INTERVIEW WITH GODLESS (HYDERABAD)

I remember when I was programming metal nights at Hard Rock Cafe Hyderabad and I contacted Abbas for Skrypt. However the band was unavailable and he introduced me to his new band 'Godless'. This was to be their first show and man, it was insane!

This is probably one band that has come so far so fast, and they've been bringing down every venue they play at. They always leave people either moshing or astonished, especially for those who are watching them for the first time.

I did an interview with the band to see what's going on, s'appening mayyn. Read the whole interview below.

1. Favourite food? 
Ravi: Andhra meals
Abbas: Burgers with lots of beef, bacon and cheese
Rohit: Andhra meals
Kaushal: Beef steak
Aniketh: Andhra meals

2. What started off for you guys at Hard Rock Cafe metal nights is now you opening for Behemoth at Deccan Rock! How does it feel to have travelled so far so fast? 
It feels fucking great to open for Behemoth. Ever since we started off as a band, we just focused on getting everything right with regard to our live sound, lights, tightness, showmanship, songwriting and the EP release. We’ve worked really hard and we’re quite happy with how things have turned out for us. We’d like to thank all the organisers we’ve worked with. This is only the beginning and there is no slowing down for us.

3. Give us a little history on how you guys got together.
Our bassist Abbas and guitarist Ravi, who both were from Skrypt, were looking to form a band that was nothing but loud, relentless and aggressive. Abbas had already written Ossuary and recruited Aniketh Yadav from slam/brutal death metal band Shock Therapy on drums and Rohit Nair on guitars as well.

We wrote Infest and kept a lookout for vocalists. We thought finding a permanent vocalist would be better that way since people would get to listen to us and get a feel of what our direction would be like. So, when Abbas visited New Zealand in early 2015, he recorded the demo featuring Sean O'Kane Connolly (Ex-In Dread Response) on guest vocals. After a few jams with other vocalists, we got in touch with Kaushal from Bangalore (Orchid, Eccentric Pendulum, Ironic Reversal) since the guys from Eccentric Pendulum are close friends. With him, our lineup was complete and there has been no looking back since.

4. How did you get Joe Haley of Psycroptic to feature on the song Ossuary? 
We’re all really big fans of Psycroptic and Joe’s playing. Since he was already mixing our EP and mentioned to us that he really dug the music, we thought there’s no harm in asking him to lay down a solo. He was cool with it and it just blew us away when he sent us the track.

5. How was your experience playing at the Wacken Metal Battle finals this year? 
It was really great. We got to play for a new audience. We were quite happy with the response. Congratulations to our buddies in Elemental on their win!

6. What has the band been going of late? (gigs, recording, etc.) 
We’ve just been gigging and been promoting our debut EP Centuries of Decadence which we released this year in May. The response has been pretty fucking great. We’ve got a couple of shows lined up and we’re also currently writing some new material already. We’ll probably get to recording it somewhere during the end of the year.

7. Should we expect something coming our way from you any time soon? 
Definitely more merch. And maybe a single.

8. Your favourite international bands. 
Bolt Thrower, Slayer, Napalm Death, Obituary, Aborted, Pestilence, Autopsy, Gorguts, Cryptopsy, Cattle Decapitation, Terrorizer, Repulsion, Cannibal Corpse, Psycroptic, Decapitated, Vader, Morbid Angel, The Haunted, Meshuggah, Death, Gorod, Judas Priest, The Faceless, Beyond Creation, Opeth, Between the Buried and Me, Defeated Sanity, Dying Fetus, Gorgasm

9. Collectively, your favourite Indian bands. 
Devoid, Third Sovereign, Gutslit, Shepherd, Eccentric Pendulum, Amogh Symphony, Infernal Wrath, Undying Inc., Nihilus

10. A message for all the fans out there! 
We’d like to thank everyone who’ve come for our shows, picked up our CDs & merchandise and supported us. See you at Deccan Rock 2016 on the 24th of September where we open for the mighty Behemoth alongside a bunch of killer bands! Cheers!

Check Godless out on Facebook.

Catch Godless LIVE at Stormfest V - Ground Zero | Deccan Rock Pre-gig and Deccan Rock: The Fourth Edition.

\m/

THE ROLLING STONE METAL AWARDS PLAYLIST

These are the nominees for the Rolling Stone Metal Awards 2014.
Voting for best song, best album and best band (Popular choice) is open here on their event page, so RSVP too.


Cosmic Infusion
6 nominations
Best band
Best album 'Cosmic Infusion'
Best song - Burial of Thy Own
Best vocalist - Sushan Shetty
Best guitar player - Amnish Lohire
Keyboardist - Sushan Shetty

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For the full song, visit their Bandcamp page, the embed link wasn't working.
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Gutslit 
6 nominations
Best band
Best album 'Skewered in the Sewer'
Best vocalist - Aditya Barve
Best guitar player - Dynell Bangera
Best drummer - Aaron Pinto
Best bass player - Gurdip Singh Narang

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Reptilian Death
7 nominations
Best band
Best album 'The Dawn of Consummation and Emergence'
Best song - O
Best vocalist - Vinay Venkatesh
Best guitar player - Sahil Makhija
Best drummer - Sahil Makhija
Best bass player - Ashwin Shriyan

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Reverrse Polarity
4 nominations
Best band
Best album 'Reverrse Polarity'
Best song - Cross Poly Nation
Best drummer - Gautam Deb

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The Down Troddence
6 nominations
Best band
Best album 'How are You? We are Fine, Thank you'
Best song - Nagavalli
Best guitar player - Varun Raj
Best drummer - Ganesh Radhakrishnan
Best keyboard player - Sushin Shyam

