Non metal releases of 2022

A couple weeks late but Best of 2022 lists coming up, starting with Non metal

Greg Puciato – Mirrorcell

2nd solo album from the former The Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist and it’s totally not what you expect from him. This album is in the Alt-rock/Grunge space.

Haavard – self titled 

Debut release from Håvard Jørgensen, a former member of Ulver and Satyricon. Largely acoustic album transport you to the frosty north from the first track itself. I used this album to wind down at the end of the day.

Ian Blurton’s Future now – Second Skin

Canadian rock legend mixes rock and roll with some psychedelia. Must listen for guitar rock fans.

Joji – Smithereens

I discovered this Japanese Singer-songwriter on a chill mix playlist on Spotify. Since then I’ve had it on heavy rotation. Vocal-driven pop layered on top of catchy electro beats.

Raman Negi –  Shakhsiyat

Former frontman of Indian rock band, The Local Train. His debut album is a catchy mix of guitars and wordplay. I did enjoy it for someone who is not that fluent in Hindi.

Metal list coming up soon.

Favourite albums of 2022 – Part 1

This year I thought I’d do something different, before releasing my list of favourite albums of the year, I asked my friends what their favourite albums of the year were. 

Here are the albums (in order of appearance on the episode)

Anurag Tagat + Seth Werkheiser – Ithaca – They Fear Us

Adnan M – Machine Head  Of Kingdom and Crown

Andy Dowling – Idle Ruin – Valley Inferno.

Gautam K – Sigh – Shiki

Deepak aka Chuck – Playgrounded – The Death of Death

Joel – Kardashev – Liminal Rite

Alex from Undeath – Sedimentum – Suppuration Morphogénésiaque 

Abbas Rizvi – Psycroptic – Divine Council 

Aditya Rao – Gaerea – Mirage

Peter K – Wormrot – Hiss

Part 2 coming up soon!

Revolting album premiere

I’ve been writing for The Metal Wanderlust more recently. After the Wombbath premiere, I wrote about the album premiere for that latest Revolting album The Shadow at the World’s end.

Check out the album on The Metal Wanderlust

Wombbath track premiere

Wombbath are an Old School Death Metal act from Sweden that completes 30 years of magnificence this year in their chosen field. No easy task for a band that plays Metal let alone Death Metal. To mark this milestone Wombbath are releasing an album consisting of re-recorded songs from their older material as well as some brand new material, “Tales of Madness” via Transcending Obscurity Records.

Listen to Unholy Madness here

The Drift release video for new track Seer

Regulars readers would have noticed quite a few bands from South Africa being featured recently. First it was Ruff Majik and then Vulvodynia.

Yesterday, I got an email from Warren Gibson from Plug Music Agency about a single from The Drift, a sludge metal act from Johannesburg. It took a couple listens for the sludgy riffs to sink in and I knew that I had to feature them on the blog.

Who are The Drift?

The band is made up musicians from across the South African scene and have released 2 albums as part of a Deluge trilogy. They have performed with bands like Lamb of God, Protest the Hero, At the Gates and many more. After a short break The Drift are back with a new line-up, video and forthcoming album.

Check the video for Seer below

“After a 2-year hiatus, this was the first track written when the pieces came back together.” said vocalist Louis Du Pisani “It was a fresh finish to an album that was mostly done, truly giving it a raw and unbiased musical perspective, so much so that it was chosen as the title track that kicks off the Deluge trilogy.”

Seer is set to be released in September. I am looking forward to hearing the rest of the album.

Top albums of 2018

The past year has been a great year for metal. These are my favourite albums that I listened to in the past year in alphabetic order.

Dirge – Au Puch
Espionage – Digital Dystopia
Gaerea – Unsettling Whispers
Irreversible Mechanism – Immersion
Ken Mode – Loved
Khemmis – Desolation
Møl – Jord
Pig Destroyer – Head Cage
Sojourner – The Shadowed Road
The Armed – Only Love

Read the complete article on The Metal Wanderlust

Now Playing – August 2014

It has been a while since I posted here thanks to my day job,  and I’m resuming with a new feature that I’d like to kick off. I first saw it on Milliblog where is it called “Top recent listens” and today, I decide to finally get it done. Since I listen to a lot of music (Indian and International bands), I thought of featuring a few bands on the blog that I really enjoying without interviewing them. This is going to be a monthly feature (if work permits) from now onwards.

Here is what I have been listening to this month.

