Mentally Murdered – featuring MxCx, Takatak & Irritum

Time to dust the cobwebs off this rotting city’s heavy music scene. Three acts on the bill, names as follow;

Multinational Corporations – Grindcore/Hardcore Punk. Performing new cuts from upcoming splits as well as crowd favorites from last year’s “Jamat-al-Maut” EP, this grindlashkar is poised for another deadly aural assault on the senses.

Takatak – Instrumental Prog/Groove Metal. Veterans of the Lahore music scene by now, and well renowned for their technical abilities, they are on the cusp of releasing their first EP after a great response to the single “Placental.”

Irritum – Funeral Doom Metal. Masters of the almighty riff, conjuring atmospheres equally haunting and majestic. Hear tracks from their upcoming full-length album while they doom you to eternity.

—

Live at Opositive studio’s (308 Ravi Road, opposite Badshah Mosque NEXT to the Ufone Franchise)

Call for further details
0345-4064728 (Hassan)
0322-5345356 (Sheraz)

Djinn & Miskatonic Interview

Bangalore is no stranger to Doom Metal, as those who remain involved with the South Asian scene may know. Djinn & Miskatonic are one of Bangalore’s premier exporters of riffy Doom Metal – despite the fact that they started as a bass-and-drums Drone style act. Despite the success of that style, they added another guitarist and released their debut album “Forever in the Realm” on Transcending Obscurity India, which was much appreciated by Doom-mongers in India and beyond. With the band working on a split with Black Metal band Solar Deity as well as another full length, I figured it would be an interesting time to catch up with founder and bass player Jayaprakash – who apart swinging the hammer of doom, is also a published author and runs an animal shelter. Read on.

 

 

– Hey there, JP. Hope all’s going smoothly.

 

It’s okay. I live in interesting times, as the ancient Chinese curse stipulates.

 

 

– In terms of creative output, how was 2014 for you?

 

It was quite a good year. We got Djinn back together after a short-lived disbandment, did a couple of gigs and now have a second album coming together. My first chapbook of short stories, ‘Weird Tales Of A Bangalorean’ was published and sold out. My stories appeared in a few good anthologies and magazines.

 

 

– Aditya from Solar Deity mentioned he would be doing a split with D&M. How’d that come across, and when can we expect new material?

 

More or less at random. Sriram, our guitarist, and I talk about doing splits with all kinds of bands and we liked the idea of going outside genre lines and doing a split with Solar Deity, whose music we like quite a bit. I’ve always liked the more, well, depressive kind of black metal. Aditya liked the idea too and I think he will be recording soon. I am not sure exactly when we will put this out, we need to re-learn and re-arrange an older song of ours called ‘Flight Of Sand’ for this split.

 

 

– On the previous record, the band’s sound was generally of a free-flowing structure, plodding along at standard doom tempos but not afraid to kick up the speed here and there, with some unexpected nods to Death and Black Metal apart from the usual 70s proto-metal and doom fare. To what do you credit the curious songwriting style?

 

Gautham Khandige, our singer, says I have an ‘anything goes’ approach to songwriting. Personally, I just get a bit bored playing one mood and style straight through a song. While I enjoy consciously retro bands, I don’t see any point in pretending the 80s and 90s didn’t happen, and it’s fun seeing how you can branch into thrash, or death, or black influenced passages and still keep it doomy. On the new album, though, there’s a general increase in baseline tempos and more 80s metal and epic metal influences. So I think the key to Djinn is a doomy core with other metallic textures thrown in. Really, it all goes back to Iommi who pioneered the turn-on-a-dime style of songwriting.

 

 

 
– You’re also a published author. What are your main writing influences – apart from H.P. Lovecraft, of course.

 

Peter Ackroyd, in novels like the amazing Hawkmoor and The House Of Doctor Dee plays on the idea of old cities being palimpsests, where sometimes older times peep through the cracks and become part of their own future. That’s been hugely inspirational for my series of Bangalore tales. Robert Aickman is a writer I struggle with – I am probably immensely influenced by his beautifully written, haunting and subtle tales of unease, yet I feel there is something dry, sterile in his style that I want to rebel against. But is there, or is it just the urge to ‘kill the father’? I don’t know. Other important influences are Vilas Sarang, Naiyer Masud, Thomas Ligotti, Italo Calvino, JL Borges, Angela Carter and many more.

 

 

– Do you feel that your interests in writing stories and making music converge, or do you prefer to keep them seperate?

 

There is a parallel. I favour dark themes and moods in both music and fiction. I write gloomy weird fiction and I play doom metal. HP Lovecraft is beloved by weird fiction fans and metalheads alike. I think it dovetails quite well. I may even base a song on one of my stories some day, and in fact some of my stories allude directly to music.

 

 

– Tell us about your animal shelter that you run with your wife. When did you initiate it, and how has it fared thus far? Is there much of a scope for animal rights activism in India?

 

It’s been a series of ups and downs. Currently more downs than ups. But we will keep at it.

India has a vast need for everything. I focus on animal welfare, but there’s poverty, environmental destruction, a host of social evils…you could spend a lifetime listing what’s wrong. I choose to focus on one cause, because you can’t do everything, and the plight of stray and abandoned animals in our cities strikes a repsonsive chord. My work is more in practical rescue and rehabilitiation than activism per se, though I do try to spread awareness. I think it’s the urban middle class who are the biggest problem. They are divorced from nature, high on consumerism, and want to live in a sanitised, branded and shrink-wrapped world. The joke is that they’re living in a bubble and it isn’t going to last forever.

 

 

 
– Back to your band. You started it as a drum-and-bass only sound, adding guitarist Sriram a year later. Do you foresee any more lineup additions?

 

I was really content with the drums and bass sound, it sounded way heavy as it was if I may say so. But it’s hard getting that kind of amplification going on the bass out here unless you have some seriously large cabs to go through. It also limited our appeal a lot – people who would have objectively enjoyed our riffs and arrangements tended to be unable to see beyond the ‘lack’ of a guitar. But I can’t say this worried us a lot. However, I was starting to want to draft a guitarist just to have more sonic options and Sriram happened at the right time. We’ve currently added a second live guitarist, Mushaf Nazeer, to replicate some of the dual guitar layers Sriram put down during the sessions for our upcoming second album. I’d like to add a cellist some time, or failing that a keyboard player.

 

 

– Barring the upcoming split, what’s in store for the future?

 

We’ve almost wrapped up our second album, which will be called ‘Even Gods Must Die’ I hope to have it out by March/April. We are planning another split with Dormant Inferno and a few other Indian doom bands.

 

 

– Thanks for your time. Hope you have a good year.

 

Thanks for asking! And a great year to you too.

