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Thane to witness Transcending Obscurity Fest

Apr 26 • Events, Indian News • 2754 Views

Transcending Obscurity Fest

The thriving metal scene in India runs mostly on gigs showcasing domestic bands which is a key reason for the growth of metal anywhere in the world and Kunal Choksi is one of the many organizers who makes it happen . He recently announced this year’s edition of Transcending Obscurity Fest comprising of 9 massive bands from in and around India including Djinn and Miskatonic, the doom metallers from Bangalore for a comeback show who disbanded December last year .

Transcending Obscurity initially started as Diabolical Conquest way back in 2004-2005 to promote good music, first through a discussion forum and then went on to be a webzine to help bands. In 2010, He started a record label to release deserving music of bands from around the world and then in 2013, after a brief hiatus, he changed the name to Transcending Obscurity to reflect a more positive outlook and eliminated all negative content from the site.

” Everything is focused around music and I’m simply providing the platform for bands, including live shows, so that good music is heard.”

Having around 15 bands signed up to his label, out of which 9 would be playing for this fest. Much excited Djinn & Miskatonic on there reunion show quotes “We’ve been having a blast ever since we started jamming again. We did a small warm-up gig at the Garage Jam in Bangalore and the response was very good. Our gig in Mumbai last year was possibly the best we’ve had – great sound, great crowd – and we’re going to see if we can catch lightning in a bottle again.”

Transcending Obscurity Fest bands

Joining shoulders with them as the latest addition for this fest will be the black metallers from Mumbai Stark Daniel. Kunal Gonsalves vocalist of Stark Daniel who is also a part of the organizing team made the following statement ” Stark Denial is pretty excited about this event, and we are pretty excited as we will be playing some new songs for the very first time and also we have been working on something new which probably if things go right will reveal at this show so yes looking forward to a good show with the other bands on the bill”

Kunal Choksi described that the line up chosen are the best in the styles they represent, in all honest and points out that it would be a perfect line up of a mixed-genre line up. Says Kunal ” They’re all very underrated because they’re doing their kind of music instead of following the widely accepted style and that’s why it’s important that I have a line-up of mostly underground bands where every style is given its due and proper platform”

With the stage and bands all set Transcending Obscurity Fest will happen on 11th May at United 21, Thane.

For more on Transcending Obscurity Fest CLICK HERE

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DUAL REVIEW : Somnambulist Red, Strafk

Apr 24 • International News, News, Reviews, The Slumbering Ent • 3195 Views

Dinesh Raghavendra reviews a new track from Somnambulist Red and and an EP from Strafk, both of which have been released via Wraith Productions

1. Somnambulist Red – Birth Throes, Shadows and Serpentine Curves

Somnambulist Red is a band from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and they have been around for more than a decade. They have released four full-length albums so far and their fifth studio album is all set to come out in 2014.

“Birth Throes, Shadows and Serpentine Curves” runs for a full three minutes and 21 seconds and is full of experimental tones that alternate from progressive rock to post-punk to ambient noise. The production quality reminds me of basement music at its best. This track ranges from early Sonic Youth to what Khanate might have sounded like before they became ‘Khanate’.

Sean Townsend has played with a veritable who’s who of the Fort Wayne metal scene from Typhus, Graves of the Endless Fall, The Lurking Corpses and nearly every other original metal band on that side of the pond. Their albums have been consistently going from strength to strength and the new track holds a lot of promise.

Darran Dearing is the bassist and Jeff Mhaghnius is the drummer. Both have played with different bands in the past, Darran with Fog and The Lurking Corpses and Mhaghinius with Maligned Starfist and Typhus. There is a Stewart Copeland vibe at times on this one and the track reminded me of early Voivod.

This three minute track holds a lot of promise and I hope the rest of the new album will be equally good. The whole album has an improvised feel to it. The riffs are original and the drums hook the listener throughout. This is a band that has been consistently pushing the genres, starting from plain old heavy metal to progressive rock in the middle of their careers. A lot to expect from Somnambulist Red this time around!

You could check out some of their earlier stuff at their bandcamp page. And a stream for their last release has also been provided.

<a href="http://somnambulistred.bandcamp.com/album/suspended-beneath-holy-shores">Suspended beneath holy shores by Somnambulist Red</a>

2. Strafk – Phase Shifting EP

The duo Leegheidand Stof of Russia are ‘Strafk’, a black/doom metal band that is as mysterious as their name, Phaseshifting is their debut EP. The EP is being released on 13 May 2014 by Wraith Productions. There are four tracks on this EP or as the band likes to call it “four phases”.

