Deccan Rock Festival Featurng Amon Amarth and Textures

'What the fuck' were the exact three words that came out of my mouth when i read in Nov issue of Rolling Stones that Amon Amarth and Textures were coming down to Bangalore somewhere during Nov. Now I had every reason to dismiss the piece of article as shit after the GnR fiasco, but then I agreed with it 'cos the word about Textures playing in Bangalore had been floating in air for quite a long time(from August, in fact).That they didn't play in Nov is a different thing, but then they DID play on Dec 5th which was one of the most ultra-epic event that the Indian metal scene ever witnessed. Cheapest too! After all watching these two bands for 450 bucks is a bargain that no one even dreams about.

Nevertheless, I reached the venue - a good hour before the opening of the gates(1.30 PM being the scheduled time for the opening), hoping to catch the thrill in the air right from the beginning. 'What the fuck' were the exact three words I blurted out once again when I reached the place, for going through a state of shock on seeing the arrangements of the venue. A marriage hall with bright decorations overshadowing the posters and banner of Deccan Rock Festival was something I never even expected in my worst nightmare about a concert of such great magnitude. My anticipation of seeing droves of crowds gathered near the venue were quashed too when all I noted was hundred odd bunch of people around the ticketing counter. Surely more metalheads would have turned up had the publicity campaign of the event been pursued with more vigor. Maiden's first concert saw anxious fans sleeping in Palace Grounds much before the opening. Not to mention thousands of them crowding the ticketing counter from noon itself. Even though the organizers - Orka Networks and Live Gig did bad on the publicity side, they scored some major hits on the sound console which sounded more than perfect that evening with soundman supreme Anupam Roy at the console.

Eccentric Pendulum, prog metal band from Bangalore kickstarted the show with tracks from from their EP- Sculptor of Negative Emotions with such exuberance that they clearly proved their worth of sharing the stage with the big guys. The little crowd that had gathered up got a bigger shot in the head when Inner Sanctum took to the stage next, ripped the place apart with their fiery brand of death/thrash music as Gaurav growled like a psychotic on loose while Chintan literally masturbated the fretboard with his display of awesome fret skills!. Although a point of mention added here would be that the 'moshpit' in there had a greater resemblance to a dance pit instead(blame it on the large quantity of weed that the crowd smoked up that day, as though in 'accordance' with the event's theme of fight against global warming), with pathetic posers jumping to such songs instead of headbanging like a nutter which should've been the usual case. Such would not have been the case had the tickets not been priced so low at Rs.450.

Nonetheless the show moved on and Undying Inc came on stage next, who were by far the best Indian act of that evening. It was the first time I had seen them live and by God I swear they instantly blew my ears to smithereens with their music that is hellish in every aspect. Vocals were screamed by Shashank at such incredible voice that Textures' member were actually stunned at his performance! Not to mention they were equally taken aback by the near-perfection handling of instruments by Undying member. So much were they impressed that Yuvi(Undying drummer) landed himself cymbal from Stef Brok's own kit! Bhayanak Maut were next and regardless to say the crowd went berserk over their rendition of deathcore music that comprised of tracks mainly from their new album that included Ungentle and Blasted Beyond Belief. In fact the first actual moshpit of the evening started to BM's setlist.

Things didn't go smoothly for the last two Indian acts - Kryptos and Demonic Resurrection. Nolan Lewis, Kryptos frontman attempted an audacious act of wearing Liverpool scarf on stage which got half the crowd pissed off! A good deal of anti-Liverpool abuses were hurled at him. As if pissing the crowd off wasn't enough for them, then oddly the band sounded off-tune once they started their set. However they squared off well in the end by playing the final track Descension with absolute integrity. Last supporting act was DR who are one of my least fav band. It was the first time I witnessed them live too, and needless to say left a bad taste in my mouth after their act. Apocalyptic Dawn, Unrelenting Surge of Vengeance were among the few tracks they played and I oddly felt the keyboards were out of the place with Sahil's really bland vocals. By the time DR ended I at least expected to see the venue being jam packed but then didn't happen. By the time Textures took on state, the crowd haplessly numbered around 1000 which is significantly less for such concert.

But then I had better things to think about and I thanked god when DR ended their set after 3 tracks 'cause Textures were up next and boy! i couldn't wait any longer. Like true professionals, they took less than 20 minutes to do their soundcheck and right away started their set with the track One Eye For A Thousand. Swandive and Storm Warnings were next, with the band's take on the latter being impeccable.Awake was one track to which a good part of the crowd sang along too. Awake was preceded by Between Stream of Consciousness and The Sun's Architect. An improvised version of Laments of Icarus followed by final track Regenesis ended their setlist, which was enjoyable to every single moment they lasted on stage. And it was not just the crowd who enjoyed the performance, but the band members too enjoyed every bit of the response they received from us. Erik was powerful at the vocals, doing his clean vocals as good as the growls. Bassist Remko Tielemans seemed a bit more charged up than the rest as he jovially bounced on the stage. Stef Brok's polyrhythmic drumming with adept dexterity was unfortunately not visible to me clearly as for some weird reason the drum kits of all bands including Textures were placed in the corner most position of the stage with the sole exclusion being that of drum kit of Amarth kept at the centre.

Finally the moment of the day had arrived though pretty late at around 9.30, and Amon Amarth took to stage after quite a long sound check. With the mere sight of them on stage, adrenalin rush increased in my body pumping me up for the excitement that awaited once they started playing. With Twilight of The Thunder God, they couldn't have chosen a better track to open their performance. The crowd was gripped by a bout of headbanging, even though they seemed(including myself) tired after headbanging to Textures. An Amarth flag flew high all through this with a sense of pride up the holder's sleeve. Johan Hegg's incredible growls left me awestruck, leaving my spines chilled to the bones. Free Will Sacrifice and Asator came next. By then I was headbanging like an absolute psychopath in a drunken state just like how the Vikings would have done. Runes to My Memory and Guardians of Asgaard followed up next. Metal is the only way to live life, added Hegg before dropping the A bomb on the crowd with Live For The Kill. And then he dropped the H bomb by going full throttle with Death In Fire, which sadly happened to be their last track of the night. Hegg seemed stunned when the crowd sang the pre-song build up perfectly. When he added the show was over, I was hoping it would be some sort of gimmick of the usual kind which a band pulls to get an encore to play rest of the tracks. In this case I was clearly rooting for Pursuits of Vikings and Cry of Blackbirds after this stage enactment. But alas! That wasn't the case as B'lore's fucking cops always have the last laugh while killing our joys in such concert and Amarth members promptly exited the stage. The band members nonetheless kept the crowd happy by throwing all their plectrum, drum sticks and even beer cans!