 

 

 

Djinn & Miskatonic on Facebook

Djinn & Miskatonic on Bandcamp

Irritum Interview

Over the period of the last 4 years, there has been somewhat of a resurgence in Pakistan, or at least a fresh surge of interest, for the art known as Doom Metal. Though early Pakistani Metal stalwarts Dusk had already paved the way for a future interest in Doom with their mournful sounds, it wasn’t until recently that things started to kick up. A few bands mostly centered around Karachi and Lahore emerged – Dionysus, Myosis, later on Khorne, and recently Munkar, helped foster further interest with a series of releases. Made up of Dionysus mainman Sheraz Ahmed and aided by his former guitar students, Irritum emerged as a new Doom force in Lahore and are all set to release their debut album next year after a series of live shows and well-received songs on Bandcamp/Soundcloud. 

 

 

 

– Hey lads, how’s everything going?

 

Sheraz: Its all good, thank you.

 

 

– Since it’s the first interview of the band, a little background info on Irritum, the inception of the band into the current onset of the debut release.

 

Sheraz: Irritum was formed when Farid and Ahsan got to know about their new found joy for Doom metal and came to me asking to form a band and since my older band Dionysus was on hiatus due to our vocalist moving out of town. I thought what could be a better outlet to fulfil my love for this slow and murky style of art that we call Doom?! We later recruited Ahmed Malik on vocals that had never done growling vocals in his life before Irritum, but he’s the best vocalist I’ve ever worked with.

 

 

– Sheraz you already made waves with your other band Dionysus’ debut EP. What seperates Irritum from Dionysus musically and aesthetically, especially since both fall under the broad category of “Doom”?

 

Sheraz: Dionysus was doom initially but then it started delving into more black/death style while still having the doom moments. Dionysus’ music cannot be categorized under one style, it’s too diverse. While on the other hand Irritum is strictly all about doom. But then again, it’s not just one kinda doom. We’ve songs like Crossing the gates which is a goth/doom song in the vein of bands like Tristania, Theatre of Tragedy, Draconian etc and we’ve songs like Treading the Lands Unknown which are remnants of the early 90s UK death/doom, for me it’s all about atmosphere and the feeling. Most of the doom bands are diverse in songwriting. That’s why it’s the most interesting music ever made!

 

 

 

 
– Did either of you imagine having a band together when Sheraz first started giving you guitar lessons?

 

Sheraz: When I started giving guitar lessons to Farid with Ahsan coming by occasionally, I never thought we were going to be recording a whole album together. But it’s funny how things turned out and I am proud of these guys!

 

Ahsan: At first we never did. My man Farid used to take formal lessons from Sheraz I just went along and day by day we picked up bits and pieces of inspiration and understanding of Doom metal from our bro. We started making our own riffs and showing them to Sheraz, then we made some songs together and here we are!

 

 

– The song you guys put on Soundcloud – Crossing the Gates – has 2 guest appearances, from Olga and Rauhan. Are you going to involve other musicians on the album as well?

 

Sheraz: Don’t know about other musicians, but Olga and Rauhan will be appearing on more of our songs in the future.

 

Ahsan: As Sheraz said so I don’t need to repeat the answer but yes featuring both of them was a brilliant decision.

 

 

– How have live shows been for Irritum? Has the Pakistani metal crowd adapted well to the usual crawling pace and horrific atmosphere of Doom?

 

Sheraz: We started playing live earlier this year. We’ve played 4 shows till now and that’s a lot considering the frequency of live metal shows in Pakistan. One of them was in Islamabad at an event called Hellfest (not the French metal festival). lol. All of our shows have been phenomenal, we were able to introduce a lot of people to doom metal and we always include some essential doom classics in our setlist to let the crowd know about our roots. Like we played Saint Vitus’ born too late at our last show and we’ve been playing a lot Katatonia, Saturnus’s covers at our shows alongside the original songs.

 

 

 

 
– Speaking of Pakistan, there’s been a sudden interest in Doom in the last few years with bands from Karachi and Lahore starting, as well as veterans Dusk returning to the eve. How would you explain this paradigm shift from the general groove/mallcore tastes to Doom?

 

Sheraz: Dusk has been there since the beginning and I owe them a lot for shaping my thinking for the underground metal and how it’s supposed to be. I think the shift started with the release of Dionysus’ Hymn to the Dying. Dusk was there since the beginning but a lot of new kids in Pakistan didn’t know about them and Dionysus with our live shows were able to re-introduce the pakistani crowd to this art which was long forgotten due to overload of modern metal on the live front. I am happy to help and be part of this new movement of bands in Pakistan trying out different stuff, it’s not just doom. Like we’ve sludge bands like Munkar and death metal bands like KBC and grind stuff like Throttle instinct etc. It’s all good as long as they keep evolving.

 

 

– Sheraz, all your bands have so far achieved physical releases on a variety of formats. This includes Flaw and Ilhaam as well. How do the physical releases fare in general, especially within the context of our region?

 

Sheraz: I think physical releases are really important. Although most of the promotion is done on the online streaming sites but to own the music in substance is the whole another thing. I think we’ve a lot of enthusiasts in this part of the world who still collects CD and hold formats like tapes and vinyls in high value. And you can expect Irritum’s CD release soon! 😉

 

 

– Top 5 Doom albums that have had a profound impact on the band’s sound and style?

 

Candlemass: Epicus Doomicus Metallicus
Asphyx: Last One on earth
Anathema: Crestfallen EP
Katatonia: Dance of December souls
Decomposed: Hope Finally Died

 

– Thanks for your time! Eagerly awaiting the album.

 

Thanks for the support!

 

 

Irritum on Facebook

Irritum on Soundcloud

Irritum on Bandcamp

Deckard Cain’s Maladies of the Ear (so far)

 

 

Greetings! Fellow protectors of the realm! I have once again managed to slip through the hold of hell’s most oversized vermin, Diablo. The red oversized lizard has not been himself off late, which is definitely a breather for everybody who’s been thrown off the deep end (into hell to be precise). Yet his head never ceases to scheme and chalk out great visions of darkness to engulf and take hold of all souls so weak, Nephalem or human, and through which he hopes to enslave this beautiful sphere we’ve come to inhabit. But fear not! Hope shall be kindled in the meekest of hearts! And forever shall we thwart and tear away at his miasma of darkness.

 

Here’s to moving forward and singing praises to his decimation and eventual destruction. Let the hymns for the year be sung forevermore! And may we embrace all of its stir and strain!

 

“Stay awhile and listen…”

 

1. Tellusian – Collision

A boiling cauldron of grind, hardcore and Mastodon/Torche flavored riffs and jumpy basslines. All neatly packed and stubby songs that scream ‘variety’ as much as they are cohesive. These are a bunch of ‘just over 2 minutes’ songs that remains catchy to the very hilt, much like last year’s Mutoid Man.

