We had fun catching up with thrash metal band Devoid to chat about their new EP ‘The Invasion’. We also managed to spend some time talking about their new line-up, their song writing process and much more. Have a look!
Interviewed by Ishan. Filmed by Diane Vaz and Siddharth Dugha.
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Devoid, one of the heavyweights of Bombays ever growing thrash metal scene are out with a new concept EP for their sophomore release The Invasion. Post the release of their first album A Gods Lie in 2010 with Demonstealer Records, the band saw a couple of line-up changes with Sanju Aguiar and Abhishek Kamdar replacing Keshav Kumar and Frank Pawar on lead guitar and bass respectively. Shubham Kumar continues to handle his drum duties, while vocalist and rhythm guitarist Arun Iyer doubles up as the bands producer and engineer for this EP making The Invasion their first DIY release in its 7 years of existence.
With only 5 tracks clocking in at a little over 20 minutes this release definitely packs a punch above its weight, with the prime concept of the album revolving around an alien invasion on planet earth. The story unfolds with a two and a half minutes long instrumental The Prelude followed by The Invasion which characters the arrival of the extra-terrestrial into this world with some heavy thrash metal. Pandemonium is Now outlines the anarchy and the chaos that grips a society in the face of extinction. The 4th track Brahma Weapon, easily my most favourite song from the EP, is the final fury of the gods upon civilization, chronicling the obliteration of this planet, with mentions of mass extinction, burning of the righteous and drowning of the sun. This mini epic of sorts ends with The Grand Design, which as the title itself suggests is about the grand plan that spells out the bigger picture, talking about how everything thats destroyed is rebuilt with the gift of time and the design being the matter of all creation.
Musically, The Invasion is heavy, fast and an unadulterated ode to thrash metal thatll make you head bang irrespective of whether youre in your car, at your workplace, or worse, in college. The EP sounds massive in its entirety with some really vicious guitar riffs, along with rock-solid drumming and pitch-perfect vocals. The acoustic guitar track in The Prelude is a fine way of easing the listener into the skull crushing heavy metal that follows in the remaining tracks. Personally, The Invasion is one of the best EPs Ive heard in a long time, partly because of my affinity towards thrash metal but greatly because of this bands ability to blow you off your mind. In my view, this EP by Devoid is one of the best releases weve had from Bombay in quite some time and itll honestly be really unfair to critique the album based on any one of its shortcomings (not like there are any blatant ones). The storytelling is impeccable, the concept is questionably innovative, the song writing is stellar, artwork is literally out of this world and the production quality is good, if not excellent. Any metal head who manages to get his/her hands on this monster of an EP will be in for an absolute treat, which unfortunately lasts just a little over 20 minutes (40 minutes on loop). Its been just a little over 36 hours since I got the EP and I am already yearning for their sophomore release, which will again be a concept album.
Final Verdict: Very highly recommended by the reviewer.
There are times during gigs when things appear to go downhill and no one is able to spot them – not the musicians or the technicians or even the sound engineers, and the end result is disappointing. This was NOT one of those gigs.
On 22nd January 2012, 8:00 p.m. onwards it was all hands on deck – what can be described as one of the best recoveries at Blue Frog that I have personally witnessed in the local music scene. Though the overall gig could only be termed as moderately good, it would be wrong for me not to credit the musicians and their crew for their presence of mind and professional approach to the situation.
The show started with Providence opening with ‘Glass Eye Dawn,’ their instrumental track, which also served as the sound check. The sound engineer Akash Sawant was quick to respond as he immediately fine-tuned the audio levels to a perfect blend. The next track, ‘Source Code’, was power packed and now supplemented with the vocals of Sunneith Revankar. Around this track, I began to notice that the bass drum’s volume had been fluctuating as it became softer during the double bass parts. Akash was quick to respond and the problem was taken care of right away. Throughout the lapse, Aaron remained focused and precise behind the drum kit.
‘Watch Them Fall’ was the third track on the set list. Sunneith’s vocals were spot on; as a matter of fact, he had been consistent throughout the show and had not appeared to have encountered any sort of difficulty. The track was well-played and simultaneously had visuals from the famous Xbox game ‘Gears Of War’ on one of the screens above, which proved to be a nice combination. Shezan and Charan’s guitar playing amazed the crowd as they continued to scream and sing along with the track.