In the end though I was pretty contented at having attended the concert, I was quite miffed at the organizers for shocking conditions of the overall event. It wasn't actually required to gather so many Indian acts for supporting, as everyone is clearly aware how long they would take to finish up their set, leading to delay of the headlining acts performance. And had they been more aware of Bangalore's infamous nightlife ban rules, Amon Amarth and Textures would've started earlier in the night and maybe played an extra half an hour each. Food and Beverages were overpriced inside too, with a pint of KF beer being sold at 100 fucking bucks! However in the end though everything wasn't picture perfect, I walked out of the venue satisfied thinking back about the epic time I spent in there witnessing Amon Amarth and Textures and wondering which big band will they get next

Hypocrisy - A Taste Of Extreme Divinity

Pete Tagtren is one hell of an all rounder. The dude has played some absolute devastating death metal music with Hypocrisy and Bloodbath. And if that doesn't stand as an ode to his talents, then he's also the guy behind legendary Abyss Studios, where numerous big extreme metal acts such as Immortal, Dark Funeral and Celtic Frost to name a few have produced their albums with brilliant sound quality. And now after a 4 years hiatus, Tagtren has set the wheels in motion for Hypocrisy again with their eleventh album A Taste Of Extreme Divinity(produced at Abyss of course). And needless to say Hypocrisy hasn't lost any steam over the years and picks right up from where Virus left off.

The songs vary from fast blastbeat driven to mid tempo ones with amazing riffs catching your riffs right from the very first seconds of Valley of Damned. The songs on the albums are far away from the radio friendly melo death metal of the Arrival era and really aggressive without loosing a sense of melody. Hypocrisy are a very musical band and instead of making a any attempts at technical aspects of their music, they are very much implied about their song's harmonious nature and unlike the rest they don't rub it into your face. The content in the album is balanced perfectly, pitching intense against calm and atmospheric against chaotic nature. Like the title tack which has a very doomy start to it before the extreme blastbeats take hold of the song's mood.

If the blastbeats in the album reminds you of black metal, then don't be mistaken as the band's drummer Horgh after plays for Immortal too. And even after all these years, Tagtren's growls still manages to leave your spine chilled when you hear them, as they are still ear-piercing and monstrous in nature. High pitched too! And thats maybe to stay in touch with his alien theme. Some of the best tracks of the album are Quest and Tamed(Filled With Fear) where the former has a more groove to it whereas the latter is more in molds of melodic thrash. Sy Is Falling Down is another outstanding track with some sick guitar pickings.

Even though Hypocrisy are not as inexorable as they sounded before, their output has remained strong no matter what. With an excellent sound production and classic Hypocrisy lyrical theme of aliens and violence, there's not a single thing to point your finger out to this album. And needless to say, A Taste Of Extreme Divinity is one of the band's best releases with solid edge quality. Now so that you dont have to wait for another 5 years to wait for the next Hypocrisy album, check this one out - Taste of Extreme Divinity.

Nile - Those Whom The Gods Detest

Its been two years, since I last heard some original paralyzingly shitty Egyptian mumbo jumbo with some amazingly good brutal tech death metal. So I asked God give me more, and then bang in middle of November arrives Nile's album Those Whom The Gods Detest, where their vague obsession with Egyptian mythology continues with some astounding piece of death metal supremacy that makes me indulge in a flurry of neanderthal activities of chest thumping, jumping against the wall(you cant mosh by yourself all alone, can you?) and of course headbanging! Dont understand what I mean, then listen to the track 'Hittite Dung Incantations' and drool over how the chants of egyptian bullshit gives way to some absolute cruncher of riffs and beats the shit out of your sense!

Nile are one of the very few bands who have been able to combine brutality with technicality with a touch of natural flair. So much so, that not even once while listening to them, you feel that they consciously tell themselves to make their songs 'harder-faster-louder', its more like an underlying omnipresent compulsion for them to do so. And that's what you experience when you listen to their new album, though not in every single tracks. What makes Those Whom The Gods Detest standout from their earlier releases is the presence of tracks with slower than expected tempos like 4th Arra Of Dagon. Also the presence of more traditional Egyptian instruments makes the album more astute than ever.

Tracks like Permitting The Noble Dead To Ascend To The Underworld and Utterances of Crawling Dead ensure that they continue to maintain their stupefying spectacle of displaying their unrivaled death metal fireworks. And the brilliant sound production does absolute justice to such tracks. While Sanders and Toller Wade persist in belting out complex riffs after riffs at jaw-dropping tempo, Kollias ceaselessly plays the drums with precision matched to none. However not all's perfect in the album. Even though Sanders and Co play the the kind of music you expect Nile to play after listening to them over the years, somewhere in the album you do feel that parts of songs are reminiscent of their previous works. Eye of Ra and the title track stands as a testament to this unlikable detail.

Bass too is missing in action in the album, and this just makes me wonder how much more 'br00tal' the album would've sound if they had packed that extra punch of thumping bass! But nevertheless Those Whom The Gods Detest is a solid effort from Nile for their 5th studio venture. And though there are a couple of lows in it, none are big enough to make them appear like a bunch of rag dolls in the current death metal scene as they certainly hold more weight than other 'death metal' floating in the waters. So go break your neck listening to this album or you're certainly not worthy enough to call yourself a metalhead.

Demilich - Nespithe

Demilich is one of the most obscure band that has ever propped up into the death metal scene. Coming from the far plains of Finland, Demilich seems even when wierd compared to the usual Finnish metal scene which has mostly given us power metal bands. However putting together an album, an incredibly bizzare and highly technical album Nespithe in their short span of existence, Demilich captured the notice of metalheads immidiately with this release. With loads of riffs that draws a thin line between the schizoid and constructive technicality, Nespithe enthralls you with its bizzare, tumultous sound that makes you think as though the music is coming from a cosmos of unknown origin.

