METALSPHERE VLOG: EPISODE TWO

Welcome back! Actually I should be welcoming myself back. Here's the 2nd episode of the Metalsphere vlog. I feel like a band who went on a hiatus.

This episode covers news about Goddess Gagged, ROOTS - the monthly metal property by BAJAAO Entertainment and antiSOCIAL Khar, Deccan Rock 2016: The Fourth Edition, Elemental and Wacken Open Air, Hellwind's new t-shirt, Kryptos' new music video for 'Full Throttle', Callous Amass 4 in Shillong, Blood Eagle 2 and upcoming metal gigs at Hard Rock Cafe.

You can watch the second episode here:

Don't forget to like the video, Share the video and SUBSCRIBE to the channel to receive updates on the latest #IndianMetal news. Stay tuned to the blog for details too!

This is a bedroom production.

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The video and opinions expressed in the media or comments on this channel are personal and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions held by this channel's broadcaster. The broadcast is meant for awareness and pure entertainment, with no offence to any viewers intended.
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Contact me in the column to the right to help me out with some news, features, ideas, feedback, or just to say hi! \m/

GUITAR PLAYER WEEK: PRASHANT SHAH (SCRIBE)

Prashant Shah, popularly known as 'Pra' is the guitar player of Scribe. Having played in bands like Demonic Resurrection and Exhumation in the past, this guy is a riff attack. With bright pants & shirts in Goa feels and a colourful personality, Pra is easily one of the best riffers around. This interview is meant for everyone to get to know him better as a person and not only the jolly jumper you see on stage. He just got married, btw. Congratulations!

Also to notify you, there's a Scribe gig happening this evening (8th May, 2013) along with Vice Versa at Hard Rock Cafe, Andheri (W), Mumbai, India.

Photo courtesy: Prashant Agarwal

Full name and age
Prashant Shah, 32 years old.


What is your favourite dish/cuisine?
All vegetarian: Indian Street Food/Gujarati(non-sweet)/Rajasthani/Chinese/Japanese/ Mexican.
I love all food with exception of maybe things that your head perceives should be non sweet and it turns out to be exactly the opposite; Puran Poli, for example. I like cooking Italian food, since it's the easiest to conjure and the only cuisine I can cook and make myself believe that I'm as good as Gennaro Contaldo.


Kindly tell us about all your precious gear! (guitars, processors, etc.,.)
Primarily I only use extended range guitars (7 or 8). I've been playing them almost 12 years.

Guitars:
Ibanez Prestige RG1527 w EMG 707 (bridge)
Ibanez Prestige RGD 2127 w Dactivator 7 (bridge)
Ibanez Prestige RG 2228 w EMG's
ESP 6 string modded with EMG 81 (bridge) 85 (Neck), (I have this one only for sentimental reasons.)

Strings: D'addario XL 120-7 (.54 to .09)

Processing:
Axe-Fx II for the last one year on record and live. I feel it's the most convenient option if you play live. It's all the amps and stomps you ever wanted in a box, that you can carry easily on the road and plug into any setup.
I do love the sound of a real amp, however lugging around a head on a flight is very cumbersome and at times a waste of money if you land up paying for baggage.

Amps
I have a defunct Kustom (Kansas) 250 tuck and roll Head and a 4x12 cab to go with it. I've been meaning to get that repaired.  The clean channel on that amp is ethereal! I also use a Laney 1x12 practice amp at home (very rarely though).


How long have you been playing guitar?
I've been playing for almost 16 years. I picked up my first guitar, a Givson in 1998. It was sparkling red in color. Josh, The drummer in Severus (RIP), burnt it down.


What got you into playing guitar?
Metallica. Metallica. Metallica. Metallica. Metallica.
Siddharth Khare, a friend from school introduced me to the instrument, he used to play in a band with his dad. We'd listen to Metallica, Guns 'n Roses, Van Halen, Aerosmith and Bon Jovi.  He taught me my first riff, 'Enter Sandman'. All I wanted to do from that day on was just play the guitar. From then on, everything else in my life became secondary.


Have you learned to read music as well, or do you just play by ear?
Sheet music always has eluded me. Regular tablatures were just fine when I started.
However as the years passed, I started shifting more toward playing by ear.  I developed an interest in sheet music and theory somewhere down the line but somehow never got around to doing it. I study arrangements of a song I really like. Songs and structure are far more gratifying than just sticking random riffs together.


