Homicide are a technical death metal band from Dhaka, Bangladesh, whose sound and style would not seem unfamiliar to the most die-hard Origin or Psycroptic fans. Though the Dhaka scene has a reputation for being a hotbed for bands of a thrash, and old school death/black metal nature, Homicide bring their own separate influences to the table and inject the scene with a fresh approach. Their EP released last year under Infinite Regress was well-received and this interviewer is under the impression that if the band stays disciplined and focused, they will be kicking asses for years to come. Read the band’s interview with Eternal Abhorrence below.
– Hey Showmik, thanks for the interview. Can you tell the readers a bit about Homicide and what you do in it?
Hey Hassan. Thanks for showing interest on Homicide.Homicide is a brutal/tech death metal band from Bangladesh.WE had our EP Annihilation Pit released via Infinite Regress Records, Australia and I am the guitarist/composer of Homicide.
– Homicide was initiated in 2008 but the first EP came out in 2013 – why such a long wait?
Yes Homicide started back in 2008 but the band has been through a lot of line up changes and other ups and downs.I joined in way later actually. And I would say Homicide has spent a lot of time on preparing itself to play the intricate music that we play now. It is a bit tough in Bangladesh to find out people who want to play death metal and who can actually play it well.
– What was the recording session for “Annihilation Pit” like? How are the recording facilities for metal bands in Bangladesh at the moment?
The recording sessions were intense and . we first recorded a demo of death of immortals and released it through reverbnation to see what was feed back of doing tech death in Bangladesh. It was so astonishing to us that it was hit 359 timed on the very first day. it made us think that what we are doing , the way we are doing is good. So Istiaque wrote 2 more songs on Greek myths and I made the riffs, Banxai laid his blasts and Anas filled his grooves in the songs keeping the lyrical theme in mind. I must say Istiaque is too fucking good a lyricist. I and Istiaque had that similarity in our thoughts somehow that it seemed that the riffs and the lyrics were complementing eachother too well. It was like that the riffs could not have gotten any other better lyrics and the lyrics would not have so much with any other riffs.All the tracks were recorded mixed and mastered at Studio Niflheim.
Recording facilities for metal bands are growing in our country. though maximum of the bands prefer home studios as the professional studios are quite expensive but we do have some top notch studios. what we don’t have is professional producers who understand extreme metal.
– The EP was well recieved by metal fans outside Bangladesh, with a killer Nepal tour as well commencing. Plan on hitting up any other countries?
Yes . We do have a few overseas tours lined up which I would not like to reveal now haha!! Lets wait for the right time.
– You guys are playing at East Bengal Onslaught alongside some killer Bangladeshi metal bands. How do you feel about that upcoming fest and the local Dhaka metal crowd? Any bands you look forward to playing with?
I am so fucking excited. I had a surgery in Jan in my left leg. Its gonna be Homicide’s come back show after more than 4 months. We nailed it in nepal but there are some new songs we didnt do in our country.so we are damn excited to show some pure tech death stuffs.
Well about the other bands.. starting with the headliners orator and powersurge.. its alwasys a pleasure and honor to share the stage with these pioneers. Thrash and sacrilege are like brothers to us , so its fun to share the stage with them. Enmachined is also one of the most killer acts in our country. Psychotron and Burning Democracy are new comers. But i have heard their originals and you know what the thrash metal scene in Bangladesh is getting better and better. I must say we have the best thrash metal scene in the whole south asian region at this moment.Mark my words!
About the local crowd .. nothing much to say. We are proud to have these metalheads who supported not only in good times but also in the bad times.We are in debt to them and we literally enjoy a lot playing in front of those insane headbangers.
– Is it tough to be a brutal/technical death metal band in a scene where the majority of metal bands are Old school thrash metal?
Well i wont like to use the word “tough”. We are giving the crowd a different taste of music. we wouldnt have survived if it was not accepted. I would replace the word “tough” with “fun” because when we play on the stage i see a whole new face of the crowd. I mean their faces and support shows that they were craving for a change, looking for some music of completely new structures. that inspires me the most .. the urge … the crowd wants more and more from us.. it seems to help us to boost up. I believe we are doing something unique and as we have survived in a scene flooding with thrash metal (I would not address them into any particular school) so far, it proves everything.
– Back to Homicide, I noticed a lot of your lyrical themes as well as the EP’s cover art, are based in Greek mythology. How do the battles of the Greeks influence a death metal band in Bengal?
actually the Ep ” annihilation pit ” was all about the brutality in different Greek myths. Actually from an artist’s point of view, an artist have all rights to choose his music, lyrics etc. I found greek mythology a very intense, brutal and mostly a rich and knowledgeable myth. I found it an unique one to compose music based on it. it has no connection with the bengla death metal or anything. We found this Greek mythology appealing and our compostions goes quite well with the lyrical concepts. so we decided to go for the greek myth… tell those untold stories of fallen heroes and those blood shattered brutal battles .
– What’s next for the band? Any plans for a full length?
Yes. we are going for the full length album. its gonna be a blast. I can give you the assurance that it will be something mindfucking. We decided to go for the greek myth again but all the songs will be written on different Gods and Demigods.
Two of the tracks have already been composed . One on the god of the underworld HADES and the other song is written on the cursed god Minotaur. there will be a total of seven songs including one instrumental.
– Can you name three guitarists whose work has influenced you?
Well its hard to name only three guitarists.
no. 1 is Joe Haley ( psycroptic) I am mostly influenced by his picking styles and the notations he uses.
no. 2 is Jeff Loomis. i just love his shredding…. pure entertainment.
no. 3 Our very own legend Saimum Hasan Nahian of Severe Dementia and Powersurge. This guy made me up… He is my mentor and he literally he molded me up for what i am right now. I am grateful that i was in his direct guidance.
– Thanks for your time! Hope the gig goes great!
Thanks a lot man. Thank you for the support.
– Hassan Dozakhi
Eternal Abhorrence 