The music in Nespithe can put you in to a great spot of confusion. If at one point it sounds atmospheric then the same might strike you as a technical piece of creation few moments later. And if you think the album sounds very anarchic, then it might appear to you as quite orderly few seconds later. The riffs in the album are very much dissonant with fairly high pitched sounds, which appears as though its sonic boom bouncing of walls. Guitars in short makes you feel lost in its unparalleled swirling sound that drowns your presence in its wierd essence. The bassist and the drummer too deserve applause for their sheer incredibilty. The bass doesn't mimic the guitar unlike most bassists in death metal acts and the drummer too covers up his part decently by playing some groovy beats and handling quick tempo shifts with ease.

Apart from the instrumentation, the song construction too gets a well mannered approach by Demilich. The unusual arangements in the song may seem uncoherent that creates a snse of chaos, but in the end it all seems very coherent and ordered. Nowhere in the album will you find a point, where they throw in random riffs just create an added sense of incoherence. Vocals used on the album are nothing but abnormally low growls sounding close to a belch. But that goes in perfect with their theme of exploration of the unknown and abstarct realm. Songs that makes your ear beed in the album are plenty but I personally pitch for Inherited Bowel Levitation - Reduced With Any Effort,The Sixteenth Six-Tooth Son of Fourteen Four-Regional Dimensions (Still Unnamed) and The Echo (Replacement).

In the end if you are still confused as to what Demilich might sound like, then play Evoken and Meshuggah side by side and then start headbanging to Demilich. With bizzare themes and song titles with equally abstart song structures and instrumentation, at some point the album begins to strike you as though the members have taken to HP Lovecraft's lore of bizzare mythos where every creature comes of an unknown dimension and unknown realm where no one else has ventured. But in the end you experience total nerve wrecking havoc from Nespithe just like equally horrifyng ends in Lovecraft's Cthlhu tales that you secretly enjoy. IF you are ever want to listen to technical death that's not in the veins of Necrophagist,Obscura or even Decapitated, then Demilich's Nespithe is just the album for you.

Great Indian Rock 2009 - Bangalore

Finally the last week of October arrived. And with it came 2009 edition of Great Indian Rock in Bangalore. Frankly speaking I was really stunned when RSJ got Satyricon to play in last year's GIR edition that too for 150 bucks a ticket, which was a real huge cheap ass bargain any metalhead could lay their hands upon. And so I was naturally expecting RSJ to get another big name act in the line of Enslaved,Detonation,Satyricon they had got in their previous editions. But then I was surprised when I saw names like Slostate,Intronaut and Benea Reach glazing the posters of this year's GIR edition. No! Not surprised(surprised wouldn't be the right word), I was left in a very sour mood after seeing such pathetic names.

But nevertheless, like most hip urbane college going student who has a knack to wear a 'cool' black metal T shirt, of whom he hasn't heard a single song of, I had a knack of checking out firang bands playing live on stage. Luckily Inner Sanctum and Kryptos happened to accompany these firangs that day! And so I eagerly buy my ticket of GIR to watch these bands play. Now from my numerous gig experience I have realized one thing - the starting act is always the shittiest act. And Parachute XVI lived up to my expectation of being a shitty act playing the starting slot(last year SlingShot fulfilled that dubious nomination). And luckily my decision to smoke outside with my friends came helpful because none of us could bear to hear that pathetic rock piece of music they happened to play.

Next came Inner Sanctum, who as usual tore the place apart with their raw energy that brought droves of metalheads into the moshpit. Playing all their songs from their EP, Inner Sanctum were tight as ever with their primal energy radiating off the stage into the crowd unlike the very lethargic Parachute XVI. The crowd by now had started to trickle in and I too had walked at right at this juncture, straight into the moshpit. After all if you don't mosh to Sanctum, you don't do justice to their music. Sadly the time constraints(I still thought the organizers had ample of time on hand) had kicked in and after completing their set, Sanctum couldn't play to the encore which was resonating the arena(though there were only 300-450 people in a place that could pack in at least 5000 people). And then came Kryptos , the omnipresent Bangalore band which plays in each and every concert, Kryptos. Not that they are bad, but these guys get to play at so many gigs that sooner or later you start to get bored of them.

But nevertheless Kryptos played a good set though their bass was a tad too high. Nolan constantly asked the crowd to form the moshpit at their every alternate song, which I never understood why. Why would any single metalhead with little bit of sanity left in them, mosh to a band that plays thrash/doom mix? I dont know and I didn't mosh to. By now I happily walked to the back of the arena where I could hear Motherjane playing playing in the Octoberfest which was being held right next to GIR(it was more enjoyable,in fact). Apart from the usual tracks, Vulcan,Descension and Towers of Illusion being played Kryptos also played a new track Mask of Anubis which was quite a decent thrash effort.

Solstate who came as soon as I finished my last smoke and as soon as Kryptos ended their set, where a relatively new to my ears.(I got caught smoking my last ciggie by the organizers, those suckers couldn't catch me earlier!) I never moved my ass to check their myspace page 'cause I was never interested in hard rock and related act, that when they are from New Zealand of all the places. But they did sound good and got a pretty decent reception considering Bangalore metalheads abhor rock bands playing in metal concert(Rainbow Bridge got boooed real bad last time, but then I thought they got such a good response because they happen to be whites).

At the end of this, the charms of Octoberfest had succeeded in pulling me in to its net(Friday too they had dragged me in), and I walked into Octoberfest after Solstate ended their performance. However I must make myself honest over here, although I did walk into Octoberfest and got myself drunk in there, I did walk to the GIR/O'Fest border to check the next act that was Benea Reach - progressive mathcore act from Norway. As usual I never checked them out, but frankly speaking I was blown apart when those thumping beats registered in my ears across the fence. Though I didn't see them play, I did hear them play and that was more than enough to contend my gluttonous soul. The breakdowns, the drumbeats were simply unimaginable. And then I regretted for my gluttony that allowed me to neglect Benea Reach and drink in the 'Fest. And thats all I can say about them 'cause thats all I could remember from my drunken sojourn. As for the rest I cant remember anything and if I do recollect anything its irrelevant here. So thats all folks. Next time no matter what obscure act RSJ get for GIR I am definitely checking them out without getting drunk.

