Cryptic - Doom/ Stoner Metal Band From Mumbai

I play drums for a Mumbai-based Stoner/Doom Metal band named Cryptic. We have composed 3 originals till date, and are in the process of recording them. Do check out the videos from our recent jam session.

The Moniker:

We composed this when the bassist, Aakash Vagarya, and myself formed the band. The riffs aren't too complex, but I love the composition!

Hybrid Angel:

Before composing this one, we started listening to a lot of songs from Sleep, Shrinebuilder and Stoned Jesus. You can clearly hear the influences. 

Untitled Original:

This one is quite heavier than the other two originals. We were hoping to create something inspired by Om and Red Fang. The result was our 3rd original and we were quite happy with the blend. :D

We will be launching our Facebook page very soon with recorded versions of the originals. 

Comments and feedback are welcome. :)

Four Underrated Metal Dummers

Drummers. All the bands would suck without them, wouldn't they? A drummer is usually referred to as the 'Metronome' of a band. But actually, they are far beyond the term. Keeping the band in sync is just one of the drummer's tasks. And when it comes to Metal and Extreme Metal drumming, 'timing' and tempo aren't the only things a drummer has to keep in mind. Here are some the most underrated Modern Metal drummers:

1. Janne Parviainen:

The first drummer on my list is Janne Parviainen. He plays for the Finland-based Folk Metal band Ensiferum. His double bass and blast beats techniques are quite impressive, which is complemented by his dynamic fills and rolls.

2. Francesco Paoli:

When you talk about speed in Metal, you just cannot forget Francesco Paoli. The guy is the drummer for Italian Symphonic Death Metal band Fleshgod Apocalypse. His drumming on every track by the band has totally blown my mind! Watch the official video of The Violation, and see for yourself. 

 

3. Matthew 'Matt' Garstka: 

Matt Garstka is well known as the drummer for Instrumental Progressive Metal band Animals as Leaders. According to me, he's one of the best drummers in the progressive metal genre, with an array of influences from Fusion, Metal, Funk, Latin, Jazz, Reggae, Blues, Rock, R&B, Neo Soul, Hip Hop, African and more.

4. Kerim "Krimh" Lechner:

 The ex-drummer of Decapitated is one the most talented and under-rated in the Extreme Metal genre. After Vitek's demise, Krimh was definitely the best guy to fill his shoes. Besides his kickass drumming, he is also a splendid guitarist. He's currently working on his solo album, which you can check out on his Youtube channel. 

Post Rock - The Beautiful Side Of Music

Lil Wayne, Drake, Skrillex, these are just some of the artists loved by majority of the people around the world. With such musicians on the rise, REAL music is losing its meaning. Music isn't about using a beat-making software and auto tune, it is about picking up instruments and working your ass off to compose stuff which has a soul and meaning to it.

One such soulful, fascinating and a beautiful genre of music is Post Rock. I was introduced to this genre by my friend and band mate Sharan Nair. He gave me a link to a song named Snowfall by God is an Astronaut. And definitely, I was really impressed with the band's name, decided to check out the song and this is when I fell in love with Post Rock. Everything, I mean EVERYTHING about the song was perfect! It seemed like I've been shifted to some a place, guarded by peace and serenity.

As any other sub-genre of Rock, Post Rock uses common instruments like guitars and drums, but is mainly characterized as usually being without vocals.  And this is what makes it more amazing. The music really touches your soul.

The Post-Rock genre really began to take shape during the late 80s and early 90s as a part of the underground and Indie scene. It has, since then, come a long way as one the most prominent sub-genres of Rock. Post Rock offers everything to its listeners -- from soothing compositions to heavy riffs combined double bass drumming.

Present popular Post Rock bands include Mogwai, Hammock, Sigur Ros, Mono, God is an Astronaut, If These Trees Could Talk, Explosions in the Sky and more. Do check out this song Thank You Space Expert by Mogwai and let the magic take over you. :)

Nominees for the 2013 Rolling Stone Metal Awards announced!

The Rolling Stone Metal Awards are back with their forth edition. A wonderful evening, celebrating and honoring the best from the Indian metal scene, will feature awards under various categories. And the nominees are:

Best Band
1833 AD
Devoid
Heretic 

Orion
Skyharbor

Best  Album
Skyharbor – Blinding White Noise: Illusion and Chaos
1833 AD – My Dark Symphony
Orion – On The Banks Of Rubicon
Heretic – Words To Epilogues
Devoid – The Invasion

Best Song
Skyharbor – ‘Illusion: Dots’
Noiseware – ‘Flicker’
Devoid – ‘Brahma Weapon’
1833 AD – ‘Wiser Than The Wisest’  
Alien Sky Cult – ‘We Are The Damned’
Heretic – ‘Ring Of Colours’

Best Vocalist
Akhil Unnikrishnan – Heretic
Aman Virdi – Noiseware
Arun Iyer – Devoid
Nishant Abraham – 1833 AD
Rainjong Lepcha – Rectified Spirit

Best Guitarist
Abhijit Namboodiripad & Hareesh Kumar – Heretic
Aniket Patni & Adhiraj Singh – Noiseware
Arun Iyer & Sanju Aguiar – Devoid
Keshav Dhar – Skyharbor
Vigneshkumar Venkatraman & Ashwin Kulkarni – Orion

Best Drummer
Gautam Deb – Noiseware
Nishant Hagjer – Rectified Spirit
Pritesh Prabhune – Orion
Pritpal Singh – Jehovah
Raghav Sehgal – 1833 AD
Shubham Kumar – Devoid

Best Bassist
Adwait Jadhav- Nihilanth
Benjamin Thomas – Heretic
Bob Alex – Noiseware
Himangshu Borah – Rectified Spirit
Nikhil Rufus Raj – Skyharbor

Best Keyboardist
Taz James – Chaotic Years
Vivin Kuruvilla – Wolf’s Lair
Pretom Boro – Tick’s Talk

The changing scene of Rock and Metal music in India

With Bollywood music totally ruling the Indian music industry, times are slowly changing. People, mostly the youth, fed with up with the cheesy Bollywood music and want their music to be heavy have switched to the genres of Rock and Metal.

Bands of almost every sub genre of Rock and Metal, now exist in India. They are gaining audience, as more and more people have switched or are switching to these genres. But forming a band is not as easy in the country as compared to many others. For instance, if you are a guitarist and want to form a band, you may find a second guitarist but you will have to strive hard to search for a bassist or a drummer. But with changing times, this scenario is changing.

Now to the main reason I am writing this post: International Bands. 2012 has been an exciting year for Indian metalheads and rock lovers so far and is becoming more and more exciting. Earlier this year, India witnessed the second coming of two of the most amazing bands in the world- the progressive death metal gods Opeth and groove metal giants Lamb of God. Lately Finnish rockers Poets of the fall performed in various cities around the country. Korn is touring the country with 3 shows in 3 major cities- Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru (Mumbai gig got cancelled due to heavy rains in the city and security concerns).

Metalheads in India must have marked the 20th of October on their calenders. The dreams of many will finally come true as Slayer will be playing their first ever gig in the country in Bengaluru. Gojira, which are one of my favorites are also playing in Bengaluru on the 15th of December. There are rumors of other big performances by thrash giants, Megadeth later this year and Slash, Guns n Roses and System of a Down, the next year.

So this has been a really good year for metalheads and rock lovers across the country and I really hope this scene improves more in the coming times and Indian bands gain good global reputation.

Don't forget to keep it heavy |m|