Electric vs. acoustic. What do you prefer?
Thats like comparing a sword and a knife, both are deadly if used correctly. My weapon of choice is the electric though.


What thought goes into riff construction/is there any particular pattern you follow to make riffs?
No pattern in particular. Whatever comes out with the flow. I tend to write a song idea in one go. I record a scratch single guitar take with whatever flows naturally. Sometimes I'll go on for 15 minutes at a stretch. I'll hear it back a few times to see whether I can connect with the music. If not, I scrap it and rearrange/re-record. Other times I go part by part. There's no formula.

Photo courtesy: Kunal Kakodkar

What music projects are you currently a part of, besides Scribe?
None as of now. Once I get some time, I've been meaning to do another extreme metal project, I've got a few scratch tracks done. I'll talk about it more when the time comes, as of now I have no name no members, just the direction I want to go in musically.


Do you have a day job? What is it that you do?
Yes very much so, that's what pays the bills. I'm a 3D Team leader at RedChillies VFX.  We do visual effects for films, To simplify it, we create anything and everything that you can't shoot physically. Working on a dream Hollywood project, I can't reveal which one because that would lead to genocide. I love it as much as I love playing the guitar.

I love the freedom of being able to visually recreate anything I can dream of.

Your favourite musicians (Indian)
Apart from my own band members, there are singular musicians from bands that inspire me, Indian and international, but personally, I prefer bands over individual musicians.
Indian bands I really like are Skyharbor, Bhayanak Maut, Gutslit, Undying Inc, Devoid, Extinct Reflections (RIP). So many upcoming bands! There's a whole bunch of young and killer bands in the North East of India. I keep hearing demos or singles and it's so unfortunate that there is such a huge disconnect from that part of the country.

Guitar: Warren Mendonsa, Sidharth Kadadi, Dhruv Ghanekar, Zorran Mendonsa
Bass: Rushad, Krishna Jhaveri, P-Man (Rohit Pereira)
Drums: Rahul Hariharan, Jai Row Kavi, Sid Coutto, Mayank Sharma
Vocals: Siddharth Basrur, Sid Coutto,
Any other instrument:
I respect classical musicians like Zakir Hussain, Shiv Kumar Sharma, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Amjad Ali Khan. I grew up listening to them, my parents would drag me to Rang Bhavan and Dynasty Club shows to watch these guys play. The kind of dedication they have towards their craft is inspiring. I was a huge Remo fan as a kid, way before he got commercial.


Your favourite musicians (international)
Bands like Sikth, Emperor, Textures, old-Soilwork, Cannibal Corpse, Soreption, Morbid Angel, Fear Factory, Machine Head, Aeon, Devin Townshend, Meshuggah, Veil of Maya, Born of Osiris, Periphery, The contortionist, The Faceless, too many to name really, I hate this question it's so annoying.


Can we expect a release from your band(s) any time soon?
Yes Scribe, will release something this year for sure, if we don't we'll just disband. I don't think even we have the patience anymore for a record we've been working on for almost 3 years.


Whom do you look up to, as a musician and a band?
Refer to question 12 and 13. Life-altering bands were Sikth, Emperor,Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Fear Factory. I love orchestral music and soundtracks a lot as well. Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore, Goldman. There is so much to learn about arrangment, orchestration, layering, timing, rhythm from the smallest piece.


A message to all your fans (hello ladies!)
Thank you, Cheers and Stay chromatic.

Photo courtesy: Kunal Kakodkar

To listen to Scribe, visit their Soundcloud and Facebook. 

More interviews coming up this week! 

ENTOMBED METAL FEST SPECIAL: Q&A WITH PRIMITIV

Today at Entombed Metal Fest volume V, you will witness something very ancient. It isn't old school, no! It's Primitiv. This is like some major stone age shit. Primitiv is a five-piece (6th member is live guitar player) metal band from Bombay.

I did a little interview with these guys, and I'm sure the band is nothing we've heard in the past five years in Bombay. Make sure you catch them live tonight at Vashi. For more details on EMF vol. V, please visit the link at the bottom of the article.

Metalsphere: Hi! What do you like to eat? (yumzlalala)

PRIMITIV:
Riju: Seafood. Loves midnight buffet post Jam

Kiron: Spicy Biryani of all kinds

Avirath: Doesn't eat. On a Diet

Raj: Eats, shoots & leaves! (for Delhi)

Nitin: Archaeopterygidae (small, winged theropods or primitive birds)

Pushkar: Momos 

Tell us about the band (a brief history of how you guys got together)?