 

 

 

2. Aenaon – Extance

An espousal of musical progression and the darker bearings of black metal. My friend and fellow writer Jayaprakash Satyamurthy sums up the album perfectly. “With guest spots by a saxophonist, a cello player and a harmonica player, in addition to Hail Spirit Noir’s Themis on synth, Aenaon are able explore some pretty far-flung musical turf on ‘Extance’, but it never feels like they’re leaving the black metal ethos behind, just carving out new territory for it. Really, all I need to do to show what to expect is to note that Sigh’s mastermind Mirai Kawashima guests on one song, and it is easy to see why.”

 

 

 

3. Dead Congregation – Promulgation of the Fall

As blasphemous as it might seem, this was indeed my initiation to the band’s sound. Getting blown away is at most a very humbling act when compared what I experienced here. This is a masterly articulation of hell’s smoldering fires and the arcane arts of old school death metal. A tour de force that tramples friend and foe alike!

 

 

4. Woods of Desolation – As the Stars

A transformation of sound from the despondent deep end to the mildly hope smitten, the new WoD still manages to sound clear and maintains this graceful cadence with their sophomore effort. Post-black metal (for lack of a better term) is indeed being saved from drowning in redundancies.

 

 

 

5. Nux Vomica – S/T

Another victory for the underground! Grimy crust blended with sludgy hardcore and with songs that go for the longer more careful meandering route accompanied by a great sense for melody. Indeed contrary to what one might associate with the genres involved here.

 

 

 

6. Trenchrot – Necronomic Warfare

The best old school rendition of death metal this year. There might be innumerable variants vying for that spot in my head but this sticks true to the cult. This is Bolt thrower superimposed on an image of Obituary, where the lack of originality in style is made up for by pummeling riffage. These riffs cleave!

 

 

 

7.Vainaja – Kadotetut

Death doom daubed in the potent Finnish mix of despondence and hatred that will leave you addled in your own sorrow. Definitely not for the faint of heart!

 

 

 

8. Dread Sovereign – All Hell’s Martyrs

One might as well call this Primordial vocalist Nemtheanga’s tribute to Marcolin era Candlemass. All first impressions aside, this is a debut that is darker than your average Candlemass template, from which then stems a vocal performance that is nothing short of brilliant as much as it is heartrending.

 

 

 

9. The Mire – Glass Cathedrals

Despite suffering from an unexplainable dearth of records this year, post-metal seems to be keeping its torch barely lit. The Mire might have had some spare flint to light another and is definitely the foremost exponent of that aforementioned feeling. Cult of Luna-like soundscapes, ethereal baritone cleans, and melody that is structured around riffs rather than solely acting as atmosphere generating buttresses.

 

 

10.Morbus Chron – Sweven

Death metal that trades a chunk of its raw aggression characteristic for a more magnanimous jab at all other emotions. It even jazzes and funks, inserts great melodies, and still stays on course. A thoroughly enjoyable album and maybe the only one of its kind.

 

 

 

11. Animals as Leaders – The Joy of Motion

While the rest of instrumental djenters fall decrepit, Tosin Abasi and co, stay relevant through an album that is filled to the brim with technique and catchiness. This one makes quick work of both their previous efforts and smashes obsolete any semblance of a contemporary trying to match their caliber.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEEC8ZhrJso

 

 

12. Saor – Aura

Music that drapes the beauty beheld in the mists, glades and glens of Scotland. Saor’s second offering Aura, after the mesmerizing debut that was Roots, is more rooted in Scottish melody and folklore than ever before.

 

 

 

13. Thou – Heathen

Forever the most prolific of bands, Thou have over the years consistently managed to release albums. And yet the almost 3 year long gap from their last recording seemed like an eternity. But Heathen makes a grand re-entry. The acid mottled sludge lurches out again, complimented by the equally acerbic politically charged vocals.

 

 

 

14. Locktender – Rodin

First they made an album on The Zurau Aphorisms by the inimitable Franz Kafka and now they’ve based an entire album around the work of master sculptor, Auguste Rodin. Aptly titled Rodin, with each song title denoting one of his sculptures, it tries to portray the ‘idea behind’ and the ‘events leading to’ it’s commissioning. For instance, I’d suggest reading a bit about the The Burghers of Calais, and then listening to the song along with the lyrics. Despite the seemingly over-dramatization of a concept, it pulls through, and almost flawlessly at that.

 

 

 

15. The Chant – New Haven

Anathema and latter day Katatonia, all their best parts huddled together into one little box first and then with time neatly are neatly arranged. This’d be the evolution of the Finnish atmospheric rock band The Chant. If I’d be allowed to borrow a line from my own review: “You could describe it as a potent seed of everlasting despair that when sprouts, release a miasma of submissiveness that the listener will succumb to, and yet revel in. Embrace this pall of gloom..”

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIwiIYlMJiM

 

 

“Stay awhile and listen…”

 

 

– Deckard Cain

“My lil’ Murrican Adventure” – MDF retrospective

Guest writer Shruti Kumar wrote about her experience at Maryland Death Fest and wanted us to put it up here. It’s a nice little read that gives some insight into the things people are willing to do to see the best extreme metal festival in contemporary times. She’s an Indian who currently resides in Australia as a permanent citizen, and regularly attends local shows as well. Read on:

 

 

Asphyx

 

 