The track that followed next was a Sepultura cover called ‘Spit’ which was nicely done. The second cover came immediately introducing a guest vocalist Biposhree Das of the band Albatross. ‘Trooper’ by Iron Maiden was up next. This, in my opinion, was the least impressive track by the band. The start of the track was bad as the guitarists played a few wrong notes in the beginning. The vocals were not impressive either as they seemed to soften up every now and then, sometimes even inaudible. Despite the unappealing start, guitarists Shezan and Charan recovered well.
The next track, ‘Talk Shit, Get Hit’, brought Sunneith back on the microphone. The start of the track again appeared edgy but this time they recovered quickly making it barely noticeable. The track was supplemented with visuals from the famous anime Mobile Suit Gundam which was very much in sync with the music. They finished the set with ‘Prosthetic’, which opened with a nice drum and bass intro.
Out of all the musicians, Sunneith and Srikant were the most consistent and appeared to have encountered no difficulties whatsoever. Shezan gave the crowd something extra special with his solos which kept them screaming with admiration. Charan held his ground and did not give up despite his guitar strap falling off at one point and also after facing a glitch – the kind of problems that usually cause musicians to lose timing for a fraction of a second. But Charan’s timings did not falter nor did he show any drop in performance. Aaron also faced problems such as drumsticks snapping, which he quickly changed and also the breaking of the china-cymbal, which could not be helped. The important thing is that he was determined to deliver and he did.
I have nothing much to say about the crowd because every time I’d glance at them they would either be headbanging or moshing, which was a clear indication that that they were having a great time. The crowd interaction was adequate and nicely handled; though this wasn’t the best show of Providence that I have witnessed. However, this was indeed the first time I had seen them battling the odds and they had emerged victorious.
Zygnema was on stage next and they kept it straightforward with We Came, We Saw, We Conquered. The intro track ‘Phobia’ was played over the PA as a video montage of different locations in Mumbai and footage of the terrorist attacks were shown on the screen. As the intro track played the band members slowly took to the stage. ‘Phobia’ is originally an intro to the track ‘59′ which refers to the 59 minutes of terror that Mumbai had suffered during the terrorist attacks. I’ve been following this band for over half a decade and I can confidently say that this is one of their anthem tracks. It was a good start – the crowd immediately began to sing along and it grew louder as the chorus began. Parts of the track had off-timed drums, which made it sound really good.
The next track ‘Machine-State Hibernation’ was an intensely powerful track that demanded everyone’s attention. Mayank’s drum patterns were crisp and precise and Sidharth’s breakdowns on the guitar were clear and spot on. Ravi’s bass in my opinion was a little softer than it should have been but audible nonetheless. To this music, Jimmy’s vocals were a brilliant mix.
After playing the track ‘Endangered’, the band announced that they were filming the show so as to use the footage in the DVD they plan to launch soon. The next track ‘Scarface’ is a Zygnema classic. They performed it effortlessly and the crowd sang along. Although all the tracks comprised of good breakdowns, I personally liked the breakdowns in ‘Discriminate’.
If fate was to put anyone to test on this night then it surely had to be the guitarist(s). As the track ‘National Disaster’ was being played, Sidharth’s tone sounded slightly odd and he also made a minor mistake while playing the solo. Thankfully, for the rest of the show, Sidharth held his ground and played flawlessly.
‘Theory of Lies and Negation’ followed next, after which they played ‘Shell Broken, Hell Loose’. The track went well and to the crowd’s surprise, Providence’s guitarist and the band’s long-time friend Shezan came on stage and jumped into the crowd. Jimmy followed Shezan’s lead by jumping into the crowd while they played their final track ‘Born of Unity.’
The set ended in high spirits as the crowd repeatedly requested them to play tracks by Pantera. Overall, except for the low bass volume and the minor mishap in the track ‘National Disaster’, Zygnema’s set went very well. If they had faced any more problems apart from the ones I noticed, they were well taken care of, which is a huge bonus to them and the sound engineer Akash.
