Metal and Beyond

Thought of compiling a list of my favourite bands which are not very well known outside the 'trve' Metal community.


10. Bethlehem


Genre : Black/Dark Metal

This German band almost single handedly created the genre known as Dark Metal with the aptly titled debut album 'Dark Metal' in 1994. This unique combination of black and death/doom metal spawned many similar sounding bands. Their recent albums have been quite a departure from their brand of metal and I'd recommend the earlier albums only.




9. Marduk


Genre : Brutal Black Metal


One of the more conspicuous Black metal bands with 10 full length album releases to their name and a career spanning two decades, Marduk defines brutality in Black Metal. Blast beats that aren't inferior to bullet shots and tremolo picked riffs which sound like they have been created in the pits of Hell itself, Marduk is all about brute and raw Black metal. The album 'Panzer Division' is considered to be the benchmark of heavy fucking Black Metal, but I prefer Opus Nocturne which was released in 1994 since it had the right amount of dark atmosphere mixed with insane brutality.




8. Watchtower

Genre : Technical Thrash Metal


The inventors of the Technical metal sub genre, these guys had a huge thrash influence which gave their brand of Technical metal a very thrashy feel. They were far ahead of their peers when it came to composition and song structure and it shows in the music. The music is technical as hell and Jason McMaster's vocals aren't bad. Too bad that they released only 2 full length albums, both of which were masterpieces in their own right.




7. Green Carnation


Genre : Progressive Doom Metal



They're more Progressive than Doom, however with added elements of Gothic metal, this band sure knows how to create some awe inspiring music. Their album Light of Day, Day of Darkness has only one song which is one of the longest and most epic songs ever created. At a playtime of over an hour, this song is a musical orgasm for all Prog heads.




6. Mahavishnu Orchestra


Genre : Jazz / Fusion Jazz

I think of this legendary band and I think about the genius of John McLaughlin. This band literally fused Jazz and Rock to form Jazz fusion in the form that we see other bands performing today. McLaughlin's double neck guitar and Billy Cobham's influential jazz drumming made them the force that they were in the 70s. The first 4 albums were recorded by the original lineup and these are the albums that define the quintessential Mahavishnu Orchestra.



5. Saturnus
Genre : Melodic Doom/Death Metal

This Danish band has sorrow as their main subject matter in the lyrics. The guitar tone usually has this ultra melodic feel to it and the doomsy drumming simply adds on to musical climaxes of the highest order. Christ Goodbye from their debut album 'Paradise Belongs To You' is undoubtedly their masterpiece and the 2nd album Martyre is no slacker either. Their music is in the vein of bands like Katatonia, Anathema & My Dying Bride, however Thomas Jensen's unique vocal style really puts Saturnus in the list of my favourite bands.



4. Kauan


Genre : Folk/Doom Metal
Kauan is the brainchild of Anton Belov and has the beautiful Lyubov Mushnikova (Yes, I love that last name) on the violin as the only other member of the band. They have no peers in the music industry. Kauan's brand of Folk metal has a very subtle doom touch to it. Mushnikova is outstanding on the Violin and Belov is great on everything else. Lumikuuro is their debut album and also the album which I like the most. The track Villiruusu is my favourite Kauan song and begins with a haunting Violin piece which only gets better as the song progresses. The 2nd album didn't impress me as much as Lumikuuro did, however the band is too good to not feature in my top 5.



3. Blackstratblues

Genre : Blues/Instrumental Rock

I've been a Zero fan since 2005 when I first saw them live at the Pune leg of Campus Rock Idols and what struck me most about the band was the calm and understated virtuosity of the maestro, Warren Mendonsa. He went on to form his solo project Blackstratblues based in New Zealand and I'm so fucking glad he did. His brand of Blues can soften the toughest Metalhead and be loved by the casual Bollywood listener too. He likes to call his style as 'Good honest music' and I don't disagree one bit. My favourite Blackstratblues' song is a tie between Anuva's Sky and Bombay Rain.