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Undying Inc
4 nominations
Best song - Ironclad
Best vocalist - Shashank Bhatnagar
Best drummer - Nishant Hagjer
Best bass player - Reuben Bhattacharya

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Zygnema
4 nominations
Best song- Shell Broken Hell Loose
Best vocalist - Jimmy Bhore
Best guitar player - Sidharth Kadadi
Best drummer - Mayank Sharma

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Theorized 
1 nomination
 Best bass player - Sankalp Narayanan

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When Stories End 
1 nomination
Best bass player - Gaurav Roka

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Dark Helm
1 nomination
Best keyboard player - Aniketh Shankar

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Lunatic Fringe
1 nomination
Best keyboard player - Gaurav Dutta

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Slain 
1 nomination
Best keyboard player - Jonathan Wesley

Facebook

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Rolling Stone India
Rolling Stone Metal Awards


\m/ May the best musicians win! \m/

DOMINATION - THE DEATHFEST: A BRIEF HISTORY

It all began with this one festival called Domination - The Deathfest, popularly known as 'Deathfest'. We're talking about the year 2000 here, when India's first ever extreme music festival came into being. The idea behind Deathfest was formulated by none other than Nitin Rajan (Primitiv) and his ex-band members Roshan Kumar (bass/vocals) and Hitesh Ghelani (drums) of former Mumbai death metal band Morticide

Blasphemy (Chennai) at DDF Mumbai, 2000

Crowd at Razz lawns, 2000

Prior to 2000, the year Domination - The Deathfest kicked off, there was no concert/show or festival that solely showcased metal bands. There were many 'rock' shows happening though, that would occasionally have a metal band play. Besides that, other thrash and heavy bands of the time rarely got an opportunity to play at major festivals, except a few college festivals here and there, and the rare gigs at Razzberry Rhinoceros, more widely known as 'Razz Rhino', the pioneer venue for the initial metal phase in Mumbai. The lack of opportunity in the existing local circuit led to the conception of the first extreme metal fest - the idea behind it being to stage some local as well as outstation bands. This helped people know and listen to metal bands from different parts of the country. The lineup in 2000 had opening act Demonic Resurrection, Nemesis, Fate (all three from Mumbai), Blasphemy from Chennai, Yama, Kryptos and Threinody from Bangalore and Morticide (Mumbai).

Kryptos live at DDF, 2000

Many other bands played the four editions of Deathfest back in the day like Exhumation, Acrid Semblance, Disembodied Corpse, Intestinal Butchery, Arcane Ritual, Belial, Abhor, Myndsnare and more. There was a website back then for Deathfest, with sections for comments, much before days of Gigpad and RSJ forums!

Here are some fond memories of the first ever Domination- The Deathfest, told by members of bands that played the festival.

"Deathfest was pretty awesome because back then we were just kids and every outstation gig was like some sort of epic adventure. On top of that, it was really cool to hang out and get wasted with the guys in Fate and Morticide. We hit it off really well and some of us are still friends to this day.  I think those early Deathfest gigs in Mumbai really left their mark on a lot of people because a lot of us still talk about them to this day."

-Nolan Lewis (Kryptos) 

"At the time, it was great to know that there was a fest only for metal bands. It was one of those 'underground' gigs."

- Sahil Makhija (Demonic Resurrection, Reptilian Death, Workshop)

"After all the times I'd been to Mumbai,  this time I was going with a band to Deathfest.  It was completely fucking insane. I was 16 and in the band and had never seen anything like it. The place was packed with wild headbangers. I remember after our set, someone even split his head open by hitting it on my monitors. Back then we had never seen energy like that before!"

 - Premik Jolly (Threinody)

"Deathfest was awesome. Blasphemy slaughtered that evening. They didn't have a bassist, so their guitar player Sanjay played bass. Their drummer Nat did a mad drum solo with double bass and all. That guy was the most awesome death metal drummer I ever heard in India. I remember we didn't have any sound issues, we just climbed onto the stage and killed it! After that, we went back to the Royal Orchid. That was the first time, and most probably the last time we'll ever be put up in a five star hotel! Basically, what followed was a contest in youthful stupidity. From drunken dry heaving in a bath tub, fake pimp calls and crawling races down the hall, it was plenty of fun!"

- Siddharth Naidu (Threinody)

Siddharth Naidu of Threinody, DDF, 2000

It was also the first time ever that any metal festival kicked off with the concept of a tour/gigs in multiple cities in India. Apart from Mumbai, the fest took place in Pune and Bangalore. Unfortunately, Deathfest lasted for four years. In 2004, the core members of Morticide started migrating to foreign countries. Nitin alone found it difficult to take complete responsibility and handle the festival by himself, as playing in a band and doing gigs was priority over organizing a festival. Domination - The Deathfest, therefore took the back seat and sunk into history, for a bit. After Morticide had practically dissolved, Nitin joined Reptilian Death for a brief period of time (two or three gigs) and then Sledge (2005 onwards). He was always in touch with the Mumbai scene.

'Resurrection', another extreme metal fest, an initiative by Sahil Makhija later almost replaced Deathfest and compensated for that need for a metal fest. There were editions of Resurrection, nine to be precise, the last one being in 2010 at Hotel Bayview in Gorai, Borivali. It was a temporary venue when Razz shut down and nothing much was really happening besides college festivals and some shows like Independence Rock and the likes. Nitin was convinced that Resurrection was continuing the metal fest culture. "Resurrection took the mantle post-Deathfest and later B69 provided the regular gigging platform for metal bands, so I was quite pleased and did not feel the need to restart the festival." he said.