Revocation - Existence Is Futile

Revocation! What a band! What a revelation! And indeed one amazing revelation it has been, the discovery of this awesome band called Revocation. When I first read the name under MetalUnderground's list of September month's upcoming metal releases, I instantly googled the name to find out more about them, only to be greeted by the words ''Next Big Metal Band'' which tagged the band name in almost each and every website they got themselves listed. Yeah right! Thats what I told myself when I read it; afterall which new band doesn't proclaim themselves as the next big act( Cyanide Serenity - ''next big thing in the UK metal scene'' were an absofuckinglutely piece of bullshit). But nevertheless the curious part in my brain registered the name Revocation and I eagerly waited to check the band out. And when that momentous time arrived to check them out, my brains literally disintegrated a..p.....a..........r...................t.

Existence Is Futile finally ended my personal futile search for 'the' next on-the-rise technical death outfit. As is the case of most new bands, which I shall repeat here once again, where the 'new' act pathetically sounds like a clone of another well established act, Revocation breaks free from all such pathetic incumbency with their unique on-the-face-melting riffs that totally leaves you gobsmacked as heard in tracks like Existence is Futile and Dismantle The Dictator. With a powerful and aggressive sound which is played with undeviating pace and intensity, Existence Is Futile holds your presence in its grip like clutched in iron-claws. The sheer quality of riffs along with those equally awesome hooks and catches being churned by their guitarist Dave Davidson is enough to rival other lesser act's discographies and maybe some bigger but now obscure acts too.

And its not just the guitars that hooks you up, but Dubois-Coyne equally adept skills behind the drums and Anthony Buda's rhythmic use of thumping bass guitar(which for a change from most albums, is being clearly heard on the sounds) that pushes the album's overall status to an almost godlike position. With their blanket of high precision instrument handling coupled with brilliant song structures, Revocation has ushered a new breed of extreme metal in their album Existence Is Futile. Brain Scramblers and Pestilence Reigns are some of the other tracks where Davidson drops an entire cauldron of riffs to carry an entire album. The sonic achievement which Revocation achieves in Existence Is Futile is sure to last long and it will surely lead them on path to greater things in the field of extreme metal.

Merging together elements of technical,death and to some extent even thrash, Revocation's Existence Is Futile appeals to whole broader spectrum of metal audience and not just a single specific group. As intense and interesting the album gets on the playlist, Existence Is Futile is sure to keep your puny head dizzy for a long, long time after some maniacal bouts of headbanging that's sure to follow after Davidson lets all his frustration loose on the guitars. Compiling melody with technicality and perfect song structuring, Existence Is Futile is quite a masterpiece in the field of extreme metal too and if you call yourself a die-hard fan of extreme metal(not the modern deathcore bullshit),then get your ear-drums ruptured and your necks snapped to Revocation's Existence Is Futile.

Cormorant - Metazoa

October was a very boring when it came to new album releases. September was more fun, and so I shall continue to put up the reviews of some really amazing September albums this month. And so I shall start with Cormorant's latest album Metazoa which brings a fresh wind of change in the stagnating melodic death scene which has seen such a spurt in bands playing the Gothenburg sound that I almost started to get bugged of it. Yes, there are good bands like Insomnium, Ensiferum apart from much-hyped In Flames, At The Gates but then just 2 out of thousand is not enough to keep the scene going.

And this where Cormorant comes in kicks all the lame bands ass who ape other bands and call the sound their original creation. Cock shit to such fucking bands!The riffs in the album are mighty mighty good that crushes everything else to smithereens such as the starting riffs in Uneasy Lies The Head. One good thing about Cormorant's music is that though their music has several influences ranging from Opeth to Maiden, none are too rampant in a manner that their songs start to sound like them. And this is what sets the perfect mood for checking a new band out, bundles of creativity without widespread lifting of riffs. Metazoa is very well approached album where Cormorant interweaves folk elements with power metalsque moments with the much of its roots lying around in melodic death grounds.

Song structures in the album too gets a firm thumbs up alongside their good use of intelligent lyrics. Using loads of good, real good headbangable riffs their songs have progressive structure and thought they dont venture much into the technicality of their music, their songs nevertheless are very enjoyable. Some of the standout tracks in the album are Emigrant's Wake and Blood on The Cornfields where the riffs are very much in veins of Opeth in the former and the melodies remind of Maiden in the later. Hanging Gardens is another epic song from the album where the wah-wah simply blows your mind apart.

Metazoa is one album that's definitely worth checking out. Unlike so many other newer acts, Cormorant doesn't bore you to death in Metazoa where they have pumped a damned, solid effort. With the kind of effort they put into Metazoa, Cormorant can surely make it big in the future by doling out a more creative approach. Until their next album comes out, check Cormorant''s Metazoa.

Arch Enemy - Root of All Evil

NO! Don't even think about it! Even if entire mankind is eradicated by zombie hordes and you happen to be the lone survivor who's a metalhead and finds this disc on his way to...well nowhere, then commit suicide, yes kill yourself, drive a knife through your chest or shoot through your head but dont listen to Arch Enemy's Root of All Evil. You will regret listening to it!

I've already wasted enough time thinking whether i should be listening to this or not after reading the customer reviews, and now I don't want to waste any more time elaborating what's not right with this hopelessly pathetic piece of compact disc Arch Enemy managed to name Root Of All Evil. Please go do something else now! I'm feeling mighty disgusted to even write about this worthless piece of shit!

Rock 'N India 2010 Date Announced

Rock 'N India 2010 dates have been officially announced. The third edition of this epic music festival is scheduled to take place on 20th and 21st February, in B'lore(not B'luru- the name's not cool and we B'loreans dont like it either)? And No, I've not made a mistake in typing the dates! Its taking place over a 2 days period this time, which can only mean that more bigger bands are slated to play for the upcoming edition.

Till then watch this space as I sniff the air for any rumors of any big name act playing in the festival....oh wait, I think I just heard Napalm Death are gonna headline the show!

Exhumation Changes Line-Up

Now some good news to follow up the tragic ones. Bombay based brutal death act Exhumation has made a major change in lineup following the exit of band's drummer Yash Pathak due to his personal reasons as said in their vocalist Aditya Pathak's blog. Following the exit, Demonstealer Makhija of Demonic Resurrection has moved in to the band to take up the bass duties? Yes, bass duties - Makhija sure is one talented bugger. The band are currently looking for a new drummer to fill in Pathak's seat at the moment.

