted no time in between, and were high on energy throughout. Sadly, people started trickling out by the end of the night, but that didn’t stop the band from delivering.

On the whole, Insurrection was a decent gig, but with very bad time management. I expected there to be chaos because of the last minute change in venue (from Ion Bar and Kitchen to Bak Bar Bar), but things seemed to be going smoothly. Sound problems seem to have become a given at most gigs, so it would help if there were fewer bands and more time allotted to each. That way, each of them gets to play for a decent amount of time, and in case of issues cropping up, nobody compromises too much. The turnout was fairly good (236 attendees, to be precise) and it was a relief to see that things aren’t looking that bleak just yet. Finally, three cheers to Sound Awake for keeping the scene alive, without the genre bias!

Watch out for the new ‘Videos’ section on Headbangers India! Footage from the gig and more… Coming soon!

June 17, 2014
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Insurrection V.2: A review

2014 seems to have started off on a good note in terms of the live scene in Bangalore, with gigs happening for the last few weekends consecutively. The last of these was the second version of Insurrection, which happened at Tinga Tinga Bar on Sunday, the 9^th of February.

The venue was a major curiosity factor for me, personally, and I was hoping to see if the strangely named Tinga Tinga Bar would become a better option for metal gigs, especially when compared to Ion Bar and Kitchen. The space inside was better in terms of acoustics, but the little glass balcony didn’t allow too much moshing. It turned out to be a fairly decent option nevertheless.

The show started late with Necrophilia going on-stage first. They are a death metal band from Bangalore who claim to bring in multiple genre influences into their sound. Unfortunately though, they don’t seem to have found that signature sound yet. They weren’t a very tight band, and I’m hoping they will work on their songs as well as their live act before their next show. Drums need tightening up, but the vocals were good, and deserve a special mention here. Festered Wound– another Goregrind project by Gorified’s frontman Charlie, went on after Necrophilia. They are a 3-piece act who play with an insanely fast drum track. Great job on the guitars and vocals, but honestly, I would love to watch them play with a drummer sometime soon. If not that, at least realistic programmed drums!

Sludge kings Shepherd followed, and as always, they killed it. I don’t think they have ever had a bad show, but they were a little shaky soon after their original vocalist left. But their set at Insurrection V.2 proved that they’ve found their ground again. Namit is a good vocalist, no doubt, but Deepak stole the show simply because of the way his vocals emote the raw darkness that one would associate with this brand of music. Shepherd is definitely one of the best acts to have emerged from India in the recent past, and I can’t wait for more from their camp.

Xector, the newer avatar of Spitfire, went up next with their new line-up. They still sound a lot like Spitfire used to, except that they aren’t outright metalcore anymore. The boys brought in a whole lot of energy into the evening, and frontman Charan was partly responsible for that. Unfortunately for them, technical issues caused a disruption midway through their set. But in terms of tightness and as a live act, Xector scored. They definitely need to perform more than they do!

Up next was another band that I don’t think has ever had a bad show. I’m talking about Orchid, who is currently becoming one of Bangalore’s favourites. However, theirs is a genre that can get a little boring with time, and after watching them a little often now, I am beginning to find them slightly tedious. Of course, this doesn’t say anything about their musicianship, and anyone who is just discovering them will definitely be mind-blown. But I’m looking forward to something new from Orchid in their upcoming live shows.

It was then time for Nihilus– my pick for band of the evening. They played a short, power-packed set of tech-death (that thankfully wasn’t too technical) and the crowd loved them. They had a few slips here and there, but overall, they really impressed. Their version of “Spheres of Madness” really shook up the glass balcony at Tinga Tinga Bar! Drummer Siddharth, who I’ve only otherwise watched with Djinn and Miskatonic, proved his versatility with Nihilus. These guys will surely go down as one of those bands to watch out for in the coming months. Trojan Horse from Chennai went up after Nihilus… and they slayed! They were crisp and, for lack of a better adjective- awesome. Their stuff is not clear-cut progressive-metal and very interestingly combines elements borrowed from other sub-genres as well. Their cover of “Perpetual Black Second” had the crowd grooving and headbanging in unison. Trojan Horse was one of the tightest performances of the evening, and definitely the highlight of Insurrection!