Metal

Dying Embrace/Dusk – “Through corridors of dead centuries”

Two of the oldest extreme metal bands from South Asia have come together on this long awaited  release by Cyclopean Eye Productions. The Dying Embrace (India) side features new material from them in over a decade. Being a fan of the “Doom” avatar of Dusk (Pakistan), I really enjoyed their side of the split. This is death/doom metal recommended for those who preferred metal that sounds “raw”. Read my interview with Dusk here.

 

 

Demonic Resurrection – The Demon King

Demonic Resurrection from Bombay are one of India’s most popular metal band. I did a story on them recently for the BC/MC zine. Their latest album “The Demon King” which released last month is a story about Good and Evil and how Evil triumphs. Each song on the album tells the story from a different character’s perspective. I feel this is their best album as yet, in terms of songwriting and production.  After their appearance at Wacken Open Air earlier this month and their UK tour last month, they ought to be playing gigs across India in support of the album.

 

The Down Troddence – “How Are You? We Are Fine, Thank You”

The Down Troddence from Bangalore took the Rolling Stone Metal Awards by storm in June by winning 8 awards and also putting up a great performance. This album released in January and I only heard it much later in March, since then it’s been on heavy rotation. The album has a good mix of Indian melody and aggression. Definitely a band to keep an eye out for in the future.

 

Animals As Leaders – Joy of Motion

The latest album from Animals As Leaders is one of my favourite albums of the year. I have been listening to the album constantly ever since it released.  “Another Year” is a stand out song. Tosin Abasi, Javier Reyes and Matt Garstka have released a masterpiece that will be very hard for anyone to top this year.

 

Non – metal

Until we last – Earthgazing

In the past couple of years, there has been a surge in the number of post-rock bands in India. One of the best bands among them are Until We Last from Bangalore . Earlier this month they put out their first release “Earthgazing” and it sounds great. A short release of just 4 songs,  I was left wanting for more; looking forward to a full length released from them soon.

 

The Supersonics – Heads up

The Supersonics from Kolkata are one of my favourite Indian rock bands. I have been waiting for the release of their new album since they got back together in mid-2012 after a short break up. After the first couple of listens, I was not disappointed at all. My favourite track is “Strawberry“, can’t help singing along to their chorus. The album is 10 tracks of straight up rock and roll. Easily one of the Top 10 releases by an Indian band this year.

 

Dying Embrace/Dusk – “Through corridors of dead centuries” is available from Cyclopean Eye Productions

Demonic Resurrection – The Demon King is available in stores across India. 

The Down Troddence – “How Are You? We Are Fine, Thank You” and The Supersonics – Heads Up are available from OkListen.com

Indianrockmp3.com turns 3

A few days ago Indianrockmp3.com completed 3 years. Started as a blog by Santhosh Lobo, a Indian based in Kuwait it is now a website with daily updates by Indian rock and metal enthusiasts from around the country. More about the origins of the website and its growth  in this interview with Santhosh

I got involved with Indianrockmp3.com around a year ago after being a daily reader for a couple years. During this time I have interviewed and reviewed the “Rawkstars” of India. Some people at gigs now recognize me as “the guy who writes for Indianrockmp3”

Check out Volume II of the annual Indiean compilation featuring 9 kick ass tracks.

Looking forward to another year of Indiean music.

Metchul + Food #win

Its close to the end of the month already, lots happening here in Mumbai. The major update is that unemployment has ended, will try to keep up with my writing somehow.

Food is something I enjoy A LOT, other than music ; the last company I work for was related to food. Earlier today I watched a video that has gone viral in the past week or so (it has 946,085 views as I write this). Since Pad Thai is one of my favourite dishes, I watched the entire episode diligently.  Check it out….

The website  http://veganblackmetalchef.com is basic at the moment, I guess they will add recipes and a lot more soon. Can’t wait for the next episode.

MidEast Dynasty

I am now writing also for MidEast Dynasty, in addition to IndianRockmp3.com and theunderground.in,  Those  wondering why I am writing for  a hip hop website, well….I’m not  the BIGGEST hip hop fan but I do check out hip hop from UAE/Middle East sometimes.

The founder of MidEast Dynasty, Nasir Akmal aka Deen had got it contact with me in 2008 when I was writing for Spin Earth.  Late last year, he wanted to start a website for the Hip Hop scene in the Middle East and asked me if I would be interested in being involved. After months of planning and a lot more the website is now live!!!

Check it out even if you are not a fan of hip hop, you will discover some new music.