Domination The Deathfest

Jun 3 • News • 2652 Views • No Comments on Domination The Deathfest

The year 2000 was a prodigal year for extreme metal heads in a country where the primordial Rock and Roll music was still at the forefront of live entertainment. When Nitin Rajan and the boys from Morticide, Bombay’s first death metal act, brainstormed concepts for what would define the angst and vexation of Indian metalheads, there was a revelation in the name of Domination – The Deathfest. From 2000 to 2003, there were four editions of this extreme metal festival hosting bands like Kryptos, Demonic Resurrection, Threinody, Myndsnare, Exhumation to name a few and it wasn’t until 2013 that the fifth edition of the festival was hosted. Riju Dasgupta of Albatross fame has been credited with helping reviving the festival which hosted Exhumation, Witchgoat, Gutslit, Insane Prophecy, Atmosfear, Orion and Reptilian Death last year. “No sponsors were involved in edition V. It was completely financed by me & Hex”, says Nitin Rajan. “I haven trying to bring it back from 2008 but lack of venues and getting the right allies took me a while till I met Dr.Hex”.

Domination – The Deathfest

The lack of metal-friendly venues and sponsors brings organizers to face the rather bleak DIY challenge. Even with a venue, the herculean task of working out the sound and lighting was quite a challenge. “We got Pritesh who plays for Orion too to do the sound for the gig because besides being kickass at console he himself was an extreme metal musician and had worked with the bands before” (SIC). The boys are now getting ready to provide metallers with the sixth edition of the Deathfest, which they promise will be as bloody and terrifying with death metal monsters Blood Meridian making a comeback and the boys from Plague Throat coming in all the way from Shillong for the Bombay edition. The festival also covers a new geography by bringing in the horror to Hyderabad with another surprise in store for the attendees of the Mumbai gig, “We are the Legion” like Nitin says.

Atmosfear performing Slavery Lives at Domination – The Deathfest V