This was a very important night for Devoid as it was their first gig with their new bassist Abhishek Kamdar. They began with the track ‘Battle Cry’ which had a deep and heavy bass line in the intro. Bad luck was quick to befall on the guitarist Sanju, as his guitar strap came off and the strings snapped. Before it was too late, Sanju quickly reached for another guitar and continued the track. The second track played was called ‘Possessed’. Shubam was very good with his drum patterns and Arun handled guitars and vocals without any difficulty. Abhishek played some nice bass runs in the track and Sanju gave it the finishing touch with an amazing solo. The track was supported with some blood spatter visuals.
Up next was the track ‘A God’s Lie’ which is titled after their album. This is a very famous track and almost everyone present there knew the lyrics and sang along. I specifically liked the harmonizing guitars of Arun and Sanju. At the end of the track, Arun took a moment to thank the fans for the support they have given over the years.
The music resumed with the track ‘Devoid Of Emotions’, after which they played ‘Hate Cult’. To me, one of the biggest treats was to watch Sanju’s solos. Even though they were played at high speeds, the precision and clarity of notes was very impressive. The next tracks were ‘Black Fortress’ and ‘Beer Song’ – both evidently very familiar to the audience as they sang along with the band. The band closed their set with their latest track called ‘The Invasion’. It was the first time they had played the song live. It wasn’t as well blended as the previous tracks but the crowd enjoyed it nonetheless.
Kudos to Arun and Shubham for holding the fort, and to Abhishek for doing a good job with the tracks even though he barely had the time to learn and practice the songs after having joined the band. Credit also goes to Sanju for keeping his cool and still delivering those intricate guitar solos.
It is worth making a special mention of the sound engineer Akash Sawant for sitting through the entire show attentively and keeping the sound levels at the right decibels, and for having the presence of mind to make corrections where required, intelligently. All in all, there were many reasons and factors that could have made this event a total disaster. However, full points to the bands for preventing anything from going wrong and sending the crowd home happy and satisfied.
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The Bombay Rock Project, although being a new entrant into Mumbai’s music scene, comprises a line-up of musicians who are well established in their own right, each of whom plays for a number of city bands. The gig they were playing today was at a mall, and I didn’t really know what to expect from them in terms of music, or the venue’s sound setup.
It was a typically windy and rainy June evening in Vashi, as the band set themselves up in the Inorbit Mall compound, close to the entrance. The place was sheltered by an unusually psychedelic looking ceiling way above, and kept out most of the rain. There was a sparse crowd present, as you’d expect in a mall, most of who were either known to the band, or curious passers-by.
A quick chat with one of the band members told me that I was to expect covers of classic Bollywood songs, with a twist, and maybe a couple of English songs thrown in as well. This surprised me, given the kind of music that I’ve heard each of these musicians play before with other bands.
So finally after a long drawn out sound check, the band was good to go. On lead guitar was Sanju Aguiar of Devoid, on bass was Ishaan Krishna of The Hoodwink Circle, on drums was Agnnelo Picaardo of Dischordian, on keyboards and saxophone was Nigel Rajaratnam of Dischordian, and spearheading the project was The Works’ vocalist, Mihir Joshi.
The first song was an upbeat cover of the title track of the Amitabh Bacchan starrer, Don, and set the stage for an energetic set list. The next was a cover of ‘Janu Meri Jaan’, from the 1980 classic, Shaan. At this point, I must admit I didn’t quite know what to make of the band. It felt a little bit indulgent, and more like they were playing to the masses, and not to a more discerning audience.
The band seemed tight and the overall sound was fairly good, given the windy conditions and that the location was for all practical purposes, a driveway. Ishaan had broken the top string of his bass guitar at the end of the second song, but to everyone’s bewilderment, nonchalantly proceeded to continue without it.
The next one was a rather crowd-pleasing mash-up medley of ‘Summer of ’69’, ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’, and ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’. The songs were blended together quite well, but essentially stayed true to the originals. This was followed by another two hindi covers of the songs ‘Dekha Na’ and ‘Jawani Janeman’. So far, I had no complaints about the performance itself, but given the set list, it felt a little like we were watching an Amitabh Bacchan tribute gig.
Things started picking up with the next song, an interesting jazz-like cover of ‘Dum Maaro Dum’ with a nice drum solo from Agnnelo and a piano solo by Nigel. Things got even more interesting with a reggae mash-up of John Mayer’s ‘Your Body Is A WonderLand’ and Lucky Ali’s ‘O Sanam’, scoring highly on the creativity scale.