It was then time for the stage lights to go off as the face-painted black metallers from Dark Desolation went up. These guys are one of the few bands who do justice to traditional black metal, and don’t compromise on precision for speed. Unfortunately, this time, their set was plagued with sound issues because the output was incredibly loud on the P.A. In fact, it got to a point where the sound got too jarring and harsh on the ears, and people started moving out of the venue for relief. This continued even when Neolithic Silence were performing. Though the crowd had thinned out by the end of the night, it was still great that all bands had gotten a chance to play, and time lost earlier had been made up for. Neolithic Silence ended the gig with a mix of originals and covers, along with the vocalist of Nihilus joining them for a Slayer track. However, they kept having some technical glitches with their guitars and the volume issue came up again. Their new drummer Yadhunandan seems to have added a whole new dimension of speed to their music, though at certain points, he got a little too fast for the rest of the band.

Sound and time issues aside, Insurrection was a good gig. The line-up featured a good mix of bands and genres, and that along with the price of the tickets, ensured decent turnout. Cheers to the organizers and the bands for making the show really worth our while! And now, next stop- Inferno Metal Festival (India)!

February 12, 2014
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Gig Review: EVILUTION II- Uglier, Heavier, Louder

After a very successful first edition, ‘Evilution’- a Bangalore metal gig that’s now turning into a property of sorts, returned with a second version. This time, it was supposed to be “Uglier, Heavier and Louder”. But sadly, more than anything else, it was a massive disappointment. And no, this wasn’t because of any of the bands, or the organization. As you read on, you might figure out why I label it this way.

The gig started a little late, with Progressive Death/ Thrash band Ontologus going on stage first. Those of us who watched them soundcheck realized that they sounded much better then than when they actually began their set, mainly because we were only able to hear them through the stage monitors. Despite this, they put on a good show, playing some of their originals and also threw in a cover of Megadeth’s “Dread and the Fugitive Mind”. Yashaswi was impressive on the guitars and vocals, but unfortunately, he unofficially announced that it would be his last show with the band. I’m looking forward to what they have coming our way next, especially after their trademark vocal and guitar sound changes.

Djinn and Miskatonic went on stage next, but their set was plagued with sound issues. They started off slightly shaky, particularly because the vocals were a bit off-key initially, but they settled in soon enough. Just when the punch began to kick in, the guitars went off, and some minutes later, it was the bass. Midway through, we could barely hear the vocals, and these multiple distractions made the crowd a little fidgety. I’ve watched Djinn and Miskatonic from their first show here, and I have to mention that I have seen a steady improvement with every gig. Sriram has definitely upped the on-stage energy level of the band by quite a bit too. They have just released their album ‘Forever in the Realm’ and you can pick it up here.

Shepherd was up next, and this was their first show* without vocalist (now ex-vocalist), Mahesh. Vocal duties were shared by Deepak and Namit, who did a pretty good job. Deepak took over the more screechy style of vocals, and Namit handled the singing. They surely looked like they were having fun, but in comparison to their earlier shows, this seemed more like a casual on-stage jam. And this primarily because they were lacking in the stage presence and interaction that a frontman brings into the equation. But apart from this little flaw, they were still tight, as they’ve always been.

Thrashers Threinody got ready to go up next, and finally, Ion Bar and Kitchen looked like there was a serious gig happening. Prior to this, the audience was sparse and scattered, but Threinody managed to get people together. During the previous edition of Evilution, the band cut their set short to give Albatross time on-stage, and this time too, they did the same so that the outstation bands, i.e. Orion and Fragarak, would not run out of time. Threinody played only three songs, and sounded louder than any of the previous bands. Though it started off being a plus point, it only got more jarring as the show went on. But they were tight, powerful and yes… fucking awesome!