2. Agalloch


Genre : Atmospheric Folk/Doom/Dark Metal


I might get a lot of flak for including this band in a 'not-so-well-known' list, but hey, this is my list and I'll do whatever the fuck I want to. Agalloch are popular now but weren't when I first started listening to them in  2007. And scores of people have tried to classify this band, but all have failed. They aren't doom, they aren't black, they're more of a concoction of all the best parts of Metal. Try to find similar sounding bands at your own peril, because you will find none. From the eerie, chill-inducing melodies of She Painted Fire Across the Skyline to the sheer mesmerising harmony of Our Fortress is Burning, Agalloch is the benchmark of sounding cold and haunting without being classified as Black Metal.



1. ColdWorld


Genre : Atmospheric Black Metal


Only 1 full length album by a band that has only one member and it makes to the top of my list? Fuck yeah, it does! Ever since I first listened to the kold as fvck album Melancholie², I knew that this was the band for me. It sets the benchmark for Atmospheric/Ambient black metal with themes of Winter, Depression, Grief, etc. Some people classify it as a Depressive Suicidal Black metal band because of the themes of songs like Suicide, This Empty Life, Tortured by Solitude and others, but if you're a trained listener of DSBM, you would know the difference between a band like Nocturnal Depression and ColdWorld. G.B. is the guy who's the everything of ColdWorld and I worship this guy for the music he creates. He hasn't put a wrong step so far with the two records (TheStarsAreDeadNow is the EP released before Melancholie²) and I hope he releases at least two more frostbitten albums before calling it a day.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Abhimanyu Singh Negi, lead guitarist and band manager of AbraXas - a Pune based groove/melodic death metal band who are currently on a high after winning Mood Indigo - Livewire which was headlined by Doom metal legends Katatonia.


XD: Congratulations on winning Mood Indigo. AbraXas has now joined the likes of Zero, Parikrama and Sceptre who have won this prestigious event in the past. How does it feel to be in the company of these legendary bands and where does AbraXas go from here?

Black Metal Krieg - India's first ever metal gig dedicated to my favourite sub genre in Metal - Black fucking Metal. I had first heard about something like this shaping up some 2 months ago when 1833 AD were on their India Tour. One of the 1833 AD guys had mentioned something about performing in Mumbai and/or Pune and making it a gig exclusive to Black Metal bands. This later took shape in the form of Black Metal Krieg at B69 in Andheri, Mumbai - where 4 black and crushing bands brought darkness blacker than hell to the city of Mumbai.

Travelling from Pune, my two friends and I were eagerly awaiting this gig like a trio of kids would wait to raid a candy shop. The 180km long journey was sweetened by the fact that we had a 20 min discussion with the band members of Dhishti - a Sri Lankan Depressive Black metal band. Being crazy admirers of the genre, we immediately got into a lengthy chat about the legends of DSBM such as Austere, Nocturnal Depression, Thy Light, Gris and others. Jayakody (vocalist) told us to be prepared for a surprise Atmospheric BM track that they would be covering. I had my guesses but what we got was something I never dreamt of. The aftermath of that performance still haunts me.

The gig went underway after 8pm and first to perform on stage were Spiked Crib from Mumbai who label themselves as Symphonic Black Metal. To be honest, I'm not a fan of this sub genre as most bands tend to forget their Black metal roots upon achieving some sort of stardom (*cough* Dimmu Borgir *cough*) What followed took my completely by surprise. They were more atmospheric than symphonic and that's something I totally dig. Special props to the vocalist, Gareth here. This guy has insane vocal chords and can belt out both DM growls as well as BM shrieks with relative ease. The keyboard player was good too. They played a good set and had to finish things off with Graveworm's cover of the Maiden classic - Fear of the Dark. I wish they hadn't, but I guess they had to do it to appease the crowd.