The next two songs were covers of ‘Saara Zamaana’ and ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’, both of which had a distinct classic rock feel to them, and were followed by ‘Inteha Ho Gayi’ (yet again featuring the Big B) and was for me the best song so far, with Nigel switching to the saxophone towards the end.
Tossing in another English track, the band did an unusual take on the David Guetta house sensation, ‘Love Is Gone’, before moving back into hindi mode with a cover of the title track of the movie ‘Rock On’ as Mihir went into the crowd and got people to sing along with the chorus.
In response to the crowd’s request for another fast song, Mihir belted out ‘Dance Dance’, probably not my favourite of the evening, but there was a lot of energy in the performance, and some nice guitaring by Sanju. The list concluded with ‘Om Shanti Om’ and a cover of Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke On The Water’.
The performance overall was very entertaining. Agnnelo was solid as ever on drums, Nigel was creative with his keyboard, Ishaan was quite flawless despite playing with only three strings, and Sanju’s guitar riffs were excellent. Mihir was clearly the life of the band and though his vocals were at times a little bit pitchy, more than made up for it with some incredible showmanship and stage presence.
I’ve always found it interesting to see the name of a band qualified with the word ‘Project’. It indicates a certain lack of pretence, a degree of experimentation, and to some extent, an organised approach, all of which, The Bombay Rock Project at first glance seemed to fulfill in fair measure.
The band appears to be well prepared to take on the music scene. Their costumes and logo look to be steps towards creating a solid identity. Their performance looked tight and well rehearsed, and the members appeared relaxed and were enjoying themselves. The musicianship was of excellent quality and had a balanced sound. All in all, they appear to be unabashedly, a hindi cover band, and clearly look to be taking the commercial route by introducing rock music to the masses.
It was a warm, dry afternoon. Feasting on the extreme local cuisine was the first priority that day. Hyderabadi Biryani, at Four Seasons was a delight and best served with soda. With yummies in our tummies, we arrived well ahead of the crowd. The location was Mountain Heights which is primarily a tourist attraction with huge naturally occurring boulders covering the landscape. Quite an apt place for “Deccan Rock,” one would think.
Day One of the festival was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. but no one was allowed to enter the venue before 4:30 p.m. and the show went on to start only by 4:45 p.m. Usually, rock/metal shows do start late but when you are promised performances by 10 bands in a day and the show starts when the evening is setting in, one would wonder how much time each band would finally get. The crowd which had gathered wasn’t big and till about 4 p.m., there was probably only around 30-35 attendees who had gathered to get their passes and many of them were familiar faces spotted regularly at metal gigs in Bangalore.
It was interesting to see so many sponsors for this festival including a TV partner in Maa Music. Although the ground at the venue wasn’t as large as the one at Palace Grounds, being enveloped on one side by trees and rocky hills gave it a scenic setting (in the words of Barney Ribeiro of Nervecell we’d call it “a tranquility in this place”). The stage wasn’t as big as you would expect it be for an open air concert, but it surely was a visual treat to see big chunks of rocks serving as the backdrop and a hut nearby used as the green room gave it a rather rustic feel.
A quick word about the stalls – besides the regular stalls for eateries and beer, there was a merchandise stall by Moshpit: The Gore Store with death metal and black metal T-shirts, hoodies, badges and keychains. There was another stall with merchandise from Funeral in Heaven, Sybreed, Violent Eve, Escher’s Knot and Motor Militia.
The first band to start Day One’s proceedings was Hyderabad’s Shock Therapy who opened with their first song ‘Sparrows‘. They had played this song nearly a month ago at the Signs of Chaos fest in Bangalore and in no way could one have expected their vocalist to impersonate one of the popular cartoon characters Tweety in this song. The impersonation this time wasn’t as funny as the last time but what didn’t fail to tickle our funny bones was when a cameraman from Maa Music came up on the stage and started moving his camera in front of the guitars to give a zoom-in-zoom-out effect one would usually behold in South Indian music videos! Shock Therapy was on the groovier side of Slam death metal in their set at Signs of Chaos but they seemed more in the brutal riffing vein this time at the Deccan Rock. It was interesting to see them dedicate a song to Abandoned Agony which had some tight and intense riffing in it. A thumbs up to Shock Therapy for giving a good start to the fest.