These two festivals had made an impact and left everyone with something to pick up from. Although, that wasn't simply the end for Deathfest. "Later in 2009, I realised that with many metal genres and sub-genres, emerging bands playing death metal and other allied genres were not getting many gigs. This is when I decided to get Deathfest back!" added Nitin. Nitin and Riju Dasgupta (Albatross, Primitiv) were the driving force behind the revival, along with the industrious Yash Gill and Vineet Sharma (Nocturnal Art) for the artwork. Riju came into the picture only in 2013. "Deathfest wouldn't have been possible without Riju." said Nitin.

2013 witnessed the revival of the first extreme music fest, when the fifth edition took place at United 21 in Thane, Mumbai. The lineup comprised of Exhumation, Gutslit, Witchgoat, Insane Prophecy, Atmosfear, Orion and Reptilian Death. Since B69 shut down, United 21 and Blue Frog are the only two venues who host metal gigs on a more frequent basis. Thrashfest and more recently, Transcending Obscurity fest also took place at United 21.

This year, 2014, Domination - The Deathfest will once again take place in two cities, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Nitin acquainted with organizer Philip Baiju a few times in the past, and thought it would be great if Deathfest happened in Hyderabad, since there was nothing happening there right now in terms of gigs. With a dedicated crowd, Deathfest will take place on the 21st of June, 2014 in Hyderabad.

Mumbai will also have something called the 'Death Metal Legion' where a collection of favourite death metal songs will be played by our generation of musicians, like an all-star concept, paying tribute to death metal legends.

Domination - The Deathfest has come a long way, encouraging and establishing a platform for extreme metal music, and yes, all of us hope to see many more years in this festival's future! \m/

This is the official page for Domination - The Deathfest.

(Look at the links below for the lineups as well)
The sixth edition of Domination - The Deathfest will take place in Mumbai on the 8th of June, 2014, so RSVP HERE
Hyderabad leg, RSVP HERE

DDF Hyderabad poster

Story as told by Nitin Rajan.
Special thanks to Nolan Lewis, Sahil Makhija, Riju Dasgupta, Premik Jolly, Siddharth Naidu and Philip Baiju.
\m/

GUITAR PLAYER WEEK: SIDHARTH KADADI (ZYGNEMA)

I've known Zygnema since I began attending gigs. My first metal gig was at Musician's Mall and these guys were playing. From then on, I knew there was something so powerful and insane about them. I've known Kadads from then too, and besides being a skilled guitar player, he's an awesome person. You better be there for Control Alt Delete: Metal or you'll miss out on some major groove riffage! An interview with none other than Zygnema's Sidharth Kadadi.

wala wala lai

Full name and age.
Sidharth Sudhir Kadadi. I am not that old. I will be turning 29 soon. (psssst! guitar picks, strings, accessories are welcome as birthday gifts)


What is your favourite dish/cuisine?
Indian, of course. Favourite dish has to be PAANI PURI. No wait, Pav bhaji. Both share the same place I guess. Hot Gulab Jamun with Vanila ice cream deserves a special mention and a place in the hall of fame.


Kindly tell us about all your precious gear! (guitars, processors, software)
Dean Dime shadow ML with DiMarzio D activators on the bridge.
Ibanez RG2EX1 with Seymour Duncan Invaders on the bridge.
Pod X3 bean, Dunlop GCB-95 wah wah, Digitech Whammy DT
Use Line6 UX1 as my audio Interface, Cubase for recording. Got shit loads of VST plugins for guitars, bass and drums.


How long have you been playing guitar?
Started when I was 18. I've been playing for 10 years.


What got you into playing guitar?
I genuinely can't remember, but a friend of mine was learning guitar and I loved the sound of an acoustic guitar. So I started off learning a few basic chords and scales from him and then enrolled for proper guitar lessons.


Have you learned to read music as well, or do you just play by ear?
I graduated from Musicians Institute in 2008 and also appeared for Trinity Grade 8. So it is mandatory to know more than basic music reading to get into any music school or to give any exams affiliated with international institutions. My teachers always taught me music theory and application. They also insisted on reading rhythms regularly if not melodies/pieces. Small ideas help A LOT and I still find time to practice sight reading. I am not GREAT at reading, but I can manage.
I do use my ear too but when you know your basic harmonizing theory, it becomes a lot easier to transcribe or to write your own stuff.


Electric vs. acoustic. What do you prefer?
Sigh! Tough call. It's guitar in the end. Love them all. But yes, acoustic guitar sounds beautiful.
I've been spending most of my time with my classical and acoustic guitar.

What thought goes into riff construction/is there any particular pattern you follow to make riffs?
Zilch. It just flows. I don't follow a particular pattern as such. But it's very important to understand the sound of that particular riff or a song. You can't just push in any chords anywhere you feel like just because it's metal music. You have to understand the voicing and tonality of a song. I also emphasize a lot on groovy riffs. Brain-drilling riffs are not my style.

What music projects are you currently a part of, besides ?
I have been trying to work on my Rock trio project for a while now, along with Aditya Kadam and Pratik Kulgod. Very mid 80s instrumental prog rock vibe like Racer X, Paul Gilbert, Vinnie Moore, Van Halen, etc,. We have two tracks and a lot more ideas flowing. We're also hoping to put out an EP this year once I am done with Zygnema's album.
The other one is purely a studio project along with Reuben from Undying Inc. We keep writing and exchanging ideas. We too have two solid tracks and they require a bit of polishing. We have no clue who will track vocals and drums on it. For now I program drums and record stuff at home and mail it to Reuben. A lot of ideas are exchanged and we restructure the parts. I'm hoping for a proper band rehearsal before we finalize and put our material out. I honestly don't know WHEN this will release, but it will happen.


Do you have a day job? What is it that you do?
I have been working with BAJAAO since 2008 as a Guitar product specialist. I also teach guitars, so yep!