http://headbangers.in/band-profiles/spiked-crib/




Dhishti was up next and I was surprised by this. I would have wished either Dhishti or 1833 AD to headline the event as these are really mature bands who can absolutely slay when given the main spot. Anyway, I had listened to the two Dhishti tracks on their myspace page at least 4-5 times before I came for the gig and thus I knew what to expect from them. However, the moment Jayakody uttered the first few shrieks, I felt goosebumps the size of little beetles crawling up my skin. I couldn't click a single pic for at least 5 minutes as it took me that long to recover from what I had just witnessed. Their originals are at par with most of the DSBM that I listen to and they're the best band I've seen live. At the beginning of their set, most of the crowd was either making fun of their corpse paint or of DSBM as a whole. I wish I could use Jayakody's spikes to pierce their sorry dicks, but as they were halfway into their first track, those asswipes realised (or didn't) what hit them like a freight train. Next, it was time for their cover and I missed a heartbeat when I heard the word 'Dunkelheit'. I don't think I've ever been happier in my life and it was weird because an hour later, this feeling was bettered. More on that later. Kunal Gonsalves from Stark Denial joined in for dual vocals on Dunkelheit and I really do not remember anything after that other than being in a state of trance and not remembering where I was. The last track was almost brutal black metal in the vein of Marduk and my neck's still complaining from the ordeal. I wish their set would never end, but I'm so damn glad that I was a part of this great experience.





http://www.myspace.com/dishti666



1833 AD from Delhi were next to follow and I had been dying to watch them ever since I found out about them 6-7 months ago. Their Facebook page had mentioned that they would be covering a few Black metal classics but nobody expected 4 covers and a 75 minute setlist! Nishant Abraham (vocalist) is a very good Black metal vocalist and even though he admits to not being much of a talker, his vocals kill you with in an eerie manner. His vocals are very Abbath-like and Shashank Sagar on drums is an Indian Hellhammer (although he looks like Mikael Akerfeldt) I have been digging their originals such as Inheritance Evil and Who Killed The Emperor on their Myspace page and found it even better hearing them live. After playing Immortal, Dark Funeral and Ancient covers, I thought they were done. But surprise o surprise! Nishant asked us to yell Mayhem as loud as we could. I couldn't yell. I was dumbstruck. My heart was screaming out 'Freezing Moon' but my mouth couldn't catch up. Nishant did that for me and when said those words, I threw away my camera and equipment in my friend's hands and went on to become one with the music. Freezing Moon is my favourite track across all genres and I never thought I would ever get to witness it live. My lungs and my throat were strangers to me and singing along to Freezing Moon was THE best experience of my life. They didn't miss one note and even if they did, I could care less. 1833 AD is by far the best Black Metal band in India (of the handful that we have) and other bands should look up to them for inspiration and creativity. They closed their set with Who Killed The Emperor and it is my favourite Indian BM track. I can't wait for their debut album to be out. Nishant, Sushmit, Rahul, and Shashank - if you're reading this, we need an album like right now!





http://www.myspace.com/1833ad



Stark Denial, the local boys, were the last band to perform and to be honest I had no mental or physical energy left to fathom what was going on. Kunal is a good vocalist and the band is pretty tight but I would like them to step up their game a bit. Having said that, their originals are pretty good and if they didn't have such tough acts to follow, they would have sounded killer. They covered Immortal's Damned in Black and also followed it up with a BM version of Slayer's Raining Blood with Jimmy from Zygnema brining his growls to make it a Blackened Death metal version of the Slayer classic. Also joining them was Shehzad from Sceptre. As with Fear of the dark, I understand that this was done to please the people who aren't really accustomed to listening actual Black metal tracks and I was okay with it.





















http://www.myspace.com/starkdenial





The gig ended at 12.15 am and we reached Pune at 4 am. Spent more than a grand, yet came out much richer with experience. I don't know if my words and photographs could do justice to how awesome this gig was, but I tried. And 3 days down the line, try is all a person who is still experiencing the aftermath of the gig, can do.