Nitin: Rajarshi & Riju who have been part of Albatross earlier had this idea of starting a band which talks about the "brutal stuff which happened in the stone age". But when he started conceptualizing the theme of the Primitiv universe & writing the initial drafts for the songs he realized the potential it had.

He then sent it over to me & three of us got together to write down the first three tracks - Lords of the Primitiv, Taurus & Demon of science.

Raj was also part of Hellwind along with Kiron (guitars) & Pushkar (drums) who then completed the first lineup. Since Raj is currently busy with his work life we have drafted Avirath 'Wrath' Kadam as our Live guitarist. He is quite a livewire!

And you've got a dinosaur on vocals. The last time we saw him was the All-Stars gig with DR and much before that with Morticide. How did Nitin decide to make a come back?

Nitin: Let's say I'm guest vocalist who decided to overstay his welcome! :0
Since 2009 I have done guest vocals at various tribute gigs (Type-O Negative, Slayer) and also with bands/friends like Zygnema, Albatross etc. Post-Morticide, I did a short stint with Reptilian Death and a longish spell with Sledge (Hyderabad based Thrash/Death band) so I was never really out of the scene. Riju's Primitiv universe concept really excited me to be part of a regular band yet again and I love playing live hence I could not resist jamming with the new breed of  talented musicians from the current scene!

Why not old school, why Primitiv!? :P

Nitin: Well, the idea was to basically conceptualize and form the ultimate old school metal band. So it evolved from the fact that ‘we’re more old school than other old school bands’.

We are, therefore, primitive. 

If you like Celtic Frost, Obituary, Morbid Angel and early Sepultura, you’ll probably like Primitiv.

Even our song structures are extremely simple yet intense!

What's the age gap between the youngest and oldest member in the band?

Pushkar: Let's just say that we cover three different generations of Indian metal! ;)

Our vocalist made his live debut in the underground circuit when Avirath was busy watching Kuch Kuch Hota hai at a single screen somewhere in Manpada!

What should we expect from you at Entombed metal fest?

Pushkar: We are excited to play all the four originals live especially Lake Rancid, which is all about hellish monsters created from chemical and magic! ;) Besides that some kvlt covers.

P.S: Pushkar loves me but he doesn't know it yet.

Should we look forward to any releases this year?

Pushkar: Our first release Taurus has got a great response from all quarters of the metal circuit and we will be hitting the studios to record Lake Rancid which should be released towards the end of April. Our current plan is to release singles and we are commissioning artwork specifically for this new track. 

Listen to Taurus here: 

RSVP for Entombed Metal Fest vol. V here.

Visit PRIMITIV on FACEBOOK

EXTREME ENDS: ALBATROSS IN VASAI AND PARADIGM SHIFT IN SOBO!

Vasai greeted Mumbai metal band Albatross and the other competitions bands very well! The other two metal bands playing the competition also had a mostpit and some headbanging, as you can see in this Narkasur video below:

Albatross and friends were pretty killer. The special shout-out no. 1 goes to Dinosaur Rajan, as aptly titled by my buddy Anshuman. Trust me, you'd Bark at the Moon after hearing this version with growling vocals. Sorry, I was too amazed to take a video!

But then, we also had the lovely voice of Sid Raveendran on 'Holy Diver' (Dio cover)



This video ahead was a random moment at the end of 'Night Crawler' (Judas Priest cover) with Sahil on vocals and all the friends jumping around on stage.

I didn't know Sushan of Cosmic Infusion could sing man!

And the one moment no one could forget was the crowd shouting 'Sahil Sahil Sahil!' and then an equally powerful 'Makhija Makhija', asking for the demonman to come on stage!

All in all, the gig was great fun and the crowd went mad!

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Mumbai's six-piece fusion/rock/progressive band Paradigm Shift judged the band competition at Grant Medical College's festival 'Astitva 2014' and had an opening band 'Tatva' before they set the stage on fire with a heavy performance. Of course, my favourites were played so I was happy.

The Sobo peeps really don't get it haan? Basically, after vocalist Kaushik made them realise their set doesn't involve ghazal listeners sitting in the back, a few scared and obedient kids got up from their seats and went ahead. :P

The gig ended with a good 40-50min set including their incredible cover of 'Roja'.

.
Tomorrow, gig update and band interview!

