A sound that sets them apart

Blended Notes

 For ‘Cypher16’ — the UK-based band which fuses rock with electronic and metal influences to create its own unique sound — Bangalore has always retained a certain familiarity and charm. Metrolife spoke to the band members when they recently made their fifth visit to the City.

 “In the last two years, the music scene has blown up and that’s why we keep coming back. The people seem to love metal and have embraced bands like ‘Iron Maiden’ and ‘Metallica’, which has made the scene what it is today,” says Lee De’long, the guitarist. 

When asked if they have heard any of the Indian metal bands, drummer Chris Woollams chimes in and says, “‘Demonic Resurrection’, ‘Undying INC’ and Bhayanak Maut have a really great sound and understand metal. We wanted to catch some of them live at ‘Octoberfest’ but they were unfortunately playing at the same time as us.” 

He goes on to compare the music scene in India to that back home. “In the UK, it’s just saturated and there are a million bands and a million venues. Trying to get people to come for your shows is hard work. In India, everybody just wants to go for live shows and enjoy themselves. They open themselves to all kinds of music rather than restrict to one genre,” he points out.

After releasing their debut, ‘The Man of the Black Abyss’ in late 2008 and then ‘The Metaphorical Apocalypse’ in 2011, the band is all set for its next one. “We are working on our new EP (extended play), which should come out by February next year. We’ve been doing some recording and will be releasing new videos soon.

The EP’s still going to have clean vocals as before, but a lot more backing vocals to make it sound stronger and heavy,” informs Lee. Each of the band members has had his own influences, leading to the sound that the band has taken up over the years. “In the early days, I grew up listening to ‘Slipknot’, ‘Lamb of God’ and ‘Korn’.

They weren’t massive but they were really good,” shares Lee. A moment later, Chris decides to answer the question and adds, “Personally, I’m more into ‘Black Sabbath’, ‘Slayer’ and ‘Metallica’.” About Bangalore, the band is full of praises. “It’s been amazing and the crowd reception is always awesome. Every time we come here, it gets better and better.

We just really enjoy the people because they enjoy our music and make us enjoy playing here,” wraps up Lee.