Two jobs to pay the bills and to survive as a musician in this third world country.

Your favorite musicians (Indian)

Guitar: Prashant Shah
Bass: Reuben Bhattacharya
Drums: Nishant Hagjer, Mayank, Rahul, Viru etc.
Vocals: Sunneith Revankar, Bruce Mckoy


Your favourite musicians (international)

Guitar: DIMEBAG DARREL. Mattias IA Eklundh, Vogg, Paul Gilbert, Van Halen, Vinnie Moore,
Jason Becker, Marty Friedman, Guthrie Govan, Alex Skolnick, James Hetfield.
Bass: Rex Brown, Stu Ham, Steve Harris, Dick Lovgren, Les Claypool, Alex Webster, Chris Beatie, Michael Anthony
Drums: Vinnie Paul, Tomas Haake, Dave Lombardo, Vitek, Sean Reinert, Gene Hoglan, Bjorn Fryklund, Morgan Agren
Vocals: Phil Anselmo, James Hetfield, Max Cavalera, Jamey Jasta, Jens Kidman, Chuck Schuldiner, Chuck Billy, Tom Araya, Corey Taylor, Sammy Hagar, Glen Benton, Robb Flynn


Can we expect a release from your band(s) any time soon?
Zygnema's 2nd album and ROKKK trio EP hopefully by December 2014.


Whom do you look up to, as a musician and a band?
There are too many musicians and bands that inspire me. It doesn't matter if the band is established or still struggling, they all have great qualities which we learn from. I really really love, respect and look up to Mattias Eklundh simply because he is a living legend and he has no clue how crazy he is. But more importantly, he is a great and humble human being, an ideal Guru and a crazy Swedish viking with zero tolerance towards seriousness. The happiest guitar player on this planet.


A message to all your fans (hello ladies!)
Hey I am no Val Venis. The towel move thing is a little cheesy though. Skip that bit, but yes HELLO LADIES. Howdy doody!
A message to all my browskis and homies. Believe in what you do and never give up.

Catch Zygnema on Facebook or Reverbnation

Zygnema

GUITAR PLAYER WEEK: KESHAV DHAR (SKYHARBOR)

Keshav Dhar can easily be named one of the pioneers of modern metal in India. Taking his solo project 'Hydrodjent' out of the bedroom and staging one very sought-after modern progressive outfit 'Skyharbor', this man is more than just a guitar player. Having aboard Dan Tompkins (ex-TesseracT), and also drummer Anup Sastry (Jeff Loomis, Intervals) Skyharbor's lineup is now across three continents!

The interview is with the genius behind 'Dots' and 'Celestial', brought to you by the very own me! (ikr?!) Here's an interview many of you might be eager to read. Go ahead, have a look, I'm sure there's something new and unique with every guitar player, especially when it comes to composing music!

Don't forget to vote for Skyharbor at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods in the 'Global Metal' category right HERE.

Photo credits: Pixel Matrix

Full name and age
Keshav Anand Dhar, 27


What is your favourite dish/cuisine?
Indian: Prawn Chettinad curry, Non-Indian: Sushi or Pho


Kindly tell us about all your precious gear! (guitars, processors, software)
I currently have four guitars. My main writing guitar is a gorgeous Mayones Regius custom 6 string. I also have my trusty old Ibanez SZ2020, which still sees a fair bit of use and I absolutely love writing on it. I also have a PRS Custom 24 7 String which I use live. I rarely write songs with it though as I’ve always been a 6 string player at heart. In addition to this I have an Ovation acoustic which I don’t play very often but it’s recently seen a fair bit of use.

My 'rig' at the moment is quite simple, I've never been into pedals and endless knob tweaking, I just like to dial in sounds quickly and jam, and my Fractal Axe-FX II does this job perfectly! The amp modelling is second to none, it's incredibly versatile and responsive to my playing, and the effects are gorgeous. It's also completely midi controllable, so when playing live all my patch changes happen automatically in sync with the click tracks, which is really cool. All I need to do literally is play!

In the studio, I record, edit and mix between Cubase 7 and Pro Tools 10. I've been a Cubase user pretty much ever since I started recording many years ago, and I know it like the back of my hand now. I've started using Pro Tools a little more of late just because it's industry standard and clients send me a lot of PT session files for mixing, but I mostly just consolidate the files in there and bounce them out into Cubase again haha.

How long have you been playing guitar?
About 11 years or so now.


What got you into playing guitar?
Well I started playing guitar casually because I wanted to be able to play Metallica songs. Haha.
But I really got serious about it after watching Joint Family play live in Delhi at the 'Numero Uno Rock Out' festival in 2005. That show really fired me up. It was like, fuck! THIS is what I want to do!


Have you learned to read music as well, or do you just play by ear?
I had 10 years of piano lessons so I can read sheet music, but ever since I started playing guitar I have never ever looked at sheet music. I actually got so fed up of the bullshit that piano lessons involved – reading music, zero room for self expression, so regimented and boring – that when I started playing guitar, I sort of swore to myself that I would only ever play by instinct and only do what sounded good to me, theory be damned.


Electric vs. acoustic. What do you prefer?
I am a terrible acoustic player, and a great many of the songs I write depend heavily on effects, delays/reverbs/choruses/wahs/phasers etc, so electric for sure haha.

Skyharbor live at Moscow (2013)

What thought goes into riff construction/is there any particular pattern you follow to make riffs?
I have a really weird approach to writing riffs. I’m not really that good of a guitar player from a technical standpoint, so when ideas come to mind I immediately record myself bullshitting through it – basically whatever my fingers are able to interpret of the idea in my head. Then I pick apart the notes, phrases, licks etc, and keep what I like and discard little bits in the middle.
Then I fill in those gaps in the middle one by one. Often, I come up with a bunch of different riffs which I have no idea what to do with. Then just for fuck’s sake, I chop them up and paste parts of different riffs together to form new riffs. Hahaha. It’s really weird, and I wouldn’t recommend anyone else do this unless it feels natural to them. It’s just that I started recording and mixing before I started seriously playing guitar, so the computer and the DAW has always been an integral part of my process. It works for me.