Orion- the Mumbai based Progressive Death metallers were up after Threinody. They took a while to get their sound in place, but things began to get uncomfortable because the clock was ticking, and we were nearing the hour for the Bangalore live-gig deadline. The crowd had, by this time, reduced to a shameful 20-30 people. Orion was interesting, especially with their mix of growls and clean vocals, resonant of some Opeth and Soilwork. But by this time, the sound issues were troubling the band a great deal, actually causing them to restart their first song all over again. The output was so distorted on the speakers that it was actually getting slightly annoying for those watching. The guitar melodies weren’t audible to us in the audience, and sudden spurts of sounds from the instruments on stage didn’t make things any better. I don’t think I can comment on this band because of all these problems, and I am hoping they will play a longer and less troubled set in Bangalore soon.

Fragarak faced similar issues, but they powered through those 10 or 15 minutes trying to make the most of their time on stage. Again, vocals were not heard, except to those in front who didn’t need to rely on the microphone for that. Bass work was commendable, but now and then, Fragarak messed up their timing. I can’t tell for sure why this happened, and whether the on-stage sound contributed to this or not, but the drums seemed out of sync with the rest of the band more than once. By this time, Bangalore cops had arrived and the pub authorities were creating a ruckus in front of the stage, forcing things to stop. So after a short and unsatisfactory set, the gig had come to an end.

Coming to why I called this gig a massive disappointment, there were three main reasons. Bad sound, pathetic turnout and of course, Bangalore cops and their stupid deadline rule. Every band who played at the show suffered with bad sound, and this also wasted a lot of time. The turnout was shamefully low, and there definitely wouldn’t have been more than 120 people in total, including the floating crowd. In fact, I think that is an overestimation as well. What was worse was that by 9.30PM, people started trickling out, and it was just a handful of those who stayed till the end. Bangalore cannot call itself the metal capital anymore. It’s such a disgrace that the metal community is so vocal and active online and on Facebook, but when it comes to attending a show and supporting the bands, there’s hardly anyone! And added to this is the problem with our police, their irrational rules, their unrealistic deadlines, with only the aim to collect as much bribe as they can, and cause hell for the rest of us.

But kudos nevertheless to the team at A 91 Productions for having faith in the metal scene and bringing out gigs like these frequently, and keeping us alive! Next stop- Vehement Era! Support the scene and show up!

*We apologize, this was Shepherd’s second show without Mahesh, the first was Echoes from Beneath, as correctly pointed out by Achintya Venkatesh.

October 3, 2013
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Evilution: Gig Review

It suddenly seems to be gig season in Bangalore, with four continuous weeks of metal gigs happening in and around the city. The latest of these was the much awaited Evilution. The USP of this gig was that it was the comeback show for many older Bangalore bands- Threinody, Neolithic Silence, and also in a way. Bhoomi.

The show was to begin at 5PM, but earlier in the day, the Facebook event made an announcement about a surprise opening act- an Iron Maiden cover band, who were to begin at 4:30. So after hurriedly scurrying to the venue, which was again Ion Bar & Kitchen, most of us managed to make it on time for the first act- Killers Breed. Sriram from Djinn and Miskatonic, who also played guitars for the band, was supposed to do vocals as well, but throat issues forced him to step aside for a bunch of guest vocalists to take over. Killers Breed started off their set with “Wrathchild”, with Bharad (Witchgoat) and Mahesh (Shepherd) joining in for a dual growl attack. Sujay (Bhoomi) took centre stage during “Trooper” and boy, was he good! I started looking forward to Bhoomi’s set even more after this particular performance. The Iron Maiden cover band then decided to cover a Slayer song as a tribute to Jeff Hanneman. Bharad came back for their rendition of “Seasons in the Abyss”- a song that finally got the crowd pumped up. Killers Breed wrapped up their set with Biprorshee Das (Albatross) joining in for “The Evil that Men do”. Though he seemed like the perfect choice for the track, it was a tad bit disappointing. However, on the whole, Killers Breed had a great debut. The covers were well done, but the crowd reaction was poor. I didn’t expect such a weak response to an Iron Maiden cover band.