So here I was, looking at the Maryland Deathfest XII lineup for the first time. I’m your typical overseas-based university student, with only a fast food job to sustain my gig needs and this wasn’t even a local show. I’d always wistfully gazed at MDF lineups every year but this time the lineup was so fucking unreal that I just HAD to be there. Mostly for the fact that I’ll get to see Immolation twice because I’m a massive Immolation fangirl and by massive I mean being-at-the-front-taking-pictures-screaming-for-autographs fangirl. I hardly ever feel like that for a band because let’s face it, band members are probably just as fucked up as you are, if not more. So anyway, to make this work, I’d have to sort out money, flights, visas, university, immigration and parents (yes, that is actually a legitimate concern for an Indian kid). I had traveled internationally before, but never alone. Thankfully, I have super liberal and highly educated parents, who even though were initially reluctant to let their little girl go alone to a foreign country for an extreme metal festival, eventually thought that this would be good to make me self-sufficient. For money, I worked my arse off and saved up cash. Stopped spending as much, worked full time for the three months I had off after my second semester finished. One thing I had decided right from the start was that I’ll have to make this happen by myself so I didn’t burden my parents financially. Money and parents sorted. Now for the worst part, immigration. Immigration was the one thing that made organizing this trip a massive pain and a lot more difficult than it should’ve been. I lost my passport so I had to deal with cops and some really nasty people at immigration but once my application was finally in, it was just the wait. Oh, the fucking wait. It took about a month for me to get it back but little did I know that my problems had just started. Because bam! As you can guess, it was time for me to get visas. Since I’m a permanent resident in Australia but actually an Indian citizen, I had to get two visas. I won’t bore you with the details, but long story short, the US tourist visa was the reason that led me to be uncertain if I was even gonna make it till the last minute. Literally. I really wish I was kidding, but nope. My visa interview was 2 days before my flight was supposed to leave. Thankfully, I didn’t buy tickets and decided to wait till my visas came through ‘cause I’m smart like that. Anyway, my visa got approved but I read on the US immigration website that my passport won’t be sent back to me within five days. BA DUM TSS! All my hopes of going to the US crushed in a minute. All the months I spent working hard and dealing with immigration gone for nothing. It affected me more than any break up I ever had and it was just plain awful. So much so that I tried to find solace in alcohol when I don’t even fucking drink. But life had something else in store for me. The very next day I found out that my passport had been shipped and I would be able to go to the US afterall! So I did end up going, albeit three days later than planned. It was pretty outrageous, I got my flight tickets at 4 pm and my flight left 7 am the next morning. But as you would’ve guessed by now, I’m a pretty crazy person. It was a jampacked trip, with so much to do and see in just a week. But I was up for it. I admit, I’ve been a very naughty girl to make this work, I skipped uni and rescheduled a few assessments. But look at the fucking lineup! Can you blame me? In a matter of four days I saw Immolation, Incantation, Asphyx, Gorguts, Necros Christos, Mgla, Pseudogod, Coffins, Noothgrush, Crowbar, Agalloch and so many others. Phew! And I was right at the front for almost everything because if you haven’t experienced a band up front, I highly recommend it. I also got to meet Ross Dolan and Rob Vigna of Immolation which was an absolute dream true and made my US trip worthwhile straightaway. I also had great company, my friends Gautam and Nikhil, who were so much fun to hang with! Here’s a few day-to-day updates/diary notes from the time I was in MDF and then came back:

 

 

Noothgrush

 

 

After the prefest gig: Got to see Immolation in a private gig environment and being practically on top of the stage for the entire thing. Had a super long chat with Ross Dolan and Bob Vigna and it really is amazing to know that your favourite band is comprised of really down-to-earth people instead of dickheads, which they very well deserve to be considering the unreal music they make. They played Into Everlasting Fire! I think now I can die happy.

 

MDF Day 1: Coffins were so fucking good! It’s that amazing feeling you get when you finally see a band you’ve been obsessing about for ages. Every track they played off their Buried Death album made their set exponentially great. Crowbar were insanely heavy and other highlights included Whitehorse and Sourvein. Bring on tomorrow!

 

MDF Day 2: Watching Incantation, Bölzer, Agalloch, Mgla, Necros Christos, Cancer, The Ruins of Beverast, At The Gates and Taake back to back on the same day. FUUUUUUUUUCK. This lineup has ruined every music festival for me. Also, bumped into Ross Dolan again and he recognized me. Fuck yeah. Winning.

 

MDF Day 3: HOLY FUCKING SHIT. Asphyx were fucking perfect. Reformed Pungent Stench and Hooded Menace were really tight and so were Tankard, Dark Angel and Noothgrush. Got my hardcore/grind fix from Victims, Dropdead and Birdflesh. Machetazo destroyed the venue and there were many others I can’t be bothered mentioning. I’m gonna have some serious psychological depression after this festival ends but fucking hell, so many happy feels right now.

 

MDF Day 4: Candlemass. Owned. Everyfuckingthing. So much stoner/sludgy/doomy goodness today with My Dying Bride, Bongripper, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats and Soilent Green. Inquisition rocked my socks and so did Pseudogod and Gorguts. Immolation ending the festival with a second set was probably the best farewell to MDF. Can’t believe I’m flying back to Sydney tomorrow, it’ll take me some time to readjust to drab ol’ life again.

 

On my way back to Australia: Homeward bound. Maryland Deathfest was amazing, never did I see so many bands, have so many people stage dive on my head and have so many guys come up to me and tell me they thought I was gorgeous (which included this creepy Argentinean guy who wanted to get a picture of me). Even though I’m now drugged on painkillers because I headbanged too much and have heaps of overdue assignments and a raging jetlag to look forward to, there’s nothing in my life I want to change right now.

 

So I’m back home now , with 0$ in my bank account and having some serious MDF withdrawals. Everything is dull in comparison to the time I had. After some of the shit I pulled to make this happen, I don’t know if I’d ever get to do this again. But hey, it was totally worth it.

 

 

 

Immolation

 

 

– Shruti Kumar

“Wasted Years” – Karachi Metal Scene 96-03 pics

I found these pictures on Facebook and I decided to post them on my webzine. I feel it’s important to preserve the heritage and history of Pakistan’s Metal scene, and expose them to people who may not have been a part of that specific era. I got into metal in 2006, and all of this happened before even I was a part of the local scene in my own city of Lahore. A lot of classic and cult Karachi acts are featured in this set of pictures – it’s definitely interesting to note how the crowds were back then and their sense of rock/metal fashion back then. All picture credits go to Hasan Shirazi.

 

 

Legendary Karachi Death Metal crew “Autopsy Gothic” slaying the audience in 2003. Random gig, couldn’t get the name of the fest. Vocalist Kamran Farooque also was with Hell Dormant for a while but now roars his ferocious growls for Karachi Butcher Clan.

 

 

Fans headbanging at a gig in 1996. 1996! This is from a gig of Fawad Balouch, who had a now-cult band called Kainath/Kosmos. According to some fans, he put out a demo tape in 96/97 and was very Morbid Angel inspired, and also had a cover of Helter Skelter. He was known for his crazy shredding and for being completely innebriated on stage.

 

 

The crowd at Karachi’s Rockfest 2001. This used to be a major yearly event in Karachi back in those days and usually drew a large crowd – as you can see. Metal bands took center-stage with rock bands during those days.

 

 

The Autopsy Gothic crew posing for a picture with some fans, at Rockfest 2001.

 

 

Another picture of Autopsy Gothic at Rockfest 2001. You can see Aneeq Zaman (currently of grindcore/hardcore band Throttle Instinct) there with the same hairstyle and look that he has in 2014. Haha. Aneeq also does artwork for local bands Multinational Corporations (Grindcore), Irritum (Funeral Doom) as well as design posters for the Hellfest event in Islamabad.

 

 

A decade ago, in Lahore, there was ONE band that had the notoriety and badass image that no other band could cultivate at that time. That band was Seth. Here’s a picture of Seth’s guitarist tuning his guitar at Rockfest 2001 in Karachi.

 

 

This man is credited to have laid the foundations for every metal band in Pakistan back in the early 90s. Dusk’s Babar Sheikh has a smoke on stage during Karachi Rockfest 2001. I’m not sure, but his band Northern Alliance was probably playing at this event. From making horrific yet progressive doom/death metal to making barbaric and bludgeoning black/thrash, Babar has always made killer music through the decades.

