[Album Review]: Gene Split’s “Shottagroho” (Full Length, 2009)

It’s been quite sometime that I started to dip into the Bangladeshi underground metal scene, and I’m impressed from what I’ve been offered till now. Bands like Severe Dementia, Orator (/Barzak), Chromatic Massacre, Gene-Split, Art Cell, Jahiliyyah, Powersurge, etc. have their own spark to please my ears, and a good thing is that the majority of bands there are inclined to grasping the old school vibe of black/death/thrash metal, as opposed to the ‘modern’-metal infested Nepali scene.

Gene-Split play thrash metal, much in vein of Sepultura (Arise-era as well as Roots-era) meets Nervecell meets Testament. Melodies are often thrown in channels of acoustic passages and lead solos, and it is also evident in lots of riffs here and there.

The album starts with “36 – Urdho”, with a chugging riff, which seems to be derived through the early-death metal influences. The devastating drumming follows the instruments in full velocity, while bass is easily audible. Another neat riffing at the opener of “Ekushey Prekkhapot”, the second track, probably my favorite in the whole album. The third one, “Daridrito 6 Dofa” opens steadily and moulds to a beautiful ballad. The band tends to slow down a little from this track onward, and thus orients much into maintaining groove.

The vocals are incredible. It’s fascinating to hear the vocalist singing in Bengali. He reminds me of Max Cavalera or even later-day Barney Greenway, and is powerful on his duty, especially in portions like the acoustic melodic segment at the midway of “Ponkhaghat Ain”, which enhances the strength of the melodic guitars which could have been a little bleak and out-of-place otherwise.

The production could have been better, but I dig how it’s been presented here. The bass drums sound loud in the mix at numerous occasions. But all in all, this is some splendid thrash metal from the land of the tigers, and which is highly recommended if you’re seeking to collecting some wonderful and obscure metal records from the Southasian subcontinent. It would have been awesome if the band could continue what they were exhibiting in first couple of tracks throughout the length though, as the later songs, in my opinion couldn’t probably match up the initial intensity.

7.5/10

Interview with Devoid (India)

[This interview was originally taken for KtmROCKS E-Mag Issue 09.]

Devoid is a thrash/death metal band from Mumbai, India. Here’s an interview with them:

Hello guys, firstly, I would like to congratulate Devoid for the awesome international response on your debut album “A God’s Lie”. To begin with, for those who haven’t listened to your music yet, how would you describe a typical Devoid sound?

Thanks a lot for the wishes, man. The awesome international response was surely a pleasant surprise. Hard work does pay off. For people who haven’t heard our music, we are a thrash/death metal band with hint of melodic elements. Conscious efforts have been put in to NOT sound like any other thrash act and hence, it’s an interesting listen.

Devoid has definitely made an impact in the Indian metal scene with the release of the album and the band is obviously getting a healthy amount of exposure in the international metal arena as well. So how has been the six years’ journey till now?

Our six year long journey has been needless to say, tough. Earlier it was the lack of funds to buy good equipments. Later it was the lack of funds to record in a good studio. Determined to come out with an album, we took matters into our own hands. We recorded the whole album at MotorG studios which is the brainchild of Arun (band’s vocalist/guitarist). Recording the album was huge learning curve for the whole band. In these six years, we have not given up and practiced our asses off to become better musicians and more importantly, a tighter metal band. The band’s closest friend and manager, Roydon Bangera has played a very important role. He handles all the business end of the band, which according to us is as important as the band itself. Together with him, we have grown as a unit. Opening for bands like Cradle of Filth and Decapitated, who have been our childhood heroes, was definitely a dream come true. We have set very tough goals for ourselves, so right now we’re nowhere near where we imagine ourselves to be. We’ll be pushing hard as always.

Could you describe the concept behind the album and its name? Any meaning that Kali on your album cover depicts?