Next up on stage was Neolithic Silence. I hadn’t watched them since the days of March Metal Mania, so I was eager to see what they had to offer. And cliché though it may sound, I was far from disappointed! The band is back, sounding very different from their earlier avatar. Their introduction was powerful, and once they started, I noticed that they had taken on an all new thrash sound. Suraj was particularly good on guitars, and Anthony’s drumming was super tight! Surprisingly, theirs was a covers-heavy set, with some Kreator and Sepultura thrown in. Siddharth (Threinody) came in for the Slayer cover- “South of Heaven” this time. His vocals were a little off time though, but on the whole, it got the audience headbanging and finally showing some life at the gig! Neolithic Silence suffered some sound issues however, and I don’t know if it was this that made Jayant’s vocals almost inaudible at times. But it was good to see Neolithic back in action, and better, by leaps and bounds, than they were before!

Black metallers Dark Desolation came up next, with some of the members adorned with face paint and spikes. It is a general tendency to instantly judge a band like this, but the band makes sure that the jokes take a backseat once they start playing. They are currently one of the tightest bands in the country and do perfect justice to their brand of atmospheric, speed-driven black metal. The vocalist of Dark Desolation stands behind the rest of the band, and though that takes getting used to, it throws the spotlight on the dexterity of the guitarists. They started off with some of their originals like “Dark Desolation” and “Apostatical misanthropy”, and moved on to more mood driven stuff like “Suicidal Ritual” (Besatt cover), “Incestuous catacombs” and “Cathecatical Somniloquence”. In my opinion, Dark Desolation was one of the best performances of the evening.

It was time for Sujay to get back on stage with the rest of the guys from Bhoomi in tow. They have always been one of the few bands to play some good old fashioned heavy metal, but even their set at Evilution brought out their new, more prog-influenced sound. Unfortunately, they took a while to set things up, so they didn’t play for too long. But it was a set of all newer songs, like “Obsession”, “The Last Resort” and “Illusion”. The band seemed to have quite a female fan following as well, with girlie squeals ringing in the air every time guitarist Tony played one of his solos! Sujay’s vocal range is truly amazing, and even the instrumentalists in the band are in full form. Bhoomi was fantastic, and I really think they should start playing more often now. We’ve had a long enough silence from them all this while!

Djinn and Miskatonic went up next. Quite a few of us had watched them just the previous week at Sonic Doom, but to many in the audience, their newer, heavier sound came as quite a surprise. In my opinion, they didn’t fit in well with the rest of the line-up, and this, primarily because their sound is not high on energy unlike the rest of the names on the bill. If you’ve heard Djinn, you’d know that their music is chunky, rhythmic and heavy, and this is perfectly complimented with the vocal style. Though they might have been out of place in terms of genre, they put up a good show nevertheless.

“Thrash is alive!” “Thrash is back!”- This was the gist of how people reacted to the band that performed next. I’m talking about Threinody, the act that most of us were really looking forward to that evening. I have even lost track of when I watched them last, but they are far from rusty! They are now a four-piece band, with Josh Daniel joining Premik and Siddharth on guitars, and Shreyas Kamath taking over drum duties. Threinody now sounds fuller and heavier than they did earlier, and it was great to have an out-and-out thrash band on stage, ready to pack the punch into the second half of the evening. They started off with their originals, including the popular track “In Extremis”, and the crowd went berserk. Just after that, it was their turn to pay tribute to ‘Uncle Jeff’, but… the power went out. People shouted “Jeff is here!” and for a few minutes, people waited, chattering. But slowly, that died out, and people started trickling out. Apparently, the generator wires had been chewed up by rats, and we were all left at the mercy of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company for us to continue what had so far been a power packed (puns intended) Sunday evening. Soon, more than half the crowd had left, and only a few of us remained, waiting and hoping that something would happen. And thankfully, it did! The electricity came back, and Threinody stepped back, despite not having completed their set, to allow Albatross to perform in whatever little time was left. That was mighty awesome of them, and though we were all really disappointed that we didn’t get enough of the band, we’re hoping this will only be an excuse for them to play again, really soon!