Opening with a melancholy ambient noise is Phase I – “Void (Stare)”, Leegheid ramps up the bass and Stof grinds the guitar along. With this track, it feels like the duo are aiming for a space that induces an ominous feeling in the listener. Leegheid is a multi-instrumentalist and he switches from bass to drums to synths to vocals and Stof eggs him along with the noises. Both the boys have shared the credits for lyrics on this EP and the words were indecipherable on the first few listens what with all the noise and distortion going around.

Phase II is “inner distortion”, and this is a track full of thick layers and the music is atmospheric and the EP took off for me at this stage. The tone for the EP was set from this point on and I was hooked to all the ambient shrieks and the instrument switches. This track has a black-metal feel to it and there are a lot of new riffs that actually makes the experimentation work.

Phase III is “death and decay of your identity” and this track proves that Strafk are not afraid to adhere to the avant-metal clichés. This is an original and imaginative EP and Phase III manages to be comforting and unnerving simultaneously. Stof is given more space on this one and his guitars groove and rumble along to the final track.

Phase IV is “the new embodiment”, this track is not similar to the other three in terms of the format and is quite good. Lots of doomy riffs that don’t feel ripped off and the whole EP has a fresh feel to it. These guys wear a lot of influences on their sleeve but they don’t show it. The phase format reminds me of early Earth and Sunn O))). Khanate and Nadja also seem to have to been an influence in terms of the ambient noise interludes but overall this was a very good trip and I am waiting eagerly for Strafk’s full-length.

Here’s the link to an exclusive song stream playing at Gunshyassassin.com.

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Slayer release new track ‘Implode’

Apr 24 • International News, News, Releases • 2732 Views

Slayer

Slayer have posted their new track ‘Implode‘. This track sets the tone for their much anticipated album which is to be released early 2015. The band has gone through some tough times with the tragic loss of Jeff Hanneman and the departure of Dave Lombardo. Slayer’s upcoming album is not something you can miss.

Former Slayer sticksman Paul Bostaph and Exodus guitarist Gary Holt are currently playing with the band, still rounded out by core duo Kerry King and Tom Araya.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD IMPLODE

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Stream District: Insomnium,Bolzer, Equilibrium, Vallenfyre

Apr 23 • International News, News, The Slumbering Ent • 2751 Views

Oh bloody yes! We’ve got some brilliant tracks being released over the last week. But more importantly before i go into each of them, there are some brilliant albums that we here at The Slumbering Ent are absolutely stoked about. Some of them are being released worldwide over the next 7 days. Let’s see, there are releases from Helstar and Ancient Bards for all your Power metal aficionados, clinical tech-death from Archspire and Beneath, stoner spit from Fu Manchu, borderline interesting deathcore from Whitechapel, the brutal death metal juggernaut Aborted (hell yeah!), crushing sludge from Lord Mantis and finally the lords of murky death/doom, Autopsy.

Now lets roll them tracks out..

1. Insomnium

Was the least impressed by their first single Revelation but the markedly better While We Sleep and this latest one Black Heart Rebellion have raised my ‘not so high’ hopes. Yet still, i am keeping my fingers crossed here, because experimentation and evolution have never been Insomnium’s tools of success. They just have to stick to being themselves and any hint of watering down for the sake of accessibility can amount to much drivel and eventual derision. Black Heart Rebellion stands for everything Insomnium, which is this sense of seeping melancholy that cannot be shaken off no matter what you do.

The track comes off their what is their 6th record titled Shadows of the Dying Sun, released via Century Media Records.

2. Bolzer

Aura probably stands amongst my favorite EPs by any band, and probably one of the favorites that i own with much pride. When taken on its worth internationally I’d even go out on a limb and wager that this record in fact invigorated a genre that has simply become stale beyond reason. Just when OSDM when expanded spelt something like ‘Old Shit but Dreadfully Made’ comes along Bolzer. Its that peculiar melody that they employ which seemed like plucked out from this ancient ritual reeking of blaspheme. A tribute to the Great Old Ones perhaps.

And just when the dust of their last record was beginning to settle comes the announcement of a brand new EP titled Soma and a brand new track titled Steppes. Things start of pretty run of the mill, but past the one and half minute mark you have the ritual commencing. Mystical death metal that echoes across the cosmos.

