Interview : Cry

Me: Hey! Thanks for taking out time man. Tell me briefly about your project ‘cry’? when it started and how were the early days?

Cry: Cry,more than being a one man project for me is a sonic diary in which I pen down the darker sides of my life.
Everyone goes through agony,some people ignore those feelings terming them as emo or whatever and some people dont.In simple words,from pain,denial and hate this dark art I create.


Me:  How many EPs/albums are out yet and which record label you are signed to?

Cry:  Well I have released my demo entitled 'Eternal screams of silence',EP entitled 'Sui side',also a re-release of 'Sui side' with some keyboard additions in it.I have released my first full length album recently entitled 'Dead within' which is out for sale by one of the well reputed underground black metal labels known as Rigorism productions (Russia)

Me:  Would you like to work with an Indian label in the future?

Cry:  Maybe,depends on how well they can help me promote my music.


Me: Are you working on an EP or album lately?

Cry:  Well to be frank I work on the music for Cry only to let out my agony .Im not sure if I am going to release any albums in the future,maybe I will,maybe I wont.

 Me: Why did you choose to make it a solo project?

Cry:  Cry is a very personal project for me and I didnt want anyone to be involved or to rely on anyone for its music so decided to make it a solo project.


Me:  Has any Indian band impressed/inspired you?

Cry:  There are a few Indian bands which inspire me but not for Cry since I beleive it is the first DSBM project to come from India.


Me: We all know that black metal hasn’t got the proper recognition in
India yet and DSBM is almost non-existent. Do think things will change?

Cry:  Yes,Black metal does have very less recognition in India,one of the reasons why I promoted 'Cry' more out of India and places where the black metal scene is good and open minded.Things in India might change if people recognise that black metal more than being blasphemic,satanic or whatever is one of the most beautiful forms of art where thoughts and emotions are real,poetry with metaphors and music with an entirely out of the world atmosphere.




Me: If you ever play live in India, where would you like to play, with which bands and why?

Cry: I would like to play in every place possible with bands who understand and appreciate true black metal.





Me:  Which are the instruments you have played and which are the processed ones?

Cry: Everything except the guitars and vocals are sampled.All music is written by me alone.




Me:  I really appreciate your efforts towards the scene and now its time for me to wrap up and go back to complete the assignments but before that leave a message that you want to convey to our readers or say something that will make them listen to DSBM.

Cry:  Feel free to feel all the emotions that you are supposed to.Dont run away from pain and agony or ignore them for they can make you go deep into your soul and let you know yourself even more.Embrace all feelings equally.Support art,Support metal,keep it real,Black metal







Cry consist of Rahul Das

 


Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/cryblackmetal

Interview of 1833AD

Hello guys! Its my honor to talk to you. Please take me few years back and educate me about the formation of the band.
When and how did 1833AD start?

Nishant: Back in 2006, Sushmit and I were looking for a drummer to form a band with. That’s when we met Shashank (ex-drummer), who at the time was playing for a local band. After we discovered our common interest in Black Metal we started playing together. We started off as a three piece band. But the kind of songs I was writing back then required another instrument to support it. So I considered the idea of moving to keys and let a better guitarist take over guitar duties (laughs). That’s when Rahul came in and he turned out to be this crazy ass shredder who could shred till his fingers bled. He had a very aggressive guitar style, thanks to his thrash years. So I decided to back him up in a dual guitar attack than go for an atmospheric approach involving keyboards. If I look back, I have no regrets. This is exactly what we wanted.

‘My Dark Symphony’ is probably the most awaited album of the year and it is expected to be out this November? What is the status of the album right now?

Sushmit:  The tracking has been completed. That was the tough part, at least for us. Now it’s with Anupam Roy, Grey Studios for the final mix and master. I can’t reveal the concept as of now but I can promise that the album artwork would be the first of its kind in India. If there are no delays, we are right on track for a November release.

How many tracks will appear on the album? Is there any cover song that will be featured in the album?

Sushmit: The album features 12 tracks out of which 3 are short instrumentals. There will be no covers on the album. Don’t you get enough of that at our shows! (laughs)

How do you write songs and compose music?

Nishant: My thoughts root from the pain and suffering that I see around me, oppression by leaders and the supremacy of evil; how we have to tolerate it helplessly. I usually write everything in a fantasy scenario and hence if you were to read it off a paper it wouldn’t make much sense to you. But it’s crafted such that when you hold the album in your hand and listen to the songs, it’ll unveil itself to you. I hope it does (laughs).

About compositions, Rahul or I come up with one riff that branches out into a song. Now that I am in Bangalore, it’s a little difficult to synch up the work as writing and exchanging riffs over the internet isn’t the most efficient way to go. We could work much better if we were together in the studio brainstorming. 