It was almost 11 o’clock, but I think arrangements had been made to push the deadline a little bit because of the power failure. That was when Albatross went up to conclude the evening with a short set, again. They don’t play in Bangalore too often, but they surely seem to be becoming a better live act with every passing gig. They managed to squeeze in a cover of “Holy Diver” soon after they began, and the vocals had me floored! Ronnie James Dio would be proud! Both guitarists- Vignesh and Nishith, were phenomenal, and the drummer Jay was also supremely tight! Bassist Riju also was dressed in his bloodied lab-coat and stood making menacing gestures at every break in and in between songs. “Uncle Sunny at the Tavern” seemed to be a crowd favourite, and if “Holy Diver” wasn’t enough to bring the few people from the bar up front, this did the trick. The thing about outstation bands is that you don’t get to watch them too often, and when you do, you certainly don’t want them to go off stage after a few songs. But circumstances were beyond the organizers’ control, and I think we just have to be happy about watching them perform!

In all, Evilution was a good gig. Sound issues were recurring though, and this became a little distracting after a while. Though the tickets were priced at an affordable 500 rupees, the turnout was lower than I expected, and I think the rain was an important factor in that. The power issue was unforeseen and one hell of a bummer. I wish that venues would be better equipped for this sort of an emergency, especially in a city where power cuts are rampant! But metalheads- guys and girls, you really need to start showing up for gigs! Don’t be there just to “support the scene”. Be there for the music, and become a part of the community! Don’t sit back, not involve yourself and then complain about the “scene” dying. Show up! And headbang!

We’ll see you next at Doom Over Bangalore!

June 4, 2013
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Sonic Doom: Gig Review

It’s been a while since Bangalore saw a gig with a line-up as diverse as what we got in Sonic Doom. This happened at Ion Bar and Kitchen (the new metal venue in the city) on Sunday, 26^th May. Apart from the variety of genres among those performing, there was also artwork on display, and a stand-up comedian who was part of the event as well.

Aamer Peeran- the opening standup act, was not as entertaining as we would have liked him to be. He could have been funny, but instead, turned out to be quite a joke himself. Maybe stand-up and metal gigs mix only as well as oil and water do, so I will give the guy a thumbs-up for his attempts to keep the audience engaged, and leave it at that.

Crypted was the first band for the evening, and what a way to start! Though they struggled a little with sound, they managed to pull off a very tight set. Their brand of technical death metal was the adrenalin shot to get the audience geared up for what was coming up for the rest of the evening.

SETLIST:

1.Inside The Outsider
2. Distorted Thought Association
3. You Are All Diseased
4. The Age Of Hostile Interdependence
5. Flesh Eater
6. Entropy

Witchgoat, who seemed to be a crowd favourite, were up next. Thankfully, sound issues had settled by the time they went on stage. Though they were missing Avinash on guitars, they didn’t allow their sound to suffer. They played a mix of covers and originals, with a decent blend of thrash and black metal. They were heavy, in-your-face and loud! Bharad Ravi surely deserves a special mention for his fantastic vocals.

SETLIST:

1. Intro
2. The Old Rugged Cross
3. Sacrifice (Bathory cover)
4. Apostles of Baal
5. Tormentor (Kreator cover)
6. Goatspawn Militia
7. Black Magic (Slayer cover)
8. Into the Black

After some outright, riff-heavy material, things turned a little too technical with Orchid. They are possibly the new Eccentric Pendulum, and are definitely a band to watch out for. Midway, the drummer had some issues with his bass pedal, but that was just a minor hiccup in their set. Despite however complicated their compositions sounded (much to the dismay of many other traditional metalheads around), they were great. The vocalist can be quite distracting, especially when he’s clambering all over the monitors on stage, but I guess it’s what added to the liveliness of their set.

SETLIST:

1. Calypso
2. Shift
3. Gaian Hypothesis
4. Slaughter
5. The Observer

Djinn and Miskatonic debuted their new line-up… Um, rather… their new member Sriram at Sonic Doom. They sounded fuller than they did as a 3-piece, and that’s only a good thing for their type of music. In my opinion, it was their best gig so far.

SETLIST:

1. Mortal Science
2. Seven Year Witch
3. Book of The Fallen
4. Weird Tales

It was also good to see Escher’s Knot back in action after Djinn. Many of us were watching them after quite a while, and it’s awesome that they still sound as crisp as they did some time ago. They too debuted some new material, and also stirred the moshpit up in quite a big way!