\m/

SOBO: South Bombay

Q&A WITH PRATEEK: GUITARIST OF GUTSLIT AND REPTILIAN DEATH

One of my favourite guitar players to have jammed with, Prateek Rajagopal is a prodigy. For those who do not know who he is, he is the guitar player of Mumbai bands Reptilian Death and Gutslit. He also has a solo project of his own which most people have no idea about.

I met Prateek when he jammed with Chronic Phobia while the band properly existed but now is more like Chronic so gaya. I was surprised knowing he was younger than me (come on, everyone know I'm not used to it :P) and he could play exceptionally well. I remember while recording, he took a solo in one take, but just for the sake of doing it again, he went for another take!

We call each other Prackticks. I did a little question and answer with him, so that people got to know this talented fucker a little more. I've also included links to his personal modern progressive solo project below.

What is your favourite food?

Prackticks: Honestly, anything Mexican. FOSHIZZLE. Especially my mum’s Mexican food. NOMNOMNOM. I do enjoy most Indian and Italian as well though. But Mexican first. And I HATE Thai food! (Ladies, take note.)

State all thy gear, in detail. 

Guitars – Schecter Hellraiser C-7 , Jackson WRMG Warrior, Ibanez Gio (That jumpstart kit guitar, I don’t even remember where it is), and a Yamaha F370 Acoustic

Processor – Line 6 POD HD500.

Software – The DAW I use is Cubase 5 and for drums I use Superior Drummer. I’m still a noob at this whole production stuff though J

Tell me about your first time in India and where you’re from?

P: I’m born and brought up in Muscat, Oman. (Superb place, you guys should visit!) This is the first time I’m actually staying in India ( 1 ½ years passed actually) and it’s been pretty nice so far.  It definitely has its ups and downs, but it’s alright. It took a while to get used to, especially infrastructure and what not, but that’s life. :P

What did you come to India for? Do you plan on going back?

P: I came here for studies (yup, I’m sure many of you guys are like – WHY INDIA?!?) , but most of us NRIs have a wrong notion about how things work here, and I’m not even joking. Anyway, I’m studying BMS in NM college.. I’m in my 2^nd year.  I don’t plan on going back, for good at least.  I’ll work here for a bit before going for my post grad abroad (still tentative, of course).  And I’m sure by then my parents would end up coming back to India. (I’ll definitely keep going during vacations though, as long as they are there!)

What did you like most about India?

P: THE ROADS. Lulz.
I think the good scope for pursuing what you love/anything for that matter is really good in India. It’s pretty damn dynamic that way! Lots of things happening every moment! Aaaaaaaaaaand I love the exchange rate xD

You play for two pretty different bands – Gutslit and Reptilian Death. You also have a killer modern progressive project which is highly underrated. How do you manage projects that are so different from each other?

P: Well RD was on hiatus for a while since Vinay was sick. And this happened when I had just joined Gutslit. Vinay has finally recovered, so only now will I be able to actually judge how difficult it is to manage different bands.(Though I don’t think it should be an issue at all). In terms of managing the writing bit, I haven’t started writing anything for RD yet, it’s only been Gutslit and my solo stuff. It is a little weird to write grind/brutal death and then think of new ideas for a modern progressive metal project(or vice versa), but it’s good fun. Keeps you going. :D

How has your ride been with your bands so far?

P: Pretty amazing. I never thought I’d even play an outstation show till I joined these bands :P It’s cool. Plus I get to meet so many cool people. It’s cool how I saw a Bhayanak Maut LOG 11^th hour cover on youtube and I saw this guy with this massive beard (Vinay) in 9^th or 10^th std, and I knew about this ‘Demonstealer’ guy because of Workshop(on Channel V Launchpad) and his big band ‘Demonic Resurrection’ etc etc and I knew how prominent these guys were in bringing up the scene and stuff. Never thought I’d actually play with them in the same band someday. Especially considering I’m pretty young compared to these oldies! Gutslit is giving me some crazy exposure as well. It’s fun!

Tell me about all further releases that are planned.
P: RD – Writing begins end 2014, if I’m not wrong. (for the 2^nd full length)
Gutslit – We’re releasing an EP soon, hopefully sometime in the next 3 months. Gonna be Br000talz.
Self – After I release the Gutslit stuff, I shall work on this full on. Done with 9 songs currently, 1 more and I need to polish/finalize my previous tracks. I guess it’ll take a while, hopefully by end 2014 or early 2015.