What music projects are you currently a part of, besides Skyharbor?
I’m part of White Moth Black Butterfly which is an experimental sort of proggy rock project I have with Dan (Skyharbor singer). I also write music with my old buddies in Another Vertigo Rush, in the background. Apart from that, not much really – Skyharbor keeps me really busy most of the time when I’m not producing.


Do you have a day job? What is it that you do? 
Yes! I have my studio Illusion Audio, where I record, produce and mix bands and also generally do any and all music production related projects that come my way. Apart from working with bands which forms the bulk of my work, I also score for documentary films and ad films from time to time, although I always come back to working with bands. It’s what connects the most with me.


Your favourite musicians (Indian)
I’m guessing it wouldn’t be fair to name my own band members…

Guitar: Vishal J. Singh/Prashant Shah
Bass: Nikhil Rufus
Drums: Jivraj Singh/Jai Row Kavi
Vocals: Sunneith Revankar/Siddharth Basrur


Your favourite musicians (international)

Guitar: Ben Sharp
Bass: Jon Stockman
Drums: Steve Judd
Vocals: Ian Kenny/Devin Townsend


Can we expect a release from your band(s) any time soon?
Yes definitely – Skyharbor is wrapping up recording our second album and it’s off to mixing soon. There’s a pretty big PR campaign that will surround this release, so it won’t be before this fall, but it will definitely be this year. Probably around October or November.


Whom do you look up to, as a musician and a band?
Ben Sharp and Devin Townsend are my heroes!


A message to all your fans (hello ladies!)
Thank you all for the love and support through the years – we’ve got a lot of new music coming your way and we can't wait for you to hear the new album!


Visit Skyharbor on Facebook and Soundcloud
White Moth Black Butterfly on Facebook

Photo credits: NAD Visual Art

STUDY MUSIC FOR HEAVY LISTENERS

Studies claim that listening to more of instrumental and classical music helps, especially after the discovery of the 'Mozart Effect', saying listen to Mozart improves your mental performance. Well honestly, I've tried listen to Mozart and Beethoven, and I kept reducing the volume because it didn't seem so helpful after having listened to so much progressive and heavy music for months together.

Some people prefer going into that 'No, I can't listen or watch anything during exams, it's very distracting!' trip, but most of us need something. You will be in different moods, so I hope this helps keep up with your changing moods. It's my last semester, and I'm relying on this.

Few tips:
1. Don't let the music be too loud. it gets distracting. Keep it at a moderate/low volume because you're not playing the song to listen to it. It's more like music creating an ambience/background music.
2. Don't listen to heavy/extreme music, you'll either get mindfucked or tear pages and break stuff, considering no one absolutely loves studying.
3. Instrumentation is important. Beautiful note selection and sweet progressions keep you in the mood.
4. People recommend listening to waves and waterfalls and crickets. Dude, just don't. You'll land up somewhere else if you're high. Ambient music, however, helps.
5. I do not advise people to do this, but I drink when I'm studying sometimes.  It isn't a necessity. Moderate drinking, 2-3 pegs max. :P
6. If you do not care about any of the above suggestions, it's cool. Maybe you'd prefer listening to music that you've been accustomed to for a very long time.

Progressive music is a boon to this time of the year. With many lengthy songs, making a playlist is less time-consuming and there's variety. I do recommend a few instrumental bands, and a few kinda heavy bands.

These are the bands I normally listen to. There's also a list of instrumentals that I listen to below this list.

1. Porcupine Tree

This is one of my favourite bands when I'm studying, and otherwise too! Instrumentation is ace, I need not say more. I can't particularly select an album, but yeah, I could be more specific. If you want a long trip, Voyage 34 is at your service!
Albums: The Incident, Fear of a Blank Planet (whole album), In Absentia
Songs: Anesthetize and the title track (FOABP), Dark Matter (Signify),  Blackest Eyes and Drown with Me (In Absentia), Arriving Somewhere but not here and Lazarus (Deadwing), The Blind House and The Incident (The Incident).
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2. Opeth

Very enjoyable, plus there's variety.
Albums: Damnation, Watershed, Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries
Songs: Atonement, Isolation Years and Hours of Wealth (Ghost Reveries), The whole 'Damnation' album, Folklore (Heritage), Bleak (my all-time favourite Opeth song), Harvest, Drapery Falls (Blackwater Park), the whole 'Watershed' album.
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3. Karnivool 

Karnivool is not what I regularly listen to, but when I do, it feels awesome. Make sure you don't listen to Persona though :P I've been a fan of the first two albums and I haven't got the hang of Asymmetry yet. Maybe in a few months, let's see.
Albums: Sound Awake, Themata
Songs: Cote, Lifelike, Scarabs, Shutterspeed, title track (Themata), Deadman to Change 1 and 2 (Sound Awake), We Are, Sky Machine (Asymmetry)
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4. Deftones