Exhumation are set to release their next album Consider This at the end of the year. Till then watch this space, till Exhumation brews up another storm.

Anal Blast vox Don Decker Dead

October has indeed been a tragic month for the metal community around the world. After the tragic death of Michael Alexnder, Evile bassist while on tour with Amon Amarth in Sweden, another blow strikes the metal scene in the form of Anal Blast vocalist, Don Decker's death.

Anal Blast's songs on sex, death or black humour were widely considered to have come out Don's mind. Making a firm footing on the deathgrind/porngrind genre, Anal Blast never got much grip on the mainstream scene due to Don's offensive yet humorous matter. Nevertheless the man whose insane stage acts that included bringing porn stars onstage during performance and much more ridiculous acts, will always live forever in his songs from Anal Blast.

For those of you wondering who are Anal Blast, well Joey Jordison, the Slipknot drummer and Paul Gray,bassist played for them before moving on to their current band.

Here's an excerpt of interview with Don Decker that shows his insane sense humour.

Amon Amarth Gig Postponed To December

The Amon Amarth gig originally scheduled for November 8 has now been postponed to December for uncited reason according to sources.

Eitherways I'm praying real hard for this not to turn into another cat and mouse game, like the GnR incident. If Amarth do come down here, the much starved Indiam metalheads will get to see some much needed quality international metal being played on the domestic front minus the glam sham of so many other bands in the past.

Keeping fingers crossed till then.

Sanctification - Black Reign

That there would be a Swedish band playing death metal is something I am familiar with. That there would be a Swedish band playing death metal trenched in American style, is something I am not familiar with. And thats' what I realised when I first SANCTIFICATION's ''Black Reign'' a hear. Instead of the buzzsaw tones from the heavily detuned guitars so commonly heard among the Swedish death bands, one could mostly hear that fast, distorted, down tuned riffs similar to American death metal bands like Hate Eternal, Deicide. However, this wasn't a point to reject their album. Black Reign is an absolute spine crusher that continuously drowns you in its unstoppable fury in the form of its pile-driving riffs and heart-stopping percussion beats.

With solid vocals that are delivered at a brutal precision akin to Corpsegrinder Fischer's style in Cannibal Corpse, the album is just like any of the numerous traditional death metal album. With ripping riffs playing in blast happy rhythms with accordance to fast, dynamic double bass beats which adds to the ferocity of the music, ''Black Reign'' is your classic death metal album. What packs an extra punch to its ferocity is the album super refined production values added by the inimitable Peter Tagtren and Tommy Tagtren. Due to this ,the tones are beefy which underscore's the album's brutal sounds without giving that unwanted sense of suffocation. And when you realise that Sanctification shares its members with Dark Funeral both in the past and in the present times, you dont stop admiring the fact that they are as much energetic and tight act like Funeral.

Magnus Broberg's (a.k.a Emperor Caligula) gutturals leave a devastating effect on your audio senses in songs such as ''Black Reign'' and ''Raw''. The guitars shred furiously alongside the frantic blasts at mid-tempo pace in ''Flesh,Skin and Bone'' before joining up the album's overall rhythm. Nils Fjellstorm's drumming is one of the strong point in the album. The drumming is pretty much in old school veins employing start-and-stop blasts which never impedes the guitar work at any single point which're handled masterfully by Tomas and Marcus, and this is best demonstrated in the starting track ''Thirst For Blood'' where guitars and drums go side by side without eating in to each other's rhythm.

On the whole the album is well done, and although SANCTIFICATION pretty much plays in the American style at points they do try to break away from it to fall back to their Swedish death roots. Amongst the many mediocre death metal albums that're available these days, ''Black Reign'' manages to stay above them. If its the classic death metal albums you crave for minus the cock and ball torture in modern death metal albums, then SANCTIFICATIION's ''Black Reign'' is just the right thing for you.

Narsil To Re-Group Again?

If Shaswat Gupta's word are to be believed in his interview to headbangers.in, then Delhi based brutal death act Narsil has a good chance of hitting the stage again, when their guitarist Kshitij returns from Australia. Where each of their of their songs exemplifies demented brutality, Narsil are undoubtedly one of the best death metal acts in the country.

Hope to catch them live if they do reform again.

Till then catch their songs on their myspace page.

Amon Amarth and Textures in B'lore on Nov.8?

I've been hearing a lot about Textures playing in India of late, with the members themselves saying they're working out a schedule to touch down India somewhere before the end of the year.

And now out of nowhere lands another big bomb that says Viking metal giants Amon Amarth are playing alongside Textures on Nov.8 at the Deccan RockOut festival in B'lore. Official announcement is supposed to be out by the mid-weeks of Oct.

Eitherways if Amon Amarth do come down, it'll be one epic gig of massive proportions as Amarth 's gig are considered to be highly highly energetic and crowd enthralling. No wonder they got awarded the best live act by Metal Hammer for the year 2009.

Read Rolling Stones Oct. issue for more.

Inner Sanctum Wins XXIV Edition of I-Rock

I've always vouched for the band in every competition in each of their gigs and did the same for them in this year's I-Rock. And now they've decimated their opponents in I -Rock finals winning the competition's 24th edition.

Hail Sanctum!\m/

Pestilential Shadows - In Memoriam, Ill Omen

Playing anti human plague black metal in In Memorium, Ill Omen, yes that's what the members of Pestilential Shadows call their music, the band convinces you that they are not the same act any more. Far more mature than their previous releases like Embrace to Death and Cursed which portrayed the afterlife in its most anarchic manner with their evil combination of vile riffs and vicious vocals. Moving over the era of low production quality that involved the same generic sounds, Pestilential Shadows have put in solid effort in creating their third album In Memorium,Ill Omen.

Every single second of the album resonates with evil that makes its presence felt in the atmosphere. The dry, cold sound of the album is every bit the perfect sound you would expect from any standout black metal band. The sound creates its best effect in the mid-tempo section where the effect is quite quelling with strong rhythms. The culmination of these sounds are best heard in tracks like Beautiful Demise and Sundered, where the tracks pack a powerful burst of energy. And its not just the production thats taken the front seat in these album, the songwriting too has seen a positive change from their previous release.