The face of Kali is a placeholder for God and why specifically Kali needs no reasons! If any Hindu God/Goddess deserves a spot on a metal album, it would be Kali and it is probably because she is a badass who crushes demons with her feet, then tears them from limb to limb and then wears them as trophies around her neck while obliterating everything everywhere. Very metal. She, the God, is sticking her tongue out because at the tip of it is the source of the meaning in the album title – A God’ Lie. It signifies the divine lie, hot and ready for selling and spreading. The colors and the images on the album are the brainchild of Shakti Dash. He is an intense guy and he knows his trade. He really got into the album and he wanted to represent what he felt through the music and the lyrics.

Tell us something about the recording of the album, which was entirely recorded and produced by the front-man Arun Iyer. How was the experience?

One of the main reasons for us to record this album on our own setup was the lack of funds. We never really intended for it to be a complete DIY project as far as production is concerned but since I (Arun) had dabbled with the recording arts before I thought it’d be much safer and readily available for any last minute tweaks, and believe me there were a million of them. It was a brilliant learning experience for me and I am really looking forward to more. The final sound though on the album was never good enough for me and that stretched on and on for a year till we settled for a sound that was closest to what we had in our heads all along. I understand that in this age records short of pristine quality is thrown right off the window, but to my surprise people have taken the under-produced sound, if you may, rather well. I am not entirely satisfied with the final sound on the album and now, when I spin the album again I usually find more than a few things I’d like to change but that process was seemingly endless. But hey, with jack-diddly for a budget, I think we did just fine.

Was there any reason you had put the “Beer Song” as a bonus track? Is it because of the difference of its lyrical concept as compared to the other songs?

Speaking on behalf of the band and the evident numerous minge sessions, we all love beer! This song was one of the quickest songs that came out of the jam room and though it stood out of our set list, which became a major reason for us to enjoy this song even more. We were scared if this would backfire on us but thankfully it is now a crowd favorite too.

You are among those bands in the world that are reviving the genre of thrash metal. Tell me few of your favorite groups among the revival horde? And also some of your other major influences that you’ve incorporated to make this album?

The first band that comes to my mind is definitely Hypnosia (if they were still around). Their album “Extreme Hatred” according to me is one of the thrash epics. Sadly, they disbanded after the tragic death of their drummer. Amongst the others are Lazarus AD, Destruction, Bonded by Blood, Deathchain, Violator, etc. These bands came out with some really good albums which had that essence of old school aggression but didn’t sound like copycats. We in the band grew up listening to bands like Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Kreator, Sodom, Sepultura, Pantera, Exodus, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide etc and the influence is hence understandable. But, Slayer has had the biggest influence on us. Slayer is the reason why we started this band. We just wanted to be as fast and brutal as them. “A God’s Lie” is a mixture of all our influences and we’ve tried to make the album sound as interesting and not boring or repetitive as possible.

Arun, you were surprised to learn that you also have fans here in Nepal. Had you expected it at first? How about a Devoid gig here in Nepal for us, the Devoid fans?

It’s always makes us happy when someone appreciates our music. When I read on Facebook on one such event page as to how many people wanted to see Devoid live, we were ecstatic. We do hope that someday we get to showcase our music to Nepal.

So what were your expectations out of the album, when you first started working on it?

Honestly we had no time to think about expectations as our prime aim was to record what we felt was our best over the years and since this was our first attempt in recording, we took all the time to make this one count.

It’s sad that the record label you’re signed in, Demonstealer Records has now closed its label division. But I’m confident that there might be few international labels as well, out there who are eyeing on you. What do you think?

Yes, Sahil who owns Demonstealer Records did issue a notice explaining as to why he decided to shut his label. So presumably, our next album will be released on some other record label. About international labels, we leave that responsibility on our manager to select the most suitable option for us. We would love to be on an international label to increase our chances of international tours.

I wonder if you guys have already started writing for your next release. Well, have you? Could you enlighten us a bit about it as well? How different is it going to be from the last album?