Shades of Retribution got us confused with their sound – in the beginning, they seemed like a modern thrash metal band but in between their set they seemed to have a metalcore sound. The vocalist has a very raspy voice and they also have one of the band members play ethnic Assamese instruments which may have sounded great in the recordings didn’t blend quite well with the music when played live.
There is never a dull moment when Escher’s Knot takes to the stage, we just stood there mesmerized by the band – the energy is always on a high! They played the their usual set and jammed with Violent Eve’s guitarist to cover some tracks by Meshuggah . It was during their set that the first moshpit started and a wall, although a weak one, was formed.
Evergreen is a very tight, alternative hard rock outfit, but on that day they sounded quite ordinary. They kept dedicating songs to Motor Militia and Violent Eve who kept cheering which was so repetitive that it got quite funny after a while! They ended their stint with Louie Armstrong’s number ‘What a Wonderful World’ (Remember the show was against global warming!)
The first international band for the day was Antim Grahan from Nepal and boy, did they blow our minds away! Though mostly a melodic black metal act, they had brutal groovy riffs infused in some of their songs which just added another dimension to the band’s music and got everyone into a headbanging frenzy. Keyboards were also included in their music and were meant to add to the riffs rather than stand out on their own. Together with the guitars they created some great melodic segments. The sound was perfect; the vocals and all the instruments were perfectly audible. The lights were mellowed down during their set which added to the feel and the atmosphere. All in all, Antim Grahan was definitely the band of the day. It was interesting to know that they have been around since the first half of the previous decade and already have five albums in their discography.
Motor Militia was okay and had nothing extraordinary about them. What they did have though was 3-4 guitarists who made the stage seem a lot smaller during their set.
Violent Eve was the second good band of the day – they sounded great and their music ranged from death to metal core. Of all the bands their set lasted a little longer. A round of moshes followed when they played which mostly consisted of kids between the age of 14-16, beer in hand. Wonder who sold them that!
Sybreed turned out to be a serious let down. Maybe Violent Eve should have been chosen as the headliners. They played some techno stuff from the console which was definitely not suitable for a live show. We left after the first song.
Day 2 had ten of the remaining bands performing including the big names, thrashers from Dubai, Nervecell and the premier Polish Death metal band Decapitated along with Cyanide Serenity (UK), Inner Guilt (Lebanon), Funeral in Heaven (Sri Lanka), Devoid (India), III Sovereign (India) and Abandoned Agony (India). Though ten was the promised number, Sledge and Artillerie were two bands that didn’t play that evening.
After an extended tanning session under the sun waiting for the bands to finish their sound check, we were let in with a handful of other early birds, when our wrist watches were about to tick close to 5 p.m. Three hours past the entry time mentioned on the ticket. No surprises there.
The venue was setup with numerous stalls for tshirts and other merchandise along with food and beverage counters. Though it was not a big enough ground for a concert, it was sufficient to accomodate a few thousands.The stage was set against backdrop of rocks that were abundant in the venue. The setup on stage seemed simple with good lighting and a modest PA. Three drum kits were placed around the backend of the stage. This was a clever move as it helped the bands to successively take stage without wasting much time on drumkit setups. Sprawling the stage were the video camera crew from MAA TV armed with their equipment, whose over-the-top antics to get the best shots kept us amused.
After a few sips of God’s gift a.k.a good old beer and a quick tour of all the stalls, we were all set for the first act of the evening. Abandoned Agony was the first band to rip the air waves. This is a band that’s no stranger to the extreme metal scene. The trio delivered one song after another with precision. In the literal sense of stand and deliver, they went through a set of some serious death metal. The shredding action from Hitesh was the highlight of their performance. Their tracks are framed around complex structures and can get pretty technical at times. And like most bands who the dare to venture that far, sadly they received only a lukewarm response from the crowd.
No proxy for Artillerie.