The songwriting has improved considerably enforcing the lyrical themes of death and genocide upon the earthlings alongside their futility for life with raspy, satan-styled vocals. Desolate and Zameth handle the guitars brilliantly packing that perfect double guitar punch to the music. The riffs create the perfect atmosphere for the album which is heard in tracks like With Serpents I Lay and Of Loss and Suffering Inherit that's vaguely reminds you of Wolves in Throne Room and Summoning. The instrumental track Ecclasia Moriendi captures the brilliance of the band's wonderful mastery over the instruments, all the while maintaining that atmospheric sound.

The distortions in the album are much more controlled than before, allowing more elements to be incorporated into the music. In short In Memorium,Ill Omen is a good album that pulls all the necessary strings required to make that perfect black metal album. And although there isn't much originality in the album, In Memorium,Ill Omen plays flawless cold,dark music.

Resurrection - Embalmed Existence

If you thought only Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal, Deicide were the only Floridian bands that played ass ripping death metal music, then you're wrong. From the same region that gave us Death,Obituary comes another overlooked band Resurrection, who are equally adept in splitting your ears apart with their fiery brand of death metal that revolves around Paul Degoyler's wicked vocals and terrific guitar rhythms. The Dan Seagrave cover art and Alex Marquez's drumming , further goes on to fortify the album's stand as being one of Resurrection's best record till date.

''FUCK YEAH'', was what I screamed out loud as the starting track Disembodied played, packing rows of furious punches into my senses as I tried to get in term with the raw brutality of the music. Drum master's Marquez pummelling double bass beats at rapid pace will totally leave in awe at his skilful, precision drumming. Drums, in fact is the album's best instrument. The album is produced in such a way that each track owns the next as it builds the tempo harmonically. The riffs in the album are quite excellent too, though you cant call them as ingenious as the drums. But nevertheless the riffs are delivered in a ravishing manner with a precison next to Malevolent Creation's. Vocals too are well done, which gives you the feel that the lyrics are snarled upon the mic.

So the drums and guitars were handled pretty well, was the bass handled well too? My answer to that would be a firm no. The bass is very rarely heard throughout the record and the effect it creates is very minimal, which is a real let-down. An irritating point of Embalmed Existence is that almost every track opens with a narration or intro, which is totally not enjoyable and leaves you dumbfounded thinking what in the name of god made them add those parts. And if Resurrection had not come up with such crushing piece of death metal that follows it, the album would've totally deserved to be in your trash can. Pure Be Damned is the only track that lacks the annoying intros. Strictly speaking each track on the album is enjoyable( obviously minus the intros!) that lets you let your hair loose in the chaotic headbanging that goes along with every track playing, especially in Torture Chamber and the title track, Embalmed Existence.

In short, Resurrection's Embalmed existence is an album that any death metal purist would love to have. Bringing along the old school feel of the 90's the album is furious in its approach and will leave the listener decimated with their music. Resurrection's music makes up for their stupid venture into adding not-so-funny intros or else the album would've disastrous right from the start. If its pure death metal you want, then its pure death metal yo shall have in Resurrection's Embalmed Existence.

Unanimated -Ancient God of Evil

Why is it the case that whenever melodic death gets mentioned people immediately gets to talking about In Flames, At The Gates, Soilwork and so on including bands that borrows heavily from the Gothenburg sound. Why is it that melo-death minus Gothenburg influences rarely gets a word of mention? Now i can never answer to that. But what I can do say is that Unanimated's music embodies the melodic Swedish sound even though there are hints of fusion between death metal and black metal. And this doesn't include the extensive use of guitar solos with clean vocals. Listening to them one realises that Unanimated indeed exemplifies the true old school melodic death style instead of being overtly melodic.

Sticking to death metal oriented sounds Unanimated shows how melodic death metal should sound - building melodies around death metal and not the other way around, keeping the death factor intact in their music.Featuring members of Entombed, Dismember, Therion; Unanimated's Ancient God of Evil is a polished yet intricately blended record where each song strikes an evil chord from its melodic notes. The beauty of the album comes from the fact that implacable melodic riffs from the lead guitarist is always emphasized by an equally competent second guitarist playing discerning metal riffs. The fast, distorted guitar riffs with the broken chords that move in a sequence inducing the melodic tone is best felt in the track Eye of The Greyhound.

This twin guitar attack coupled with the raspy vocals of the black metal style makes a pleasurable change from the far-more mainstream sounds of melodic-death scene.

That melodic death sounds can be created by such minimal use of keyboard is a fact well worth applause for the band who rarely make a good work from the keyboard in the album. Dead Calm and Mireille are among the few tracks where keyboards are used, particularly in the slower parts of Dead Calm where keyboards adds an ominous touch to the ambience. The melodies presented on the keyboard also gives a very sorrowful touch to the album's sounds. Drumming in Ancient God of Evil is nothing too extravagant, just drumming along with the riffs with occasional bursts of doublekicks to keep up with the riff progressions.

All in all presenting the album in one grand, majestic way all the while exploring the issues of nihilism and self-negation, Unanimated's Ancient God of Evil is one of the most under-rated melodic death albums of all time. With nominal use of keyboards, Unanimated creates melodies with a strong presence of death/black elements which is nowhere close to the Gothenburg sounds.The level of musicianship is practically unparalleled to this day , but every song is incredibly well crafted thus leading to the high praise. Listen to this album to know how the melodic death metal sounded before In Flames and At the Gates stormed the scene.

The Ruins of Beverast - Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite

First things first. Ruins of Beverast are not a band. Ruins of Beverast is a one man project of ex- Nagelfar, (not Naglfar) drummer Alexander von Meilenwald. Taking a bohemian approach of combining unorthodox and traditional elements with complex atmospheric black metal sounds that lends a depressing tone to the music featuring variety of extreme vocals that leaves you totally drenched in the perverse melancholy of its sounds. One play, just one play of the album made me forget the world around me, hooking me to its gloomy sounds. Semen is a feat of absolute pain, agony and horror experienced by its creator, delivered piece by piece to its listener.