SETLIST:
1. Hyperspace
2. Anonymous Origins
3. Humiliative- Meshuggah cover
4. Reciprocity
5. Recoil
6. Grand Design
7. Convolution
8. Mayan Calendar

Finally, it was time for headliners Shepherd to take the stage. Unfortunately, the crowd had thinned out by the time the band started, but too bad for those who missed out! Honestly, I was wondering if the pace of the evening would change after a high energy set by Escher’s Knot made way for the sludge kings, but I was wrong. The headbanging continued and probably also intensified when the band began. I’ve never watched a bad show by Shepherd, and every time they play, they only seem to get better. They were the perfect way to end the evening.

SETLIST:

1. Bogslime
2. Spite pit
3. Wretch salad
4. Sacrifice
5. Underdog god
6. Crook
7. Turdspeak
8. Armageddon
9. Stale bait

In all, Sonic Doom was a great gig- I loved the variety, and every band on the bill was far above average! The turnout was more than 150 people- definitely higher than what I’ve seen at shows for quite a while now, and organizers- you possibly can learn from this! Next stop for Bangalore metalheads- Evilution! We’ll see you there!

May 29, 2013
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Metallica live at ‘Rock in India’ : A review

Many of us had waited for this to happen for many, many years. And it finally did. Now, I sit to write this review with a sore neck and a missing voice, and every few minutes, I need to shake myself into believing that the dream did come true, and how!

The Gurgaon fiasco was a shame, and that, trust me, is very politely put. After Metallica called off their gig there, many of us were left wondering if the Bangalore gig was next in line to be canned. But luckily, that didn’t happen. By 3PM on the 30^th of October, 2011, Palace Grounds and all roads leading to it were lined with people in black t-shirts, waiting patiently to get in. The weather was as moody as ever, and it rained and stopped a couple of times, leaving the ground disgustingly slushy. But no matter how gross that was, everyone had just one aim- to get in and get the show to go on.

So after a painful few minutes of being pushed around by the pack, we finally made it into the venue. The barriers looked strong, and there was quite a bit of security around. But if you’ve been to a gig in Bangalore, you know that no matter how wild it gets, our audience here still behaves itself. Though I may be generalizing, I say it proudly, because I know I have every reason to do so.

The opening acts started a little earlier than expected, and Inner Sanctum went up first. Being an ardent fan of theirs, I was quite disappointed that they took part in a competition to get that slot because they don’t need to prove themselves to anyone anymore. But ultimately, they got to play (with the new line-up), we got to watch them in a great venue and as usual, they put up a killer set. Guillotine, who lost out on their opportunity in Delhi, luckily got to play in Bangalore. When I heard ‘The Cynic’, I was mighty impressed, and couldn’t wait to watch them live. They were fairly good on stage, but not as great as they sound on the album. A few more shows will definitely make them a lot crisper.
Biffy Clyro went up next. I was one of those who Googled that name after seeing the ‘Rock in India’ billboards around the city. They were an interesting act, no doubt, but not the kind of band you’d want to see before Metallica. So though I know there were quite a few people who came to watch Biffy in particular, I’ll skip the details here.

At around 6:30PM approximately, Biffy Clyro got off stage, and the one and a half hour wait began. At 7:55PM, it was an ACDC track on the P.A., and those who follow Metallica know that that’s the song that plays just before they get on stage. And then, the lights went off… and “Ecstasy of Gold” began. It was loud as shit, and sent a shiver of excitement coupled with goosebumps all around. Metallica was on!

James, Lars, Rob and Kirk took the stage, and “Creeping death” began. It was an adrenaline rush like no other! Just like in the DVDs, the crowd chanted “Die! Die!” with fists in the air, and the band played on, sounding as tight as ever. The dream had begun. That led into “For whom the bell tolls” and then “Fuel”. The frenzy only got better, or worse, however you may look at it, and by the time we reached the last stanza in “Fuel”, even the timid little wife standing next to me, clutching her handbag and standing next to hubby dearest had her head bobbing and her hair in a mess. That was just the beginning.