I can't explain how awesome I feel when listening to this band! This is more on the heavier side. I mostly listen to Deftones in breaks or before going to bed, or the first thing in the morning. It doesn't exactly calm me from any stress, but it keeps me awake and motivated :P
Albums: Around the Fur, White Pony, Self-titled album, Diamond Eyes, Koi No Yokan
Songs: Mostly everything. Okay fine, here are some! My Own Summer, Be Quiet and Drive, Lotion, title track (Around the Fur), Digital Bath, Knife Party, (White Pony), When girls telephone boys, Battle Axe (Deftones), CMND CTRL, Rocket Skates, Sextape (Diamond Eyes), Swerve City, Leathers, Poltergeist, Graphic Nature (Koi No Yokan)
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5. Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails sets a very different mood. I'm pumped more than anything.
Albums: Broken, Downward Spiral, The Fragile, With Teeth, (Ghosts I-IV and The Slip are secondary)
Songs: Wish, Happiness in Slavery, Gave up (Broken), Closer, The Becoming, Reptile (The Downward Spiral), The Wretched, No you don't, The Great Below (The Fragile-Left), The Hand that Feeds, Only, Right Where it Belongs (With Teeth), Came Back Haunted, Copy of A (Hesitation Marks)
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Some songs that set the mood completely:
1. Textures: Storm Warning, Awake
2. Alter Bridge: Metalingus
3. Tesseract: Concealing Fate
4. Pantera: Psycho Holiday, War Nerve
5. Despised Icon: MVP
6. Fell Silent: Erase Begin, Immerse
7. Gojira: A Sight to Behold
8. Judas Priest: Painkiller
9. Iron Maiden: Aces High
10. Lamb of God: Ruin
11. Slipknot: Vermillion II
12. Led Zeppelin: Immigrant Song

I've also been listening to Indian bands Blakc and Paradigm Shift.

You may listen to other bands like Devin Townsend, Isis, Intronaut, some even listen to Tool. If you feel like listening to Slipknot also, I feel you. The frustration gets you there sometimes. Alter Bridge and Soundgarden also work well in the study leave, but not while studying.


Here are a list of a few instrumental bands:

1. Exivious

Discography: Exivious, Liminal 

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2. Animals as Leaders

Discography: Self-titled, Weightless, The Joy of Motion

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3. Cloudkicker

Discography: myspace​.​com​/​musicistight, The Discovery, The Map is Not the Territory, Portmanteau, ]​]​]​[​[​[, Beacons, Loop, Let Yourself be Huge, Fade, Hello, Cloudkicker - The warmth of the daytime seemed like a dream now. (t16 remix), Subsume

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All the best! 

INDIAN ROCK AND METAL DOCUMENTARIES

From when rock began in India for the very first time till today, we've been a very interesting growing scene. Here are a few videos of rock and metal documented in India, with a few international ones as well. 

Rockumentary - the evolution of Indian Rock was Directed by music journalist Abhimanyu Kukreja during his stint with NewsX, a national English Channel based in India. The documentary was released on national Indian television in the year 2008 and still gets broadcast occasionally. In 2005, while still being in university, Abhimanyu realised that not much was written about Indian rockers as compared to their international counterparts. This prompted him to start his own word of mouth research and document the roots of Indian Rock and Roll music. So by the time, he passed out of University, the script was almost ready. Instead of practicing hard news and make an easy career in the news industry, he decided to be a music journalist. He wanted to make a series that would document the history of Indian rock but unfortunately the channel gave him a 24 minute slot. Approximately 450 minutes of footage was shot but a lot of it could not be aired as news stations in India prioritise hard news over rock music. Not their fault, rock is not exactly a selling point for them. During his time with zeenews.com and NewsX, he is also credited to have shot and interviewed the likes of Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Jethro Tull, Boney M, Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Chaka Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Indian Ocean besides a host of other Indian and international acts. Since his resignation from mainstream television, he has been working on his second one which is independent, details of which will be out soon.



Part 1

Part 2


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This is the most popular one. 'Global Metal' (2008) is a documentary film by Sam Dunn of Banger Films Inc. Sam studied anthropology and his work mostly focused on the heavy metal culture. He made this documentary after 'Metal: A Headbanger's Journey' (2005). He is also popularly known for the Iron Maiden film 'Flight 666'.

The documentary is on parts of the world where most of the west doesn't really believe metal thrives. Some people still think we don't have Internet. But fuck them, check this one out if you haven't. It's a must-watch for every metalhead. Featured are some popular dudes like Sahil 'Demonstealer' Makhija of Demonic Resurrection, Reptilian Death and Workshop, and heavy metal cooking show Headbanger's Kitchen, Nolan Lewis of Bangalore band Kryptos, Ananth in Prakalp days, Spiked Crib and an amazing gig at Razz in Bombay.


This was shot back when no major headliners had really played, Iron Maiden being one of the first and biggest bands.
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There was something amazing that came out last year, a film on heavy metal in India by Mehr Singh. At the time, Mehr, a Delhi filmmaker submitted this as her final project while she was doing a course in film and design through the Symbiosis Institute of Design in Pune.

This is another must-watch.


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Now Rock el Casbah hosted by 'Yusef Hashish' (I see), had a small episode where he promoted videos of Indian Metal bands like Demonic Resurrection (Mumbai), Scribe (Mumbai), Artillerie (Delhi) and Kryptos (Bangalore).

This guy is epically cute. Please watch! :P



Bhayanak Maut was also playing randomly in the background!
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We are all aware that Iron Maiden had segments of India in Flight 666. There are some other bands that did so too, like Meshuggah and Parkway Drive. Here are the featured parts of India from their documentaries.

Meshuggah played 'Great Indian Rock' in Pune and Delhi in 2010:



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Parkway Drive played Kolkata, India in 2011. This was pretty cool! The crowd was on stage! xD


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And then we have these guys too


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And these guys


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India has also featured in the Lamb of God documentary film 'As the Palaces Burn' with me and a segment from the Indian show, which will soon be out of DVD this year.