There are many songs that 1833AD covers. Is there any specific song that is your favorite?

 1833AD playing a Burzum track at B69

 

Sushmit: As a band I don’t think we could narrow it down to one. But my personal favorite would be Tyrants by Immortal.

Which record label will release the upcoming album?

Sushmit: It will be an independent release in India. We are in talks with a few labels for its international release. 

1833AD chose to play black metal long back when no one even thought of playing it. How was the journey so far?

Sushmit: We struggled a lot initially because no one was really interested in having a Black Metal band in their line-up. But slowly we started getting more and more gigs in and around Delhi which led to invites from other cities. Now we have played in almost all the major cities of India. It has been an eventful and a wonderful journey so far.

A few days ago you headlined The Black Mass Festival in Sri Lanka. How was your experience there?

Sushmit:  Black Mass Festival was an awesome experience for the band. It was our first headlining gig outside the country. We shared the stage with 14 local bands from Sri Lanka and they were remarkable. At least 70% of the bands there are into black metal which is pretty cool. The most satisfying aspect of the tour was the overwhelming response from the crowd. We would love to go back and play there again.

Is there any specific band/artists that have inspired 1833AD?

Nishant: Lots of them! Mostly the greats from Norway but I don’t want to start naming them cause the list is just endless.

Band has always been surrounded by offensive comments, reviews, interviews and other similar activities online. Why do guys stay neutral to such things? I mean people can interpret that you agree with them. 

Nishant: Well, it’s just a dignified and matured approach. If we’re in a band we have to accept the fact that people might love us, hate us, are jealous of us… If we can’t take all that in our stride, then we shouldn’t be in a band. 

How is the metal scene in Delhi? Do you guys get to play often?

Sushmit: There was a time when bands like Third Sovereign and Acrid Semblance were the top metal bands in the capital. I miss those days. Kids these days seem to be turning towards Metalcore and Djent.  A lot of new bands are coming up but unfortunately they all sound the same. Undying Inc of course is the most successful act around, and they deserve to be because they have found their own sound and have not got lost in the mix.

Metal gigs are rare in Delhi. However, when it does happen, we are part of it. Our next gig here is in September.

Do you think the Indian Black Metal scene is heading in the right direction?

Nishant: It definitely is. Not sure if it’s at the pace I’d want it to be in. But then we have to be patient. Like you said when we started off, we were the only Black Metal band around. Now there are bands and one man projects emerging from all parts of the country. So it’s growing but we still have a long way to go.

It was awesome to catch up with you. Thank you for your time. Now time to say good bye to the readers! :D

Nishant: Great talking to you too. I would like to request all readers to join us on Facebook and check out our music if you already haven’t. See you at our next gig.

 1833AD is :

Nishant  - Vocals/Guitars

Rahul - guitars

Sushmit - bass

Raghav - Drums

Check them out on reverbnation : 

http://www.reverbnation.com/1833ad

  or join them on facebook : 
 
http://www.facebook.com/1833ad

Interview of Dark desolation

Hey thanks for your time guys. Let’s start with the introduction. Tell me about Dark Desolation. How did it start?

Dark Desolation: Hey Sanjeev, our rancid gratitude for this opportunity. On one turdy day Maggot got a call from Apostate who was in Vizag. Apostate came to Bangalore to meet Maggot and things worked up fine. Then Blasphemer was found and these assholic 3 jammed. Couple of weeks later the hyperblast maniac ,Serpentine was exhumed from a random putrid cesspool. Finally a bassist joined us who was soon replaced by Misanthropist.

Please describe the sound/music of Dark Desolation.

Dark Desolation:Dark Desolation play raw black metal and grind. Our music is mother fucking raw with grisly guitars, brain splattering hyperblasts and nettling throats. 

When did you guys write this material and how does Dark Desolation write songs?

Dark Desolation:Last year June on some crappy day in a jam place we were exploring the pinnacle of extremity with rawness and ended up with futile dogma.  Still we can remember on the very next fuckin day we got featured in a newspaper in a notorious way that we were creating excruciating noise which assaulted the nearby timid residents.

  We incept with guitars along with drums and add bass. Then pen down lyrics and finally the vocals.

Do you plan on doing any cover songs?

We commenced with the legendary Celtic Frost and have Dark Funeral, Cripple Bastards in line.

What do the lyrics imply to?

Dark Desolation:Anti Christianity but not the regular Satanism and misanthropic torture

Have you signed any record label yet?

Dark Desolation:Yep we are. But we plan to announce it when the next single is unleashed.

When you guys will start working on an EP or album?

Dark Desolation:We are in talks with some black metal stalwarts and once the deal is done, EP will be regurgitated.