III Sovereign is a band that any old timer Indian metal follower would instantly recognize. With respectable old death metal influences, they appealed to death metal listeners who would prefer aged music over the newer tones. The effort to bring in energy on stage was commendable. Vocalist Devraj traversed the entire width of the stage. Reuben, the drummer added charm with rhythmic head banging and slick drumming. Although the stage act was great, their music couldn’t reach out to the audience save for a few people who really seemed to be enjoying the music.
Devoid was next. I was rather keen to see them live since I had heard quite a lot about this Mumbai based Thrash metal act and I wasn’t disappointed. The crowd was pleased with track list which included many favorites like ‘Beer Song’, ‘Battle Cry‘ and other tracks from their album. Vocalist and Rhythm Guitarist, Arun makes for a terrific frontman. Bassist Frank brought out his inner animal on stage. The crowd dove into a pit and started head banging and cheering to every track. Fast riffs and mind numbing drums fills are ingredients for the perfect recipe to get your crowd into frenzy and that’s just what happened. I could not help but notice influences of Miland Petrozza in the front man’s vocal style. Good thrash metal was served and we liked it.
No proxy was given for Sledge either.
Sri Lankan melodic Black metal outfit Funeral in Heaven was the surprise of the lot. Their sound is a amalgamation of black metal with traditional percussion instruments which included the versatile Tabla. The percussion as a tasteful layer topped over the underlying rhythmic parts. This is the sound of what they like to call “Sri Lankan Ritualistic Black Metal”. There were instances of very noticeable sound problems during the set. Their set list covered some impressive original compositions. That being said there was also some scope for improvement in levels setup at the concert stage console which could have really helped in enjoying the band better as some instruments were hardly heard.
Inner Guilt from Lebanon is thrash metal band. We couldn’t find the thrash that was expected but it was a more modern thrash that the crowd seemed to actually enjoy. The mosh pit was alive again and so was sound in the PA which was fixed after the sound assistant made a trip to the stage and back. The band managed to connect with the crowd and put up a good show.
“We don’t care about record sales, all we care is connecting with you by our music” said Matt McKay vocalist of Cyanide Serenity said which lead to an uproar in number in the most pit which finally resulted in one fallen barricade and a few stunned steroid bouncers (dudes who looked like the ones you can find in local gyms) . This video will show you how. Before something important was damaged by the crowd near the stage, reinforcements of the steroid bouncers arrived who pushed everyone back behind the barricades and “bounced” the show back like nothing ever happened. Cyanide Serenity is a metal act from UK with modern sound and metal core influences. This was the band in the fest that the crowd really picked up. Great stage presence by the band members and an in-your-face vocalist , keeping his vocal capabilities apart, exemplified the electric atmosphere and energy that goes into making a metal concert what it really is.
Meanwhile, in the vicinity, Official Tshirts of Nervecell, Sybreed, Motor Militia, Violet Eve, Devoid, Decapitated were available at the stall along with CDs. Nervecell offered fantastic artwork on their shirts. Decapitated shirts arrived in haste and were a terrible disappointment. The shirts were still warm from the ink printed on them. With such quality it’s hard for the print to even survive a few washes and wears.
Nervecell has toured India in the recent past and had received some rave reviews as well. The band was invited as co-headliners for Day 2.They took to the stage without wasting any time. Due to time constraints they had to rush through their set list which included two new tracks from their new album Psychogenocide (Terrific artwork!). Vocalist and Bassist Rajeh mentioned that these tracks received their first live play at the show. It was a very tight performance with a set list that lasted around 45 mintues of some kickass no nonsense death metal with no breaks. The band has a good build of fan base in India, which they are very fond of. Post gig Rajeh and Guitarist Barnaby were seen signing and interacting with fans at their T-shirts kiosk.
It was nearing 10:30 when Decapitated finally took to the stage and they seemed to be in no real hurry. It was well into the night, the heat was beaten and the bouncers were vigilant for the next wave of kids ramming into barricades. The new line up now features Rafal on vocals, much anticipated drummer Krimh and Heinrich filling in with the bass duties. Waclaw “Vogg” Kieltyka is the only original band member left in the band. After a brief sound check by the Krimh, they kicked off their set with ‘Visual Delusion’ from their last album. It dropped hard on an eagerly expecting crowd, who reacted instantly by banging their heads to the teeth-grinding guitar tone and the face-slapping drum beats. The set list covered tracks from their last album ‘Day 69’, ‘A Poem About An Old Prison Man’ and the latter half of the set had their heavier classics like their signature ‘Spheres of Madness‘, ‘Three-dimensional Defect’ and ‘The Fury‘. A couple of newer tracks including ‘404‘ were played, however Rafal left the crowd guessing if it were from the newer material they had been working before the tour.