If you thought Rain Of Impure was a great album, then Semen is better. Better than a great album that was Rain of Impure. This album tends to draw parallels with acts like Verdunklen and Lunar Aurora, with the way the tracks all have an element of experimentation and contain all sorts of unorthodox bits and pieces thrown into songs, not to mention an interesting new focus on the death doom metal passages that were noticeable in the previous album and which sounded far better too. Plenty of long-doom passages in fact make the album great listening to, also making this the best album of Meilenwald.

That Semen is darker and more complex than his previous album is clearly understood form the track I Raise The Stone As A Ghastly Memorial that treads with doom like melodies amidst Meilenwald's deep chants. Amidst the long tracks in the album, there're several smaller interludes of chorus like Alu present that sets up longer features like God's Exsanguined Bestiaries that succeeds Alu. The track's a crushiong mix of blasting dilapidation with barking growls. Mount Sinai Moloch is another such smashing track that encompasses everything that's evil with its percussion and spine-chilling use of horns. In fact the album seems like the symphony of an ancient,mystical evil force like elder gods in Lovecraft mythology.

Yes, the album is slow and long. But Semen is an depressive black metal project with curious mixes of funeral doom passages. In fact this is exactly how the album should sound. As a one man project, Meilenwald produces another masterpiece album in the form of Foulest Semen of Sheltered Elite. The tones are mightly and lends a primeval feel to the atmosphere. Must hear for any atmospheric/depressive black metal act.

Bloodlines Video From Their New Album

Watch and come hard headbanging to this video.

3 More Days And Then Let All Hell Loose Listening To Dethalbum II

Dethalbum I was a product of such sheer awesomeness that even now metalheads go nuts listening to tracks like Murmaider and Awaken.

And now brace yourself to experience that awesome force that's Dethklok once again on 29th Sept. when Dethalbum II hits the stores.

Inner Sanctum wins I-Rock Bangalore.

Inner Snactum has given has enough sore necks and broken backs in their numerous concerts. And now it looks like they have smashed their way to the top winning I Rock B'lore edition decimating the crowds with their high energized music alongside other competitors Eccentric Pendulum, Theorized and Crimson Wood.

Next stop is Bombay for these guys, where I am pretty sure they're gonna blast through the judges and audiences audio senses once again to win this year's I -Rock edition.

Ensiferum - From Afar

That Ensiferum are an awesome band, is a fact well known. That From Afar is one hell of an ass-kicking album, is a fact that can only be believed by hearing it. Staying on top of the game, Ensiferum have made a brilliant album by infusing every element that goes into make that perfect Viking metal album. Victory Songs was a terrific album that put Ensiferum on top of the viking metal pack, but following it many other bands popped up with their music sounding like well what to say - like every other band in the genre. But with From Afar Ensiferum once again shows to every one that they are the leaders of this genre.

Packing all the classic Viking metal elements like haunting keyboard choirs, melodious flute notes, Nordic rhymes, rapid fire riffing at bolting rhythm, listening to the album makes one hell of an epic experience. Instrumental wise, the musicians do perfect justice to the album by playing with panache. The intro track By Dividing Stream contains a masterfully done acoustic piece, thanks to Markus. The towering riffs in Heathen Thrones along with the horns keeps your spirits high by making you headbang as hard as possible. The horns in fact are a part of their elaborate orchestra inclusion that builds around the band's core music. This can be noted in their songs like Elusive Reaches and Longest Journey.

Emmi Silvenoinen , the ban's new keyboardist keeps up to the expectations of the band by playing some fluid melodies in tracks like Smoking Ruins and Longest Journey. In fact the keyboard plays an essential role in keeping the glorious viking era atmosphere throughout the album. Their longer compositions like Heathen Throne, though boring in the end shows that the band is adept even at slower rhythms. Production of the album too is top-notch, due to efforts by their previous producers Janni Joutsenniemi.

Where Victory Songs is a straight forward album showcasingEnsiferum's mix of black, folk, and power metal elements; From Afartakes the song-writing to a different level and is therefore much more diverse in song structures and general pacing of the album. Although a few of the songs from the album do slip below the radar and the long songs are simply not as good as Victory Song,Ensiferum are once again showing the light for other bands to follow within this style. Ensiferum are a band that cannot disappoint

Nile and Textures To Tour India

After the boring cat and mouse game played between the organisers and Guns And Roses came to an end, resulting in a declaration that Guns n Roses 'WILL NOT' be touring India, here's some good news for those waiting for some real adrenalin pumping action in form of an international act playing here.

No, GIR doesn't count as that. Not with Benea Reach, Intronaut and Solstate. I never considered deathcore/metalcore/post-metal music to be chest thumping fist shoving kind of music like BDM/ black metal

So here's the news, Nile had already confirmed they would be playing in India in this specified interview. I took with Karl Sanders for Chordvine.com, this is what I was told when asked whether Nile would be coming tdown to India for a show

''That’s absolutely wicked. So any plans of Nile playing in India after the next album come up?

You bet! Our management is working towards India, Thailand and China shows on the next Nile Tour when we cross the pacific this next time to do our usual Nile shows in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.''

Plus on a chat with one of the DNA organiser back in August, i was told that they planned to get Nile, Textures and another big-name metal act to play in the Bangalore in Oct. Hence confirming the Nile tour once again. For people refusing to believe this too, Nile once again state they are working on a schedule to play in India somewhere during mid-Oct. in the Sept. issue of Rolling Stones India.

As for Textures, flip through RSJ's latest issue where in their interview they state that they too are planning to come down to India for a show somewhere during this year-end.

All and all these are news to be celebrated, as for long time Indian metalheads have not banged their head to some quality international act. And no this doesn't include Maiden and Co., as they were too damn commercial.

Dying Fetus - Desend Into Depravity

After some melodies from Insomnium, we have some brutality this month as well, thanks to Dying Fetus' Descend Into Depravity. Going by the album name, the album is every bit explosive as one would expect from Dying Fetus with frenzied pace and pile-driving riffs that invokes the beast within you to go take a leap into insanity. Combining brutality and technicality has been the forte of very few bands, and Dying 'fucking' Fetus achieves that with such flair that listening to it soon sends you to an unstoppable headbanging mania.