Yes, we have started working on some new material although it is a mess right now. We have all the ideas in our head and we just need to execute them in the right manner. We’re taking it easy to get the right sound. It’s going to be a little different from our last album – less melodic and more brutal and faster. That said, we will retain all the elements that make us sound unique.

So how do you see Devoid, lets say, five or ten years down the line?

Touring Europe and recording in a top notch studio.

Any last words you would want to throw to end this interview?

Keep supporting metal, and all deserving bands. We hope we will have the pleasure of spreading our music to Nepal soon. Cheers!

You could check out more about the band in the following links:

http:// facebook.com/pages/DevoidIndia/140937786471

– Interviewed by Awaken/The Sickening Art

Interview with InnerGuilt (Lebanon)

[This interview was originally taken for KtmROCKS E-Mag Issue 9]

InnerGuilt is a thrash/death metal band from Beirut, Lebanon, who are playing in this year’s Silence Festival, Kathmandu, on October 15. Here’s a short interview:

Hi there. Thanks for taking some time to do this interview. Since most of us here in Nepal are unaware about your band, could you briefly tell us something about InnerGuilt?

Hey, thanks for the interview. The band was formed back in November 2010 by the members Sako (the front-man) and Serge (lead guitarist). Shortly, we had released a single entitled “Burden of Guilt” which got many positive reviews and feedbacks. The first show we played was at Holy Noise, Dubai which was great. After two months we headed to India to perform in Deccan Rock Fest 2011 and got many positive reviews both from the crowd and the reviewers. Currently we are a four piece band and we play thrash/death metal. InnerGuilt are:
Sako Helvajian – Vocals
Serge Keshishian – Lead Guitars
Gary Kabakian – Bass
Christ Michael – Drums

What’s up with the name InnerGuilt? Any philosophy that your lyrical themes follow… or should I say, follows your music?

InnerGuilt is a word that explains the authority’s power against the poor and the weak, the justice that always stands with the guilty; the guilt that lives inside every person and it is reflective towards wealth, power and dissoluteness. It remains inside and is denied by humans, who seem to be clean and white but yet, BEASTS. But the music plays the biggest role in the band and the band’s theme.

The band was formerly called Tristmoon that played melodic black/gothic metal and had also released a full length album under the name. How did the sudden change in name and musical direction come in?

InnerGuilt has nothing to do with Tristmoon. Some of InnerGuilt’s members used to play with Tristmoon and that was it. Now it’s a whole different thing! There is much aggressive theme, music and lyrics now.

You seem to have a varied musical influences then, i.e. from gothic metal to thrash/death metal. What are your individual musical backgrounds?

The gothic part has never been InnerGuilt’s members’ background, but Tristmoon’s. We always knew we would be a thrash/death metal band, and that was the thing. InnerGuilt’s members are mostly influenced by thrash, death, progressive and technical metal music.

Recording anything soon with the new band name and genre on?

Actually we are recording our debut album “Slanderous Society” and hopefully we’ll be able to release it in our Asian tour “Show No Mercy” starting September 2011.

You guys had recently opened for Decapitated in Deccan Rock in Hyderabad, India, with some great reviews. I heard you guys wowed the Decapitated guys as well?

The reviews were all positive and we surely were satisfied. Opening for Decapitated was a dream coming true. This awesome band is one of our biggest death metal influences, and we can’t wait to share the stage with them once again.

Did you guys catch up Antim Grahan from Nepal in that show? Plus have you heard anything metal from Nepalese underground?

I wish we did, but we arrived to Hyderabad in the morning of the second day of Deccan Rock. But I’m sure we’ll catch them soon and many other Nepalese bands as well. Concerning the Nepalese underground, we’re excited to know more about the metal scene over there.

It might be really hard to operate a metal band in a Muslim country like Lebanon. How’s the reaction of the general people over the music? Plus do you see a hint of change on the general taking on it in due time?