 

 

Random shot of some random band playing at Rockfest 2001. Couldn’t get their name, but you can see the crowd’s enjoying themselves. You actually can’t get this sort of packed audience anymore in local gigs. Must have been good times for live music.

 

 

Babar Sheikh of Northern Alliance/Dusk with some other people at Zakfest 2003. Zakfest was one of the other big festivals in Karachi during those days.

 

 

Another killer shot of the crowd from Rockfest 2001.

 

 

Ash were one of the premier hard rock/grunge bands in Karachi during the early 2000s. This is a fucking legendary picture in my opinion, of them playing at the classic Zakfest in 2003. Look at the fan crowd surfing. You don’t see that anymore at local gigs in Pakistan!

 

 

A shot of Zakfest 2003. Autopsy Gothic were ravaging the stage. I have no idea what’s going on there but I want to get up on stage and stagedive ASAP!

 

 

Another “I dont know what the hell is going on” picture, but it’s awesome as fuck! 2003, Zakfest. Autopsy Gothic

 

 

 

Hope this sent some of you guys to a nostalgia trip. I’ll be doing another feature on classic pictures of the Lahore metal scene too. If anyone has any pics they’d like to submit, send ’em over.

– Dozakhi

The Grim Mage Interview

The Grim Mage are a really rad doom/sludge/stoner band from Bangalore, India. If that surprises you – well it shouldn’t in the first place, cuz the city is home to a number of sick doom bands and The Grim Mage is just one of the latest additions. Despite being fairly new, these lads have all the ingredients necessary to become a major band in the Asian Doom scene, if you read my review a few days back. I contacted the band’s founder Sashank to talk about gigs, weed, doom, and Paki pop sensation Taher Shah.

 

– Hey guys. Hope your preparations for the upcoming gig are going good!

Sup’ Hassan, How you doin? And oh yeah things are going great. We have rehearsals everytime we can fit one into our really busy schedules. We like to laze around, but unfortunately there are colleges and jobs to go to.
The upcoming ones would be our 4th and 5th gig, Also both the gigs coming up this weekend are pretty big(Supercoven fest being a gig where we get to share the stage with some of the doomy people whose bands we like a lot and the other one, Impending Doom Fest, is a really big stage), So we are kinda trying to work our asses off to sound good on these stages.

 

 
– You guys pretty much came out of nowhere and not much about the history of the band is known. How was it formed, what were the influences/circumstances/quality of weed behind the band’s creation?

So once during our excursions we happened to find this dark doomy dungeon which later we came to know was the lair of a super weedian mage. And we saw him invoke some of the doomiest and stoned fiends from the land of the greens. And now we go under cover dressing up like those fiends and attend the shamanic bong rituals the High Mage conducts.
Hahahaha. Syed met me at an acoustic show a couple of our friends from a hard rock band were doing(it was at a restaurant with only 5 guests) and we got talking about heavy metal music and shit like that. Which led to him and me planning on forming a band that would play stuff like that, yeah. And then after i think about a month or two we actually started working on it. It used to jams on my terrace with just the both of us working out on riffs on the acoustic, the bass and the guitars. Once we were sure of the riffs and arrangements, we had a real tough time finding a line up. We went through a lot of mutual contacts and called a lot of friends and fellow musicians to try out and have jam sessions with us. It all turned better when i met with Vishnu and asked him to give a try and have a jam with just me and Syed. Vishnu was not into this music at all, but he hit it off well and enjoyed playing this stuff a lot(he still does, and surprisingly he is digging through a lot of the modern doom and sludge bands). And for a week or two we were seiously considering playing as a 3 piece band with the distorted bass and no guitars. But then i got in touch with Anway, again a super old friend of mine. We got talking, had a jam session and we played our first gig the next day.
So this is how we were actually formed.

 

 
– You put out your first demo “Worshipper” quite recently which has been well recieved in the local doom circuit. What was the recording process like for a rookie band as yourself?

When we were about 2 weeks old and were going to play our second gig, We seriously wanted to have a demo or some recorded samples of our material available at hand so that we could tell our friends and people who had watched us to spread it around and too see their reaction on how it is. So we went ahead and contacted a couple of recording studios and did a research on how to record the material with resources available at hand. And frankly, the studio thing worked out to a big fat huge amount which we couldnt arrange, neither wanted to. Just the same week, we were having a rehearsal at a jam room and came to know that the place has facilities enough to help us record a live jam session. We then got talking with the guys who were managing the studio. Which in our luck happened to be Jake from Dark Desolation and Grossty. He and Yogesh(he too works at the studio) had the right idea about stoner-doom-sludge metal and knew exactly what we wanted to sound like and immediately helped us record a live demo. Super thanks to them! The recording process was very very simple and we had absolutely no issues while we were at it.
It was an attempt to get in touch with the right doomsters from our town, and boy it did work out.

 

 

 
– How have the live gigs and general reception been for you since coming into the scene?

Man, the live gigs are fun. Its fun to be on stage, be it for a bunch of five people or even frikkin one hundred people. The reception i’d say has been generally good. I mean the first gig we played, there were a lot of people who had no idea about what we were doing(cause may be we were super high) or they just never had heard to any of this music. Only about 5 out 40 people at the gig genuinely enjoyed us and were slightly nodding their heads in approval when our sludgey parts came on. They even spoke to us after the gig and told us they enjoyed us. But then we had our second gig which was super fun and there were only about 8 people in total watching us(all being our friends of course). The third being Operation Grindcore, where we shared stage with some of the finest Grindcore and Hardcore punk bands from Bangalore like Scally, Rip Off and the super fun Grossty. This gig was till date the best we have had.
So i’d say, we have had a decent time so far. There are a lot of people who do not approve of our music and consider it to be not something fun and great, but hey! who gives a flying fuck? As long as we have 10 likers among a hundred haters, we will keep going.

 

 
– Man, Bangalore seems to have a great music scene, from grindcore to doom metal. What is it about the city that draws more and more people towards heavy music? Or am I mistaken and the reality is a bit different from what foreigners like me understand?

I would say, what you see is something that is ten thousand times post processed and filtered of all the shitty stuff and is posted on the social media. I mean, its really too long to explain how the heavy metal music circuit sucks here. But in short i’d say, there are some really KICK ASS bands here that deserve some bigger and heavier platforms to play at and they are seriously not getting them. And yeah, there are a lot of new people getting into heavy music everyday in bangalore. There are the genuinely true fans and then there are lots and lots of exhibitionists. So in a nut shell, Bangalore has superb bands-Lots of fans(posers apart)-No stages and gigs happening to help them grow.

