Author Archives: Karthik Yermunja
Back in November 2010, a mysterious Black force called Heathen Beast had dropped a sonic bomb on unsuspecting masses. The first EP Ayodhya Burns was well-received and the title track happens to be one of my favorites The secretive trio from Mumbai, who go by the monikers Carvaka (vocals/guitars), Samkhya (bass) and Mimamsa (drums), profess to be atheists and claim to deal with subjects relevant to India and its culture, rather than choosing to focus on the typical anti-Christ or Satanic themes prevalent in Black Metal. Now, a year-and-half later, they have returned with their second EP titled The Drowning of the Elephant God. Similar to Ayodhya Burns, the 2nd EP also contains three songs. But,…
When the Mumbai-based power-thrash metal band, Albatross, who peg themselves as horror metal, announced that their latest album was going to be a Split EP with the American Doom Metal band, Vestal Claret, I had asked the founder/bassist of the band, Riju Dasgupta (who goes by his onstage moniker Dr. H3X) why they were keen on doing EPs rather than releasing full lengths. He replied that they would rather work on their songwriting chops and on getting their sound right before recording a full length album. So when I received the early copy of their latest effort, The Kissing Flies EP, I was very curious to know how much they had progressed from their debut…
The fact that the Metal scene is exploding in India is pretty well known. Over the past half a decade, an unprecedented number of international metal bands have played at various music festivals in the country. Back in 2010, a hitherto unknown entity called Overture India got Lamb of God down, much to the Indian metal crowd’s joy. After a year’s hiatus, they announced that Opeth would be headlining the second edition of Summer Storm on 5th February, 2012 (which isn’t exactly summer, but we wouldn’t hold that against the organizers). Foreign bands Suidakra from Germany and Nothnegal from Maldives, as well as local metal bands Theorized and Eccentric Pendulum from Bangalore, were added to…
Cauchemar is a traditional Doom Metal band, formed by Canadian couple Annick Giroux and François Patry. Currently on a worldwide journey, Cauchemar did a one-off show in Bangalore, India as part of the TrendSlaughter Festival. WTS caught up with the travelling doomsters before the gig for a fun-filled chat. Read on to find out fun stories of a band on the road… WTS: Hello, Welcome to India! Let’s start off with a little bit of history about Cauchemar. Annick: Thank you! We formed Cauchemar in 2007. Well, I played in a Thrash Metal band called Exterminator. François: I had just projects for fun, and Cauchemar is the first thing that led to something… Annick: Yeah, first…
Karthik YermunjaKarthik Yermunja
George Kollias is a world renowned and much accomplished drummer from Greece. He is best known as the drummer of the American Death Metal band, Nile. He is also a very sought-after drum teacher and conducts power packed drum clinics all over the world. WTS caught up with him for a tête-à-tête, where he spoke at length about his drumming style and techniques and his inspirations. Read on to find out where India lies in Nile’s and George’s future plans… WTS: Expression in drumming has to do with dynamics and the idea of ‘playing with feel.’ How do you incorporate this into your drumming style? George: For death metal, there’s not enough dynamics, you’ve to…
The first time I heard of this band, I’ve to admit it, I was a bit amused by the name. But, then I learnt the yon is short for the English word yonder and has nothing to do with the Hindi word and breathed a sigh of relief. Yonsamples (erstwhile Moshpit) music, though, is nothing to laugh about. This 5-piece metal band from Kolkata kicks some serious ass with their debut self-released EP Paraphernalia. Genre-wise they can be pegged as metalcore/post-thrash/groove metal with abundant djenty riffs and synth thrown in as spicing. The 5-track EP starts off with the slow-ish ‘The Instauration’. It is the shortest track with a mellow beginning with nice SFX, progressing into djent-laden riffs…
As in each year, IIT-B managed to get a premier niche band, Katatonia, to perform for Mood-I this year as well. And, as in each year, IIT-B managed to let the general crowd in after the first band, Abraxas, had finished their set yet again. Abraxas was the eventual winner of the Livewire competition which also had Goddess Gagged, Purple Asparagus and Guillotine in contention. All these bands were allowed to play a very short set, which didnt allow us to judge their performance too well. The old stalwarts of Indian Rock, Indus Creed, were up next with a new bassist, Rushad Mistry (of Agnee) and a new drummer, the excellent and prolific Jai Row Kavi…