With all respect to our Muslim brothers, sisters, friends and fans, Lebanon is not a Muslim country. It’s a mix of 18 different sects! The majority of the population is Christians and Muslims, and it has always been this way. Compared to the middle-east, Lebanon is the ONLY country influenced by the western culture. In the past, a lot of Lebanese bands faced major problems with the cops, but not anymore. Nowadays you can play metal music; you can have long hair, piercing and tattoos. We always have metal festivals and concerts including international acts and local acts.

So how’s the overall metal scene over there? Any cool bands you would want to recommend us?

The scene is great in Lebanon. We have a lot of rising bands with good music like Level 7, Tormented and many more. We have some old and well known bands like The Weeping Willow, Oath to Vanquish, Post Mortem, Element 26, Nocturna, Melancholy and many more.

Thanks for the interview, guys. At last, a final shout-out to end this interview?

We would like to thank you for interviewing us, and all the Nepalese metalheads over there as well. We are looking forward to play in your beautiful country, and make friends and fans. Cheers to you all, best regards from Lebanon.

You can download the band’s single “Burden of Guilt” through their official website: http://innerguilt.com.

Interviewed by Awaken/The Sickening Art

[Gig Review]: Ides of March – KtmROCKS 10 Years Anniversary Gig

This review is not available. Go listen to your cunnin’ metalcore bands that I love to bash. So that I could take a chillful nap. Wake me after the ’12 apocalypse or something, ya’ll. Cheers!

[Album Review]: Arsames’ “Immortal Identity” (Full Length, 2010)

It is evident, heavy metal through its growth has now been incorporating various regional sounds from throughout the world, caressing respective cultural vibes through the music and thus marking the music’s own distinct identity. In this very process, the band in hand, Arsames is a death metal group from Iran, who could be found labeling their style as “Persian ancient” death metal, in verge of merging metal with Persian sounds and scales.

Well, Arsames’ music could be defined to have been derived from the blend of thrash, heavy and death metal, with thrash/heavy influences more or less overcoming its death metal character at times. So don’t expect some straightaway death metal here. There are few of the Persian elements enclosed as well, but which I couldn’t significantly distinguish with the Arabic, Egyptian or other middle-eastern tunes mostly apparent in bands as Nile or Scarab. So I lean to conclude they are more or less similar when mixed with metal, perhaps.

The foremost thing to say – there is this thin production that is a bit distressful if you ask me. A denser sound would have done better. Beside this, the compositions seem cool enough, with melodies eminent throughout. Yes, the melodies seem to embrace the whole length – more observable in solos which run all over the places, and even along the riffing.

The drumming isn’t as intense as noticed in most of the death metal bands, but they do nothing unfair when considering rest of the instrumentations – slow to mid tempo most of the times, with regular ascendance in velocity, still bordered pleasantly by the Persian mark. And well, the vocals by Ali Madarshahi are quite charming as well – slightly throaty but still retaining the low notes, but which go faint at times.

So the sound of “Immortal Identity” could again be described as thrashy death metal (nothing old school) with deep growling vocals – the music that contains some traces of Persian traditional music. All in all, a good and worthy debut showcasing the immense talents of musicians in their individual level, but I’m optimistic that they would be approaching with a better and more bad-ass record in future.

7/10

[Album Review]: Atheist’s “Jupiter” (Full Length, 2010)

Well, comebacks usually upset when there’s a whole lot of time enough for musicians to catch up different tastes and questioning the musical direction of their past. Even big names like Terrorizer and Cynic fell in this category, and we’ve got no smaller name than those here. Atheist, awaken to do some newer stuff after more than a decade with two new members and everybody had obvious doubts on this one. Could they be same after seventeen fucking long years – the time long enough you could replace your former band-mate with your newborn son?