 

 
– So let’s say a Pakistani or European/American/Japenese/whatever is coming to Bangalore. How can he get the finest weed? Any tips when scoring from dealers in your city?

Weed kills. Hahahahaha, but yeah there are fine spots. You can always give Anway a buzz when you are around. He has a better idea than me when it comes to this.
I mean, i too get some fine stuff. And i have had a lot of floopy adventures as well. I can surely help you with that stuff when you are around. But be ready, i am going to state a disclaimer as well. Cant assure anything about the quality. Hahaha, it keeps fluctuating from good to bad.

 

 

 
– Coming back to the music. Pedals and other equipment counts for a lot in Sludge/Stoner Doom. What stuff do you guys use to get your desired sound?

The weed mage gave us some magic staffs and holy strings that we use to make the super fuzzy music, hahahahahahaha.
The funny thing is we have no dedicated equipment or gear as such. I know stoner-sludge-doom requires a lot of that but we just dont have anything.
We use two super old multi effect pedals, digitech rp35 or zoom g1 or some shit like that. Its funny i know, and i use a guitar multi effects box for the bass. But as long as it is giving us that heavy heavy tone we like, we have no issues. A lot of people do not like the concept of distorted bass guitars, i was once among them too. But this heavy heavy tone works wonders.
Also a Gear upgrade is in the books. Only when we are financially set.

 

 
– Outside of Doom Metal, what other genres do you guys regularly listen to?

Now that is a tough one. Rather, its a biggie.
We as a band and together dig death metal, almost any kind of death metal(from the primitive bands to the new modern death metallers, every form of death metal). We collectively enjoy a lot of black metal, Anway and me being ardent fans of the genre.
We like a lot of hardcore punk, the early hardcore punk bands i mean. And then we have our individual preferences and likes. I personally like all kinds of music. I mean i like everything from country to 60s and 70s pop-rock-hard rock to 80s glam to reggae-hip hop-funk-grunge to brutal death grind and nasty music that can make your ears bleed.
All this influences my playing too, which influences The Grim Mage.
I LOVE THE PAKISTANI SENSATIONAL EYE TAHER SHAH TOO.
RESPECTS TO THAT GENIUS.

 

 
– Before we end this interview – any future plans? Splits, EP’s, full length albums? Or just taking it one joint at a time?

The Grandmage of Boom has advised us not to go on further exploits till we master our prowess on demonic 420 smoking fiend summoning rituals hahahahahahaha.
So, We already have 4 new songs(one 12 minute tale) ready apart from the demo stuff.
Planning on recording them as a garage demo again sometime super soon. Going to work on a full length after that, with the right financial backup and sound. Till then we are clueless and will keep playing live shows. Its always a joint at a time, you never rush into these things. But expect some stuff from us super soon. But not too soon. Hahahaha.

 

 
– Cheers dudes, thanks for the time. Hails from Pakistan.

The dudes had no time, so i had to myself get to do this hahahaha. It was super fun. Hails from India. Much respect to the land of Taher Shah. Hahahahahahahahaha.
Stay metal, cheers! \m/

 

 

 

The Grim Mage on Facebook

Worshipper Demo on Soundcloud

My review

– Hassan Dozakhi

The Grim Mage – Worshipper (2014)

 

The weed must be really good in Bangalore, India, because the city keeps churning out one quality doom band after the other. Following in the footsteps of the likes of Djinn & Miskatonic and Shepherd, the aptly named The Grim Mage is the latest in a line of Bangalore based doom bands… and boy, these lads do kick up quite a fucking gust of smoke with their first demo entitled “Worshipper.”

 

On the surface, The Grim Mage fall prey to, or rather consciously adhere to all the obvious stereotypes of Stoner and Sludge doom of the modern era. It’s there in the band name, it’s there in the choice of the demo title, even there in the artwork and rears its stoned, misanthropic head once again when you look at the tracklist and spot the Electric Wizard / Eyehategod covers. You can’t avoid those blatant homages to the stoner cult even when you start the demo – movie samples dominate the music between the heavy riffing and psychopathic screams. It’s safe to say that this band wears its influences on its sleeves – depending on which side of the divide you lay on, that could be either a massive turn on or a colossal turn off.

 

The choice of cover tracks is interesting, because the music appears to be primarily indebted to “Dopesick” (and onwards) era Eyehategod and “Dopethrone” (and onwards) era Electric Wizard – a mixture that is by no means uncommon in the doom world of today, but the way in which this ensemble blends those two primary markers together is of more interest to this reviewer. In terms of the riffs and vocals, the Sludge element remains more prominent than the Stoner element. The vocals especially seem to bow at the altar of Mike Williams, save for the final track – where he should have continued prostrating at the same altar, rather than attempting the singing style. However, key proponents of sludge style riffing – the crushing, percussive stops and the faster hardcore-influenced sections – are never triggered, and the band ends up relying on stoner grooves to keep the music going – and keep the joints rolling. Their original songs “Sweet Demon Sugar,” “Worshipper” and “I Am Not Dead” are very well composed, from the bass-breaks coming in at the right time too to amp up the psychedelia, to the vocalist’s vocal delivery, and the group ends up concocting three very memorable tracks – even if the craving of a little tempo upcharge in the vein of Melvins, Iron Monkey or even “Holy Mountain” era Sleep lingers on til’ the end.

 

Though many may be put off by the production, I personally love it. Frankly, there is nothing more suiting to this kind of Sludge/Stoner Doom than basement level production. The heaviness of the riffs is not at all downplayed or relegated, it just takes on an altogether different form. A mundane wall-of-sound style heavy doom tone would have stripped all identity from this demo, to be honest. Instead, the in-your-face sound here, highlighted well by the garage vibe of the drums, makes the music even more nefarious and evil – as if a satanic ritual were occurring as you light your afghan hashish blunt. Not too dissimilar to the effect conjured up by most of Ramesses’ material.

 

Individual performances are great here, but the vocal performance drops as the tracks go on, perhaps the vocalist should give his throat a little rest before assuming control of the microphone. The samples are a little overdone here, and there are moments such as in “I Am Not Dead” where the sample just drags on and distracts from the crushing weight of the music on display. Overall this is a nice little demo, with some amazing original tracks showcasing the potential of these lads to go on and do some nice things in the scope of Indian Doom Metal. Less focus on covers and more focus on honing their own craft would help take them a level higher and really stomp some ears.

 

 

The Grim Mage Official Facebook

Listen to their demo on Soundcloud

Catch them LIVE in 5 days!