That's all for now! :)

SHASHANK SUNDAY: AN INTERVIEW WITH UNDYING INC VOCALIST

This man is a powerhouse of some badass vocals. He is vocalist of 'Undying Inc', a band that makes me fucking angry and makes me fucking happy at the same time! FUCK! So yeah man, I had a talk with Mr. Shashank Bhatnagar, who has given some of the most brilliant answers.

This guy is interesting and a great person to know! Check out what he had to say on a lot of things here.

I: Favourite food?
SHASHANK: Primarily anything baked, sauteed, boiled, or grilled.
I'm allergic to sea food & the likes though..

What do you do for a living?
I am a Cafe/Restaurant owner, Vocalist for "Undying Inc", Freelance Jingle Singer/Composer, & a Property Manager.

You had a drop in the middle, when you were no longer part of the band, and now you're back. 
What happened back then?
Musically, I started working on 3 projects simultaneously.
Dropped 2 by the time I joined UI back. Still working on that one project. Details will be out soon.

Your most brutal fight/moment of RAGE!?
All I can remember of it is, my body/clothes being red with blood, blue/black with several bruises, one big 12 stitch scar on my head because of a sealed soda bottle, & a hurt lower back due to which I was bed ridden for 2 months.
Pretty much the same, or worse for those 5 boys, yeah.

What do you have to say about getting 23948765934 good pictures after every gig you play?
Thank you to those awesome photographers. Without you guys, we are just ear candies. :P

Women love you. Do you love them?
A Big Fuckin Yes!

All time favorite quotes and words to live by.
"Live life stronger than hate & death" - Zakk Wylde
"I will fuck you up before I break your face" - Me to a random batch-mate in college :P

Idols/people you look up to.
I'll name 5 : Philip Anselmo, Tom Araya, Devin Townsend, Zakk Wylde, & Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

Favouritestest bands?
5 Again;
International: Slayer, Pantera, Meshuggah, Iron Maiden, Behemoth
Indian: Bhayanak Maut, Scribe, Zygnema, The Circus, Fuzz Culture

Favourite Indian musicians, or people you've loved jamming with
Guitar: Biswarup Gupta, Keshav Dhar, Adil Manuel, Arsh Sharma, Prashant Shah, Akshay Raj Purohit, Venkat Raman, Amidstya, Sidharth Kadadi, Takar Nabam.
Bass: Reuben Bhattacharya, Ravi Satpute, Lt. Clarence Gonsalves, Shakti Singh, Krishna Jhaveri.
Drums: Yuvraj Sengupta, Nishant Hagjer, Mayank Sharma, Reuben Pachuau, Varun Sood, Rahul Hariharan, Virender Kaith, Shardul Mehta, Srijan Mahajan
Keyboard: Akshat Taneja, Anubhav Misra
Vocals: Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy, Girish Pradhan, Jimmy Bhore, Sunneith Revankar, Noble Luke, Ryngkat Jyrwa

How was the gig the day before?
It was awesome. I could see a lot of dust, hands & horns up in the air, breaking barricades, kids stomping grounds, kids flying & beating the shit out of each other.
Ah! A sweet sight indeed.

Do you think our country/ the metal 'scene' lacks anything in particular? (for example: unity, supporting bands and attending gigs)
I'll just want to give more positive inputs, rather than telling you what is wrong.
Things are getting better with time, staying positive & focused is a promise "being a musician" comes with. The day this industry will have fans who would like to support their favorite bands on a monetary front, things will be different.
The best that can happen as of now for the scene, which might happen eventually;
1) Buy your favorite band's CD/merchandise, cause if you won't, nobody else will. This is the only way they can keep working on their music & stick around.
2) GIVE INDIAN BANDS AN EAR BEFORE JUDGING THEM BY GENRE : This happens so often, people actually judge bands based on their genres rather than actually listening to them. They would listen to, & LOVE/RESPECT international bands from across genres, but when they hear about Indian bands from different genres, it gets more dramatic than stupid soap operas on TV.
An ear lost is a potential fan lost. You never know what music hits you when, be a little more open-minded when it comes to Indian bands.
3) Go to your favorite band's LIVE shows. Gate fee adds vital value to your favorite band's presence. Every time a person isn't willing to pay gate fee to enter venues to see their "favorite" bands, the band suffers. Even though that band has enormous number of fans online/offline, but this is where they fail and venues don't want to bring them back (one of the reasons) cause they have no monetary value.
4) Push your favorite bands for festivals you deem fit. Get in touch with your local organizers & educate them about bands, if required.

Your most amazing moment on stage:
Being onstage is the single most amazing thing in my life.

What should we expect from Undying Inc this year? 
An "Ironclad" EP with 3 songs, & 1 massive surprise.

Listen to single 'I R O N C L A D' released last year.



Undying Inc on FACEBOOK and SOUNDCLOUD

\m/ MAAAANIMAAAAAAAALLLLL \m/

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

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

NEW SHIT IN MUMBAI! ZYGNEMA, ENTOMBED METAL FEST, MIDHAVEN, HEADBANGER'S KITCHEN

Zygnema has released a new song titled 'Shell Broken Hell Loose'

Cheggit HERE ON REVERBNATION

What I love about this recording is that the live aggression and essence of the band is captured. Even if you're just listening to it without the band in front of you playing the song, you feel like grooving the fuck out! If you like Zygnema, you know what I'm talking about!

Jimmy is easily one of my favourite vocalists!

This is a YouTube video of the song from Metal Nights, December 2012.

Arun Iyer is working on that new Devoid song btw :P

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While filming of the new season has already begun, there are a few Headbanger's Kitchen tshirts left. You will be delighted to know who the guests are so just shut up and buy a tshirt.

The details are all here:
If you missed the Headbanger's Kitchen crowd funding we have these 2 awesome prints available on pre-order. Only 25 of each are available. Get them asap from www.makemymerch.in

For those in Mumbai I have got 3 places where you can drop off cash directly. Please call though before you go. The persons name and number is there.