Well, my affiliation with Atheist goes back to “Unquestionable Presence”, which was the first album of theirs I genuinely loved. Although “Piece of Time” had reached me first, it couldn’t click me well. It was UP that described the typical Atheist sound to me and I could regenerate the love for Piece… as well. The third album “Elements” couldn’t do much with me though. When you listen to enough good music from your favorite band, the expectations are obvious to rise and the other generic ones too seem to be lacking the punch, and same was the case. “Elements” was alright, but wasn’t as significant as the former two ‘masterpieces’.

Alright. The thing is – you just cannot judge an Atheist album on just few listens. When I had put my ears on this one for the first time, I was confused, disappointed but expectant, all at the same time. A little more listens and it was still growing on me.

Musically, the band appears to have leaned less towards the thrashy edge this time. It’s more technical death metal here, still retaining the typical Atheist fragrance. It’s cool that it still sounds like Atheist even after seventeen long years, and that’s an achievement in itself, considering the awful doubts that everyone (at least most of us) had when we first learned about the band recording their newer stuff. To speak, “Jupiter” sounds like a progressive technical death metal band (let’s say Gorod) giving tribute to Atheist.

So besides everything else, let me point out few of my discomforts here:

Firstly, one of the hugest objections is the bass being not free, which isn’t off the trail of guitars as it was before. Bass is there, yes it’s audible, but is just to follow the guitars. It’s a blasphemy in Atheist’s case if you ask me.

Secondly, there is zero to little chill-out jazzy portions, which could be found in their previous albums (which I really adore/d). Surely, Atheist were the first band to fuse extreme metal with jazz, and the decision to omit them might be cool, but it’s just me; not that it is hindering the songs’ eminence through it.

Thirdly, the lead guitars – whenever I listen to “Unquestionable Presence” and the solos are put on, I go [bow them]. But now, they’re not so remarkable at all. They’re decent, nowhere close to their past stuffs. I could also sense some riffs/solos filled here and there just to invoke their early-years’-sound, which I think are already lame.

Fourthly, the production is a bit oozy besides all, and the best sound output tends to be the drums. This instrument could be the finest and most satisfying in here, possessing some awesome variations and all… typically Atheist.

Fifthly, the vocals. Well, the band wasn’t pleasing me ‘vocally’ at all through any of their preceding records anyway, but let’s put it this way – Kelly’s shrieks here, I think, are the best to offer after their debut (I know many will disagree). So I’m not pushed away a bit by his throat performance here.

All in all, Atheist now sound more like many of other bands trying to follow their path of being a death(/thrash) band like Negativa, Gory Blister, Quo Vadis, etc. This is no way close to their first two records, but this doesn’t imply in anyway that it’s a weak album. “Jupiter” is still ‘decent’ in my book, but I would recommend to begin with “Unquestionable Presence” or “Piece of Time” if you already dig thrash metal.

7.5/10

KtmROCKS “Be Loud Be Proud” Compilation Vol. II Released

KtmROCKS Nepal, after a long time, has just released its second volume of “Be Loud Be Proud” compilation.

1. STS – Bidroh (7:29)
2. Bidroha – Adhipatya Ho Danav Ko (5:47)
3. Earthling – Wilderness Throne (6:08)
4. Kalodin – Souls of the Dead (7:12)
5. Crucifixia – End of War (4:09)
6. Diwas Gurung – Haami Aayau (4:32)
7. Hadez – End of Days (8:19)
8. Symbol of Orion – Monopoly (3:36)
9. Dipes Karki – Gore (3:16)
10. Deadefy – Doom’s Day (3:28)
11. Saboteurs – Angel and Her Love (4:26)
12. Antim Grahan – Putrefaction Eternity (3:12)

Download

[Album Review]: Devoid’s “A God’s Lie” (Full Length, 2010)

(Originally reviewed for KtmROCKS Emag 08)