Why corpse paint? Suppose if the organizer won’t allow using corpse paint, will you guys play that gig? Such thing can happen at a college gig.

Dark Desolation:Corpse paint is the vital grim attire of pure black metal. Lucidly we won’t play in gigs which are organized by non corpse paint scented pee holes. 

Why did you choose to play black metal? This genre is still in its nascent stage in this part of the world.

Dark Desolation:Initially we were reckoned as musically muddled band by cock suckers who got zero knowledge about us cuz we play mainly raw black and also grind. We opt the former for its extremity and latter for its energy. Any one got probs with it, cock your holes and fuck off. We don’t wanna play the routine bitchy mainstream genres and get recognized in no fuckin time. We play this genre for some extreme and gruesome metal conks who can overwhelm us.

Which bands/artists influence Dark Desolation most?

Dark Desolation:Dark Funeral, Anaal Nathrakh and Cripple Bastards

How is your local metal scene these days?

Dark Desolation:The scene has drastically improved as extreme genres started getting support.

Your opinion on the Indian Black Metal scene.

Dark Desolation:Black metal legion have been underdogs ever since it did originate. But trust us pretty soon Indian Black Metal scene will be like Norwegian.

Final words please.

Dark Desolation:Support extreme metal \m\

 You guys can check out their music here.

Interview with Stark Denial

Me: What is the story behind Stark Denial? How did you all come together?

Stark Denial: Formed in 2006, official with a lot of line-up changes, we played first live show in 2009.
In 2006 we had Kunal (Vocals),Ruark (Guitar), Joshua (Bass) and Yash (Drums/Ex- Exhumation).
2007: Kunal (Vocals), Ruark (Guitar), Sylvester (Keyboards), Wilroy (Bass), Abhinav (Drums/Ex-Necrosis).
2008: Kunal (Vocals and Drums), Ruark (Guitar), Sylvester (Keyboards), Shrikant Sreenivasan (Guitar), Rohit Razdan (Bass).
Early 2009: Kunal (Vocals), Ruark (Guitar), Appay (Guitar), Rohit (Bass), Souvik (Drums).
Winter 2009 - Current: Kunal (Vocals), Ruark (Guitar), Vaibhav (Guitar), Felix (Bass), Souvik (Drums).
We all met with a common interest in forming a Black Metal band.



Me: What is the story behind the name of the band?

Stark Denial: We were chilling out when Kunal played an Angel Corpse album and played the song Black Solstice, from whose lyrics we derived the name Stark Denial.



Me: Where is the new album being recorded?

Stark Denial: As of now we are concentrating on gigging and coming up with new material as much as we can. But an album is definitely on its way.



Me: Tell me a bit about what Stark Denial sounds like. How will you describe your music?

Stark Denial: We are primarily influenced by Immortal, Marduk, Dark Funeral, Satyricon and other Black Metal greats. But we try to keep up with the time and introduce different elements in the music.



Me: Can you tell us how Stark Denial write songs/music?

Stark Denial: Most of us being working class guys, we do our homework so that we can maximize the output of our jam. We share our ideas as we jam and come up with songs.



Me: What do lyrics deal with?

Stark Denial: Personal and day to day life experiences, war, human negativity and hatred.



Me: How was your experience playing with outstation bands?

Stark Denial: Playing with foreign bands is always a good experience, and we are proud to carry the baton of Indian Extreme Metal bands. We will make sure that we stick to our roots and deliver a kick-ass performance.


 
Me: How is the metal scene in Mumbai?

Stark Denial: Ever since Razz Rhino's shut, the metal scene was dormant to the point of extinction. But with the arrival of  B69 and revival of the Mumbai metal scene , extreme metal bands like Stark Denial got an opportunity to spread our music and the genre in general.



Me: What would you like to say about the Black Metal scene in India?

Stark Denial: In India, there are very few black metal bands. As the metal scene itself is not that big with a domination in popular genres such as metalcore, death metal and heavy metal in general. But we have had the good fortune of playing with other black metal bands from many cities in India as well as a couple of international bands.



Me: Anything you want to add?

Ruark: Live for music and die for music.

Kunal: Till the time we are around, we will deliver our best by raising the bar of black metal music in India.

Felix: No gods. No prisoners.

Vaibhav: I Appreciate the response that Stark Denial has got in and around Mumbai. So guys keep it coming.

Souvik: Blasting all the way. Keep it black. Keep it dark! (Bhokachoda).

Stark Denial is:




Kunal Gonsalves: Vocals

Vaibhav Pani: Guitars

Ruark D'Souza: Guitars

Felix D'souza: Bass

Souvik Roy: Drums

Check them out at http://www.reverbnation.com/starkdenial