3. Equilibrium

Up tempo folky blitz. That’d about sum up what Equilibrium stands for. Sagas was a force to be reckoned with, heralding the rise of a band that struck on a new chord of catchiness in a genre that suffers from bouts of acute memory loss (staying power). But with this first single off their soon to be released 4th record seems more like a loosening up, taking the step off the gas. Karawane sports a middle eastern melody before it segues into the grandiose display of pagan folk, but all that a pace which is so unlike them. More palpable. Slower as if intentionally spreading their chests before heading off into the battlefield. Yet i find it to be so irresistibly catchy.

The track comes off their 4th album titled Erdentempel, released via Nuclear Blast Records.

4. Vallenfyre

A Fragile King was a welcome addition to the buzzsaw riff pantheon. A record that seems to have slipped out of the annals of history to reappear at a distant point in the future. Probably to embellish a time when the Swedish death metal machine cut down everything in flesh to size. Although its mostly considered to be Paradise Lost main man, Gregor Mackintosh’s musings from a comparatively happier (not by much though) precipice, it is in fact a star studded cast that more than just warrants a listen. Hell its got Hamish from My Dying Bride and Adrian Erlandsson from At The Gates. The brand new track Odious Bliss stays true to the formula that one just does not get tired off.

Odious Bliss comes off their sophomore effort titled Splinters, to be released through Century Media Records.

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Purgation – Exterminated Malfeasance EP

Apr 22 • Indian News, News, Reviews, The Slumbering Ent • 5068 Views

Achintya Venkatesh reviews the debut EP from Purgation titled Exterminated Malfeasance, released via Slaughterhouse Records.

The Kolkata metal scene has in the past few years in particular seen the formations of old-school metal oriented bands, in stark contrast to the normative route of bands in the city prior to that. Purgation in particular has had a fairly prolific stint as a live force since its inception, including having played at the annual Undergrind Fest (Bangalore, India), Death Skull Ritual II and Banish the Posers Fest (Bangladesh) in addition to having appeared on the Motorhead India tribute album amidst a slew of other names from the country, covering ‘Terminal Show’. Finally, having signed to Slaughterhouse Records (USA) in the recent past, the band, which was previously known as Flesh Protocol, released debut EP – ‘Exterminated Malfeasance’ late last year. An admittedly brief record as is expected for a release of this nature, clocking in at a little short of 18 minutes, the EP begins with a conventional intro which sets the tone for the album, portraying a scenario of some sort of disarray. Stylistically, the band leans on the sort of old school death metal popularized by the old New York greats a la Pyrexia and Dehumanized, and of course Suffocation is an influence that is immediately palpable here.

Rhythmically relentless in its execution, the riffs are syncopation-driven with the signature grooves employed at appropriate intervals, serving as compositional relief that inverses the stress in a passage, in addition to being a direct nod to their influences. The slower passages are quite evocative of the ponderous indulgences of classic Cannibal Corpse, alleviating the senses from the crushing linearity and recursive nature of the combative riffing occurring within the verse. The compositional structure here centres around and shifts between a small pool of established rhythms, ultimately making the songs cyclical in nature, which isn’t a negative thing at all. However, leads, especially during the solos seem a little too sloppy for my liking, and more than the preciseness of their execution, the overall tonal and melodic sensibilities (or rather the lack of consonance) of the solos comes across as disjointed relative to its rhythmic backing – it ultimately ends up being inchoate in its attempt to veer away from the archetypal key-less, anti-melodic atonalities. The vocals are quite conventional, and there’s nothing much to say in this regard, with a satisfactory guttural texture with the individual lines within the verses being very brief hostile barks.

This is slamming (though devoid of the excessive slams many contemporary bands indulge in), mettlesome and gritty music driven by an impact-oriented ethos, which the band achieves to a great extent, driven by the interminable percussive mercilessness and lucidity of the drums, ushering in the tempo changes that occur within the already brief compositions. The tone of the drums might warrant a little adjustment on the part of the listener, but its dexterity is indubitable for the most part. Ultimately, however, the band stands equidistant between mediocrity and excellence. The compositions are coherent, intense and tightly executed as a whole, but lack the exuberance and explosive nature of their influences, and don’t really employ any song-writing tactics to break outside of their generic mould, resulting in a prosaic experience. The production values don’t help in this regard, being a little too muffled for this type of booming and impactful music to truly shine through. It’s certainly gratifying for what it is, and the potential and execution abilities is never up for question, but ‘Exterminated Malfeasance’ ends up being a little too pedestrian for its own good, never lacking in competence in terms of riff phrasing, placements and duration; but instead in terms of sheer memorability.

Stream the entire EP below:

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