Well! Thrash revival happens to be a sprouting movement lately, trying to invoke the misdirected 80s’ darling – the music that could defy any other metal genre in its content of pure aggression and antagonism. Modern thrash bands though, have a slight twisted route to pull things off – for this, either the bands are seeking to step up the extremity or experimenting to trigger newer sounds, like one of my favorites, Vektor are doing. And then are some self-proclaimed thrashers who ‘mistakenly’ have played groove metal instead. Well, lets not get to that point. But anyway…

The band in hand, Devoid, balances well to put themselves between the retro-sound of thrash metal with a strong blend of originality that offers a slight touch of death metal and hardcore/groove metal intersections. Devoid come from Mumbai, India and “A God’s Lie” is the band’s debut full length album which was released in September 2010 through Demonstealer Records. Great song patterns and a whole lot of brilliant riffing, and I was being ass-kicked already.

So…

The album commences with an acoustic intro, “A Silent Death”, which soon flourishes into the up-front thrash strike of “Battle Cry”. With sirens and gunshots to welcome a listener, the first introduction of the distorted guitars and bass had given me a sort of “Pierced from Within” feel, but soon the sound spreads off in tone that could fairly be derived from any of the traditional thrash records.

Although Devoid cite Slayer as their foremost influence, they have managed well to mark their sound away from them, and hell! I haven’t found any significant amount of Slayerism in here actually, not even any chug based riff. There is also an apparent persuasion of hardcore/grindcore. For example, pop into “Possessed” (00:38) for instance. These hummable melodic parts in amid the avalanche of forthright brutality make this album so pleasant. To speak, I adore moments as such that tempt us bang heads. And hence melody points its existence throughout. You may think of “Enemy of God” melodic thrash but forget it already; this album doesn’t worship Gothenburg sound half its way anyway. Along the play, there were also Lamb of God, Death/Atheist and NWoBHM and groove metal influences felt.

The title track grasps a bit of progressive shape as it tends to go for a few tempo changes with (somewhat) erratic flow here and there. The band members too do not hesitate to mess around a little bit at times before actually hitting off towards full-on thrash. Well, the instrumentations incline a bit towards technical concentrations too, and the complex arrangements from the multiple genre ingredients still are mixed up well, which are proficient to build an in-your-face assault.

Philosophically, the songs are tilted towards ‘new world order and the evils of a prehistoric setup of the social norms and social deities’. The ending track “Beer Song” is actually a distinct one that plays homage towards… beers! “Beer Song” caresses a bit of Megadeth spark, comprising some traditional heavy metal within it. (Why is the song called ‘bonus’ anyway? May be because of the very reason of its concept unfitting with those of others? Perhaps!)

Drumming is a creative territory in the album as well – precise and very well executed fills, rolls and few blast beats providing the rest of the music a robust backbone. And I’ve got another thing to admire – Arun Iyer’s vocals – violent and hateful. We’ve heard a lot of this type before in thrash (or any other extreme metal), but hell I’m really impressed by the aggression he has released. Think of Kelly Shaefer’s work in “Piece of Time” and you already know what I’m talking about. Anyway, the growls are a bit more accurate and deeper than Kelly’s. Sharp! is the word.

The production is near to flawless, which roughly summons the vibes of old school atmosphere. This makes the release unashamedly modern yet grasping the primitive touch. Amogh Symphony, Devoid, Hydrodjent. Man, the Indian bands are just getting better by the day in regard to handling the production facet. The bass drums could have been switched a bit louder in the mix though.

All in all, it’s an excellent display of virulent thrash (/death) attack. This is a five-year-in-making album and the motive and seriousness of the band are further clarified by the super-consistent line-up, to pursue the common aspiration to making the top-notch thrash music possible. The release has already won a great deal of attention worldwide, which suggests the band is really up for a huge run. And so let me revise myself once again – “A God’s Lie” is one of the best metal albums India has to offer lately. Yeah!

8/10

– Samyam Shrestha