12th December 2010 - The date for the finals of the Indian edition of Wacken Open Air at Kyra theatre, Bangalore. 8 finalists from 4 zones were supposed to be performing at this metal fest, only 4 turned up. Disappointment, one would think? Not really, as the 4 bands which did perform brought the house down with their tight and explosive performances. And who better to judge the bands than Bangalore's very own metal legends - Kryptos. And to make things even sweeter, Kryptos was headlining the event. They were probably the only 'big' Indian band that I hadn't watched live, prior to this event.

http://www.myspace.com/abandonedagonyind



Eccentric Pendulum (Bangalore ) were next and they had a tough act to follow since AA had decimated everything in sight. They started off a little shaky but got better as their setlist progressed. Mid way through their set the skin of the bass drum developed a tear and there was a long and annoying wait of over 45 min before it could be replaced. I took this opportunity to check out Kyra and was really impressed by the venue. If only there could be more Kyras in places like Bombay and Pune, we photographers would die a content death. Awesome stage lighting, great smoke machines, large stage (by underground metal standards) and ample space for a pretty wild moshpit (more on this, later), Kyra has it all. And what's more is that since it's a theatre which is used for other art forms like dramas and stuff, it also has a balcony! Now how many metal venues can boast of that? Coming back to EP's performance, their style is pretty avant garde and I wish they take it to the next level by adding some unconventional instruments and/or adding a female vocalist. They were my least favourite band of the evening and (un)susprisingly enough, they were the ones to walk out with the prize.

http://www.myspace.com/eccentricpendulum



Goddess Gagged from Mumbai followed Eccentric Pendulm and they came in like a breath of fresh air. Their first track oozed of atmosphere and had a complete Post-rock feel to it. It didn't feel like a metal gig anymore and the great stage lighting of Kyra just added to the atmosphere. These guys classify themselves as Prog Rock and Alt Rock and I'd like to add experimental, post and psychedelic subgenres to their resume. A special mention of Arman Menzies is warranted here as this dude in the dread locks mesmerised the crowd with his exceptional guitar skills and his backing vocals. If this were a Rock show, Goddess Gagged would have easily won it, but it was Metal competition and GG don't play metal and it was no surprise that they didn't win. Anyway, keep a look out for this band. They're surely going to make it big.


http://www.myspace.com/goddessgaggedj


The last band of the competition, Silver Tears from Guwahati crowded the stage with 6 members and introduced themselves as a Progressive Metal band. I'm not exaggerating when I say that they were the tightest band of the evening and were scintillating with their virtuosity and mesmerising songwriting skills. Lead guitarist Ishaan Laskar is probably one of the most exciting talents to come out of the country in recent times and the vocalist Girish gives has a sublime Russell Allen touch to his vocals. They're more Symphony X than Dream Theater in their music and are a real treat to watch irrespective of the kind of metal you listen to. Their set was full of mind numbing solos and progressive interludes, a must for every Proghead.

http://www.myspace.com/silvertearsindia


Now that all four bands were done, the legends of the Indian metal, Kryptos came on stage. What I like about these thoroughly professional bands is that they might not be the most skillful musicians, but what they bring to the table is a rubber sealed performance which young bands simply cannot match. Nolan pours his heart out each time he performs and Ryan is a veteran warhorse on the drums. They're so much in sync with each other that it's hard to find any flaws in the music they create. It was a complete treat for NWOBHM fans and Kryptos deserve all the credit they get.


So yeah, end of the gig and EP were declared winners. One word about the crowd - 'Pathetic'. I haven't seen a more disinterested and boring crowd elsewhere. A kindergarten mosh was created when the 2nd band started playing and I was clicking photographs standing in the centre of the moshpit! Not only that, there were like a handful of people headbanging and the rest were behaving like they had come for a Classical music concert. No enthusiasm at all. Things only got good once Kryptos started playing and this led me to believe that the Bangalore metal crowd only supports bands they know and want to. So much for cliched and over used 'Headbangalore' title.


All in all, a good gig, great venue, bad crowd and good experience. Had a good time writing this article and reminiscing the performances. Cheers!