Dionysus / Dormant Inferno Interview

Doing something different today. The following is an interview of two of South Asia’s finest exporters of quality doom metal, done together. The first is Pakistan’s Dionysus who play a majestic, and insanely memorable style of music that blends black metal, old school death metal, neo-folk and even some post-rock with a strong foundation of doom that has blown away audiences in their hometown of Lahore. The second band, India’s Dormant Inferno base themselves in Mumbai and play a heavy, crushing, keyboard aided brand of pure doom/death where every guitar riff is dipped in melancholy and every growl comes from the most miserable places of the human mind. These two South Asian doom titans are on the verge of releasing a colossal split release that will be unleashed upon the unsuspecting masses soon by Transcending Obscurity India. The following is my interview of Sheraz Ahmed (Dionysus) and Sunny Bhambri (Dormant Inferno), who are the chief guitarists and songwriters for the aforementioned bands.

– Hello boys. How’s the songwriting for the split release going?

Sheraz: Hey, songwriting for the split is still in progress. We’ve wrote 2 songs so far, its coming into shape nicely. We’ve put out a new songs which is named “Beneath the skies of war” on Doom metal front zine’s Tunes of the rising sun compilation.

Sunny: Hey Hassan! Well we are going to record next month. We are going to have to re record one of the songs which was mostly recorded but we lost it due to a computer crash!

 

 

– For the benefit of those being introduced to your bands for the first time, a brief bio please, and how you two came into contact with each other.

Sheraz: Dionysus was formed in summer of 2010. We released our first demo named Burial Ground in June 2011. After that we started working on “Hymn to the dying” EP which was released by Salute records (Sweden) in October 2012 and was later reissued by Total Annihilation Record (Holland). Our music can be best described as Black/Doom. But there are a lot of other elements present in it, all in all our main aim has always been to write something that’s memorable, something that you can fucking sing along to. haha. I got to know about Dormant Inferno when I started getting into undergrounds from across the border. I was totally hooked to In Sanity EP, mainly cause I could relate to the songwritings and song structures that these guys follow. Its my kinda doom. haha. I got to know about the band members through facebook, of course.

Sunny: Dormant Inferno is a Doom/Death Band from Mumbai, we started back in 2009. Our focus is to play simple but dark and crushing music with melodic and ambient elements. I had heard about Dionysus through our vocalist Gautam Shankar, then one day Sheraz just happened to ping our facebook page..And we’ve been in contact since then.

 

 

– It’s been an interesting journey so far for both bands. Both bands have an EP under their belt, both of which got rave reviews by Doom enthusiasts and subcontinent metal fans in general. Did you expect any of this at the start?

Sheraz: I knew where to promote my music and how to do it, so it wasn’t that much of a surprise to be honest. Thanks to all the zines/labels/internet blogs who have supported us in one way or another.

Sunny: We for sure were just playing and making music for ourselves. Simply because there was no band in the Indian scene which was playing the music which we were looking out for.. so Gautam and I decided to form a Doom/Death band ourselves! You know so there was no pressure of ‘presenting’ the songs to an audience, we just made the music the way we would want to hear it. Totally unadultrated with any genre boundaries or expectations.

As for the appreciation, it was certainly a surprise. The listeners from India as well have been very open minded and welcoming towards our music. It is definitely a good thing, especially in a place where the scene is mostly dominated by the noisier, faster types of metal.

 

 

Dionysus – Hymn to the Dying EP. Released 2012.

Dormant Inferno – In Sanity EP. Released 2011.

 

 

– Of course, the two of you are now poised to do a split together on Transcending Obscurity India. Who’s idea was it in the first place to put Dionysus and Dormant Inferno together? Do you see more India-Pakistan metal collaborations happening in the near-future?

Sheraz: Sunny and I were talking randomly on facebook about music etc and he tossed the idea of doing a split someday and I wanted to do that already. After that he talked to Kunal Choksi and he showed interest in releasing the split which resulted into both bands getting signed to Transcending Obscurity for the split release

Sunny: Actually we were talking online once, I was just about to ask him regarding the split, just then Sheraz stole my words. So technically it was Sheraz’s idea Lol. But it was bound to happen I guess, because Dormant Inferno and Dionysus are kind of on a same page, like you said both bands have on release. We also do have a plenty of favourite bands in common, so it was only natural for us to collaborate. And both bands have been patient with this. We had planned this last year, its materialising now. About the Indo Pak collaborations, I can only speak about the metal genre, Dying Embrace and Dusk split is happening simultaneously I guess. There was this Rise of the Eastern blood CD a few years back with bands from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. I dont think nationality matters when 2 metal bands are collaborating and more collaborations should definitely happen.

 

 

– Dionysus and Dormant Inferno each have a defined sound by now. People are now aware of the type of music you guys make and they’ll be expecting stuff in a certain vein. With that in mind, how are you going about composing the new material?

Sheraz: We’re not afraid to come up with something totally different than what we do already. haha. Its always good to keep things spontaneous and let the music come out naturally and not bound yourself. If we like it, its good! Other people’s opinions are secondary. But yeah, you can check out the new song Beneath the skies of war on the compilation to get a hint of what’s new to come.

Sunny: To be honest with you, the 2 new songs which will be up on this split were supposed to be on our EP ‘In Sanity’ But due to time constraints we could not complete writing these songs. So if someone has enjoyed ‘In Sanity’ they will definitely be getting a similar vibe from these 2 new songs. As for the composing, its pretty much random. We don’t limit ourselves with any genre boundaries and just let the music come out naturally.

 

 

– Doom Metal has grown in the sub-continent over the years. Some of the older bands from the region also tended to play Doom/Death Metal, but nowadays there seems to be a real thing for Doom on both sides of the border. Why do you think Indians and Pakistani metal fans are gravitating towards Doom?

Sheraz: When we started playing Doom back in late 2010, I only knew about Dusk who played Doom/death from Pakistan. There was no other band. And I’ve always loved Doom more than any other form of metal. Doom and old school death, that’s my metal. Even though I also play in a thrash, black and also in a grind core band but doom is where I feel most comfortable. A lot of people in Pakistan have been getting into doom after the release of the Hymn to the dying EP, bands like Irritum, Khorne who also have demos/EPs under their belts and are still developing their sound. Its really good to see people taking break from covering Metallica and Iron Maiden over here on the live front and also putting out proper material, not just one single over a year. Now, talking about India/Pakistani metal fans, it also has to do with the “old school wave” going on all over the world. Its not just doom, its every old school form of music actually.

Sunny: I really do not know the exact reason for this surge of doom metal listeners. One reason could be that there are more bands playing this genre now. Or maybe people are appreciating it because its just something totally new to their ears! you know? Its better than listening to 10 death or black metal bands all sounding the same. There’s so many awesome bands in the Doom Metal genre, its amazing.

 

 

– Both bands have members spread out across different cities. With that in mind, how do both of you go about composing your bands’ songs and playing live?