After their disappointing fare in War of Attrition and Stop At Nothing, Fetus find their groove back in this album, distantly reminding you of their classic Destroy The Opposition. With explosive riffs playing around sleek tempo that backs the Gallagher's explosive gutturals, Descend Into Depravity succeeds in clobbering your ears to nonexistance. The fact that whole band is so incredibly tight owing to their stable lineup since 01 except for Timlin's departure and Trey Williams arrival. in fact playing with the classic 3 man (Bdm/grindcore) lineup has lent a lot to Fetus' mindblasting sounds. Right from the starting track Your Treachery Will Die With You, the album feels like one big setup for an oncoming moshpit.

Full of blast beats and down-tuned fast riffs alongside growls, the album constantly batters your assault like in the track Atrocious By Nature or the title track that simply leaves you jaw-dropped amidst all that intense bout of headbanging due Gallagher's out-of-the-world riffing or in At What Expense where Beasly's basslines are equally appreciable. The dual vocals of Gallagher and Beasly works brilliantly too in tracks like Ethos of Coercion and Shepherd's Commandment. The songwriting is fluid as well speaking mostly about moral corruption of the society we live in, as is the classic Fetus known for their outspoken political views.

Descend Into Depravity is in short an awesome album that instantly pummels your senses, just like you would expect from any other BDM album. The songs are well written and the tightness of the band is nothing short of an achievement worth praise. Not leaving you poker-faced, Dying Fetus has reached the level where they succeed in delivering constant doses of brutality instead of vague experimentation, just like Autopsy, Nile, Aborted. After Descend Into Depravity one can surely expect more brutal savagery from the band in their next venture.

Insomnium - Across The Dark

If you were to expect anything new from Insomnium's latest album Across the Dark then it would be just the cover art and the lyrics. Save the music, everything else is different in the new album. On hitting the play button you will hear that same melodic leads with those same doom-ish riffs in an equally same despondent atmosphere that you have come across in all their previous albums. When you realise a band like Insomnium, a band that brought along fresh wave of change in the melo-death scene with their fluid melodies are coming out with a new feature you are bound to expect something new in their music. But alas, Across The Dark is no such proof of such statement.

Agreed that the melodies in the new album are best described mercurial and the songwriting has considerably improved, the music more or less feels like an extension of their last album Above The Weeping The World. The only few changes one notices are the addition of synth sounds, courtesy of Aleski Munter of Swallow The Sun that are fused in with most of the tracks to compensate the removal of layers of melodic leads. As a result the impact of the melodies are more forthright and consequently more enjoyable. The other change being inclusion of clean vocals, which have been incorporated into a smattering of songs. Only song where the clean singing makes a difference is in the epic Lay of Autumn, but over there as well it lasts for only a brief period.

The only thing that would appeal to fans would be the fact that its predictable. They can always look to expect some similar elements from their last albums. Some of the tracks that make a memorable listening experience would be fast wavering Into The Woods and Against The Hues. The melancholy of the band is most profoundly felt in Weighed Down By Sorrow. Instrumentally the guys in Insomnium have fared better than before. The bassline in Weighted Down with Sorrow is quite commendable.

Overall listening to Across The Dark is a worthwhile experience. The missing of a standout track like Killjoy is quite disappointing, though Down With Sun comes close to it. More disappointing is the fact that same music is played in the album, in fact the same type of music has been playing on since their debut album. This stereotyped music pretty much begins to bore you as its impact can hardly be said to be consequential. And though they could have incorporated a bit more of clean vocals, for reason I know not they refrained from doing so that only adds to my frustration of my Insomnium have not taken the music to the next level as many of us expected so. After this non-essential venture, I am hoping Insomnium will come up with something ''new'' in their next production.

Inner Sanctum - Provenance(EP)

Inner Sanctum! That one name that instantly conjures up violent images of broken arms, bruised head and limp bodies from a delirious moshpit. Inner Sanctum! Now we've all witnessed the imposing force that is the band in its prime form in their live acts. Channeling their never-ending energy to one huge binding force that soon overwhelms the audience, gripping them in their control when all the while they are furiously headbanging to their thunderous beats; Inner Sanctum,Bangalore based tech death/thrash outfit are unarguably one of India's best death metal bands. They've always kept up to the audience's expectation giving power-packed performance in each of their single gigs, winning many of them all the while playing with an almost God-like stature.

While crowds drove in hordes( by Indian standards) to their gigs, there was a greater expectation to be met by the band for the headbangers out there. And they finally kept upto that likelihood when their debut EP Provenance released this month. Offering the same intensity of their live gigs, Inner Sanctum play a brilliant 4 track set, blowing your ears to smithereens. The production quality of the EP is by far one of the best in any Indian metal releases and this lends an extra credibility that Inner Sanctum are indeed a formidable act. And that's not it, unlike many other numerous Indian metal acts selling their 'original' stuff, Inner Sanctum's authentic sound rides high on the album aping no other acts. This is in fact is one of the many highs of the EP.

Now its not every time you get to hear a song that too a metal one on one of the most influential villains portrayed on screen- Dark Knight's Joker, however Sanctum go on to do just that playing a smashing mid-tempo track in Agent of Chaos. With soaring riffs and lofty double bass beats the track instantly sets up the mood for headbanging. The riffs in fact are razor sharp, slicing through the guitars thanks to their guitarists Chintan and Rajeev. Their pile driving riffs continue to assault your senses alongside Gaurav's guttural vocals in their next tracks Quarantine and Human Disregard. In fact the killer drumming by Abhinav in Quarantine, which was available for streaming on their MySpace/Bandcamp page for streaming, immediately sets you to the temper to mosh. Human Disregard is by far the best track on the EP that plays on a groovy note. The EP ends on a vehement note with the Eye of False that has some catchy riffs in its intro.

No point in the EP will you ever stop saying yourself. 'Wow', 'Incredibly tight' 'awesome' with horns raised in the air, 'cause that's what they actually are - an abrilliant tight act. There's not a single moment in the EP that leaves you disappointed except in the end where you are left standing exhausted from all that headbanging asking for more intense stuff from the band. But then you cant expect more tracks in an EP. The artwork by Gaurav is quite well done too. Overall Provenance is an excellent debut EP which's great to headbang to. After a brilliant venture like this, the band sure has more expectations to live upto in their next album. Till then grab yourself a copy of the EP and break your neck headbanging to it.

Headbang To Metal Mario

Inner Sanctum Cover Art

Two Words:

FUCKING AWESOME!