Vogg had a setup of two Marshall Cabinets wired as two channels for stereo. Using foot pedals to switch between Left and Right channels, he played around alternating between the channels for few intros and bridges. His more frequented use of loops using foot pedals and prolonged delays showed signs of exploration and experimentation in the sound of the band. From the looks and sounds of it, the new album can be expected to pack quite a surprise to fans especially older fans.
Before the crowd had soaked in all the metal, they were done with the setlist. However, just after they cleared the stage they got back on stage to play their last track ‘The Fury‘ before finally leaving the stage for good. Vogg did his exit by letting a piece of riff that he played last, loop till it faded away to a hum.
On realizing that the show was really over, we walked back to the stalls. After a round of “meet and greet” with Nervecell, the next thing we had in our minds at 12:00 a.m. was dinner, which of course will be covered in our next write up on “Hog food like a Hog: A guide to wannabe gourmets”. Or not.
Is thrash metal dead? The genre that was most easily the ‘face’ of metal throughout the 80s and the 90s seemed like a lost art in the new century. With the most bankable names in thrash dishing out duds after duds, any metalhead worth his/her salt would say thrash is almost dead. A God’s Lie will change this perception.
The album marks the debut of six-year old Mumbai based thrash/ death metal outfit Devoid and talks about the violence of religion and the futility of it all. The album cover by Shakti Dash sums up the entire mood with illustrations that are startlingly smoky and blue with Goddess Kali in war mode. It’s dark, it’s heavy and it’s definitely not for the weak hearted.
‘A Silent Death’ makes for a brilliant opening for the album. The acoustic track sounds depressing, even suicidal and will leave you in a complete state of unpreparedness for the skull crushing riffs on the tracks that follow. ‘Battle Cry,’ right from its start of sirens wailing and gunshots to its riffs is reminiscent of the dying moments of Metallica’s ‘One.’
One of the most brilliant tracks on the album with its structuring is ‘New World Order.’ The track has parts of the goose bump inducing speech the character Howard Beale makes in the 1976 movie ‘Network’ about why people should get mad about everything wrong in the world. The title track, that comes in at the very end of the album stands out with its lyrics that slap you in your conformist faces. The other track that carves a niche for itself is ‘Black Fortress,’ a track that incidentally put Devoid into the spotlight in the Indian metal scene. ‘Possessed’ is a pure delight to hear for Shubham Kumar’s drumming. With lightning fast double bass beats, Shubham owns the track.
The bonus track, ‘Beer Song’ is an out-and-out old school thrash track that has ‘fun’ written all over it in capital letters. It’s the kind of track that would set the adrenaline pumping and lead to fractured limbs in moshpits at gigs. Sanju Aguiar, who did a short stint as the lead guitarist for the band when their original man Keshav Kumar took a hiatus, returns to play on the bonus track, and boy is he fast!
Arun Iyer, with his raspy vocals, completely entices through the 38-odd-minute running duration of the album. Iyer’s crisp riffing provides Keshav ample opportunity to showcase why he is one of the best thrash metal lead guitarists in India. Frank Pawar, Devoid’s bassist, having played in several other bands is very seasoned to say the least, bringing his distinct touch to each track.
A God’s Lie isn’t about atheism; it’s about the flaw in religion that fails to save us from the monster that is politics. The idea is something that connects to Indians instantly and this works for Devoid. Both the band and the album are brutally honest and make no bones about it. The only issue with A God’s Lie is that the tracks lack this certain variation that would make them stand apart from each other.
A God’s Lie is that rare piece of a thrash debut whose copy you would want to preserve. Devoid is an extremely powerful band that shows promise like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Thrashers around the world will agree that the album stands out not only because it’s from a Bollywood obsessed nation but because it’s genuinely world class. I’d rather listen to A God’s Lie than Slayer’s latest World Painted Blood, any day. Enough said!
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