Sheraz: It was of course better when Waleed lived in Lahore, and we had our own studio. But now since he has moved to Karachi, we’ve to cordinate through internet and phone calls and the studio is divided into two parts, I’ve my own recording equipment over here in Lahore, Waleed has his own setup in Karachi. Umair and I do the guitar/drum parts and then send them to Waleed and he edits them and add his own parts. That’s how the song comes into being. I’ve been doing the same thing with my black metal band Ilhaam and my experimental band with Olga, Flaw. So yeah, its nothing new for me.

Sunny: Well we haven’t written anything new in the last 3 years that Gautam has been away so I can’t tell much about that. But we did participate with our cover in the Motorhead Tribute album, we recorded our instruments here and Gautam tracked his vocals from the US. It was a very smooth recording to be honest. But its ideal if all the members are present at once, its easier to make new stuff that way. As of now we are having Kunal Gonsalves as our live vocalist.

 

 

Dormant Inferno dooming their Mumbai audience

 

 

– Since I just touched upon the subject of playing live – how do the live shows usually pan out? How many live shows under your belt and what’s the general situation in the metal scene as far as gigs are concerned?

Sheraz: As you know, there is a dearth of proper metal gigs/organizers over here in Pakistan. Dionysus has played 2 shows, one was in early 2012 and other was in July of this year. We’ve had a great fucking time whenever we played live, the crowd is always great! They also know our songs so its really cool. We’re gonna be playing at Hellfest 3 in Islamabad in early 2014 along with my other band Foreskin, so really looking forward to that.

Sunny: We have only palyed 2 gigs till now, Black Metal Krieg will be our third gig. We are learning with every gig and we are excited to be playing our originals in front of a live audience. Not many gigs are happening here, venues are scarce, funds and even turnouts are a concern. In such a situation Stark Denial and Transcending Obscuirty are pulling out a gig, its remarkable. Once BMK is done, we will be heading out Bagalore to play at Human Garbage, along side our brother Djinn and Miskatonic. Also on that roster are Shepherd which im keen on seeing live. So we’re packed for now.

 

 

Dionysus kicking up a doom-storm at The Catacombs, a gig in Lahore.

 

 

– Any chances of either band crossing the border to play a show, in the future?

Sheraz: Kunal has tossed the idea of getting Dionysus to play in Transcending Obscurity’s shows in India, we’re looking into that matter.

Sunny: We could just play at the Wagah Border hahahaha.

 

 

– Since a lot of non-Indian/Pakistanis will be reading this hopefully: Which metal bands from your respective countries would you recommend the “firangis” to check out?

Sheraz: Lohikarma, Irritum, Dusk, Foreskin, Marwolaeth, Multinational Corporations, Ilhaam.

Sunny: Infernal Wrath, Exhumation , Djinn and Miskatonic, III Sovereign, Kryptos, Bevar Sea to name a few.

 

 

– A lot has been said about how “digital” albums are the new thing and physical copies are dead. Most of this has been said by metal artists from North America, Europe, etc. As people from this part of the world who’ve released EP’s, what’s your take on the future of physical albums (CD’s, Tapes, Vinyls) as far as metal music is concerned?

Sheraz: Physical format is the only thing that matters for me. If its not out on physical, it kinda doesn’t exist for me. And I love collecting CDs of underground bands from different parts of the world, I’ve a couple of Cds of bands from India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Finland, Thailand etc. Though its hard to get CDs over here in Pakistan, but I buy physical releases whenever I get a chance.

Sunny: For me personally I’d go for digital albums. Physical albums are a costly affair to print and distribute, but if people are looking out for a total package of artwork and all then I guess physical CD’s are required.

 

 

– We’ve talked an awful lot about metal so far. What about the non-metal music that you like? How far do non-metal influences seep into your music?

Sheraz: I listen to almost every type of music. I am a big Camel fan. Its my favorite band over all. You can listen a lot of Andrew Latimer’s influence in my lead playing and chord structures. Besides that I listen to a lot of classical stuff as well. Dire Straits, Corpus, King Crimson, Wishbone ash. Other than that I am also a big fan of neo/dark folk, early 90s rap, darkwave etc.

Sunny: We are open to all kinds of music. I personally listen to alot of ambient and melody oriented music. Bands like Irfan, Enigma, Karl Sanders solo albums etc. Gautam and I share liking for underground rap! Aurko is a calssical singer, so you know we are into all types of stuff.

 

 

– Favorite albums released this year?

Sheraz: Haven’t heard anything that interesting this year. Kataonia’s Dethroned and Uncrowned is the only I remember liking.

Sunny: Haven’t heard anything new this year.

 

 

– Thank you so much for the interview. Any parting words?

Sheraz: Thanks for everything man. Keep it up! Eternal abbhorrence is doing a good job and its one of the few blogs that I follow regularly.

Sunny: Thanks for the interview man, thanks to all the listeners for their support, new music coming very soon!

 

 

Dionysus on Facebook

Dormant Inferno on Facebook

Dionysus – Hymn to the Dying EP on Bandcamp

Dormant Inferno – In Sanity EP on Bandcamp

Transcending Obscurity India

– Hassan Dozakhi

Corrupted – El Dios queja (1995) [Classic Reviews]

Japan has come to be associated with the perverse. Be it Unit 731 or censored rape themed pornography, Japan will always have something worth mentioning when it comes to the macabre. One of these sick treasures is Corrupted. An infamous name in doom metal circles, they are famous for extremely long, minimalistic compositions and singing in Spanish despite being Japanese. However the Corrupted you will read about in this interview is a band in its infancy. Barely a year into their existence, they released a few EPs in 1995. This is probably their second release. A tribal sort of beat slowly fades in before we hear that characteristic drone shriek which signals the commencement of riffs, and Corrputed begin on a maddening attack of hate which can apparently not be expressed in Japanese. “Riffs” would actually be an inaccurate description by thrash standards, but not by mine. ‘Hay que joderse’ loosely translates to ‘fuck it all’, so bonus points for that. Uninhibitedly primitive, you don’t need to understand Spanish to know they’re angry. The second track, ‘Renir a Existencia’ (‘scold existence’) features one of the best drumming performances in doom, providing an excellent backbone to the guitars. The vocal performance is exceptional as well. Sisto (‘I stand’) is the longest track on the EP, and does not disappoint. Tracks like this make Corrupted, Corrupted. Progressive yet primitive, horrifically minimalistic and entrancing, Corrupted create a gloom that cannot be ignored. With each repetition a sort of clarity is achieved, a very easy track to immerse yourself in. Towards the end however, the riffs change to a quasi-black metal style, leaving me with the depressive feel of the earlier riffs, both of the same track and the previous ones and a new feeling of emptiness. The track itself reminds me of their debut full length, ‘Paso Inferior’. Even at this early stage Corrupted were dedicating themselves to sounding how they wanted to and not how people wanted them to. A dedication to an extreme is apparent, and this release provides a worthwhile experience for those that prefer their metal grimy.

– Rahul Menon