Exiled Sanity

The recent uprising of experimental and avant-garde bands in the Indian circuit has taken the metal scene by storm. One such band is Exiled Sanity from Kolkata. Even though they recently formed in April of this year, they have been successful in carving out a niche for themselves, performing in many parts of India. As of yet, they have released two original compositions, both lyrically themed on the coming destruction of humanity and the conquest of Earth by a more advanced civilization.

"Twisted Route to Salvation" is a heavy track with a catchy tune which is instantly recognized as a mosher. The song has a heavy intro, followed by the growls and a nice classical feel, provided for by the unconventional riffs. I wasn't expecting much technicality in the track, but was surprised by the complicated guitar and drum patterns and not to mention, the fast paced solo. But, the track to watch out for is, seriously, "Redesigning Humans [The Uprise]". Its atmospheric intro makes you think of what to expect, until those blastbeats and the singer's much-better exhales hit your ears. Guitars, here too, bring in a nice feel, with unconventional riffing. The anchor in the middle though, is the breakdown heavily influenced by Meshuggah and the extremely technical and well written solo which follows. The track ends with the same atmospheric intro it started with, forcing the listener to rewind his tape for another go!

Well, i would just say,Exiled Sanity will definitely be something to watch out for in the years to come. For now, they have definitely taken a step in the right direction. Stay metal, people \m/

Dream Diabolic

Self realisation has dawned upon me that I’ve been slightly idiotic to have under-rated Dream Diabolic. It took me several listens of their four originals posted on Reverbnation to get to this band’s music. Clearly they have tried hard to set themselves apart with their brand of metal. And in a few occasions they have succeeded too. Having played in the prestigious IIT-Guwahati hosted Alcheringa, the band caught my curiosity when Dragon urged me to give them a serious listen. Until recently the band claimed to belong to a genre they termed as “Abstract Hardcore”. I wondered what that meant. But let’s be honest here, in no way did they exhibit any attributes of hardcore. Then what are they? I put their songs on repeat and gave them a listen.

“Greatness In Endless Sleep” gives a punk feel in its initial 5-6 seconds. But the sound changes quickly as the other instruments enter along with the guitar. Bass comes in with a clear sound. As soon as the vocals begin they remind one of Chris Barnes’ vocals from his work with Six Feet Under. The keyboards do an intelligent job that is not usually seen in metal bands. Well to be honest, I’ve seen pretty much all bands with keys playing a very symphonic mix of melodic death and black. So does this band too sometimes. But at a minimum. As far as the drums are concerned they seem to be overdone at places in this song. “Necromenser” (yes that’s the spelling!) caught me by surprise with its old school death metal drums. Riffs too were well done inspired heavily from Thrash bands like Municipal Waste. This song seems to progress towards black influences with the use of tremolo picking, backbone of the genre. It is quickly followed by a compensating heavy thrash riff which is again interspersed with tremolo picking. Bass crawls in but appears not to do much justice to the song in providing a groove to an already raw sound. But probably that’s what the band wants. Something unexpected turns up in the bridge section. Influences from Carnatic music. And that’s when I went holy shit!! It seems that composing solos is the guitarist’s forte. And again the keys bring in an additional feel to the already well established soundscape. “Palace of an Orphan” starts with a power-metal mood with its intro and the fill-ins with the keys between the verses. The dual-vocal layers are a refreshing touch to their sound. Riffs are mostly mid-tempo. Once again the guitarist shows off his capabilities in the bridge. “Words Created God” is a total mosher and compels the listener to headbang how much ever she/he denies to do so. Riffs however could have been less predictable and the pinch harmonics more audible. Surpisingly, the song loses track and fails to come back to its original sound as it progresses. This is where I get a feeling they’re trying to set foot in the lands of Prog Metal. This makes them end up with a very random sound due to which they lose the brutality.

Overall this band was enjoyable after a couple of listens though I don’t think their songs will last long on my music player if they don’t come up with something different than what they are producing now. The highlights of this band would definitely be the keyboards and also a special mention to the commendable effort on the guitars for the solos and the exhaled vocals used by the vocalist. Drums would’ve earned a mention had they not been overdone to earn the title of being a technical band. But they’d do the job had it not been for the riffs which don’t astonish at all.

Enjoy!

Alien Gods

Alien Gods from Itanagar released their their debut EP in May'11 entitled Lunar Blackened Death. The EP consisted of tracks which were composed and written during their early formation days. Here is a small conversation we had with them recently.

Raul: How is it going Alien Gods ?

AG: Alien Gods is pondering upon mysteries of life, zeitgeist has not helped enough.

Raul: There is always an interesting story behing the formation of a band. Tell us about yours.

AG: Nah, for us it's the same cliched series of events : As kids Listen, read, watch the music and lifestyle of big rock stars and become a wannabe, then fortunately find the right guys things click and in the course of becoming big rock stars find out our inner selves and things begin to take the other path, some have left the band coz music won't feed them or their families , others were forced to leave, some has joined for the love of music , some for the profits it give and few to create magic that they seek.

Raul: Alien Gods? Something to do with religious views or just a catchy name?

AG: Actually it's a bit of everything that anyone thinks.

Raul: About the genre, how did guys end up playing blackened death?

AG: For pleasure, pain, pride, reverence, strength, freedom and pure insanity.

Raul: Tell us something about your EP "Lunar Blackened Death". The hurdles on the way and stuffs and yes I'm personally interested in the track "Kapyo Nyima".

AG: "Lunar Blackened Death" is our first effort at recording our stuffs that we have written over the formative years. This is not a proper album more of like a collection of different experiments or exercises. The fans have demanded it and so we have been obliged . Now that we have understood the mechanisms of recording, song writing is going on for the debut LP and its going to be one brutally epic bastard.

"Kapyo Nyima" is the last straw in the so said experiment or exercises that we have been fooling around with. Please do enjoy the song.

Raul: Do you guys think that Indian bands should have Indian themes in their songs?

AG: If you say "should have" then it become something like a rule or law, and I am sure everyone knows ".....are meant to be broken". Hahaha... see nothing is to be dictated, if it comes naturally then good , if you have to do it for the sake of doing it than it;s all fucked up.

Raul: Performing live has been your specialty, how was it to perform for the first time on stage?

AG: Nervous as hell , but the crowd fed me and Y become a very happy glutton on stage, I mean I loved the excitement and sense of power that the stage , sound , lights and the crowd give... just love it man.

Raul: Can you briefly describe your music making process for us?

AG: It's all about the theme man, the music has to be based on the stories, events etc.

Raul: "Church Ov Blood" , is that a side project? Anything to expect in near future under this name?

AG: Church Ov Blood is Doni and Tenzin's ( Guitarist and Bassist ) primary band. It's not a side project. The two had joined Alien Gods coz the original members had untimely discontinued with the band. Church Ov Blood as far as I know is working on their debut EP.

Raul: How is the metal scene in Itanagar? Any underground movements that we're unaware of?

AG: Itanagar is very good for metal bands, the crowd out here is crazy, and unfortunately we don't have that many bands.

Raul: Northeast metal scene, do you think its exposed enough?

AG: Exposed ?? What exposed?? Nothing... zero. Other forms of music are doing well maybe but Metal...thumbs down.

Raul: What makes Alien Gods different from the rests?

AG: I don't know.. may be cause we come from Arunachal Pradesh... quite different huh

Raul: Something for your fans?

AG: Keep moshing but no pushing ( term we use out here for injecting drugs)

Raul: Something for us?

AG: Call us when you are free metal freaks.

Originally written for Metal Spree.