For an electrifying experience

It’s a joy to see how three young boys can come together to create an electrifying experience with their music. ‘Amorphia’, a 3-piece thrash metal band from Kerala always promises massive energy and a larger-than life gig everytime they take stage. With Manu on the bass, Vasu on lead guitars and Vivek on drums; the band will always leave the audience thinking; with their powerful lyrics on war, change and angst. ‘Amorphia’s story begins in Cherthala, where the boys learnt guitar and drums. Four years later, the band has performed in a number of music festivals in different cities. They will perform in Bengaluru on May 7 for a gig titled ‘High Voltage’. It will celebrate 25 years of Bengaluru-based death metal band, ‘Dying Embrace’.

Vivek shares ‘Amorphia’s’ journey and some of their experiences with Anushka Sivakumar.

Tell us about the initial days of ‘Amorphia’.
‘Amorphia’ was a 5-member-band that was formed in 2013. Now, it’s just Manu, Vasu and me. We used to stay close to each other’s house in Allapuzha and also studied music together. We were all united by the love for thrash metal and decided to form a band. In the beginning, we were all discovering ourselves and were playing numerous covers of ‘Metallica’ and ‘Iron Maiden’. The 3 of us are solid at what we do and are quite serious about the music. Our work is secondary to our music. The metal scene faces a lot of challenges. We can’t expect money from our music but we will continue to perform for the love of metal. Someday, we wish to do a music tour as well.

Are you excited to perform in Bengaluru?
Oh yes. It’s one of our favourite cities to perform at. Back home, the crowd is mainly of teenagers who appreciate the music but don’t really have so much knowledge about metal. We find that the crowd in Bengaluru can really understand our music. They are very approachable. It’s a great place where people have a lot more freedom to express themselves. However, I feel sad that the climate is changing drastically in Bengaluru.

How is the metal scene in Kerala?
There were great bands which were churned out. College kids were really influenced by metal and even now, there are some good ones in the scene. However, many lack some sense of direction or get discouraged quickly which is why they crumble too fast. They don’t know how to promote themselves which is why most of the bands are just floating in the scene, without any real grassroots connect.

What can we expect from the ‘High Voltage’ gig?
Some high voltage music! We will present a few compositions from our new album. The songs are about changes in society and the disorder in the world. We will also play a tribute to ‘Sodom’, a German thrash metal band. Sodom will always be our biggest influence.

What is the ‘Amorphia’ sound?
Teutonic thrash metal. It is a regional scene of thrash metal music that originated in Germany. It was one of the major sub genres of thrash metal in the 80s.