Hetfield’s voice thundered across Palace Grounds- “Are you alive, Bangalore?” His voice is still very much in its prime, and his stage personality isn’t too far behind that either. He then said that they would be playing some of their older stuff, and as promised “Ride the Lightning” started off. After some vigorous headbanging, it was time to give the neck a break with “Fade to Black”. Then, it was ‘Death Magnetic’s turn and “Cyanide” was next. The sound of the drums was intense, and every bass drum kick was like a punch in the chest, particularly during this song. To be honest, I have a new found respect for Metallica’s newer material after this show. I have a new found respect for Metallica itself, and I say this though I would normally give Megadeth a higher vote at other times.

After this, they began playing a random tune, which nobody recognized. But as soon as that evolved into “Fortune, fame, mirror vain…”, the crowd roared. It was “The Memory Remains”. It was with this song that Bangalore won over Metallica. The “ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra” bits in the song were sung in unison by over forty thousand Indian metalheads, and didn’t stop, even when it was supposed to. Hetfield’s expression was priceless. It was a combination of “Wow” and “Ok, that’s enough”. A loud cheer followed and led into “Sanitarium”. That was one of the first times during the gig where we noticed a few screw-ups, but it was nothing major, so we let it pass. Then it was time for something heavy, because as James said, we like it heavy! It was “Sad but true”, one of the heaviest songs of the night. Then came “All Nightmare Long”, also from the new album, which not too many people were familiar with. I’m guessing St. Anger made the band lose a major section of its fanbase, but they’ve just won them all back again!

Lights off, the sound of bullets being fired, gunshots, and finally… soothing, gentle strumming. It was time for “One”. The wave of goosebumps had attacked again, and concluded in a jaw drop when the well timed lights went into flashes to match the riffing in the latter half of the song. Then came “Master of Puppets” another popular favourite, which everyone sang (and laughed along with) from start to finish. Then, the intro of “Blackened” came up, and when it stopped, James started playing “Battery”. OOPS! He played the riff, stopped, and continued with “Blackened”. Even in between the song, there were points when they lost their timing, but they got back on track very quickly, and very few would have actually noticed the fumbling.

After that piece of heavy metal, it was time to please the entire crowd. Kirk started with a solo, and that led into “Nothing Else Matters”. There were mobile phones up in the air, swaying in slow motion. Next was another favourite “Enter Sandman” complete with pyro and fireworks. It was nothing short of a spectacle, and the band said their ‘thank yous’ and left.

But they were back for their second segment of the gig, which they always kick off with a cover song. This time, it was the Diamondhead track “Am I evil”. After a little teasing act of wearing the guitar and taking it off, James strapped his weapon back on and continued to fire on with “Battery”. Finally, the show concluded with the song described by “three simple words”, as James put it- “Seek and Destroy”. And it was a wrap.

The four horsemen then took turns to tell the Bangalore crowd how “kickass” they were. Lars concluded the show with a promise of returning to India, and then they took their bows, threw away a hell of a lot of picks and also drumsticks (one of which was taken by a cop, who in all possibility, had no clue of which band that was on stage). The dream had come to an end, but the impact of the show was so great that it took everyone some time to digest the truth that we had all just watched Metallica, in the flesh. In fact, it is now a couple of days after the gig and it still hasn’t sunken in.

So if you haven’t got a gist of what I have rambled on for so long, here it is- the show was BRILLIANT. The sound was spot on, the set-list was perfect and despite the minor screw-ups, on the whole, it was a gig unlike any other. Though I am a die-hard Maiden fan, I still think that in terms of an overall evalutation, Metallica scored higher, simply because of the decibel levels and showmanship. The Metallica hangover will take a while to go, and I simple cannot wait for them to come back.

Metallica ‘Rock in India’ setlist:

Main set-

1. Creeping Death

2. For Whom the Bell Tolls

3. Fuel

4. Ride the Lightning

5. Fade to Black

6. Cyanide

7. The Memory Remains

8. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

9. Sad But True

10. All Nightmare Long

11. One

12. Master of Puppets

13. Blackened

14. Nothing Else Matters

15. Enter Sandman

Encore-

16. Am I Evil?

17. Battery

18. Seek & Destroy

Photographs courtesy Metallica .com

November 2, 2011
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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:

April 27, 2011
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Indianfestation: Gig Review(Mumbai)

$jordan2 fractalline$ B69 is now a name synonymous with indoor metal gigs in Mumbai. The shady little place with the paanwala downstairs, and ‘Vasant’ the bar right across the street has now gained quite a reputation, even going so far as to host the Hacride gig, which I missed. So when I herad that Fractalline would be playing there, I dragged my lazy ass to the venue well before time. Supporting them were Vizia, Sceptre, and a surprise act.