105, Paradise 43/B, 1st cross lane,
Lokhandwala Complex, Andheri west,
Mumbai 400053.
Contact person: Rahul (9821543001)

100 Chanakya, 7th Floor,
Dr. M.B. Raut Road,
Shivaji Park, Dadar (W),
Mumbai - 400 028
Contact person: Ameya (9821024562)

1003 Rushabh Tower,
Jakaria Bunder Cross Road,
Sewri- West
Mumbai: 400015
Contact person: Vivek (9821251690)

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Progressive/sludge metal band called Midhaven are the only rock/metal band in India to have gotten completely signed to Universal Music. Their album 'Spellbound' is going to have a worldwide release.

This is a teaser from their upcoming album. Sounds good!


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This weekend, get ready to witness Entombed Metal Fest Vol. 5. RSVP on that link. There are also some ultimately limited edition passes with Prateek Keni.

Lineup, for people who do not understand logos well enough!

Reptilian Death - Death Metal from Mumbai
SHOCK THERAPY - Brutal/Slamming Death from Hyderabad
GRiMMoRTaL - Deathcore from Mumbai
Wired Anxiety- Groove/Death from Mumbai
Escharified. - Death Metal from Hyderabad
Elemental - Brutal Groove/Death from Indore
Primitiv- Stone Age Metal from Mumbai

For Passes, contact:
Sanjeev Gupta (9967771992) [Kurla-Thane/ Central Line]
Adit Khanzode (9594253935) [Thane-Kalyan]
Paresh Garude (9769820782) [Andheri/ Western Suburbs/ Vashi]
Venkat Iyer (9969767508) [Nerul-Seawoods]
Prateek Keni (9819881088) [Kharghar-Belapur]
Abhishek Gawaande (9029547791) [Panvel]

Call them.

Ya.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRAKHAR: A TALK WITH HALAHKUH'S STUD

I would like to wish Prakhar Soni, vocalist and bass guitar player of four-piece thrash death band Halahkuh from Pune a very very Happy Birthday! He turns 22 today (LADIES!) and is lucky enough to play a gig today at DA-IICT in Gujarat, the dry state, along with Mumbai bosses Devoid, Wired Anxiety and Winter Gate.

Halahkuh would like to say, "We wish our muchchad frontman and Kayden Kross lover Prakhar a very Happy Birthday."

And as guitar player Chinmay Bokil would appropriately call him today:

Halahkuh now has a new booking agent, Mr. Roydon Bangera, Devoid's manager.

I asked Prakhar a few questions about himself and the band. Here's our telecon.

I: Hey dude, Happy Birthday man!
PrakhSoni: Hey! Thank you thank you.

I: So ya, what's your favourite cuisine? (because hey, food's important)
PrakhSoni: Italian

I: How was the Delhi trip, Inferno and the whole Delhi experience for Halahkuh?
PrakhSoni: It was surprising that we got an opportunity to play Inferno Metal festival with a mammoth lineup of international and Indian bands because it was quite unexpected. Subhrajyoti (guitar player) and I just thought we'd register and see what happens, and on checking at one point, we were 200 votes ahead of the other bands, which felt great! We'd all wanted to play in a different city. I'd kept telling these guys about Delhi, which is my home town, and praised the weather which was perfect on our visit. I played a gig in front of my parents for the first time! It was a case of brilliant timing as Megadeth was playing MTV Xtreme the next day too. RSJ (Rock Street Journal) took great care of us and did a good job with the gig as well. We were very happy.

I: What in the world does DA-IICT stand for?
PrakhSoni: Dhirubhai Ambani... Institute of Information and Computer Technology

I: Okaayy.. When did you start playing bass and doing vocals?
PrakhSoni: I started playing bass in the 8th standard (8th grade) which was in 2006 and vocals after our previous vocalist Rahul left, which was in 2011. The band had only played a few competitions back then.

I: What is special about Halahkuh? What keeps you guys together as a band?
PrakhSoni: I think even though we do not listen to the same bands, we somehow manage to come together to make the same music. As members of a band, we have that certain chemistry, a common goal that we want to achieve through our music and try to jam as much as we can. As people, we try to enjoy the simple things in life like watch Hindi movies, drink tapri ka chai and not hide anything from each other. Before I'd met the other three guys, it was good to know that they also had the same mindset as I did.

I: Would you like to make music your career?
PrakhSoni: It depends on how everything goes. I love the thought. Although, when it comes to surviving as a metal band in India as of now, a day job is still a compulsion and it comes with a lot of sacrifices. With Halahkuh, we are sure that even when we do get jobs, we will always set enough time aside for the band.

I: Since you are in Gujarat, the dry state, I must ask... Found any alcohol yet?
PrakhSoni: Ermmhaha..No. But I do hope some arrangements are made for tonight!

I: Do you have any message for ladies (if any) who read my blog, and everyone else?
PrakhSoni: Yes. And you have to quote this. "Pratika is one of the most humble people I have met who goes out of her way to help individuals, and as I mention again, we wouldn't have got our tickets to Inferno if it wasn't for her."
To all our fans, look out for us and a big thank you for believing in us the way you've always done. Please read this blog, or WE WON'T THRASH YOU ANYMORE!

This is a video of Halahkuh live at Inferno Metal Festival:


Halahkuh will be playing in Mumbai at Atharva College's 'Show No Mercy' on the 5th of March 2014 along with Primitiv. The entry is FREE.

Find Halahkuh on Facebook and listen to their music on ReverbNation. For bookings, contact Roydon Bangera.

P.S: Do not miss the dreadlocked hottie in the band. ;)

Cheers!