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Kryptos parts ways with long-time rhythm section line-up, announces new line-up

Jayawant Tewari and Ryan Colaco, responsible for the longest time for bass and drum duties with Bangalore’s Kryptos, have now left the band. The quartet released an official statement on Facebook this evening:

 

Greetings fellow metalheads. We have some major changes coming your way. The band has amicably parted ways with long standing members Jayawant Tewari and Ryan Colaco. We’d like to thank them for everything over the years, for their unwavering dedication and for all the fantastic times we shared. We wish them all the very best for the future and we’re sure they’ll kick ass in everything they do.

As the legendary Freddie Mercury once said, ‘The show must go on’ and we welcome back founding member Ganesh K. (Bevar Sea, Witchgoat) on bass and skin slammer Anthony Hoover (Witchgoat, Neolithic Silence) on drums.

Things have a strange tendency to come full circle especially since it was 15 long years ago, during this very month in 1998, that Kryptos first saw the light of day and now here we are 15 years later with the feeling that it has started all over once again.

Unfortunately we will not be playing any gigs until we get back up to speed but we will return with full force come December.

As always we’d like to thank each and everyone who has supported us over the last 15 years and we promise to keep the flag flying high for heavy metal over the next 15 years and beyond.

Cheers everyone.

Metal ‘til death!!!!

 

A lot of dedicated Kryptos fans will be quite happy to hear about the return of Ganesh to the line-up. The band recently returned from a massive European tour to celebrate completion of 15 years. From Headbangers India, we wish the band all the best and hope for many sets of 15 more years!

 

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, 26th 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

Orchid
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.

Djinn-Siddarth

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

EschersKnot

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

Mahesh-Shepherd

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!

India releases its first Motorhead tribute album

motorhead tribute pre order

The aptly-named Iron Fist Records have now released the much awaited Motorhead India tribute album, featuring 12 ear-splitting covers spanning various genres of metal from bands of different backgrounds. The album can be streamed in its entirety on Bandcamp, where you can also order a special edition bundle with a poster and a limited edition t-shirt. The bands and songs featured are thus:

1.
Millennium – Iron Fist 02:28   (Heavy Metal|Bangalore)
2.
Dying Embrace – Deaf Forever 04:14  (Doom Metal/Stoner Rock|Bangalore)
3.
1833 AD – Dead and Gone 06:11 (Black Metal|New Delhi)
4.
Bevar Sea – Turn You Round Again 05:05 (Doom Metal/Stoner Rock|Bangalore)
5.
Albatross – God Was Never On Your Side 05:11 (Heavy Metal|Mumbai)
6.
Shepherd – Sacrifice 04:10 (Sludge/Heavy Rock|Bangalore)
7.
Witchgoat – Death or Glory 04:21 (Black/Thrash Metal|Bangalore)
8.
9.
Mortar – I am the Sword 03:36 (Thrash Metal|Kolkata)
10.
Solar Deity – Orgasmatron 04:03 (Black Metal|Mumbai)
11.
Purgation – Terminal Show 03:42 (Death Metal|Kolkata)
12.
Dormant Inferno – The Game 04:36 (Doom Metal|Mumbai)
13.

Trend Slaughter Fest returns

The third edition of Bangalore’s Trend Slaughter fest is here, featuring Singaporean thrash/crust band Blood Division as the headliners. The gig, engineered and innovated by Cyclopean Eye Productions promises the best of the underground bands and stays true to it’s name. Having featured Japanese black thrash metallers Abigail and Bangladesh’s own Orator in the past, this one promises to be just as damaging.

Making their live debut at TSF III will be Bombay’s Solar Deity. Accompanied by Necrodeity from Kolkota, the legendary Dying Embrace and Bangalore’s very own Witchgoat and Shepherd. TSF III takes place on 10th February, 2013 at a venue yet to be announced.

The gig features an early bird ticket offer for Rs. 500, while the ticket on the day of the gig costs Rs. 700.  Both variants featuring a free beer.
Be there to witness some absolute mayhem, moshing and thrashing. And as always, support the underground!