Soundchecks etc went smoothly, though everything did get a little delayed because of the jam-packed schedule the headliners had(Fractalline had a clinic before the gig, forgive the pun) , and though it started a little late, Vizia quickly got on stage and started their set.

I hadn’t heard these guys before, so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Their music was a bit of a menagerie of core-ish breakdowns, catchy melody lines and thrashy riffs. One good thing about their live sound was that the bass was coming through really well, and added to the experience. They had tons of energy, were adequately tight and had enough punch in their songs to keep the crowd interested, though the songwriting front can definitely be improved upon.

Next up were Sceptre, one of the older thrash metal bands in the city. These veterans dished out an interesting array of riffs, though most of them weren’t as audible as I would’ve like them to be. This was mostly due to the excessively muddy guitar tone. The plus point was the drums though, which came through very crisp and clean, and Sanju Aguiar(who also plays with Devoid) delivered some incredible shred-happy solos to top it off. So far so good.

Next up was the surprise act, which turned out to be none other than Bhayanak Maut, who’ll be performing at Norway’s Inferno festival this year.I’d last seen them live at GIR 2008, when they opened for Satyricon. Though I wasn’t very impressed then, the band has since sharpened their live act to a point where B69’s walls couldn’t really hold in the sound. 7 string guitars, a 5 string bass, a drummer pumping full of adrenaline, and two vocalists who have an incredible stage presence. Bhayanak Maut kicked it off with “Chakna For Church’ off their latest EP Metastasis, and the dual vocal assault, combined with the catchy, viral riffs set off a mosh that only got more intense as the song progressed. The band seemed to be intent on having as much fun as they could, as they got Fractalline vocalist Jordan for a song on stage. Seriously, three metal vocalists are better than two, and it was a treat for the ears. For another song, they got Chronic Phobia bassist/vocalist Pratika on stage, who growled out Vinay’s parts pretty well. Bhayanak Maut had stirred shit up with old favourites like ‘tit for twat’, and it was time for Fractalline to get on stage and take it further.

Enter KP with an 8 string guitar, Sandesh with a 5 string bass, and Jordan(vocals) and Ray(drums) with lots of gusto. The band started after what seemed like an okay soundcheck, but when ‘The Circle’ began, vocals were conspicuously absent on the PA. This was soon remedied, however, though the microphone issue would continue throughout the set. This did very little to mar their enthusiasm. Technical death/thrash not exactly in the veins of Necrophagist, but more along the dirty tech death sound of Gorguts/Demilich. Precise, crushing riffs complemented by some very well thought out bass lines, and it seemed odd that in spite of having a single guitarist, the sound was pretty epic. Jordan managed to dish out some memorable vocals on both ends of the spectrum, and Ray provided the precise percussive backdrop that the band needed. Moving from their more technical songs like ‘Suppressing Reality’ to songs with a more old school feel, they got the crowd moshing, and KP came down, playing right in the middle of the pit, not letting a single note out of its place, which made for a truly memorable live experience.

There were a few reasons to complain, as is seemingly inevitable with all gigs – The ‘surprise’ vocal jam when Vinay jumped on to the stage for a song turned out to be a complete failure due to the microphone not working, and no amount of juggling around with cables and microphones managed to completely resolve the issue. But the solid musicianship managed to overshadow these minor glitches, and rendered the gig a success, though I was surprised at what seemed like a mild turnover. So spread the word, and make sure you attend the gig wherever you are!

P.S – You can grab Serotura and Fractalline CD’s at the venue, not to mention Fractalline shirts.

P.P.S – Keep watching this space for a truly interesting Fractalline interview.

Here are some of the pics from the gig, courtesy Pratika Prabhune(including the one at the top). Thanks a lot!

$sandhesh fractalline$

April 4, 2011
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