Who are your favourite Indian musicians?
Guitar – I really like Akshay from Scribe. Sanju from Devoid is an epic guitarist as well. Nishith Hegde is kickass too!!
Bass – Ashwin Shriyan from DR/RD and Gurdip Singh from Gutslit/Agnya. Both mad bassists.
Drums – Viru from DR/Scribe, Aaron Pinto from Gutslit/Providence, and Mayank from Atmosfear/Zygnema
Vocals – Aditya Barve from Gutslit, Sunny and Vinay from Bhayanak Maut, Neerav from TimeFrames(Manipal band – check them out), Shashank from Undying Inc.
Keyboards – Ummmm.. I’ve heard Mephisto from DR is good. And the Chaotic Years keyboardist is pretty sick as well!

Which musicians have you utterly enjoyed playing/jamming with?

P: I love jamming with the Gutslit guys. Like honestly. We get these crazy doom and black vibes sometimes which are KICKASS! :P I also loved jamming with you and Pritesh. Hah :D Sadly I haven’t jammed too much with other people. Wish I did!

Who do you look up to as a musician/guitar player? (your idols)

P: This is easy. Dave Mustaine, Mikael Akerfeldt, Steven Wilson, Misha Mansoor, JOHN GALLAGHER, Matt Heafy, Tosin Abasi, Keith Merrow and Ola Englund, Devin Townsend

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

P: Blah. Working in some corporate with a family and shit. Hahahah. Hopefully earning enough to fund my music and if not play in bands, make music for myself. J

Do you want music to be your life? Otherwise too, what are you studying to become?

P: Who wouldn’t? Lol. Too bad it’s pretty difficult to make a living out of it. Let’s see, though.. never know what might just turn up! If I could get to even this little level without expecting much, I’m sure something CAN be possible. :P I’m studying management. I’d love to have my own business someday, it’s been my childhood thing. Lol. If that doesn’t work out, something finance related. (probably banking)

One message for all the ladies, and the fans.

P: Can’t think of anything cool, so I’m gonna be cliché and go all ‘thanks for supporting me’. Lol. <3

And if you like what you hear, check out the rest of  my channel on Soundcloud. CHEERS NIGGAS.

This song is my personal favourite:

Prateek's new song that he posted just yesterday on Soundcloud: 

This is Prateek on Facebook and Soundcloud

GUTSLIT and Reptilian Death

All the best dude. I hope you make it big. Much love! :*

NEWER INDIAN METAL BANDS YOU NEED TO HEAR

These are a few bands I've heard in the past four days.

TRIGGER

Trigger is a four-piece heavy/modern progressive band from Delhi. They came together in 2012 to make some groovy-ass shit. On speaking to vocalist Shourya Malhotra, I found out they'd played Blue Frog (Delhi) and Launchpad finals in the recent past. They are also hopefully looking at releasing a self-produced EP this year. They're angry, loud, raw and I'm sure they'd be a treat to watch, not only for modern progressive fans. Look out!

Catch them on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TriggerIndia

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NARKASUR

This four-piece thrash/groove metal band from Mumbai formed in May 2013. Going by the 'THRASH TILL DEATH' and 'POWER-ANGER-STRENGTH' signifying their music, these guys are to look out for at local band competitions. They've played quite a lot of competitions lately, winning NIFT Mumbai's Spectrum 2014 a few days ago. In other news, they're interested in Maggi, calling their drummer for jam and chai. 

Here is a link to their Reverbnation page, where they've got some demos up for a listen: 

http://www.reverbnation.com/narkasur

You can find them on Facebook here: 

https://www.facebook.com/narkasur

And DO NOT, I say do not fall for this deceiving YouTube result: 

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ARMAMENT

Armament is a four-piece extreme thrash metal outfit from Kolkata. They got together in 2011. Full-power and aggressive, I had the chance to catch these guys at Thrashfest earlier this month (Choksi is lying, it won't be the one and only.). These guys were fast, with some great riffing and heavy as fuck. 

This is a live audio recording from their rehearsal. Check it out.

Their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/armament666

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SPECTION

A five-piece progressive/psychedelic band from Mumbai, they're IIT boys! Influenced mainly by Porcupine Tree and a slight Opeth vibe (which you will see when you listen to their song), they've been playing competitions here and there in the country, one being our most popular BITS-Pilani Goa's Searock.

They also recently played at 'The Great Gig in the Sky' at Tinga Tinga Bar (wow) in Bangalore last week.

Listen to them here: 

https://www.facebook.com/spection.band/app_204974879526524

And their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/spection.band

More coming your way. I'd love to listen to something new. Bring it on!