This year, the annual rock fest of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), ‘Strawberry Fields’ will be held in association with the Deccan Herald. As part of that, Metrolife will feature some of the prominent bands that have performed in the previous editions of the fest.

With a single critically acclaimed album under their belt and the recognition as ‘The Best Emerging Band’ at the ‘Rolling Stone Metal Awards India 2013’, Bangalore-based doom metal band Bevar Sea has garnered a dedicated fan following in India.

   Bevar Sea co-headlined Strawberry Fields in 2011 along with Vedic Metal band Rudra and returned in 2012 to judge the 16-year-old music festival organised by National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore.

Songwriter and guitarist Srikanth Panaman traced the early history of the band, which involved frequent jams with musician friends, who shared his interest in classic rock artistes of the 1970s such as ‘Deep Purple’, ‘Black Sabbath’ and ‘Led Zeppelin’.

   Choosing to categorise their music as ‘rocking kind of doom metal’, Panaman joked as to how they play their music slow because ‘they are lazy people’.

Their musical style has received wide recognition by both fans and critics alike, especially the nine-minute epic Abhistu.

   Speaking of the origins of the song, Panaman and guitarist Rahul Chacko spoke of the band’s plans to shoot a music video for another song which would lay down the story of the eponymous protagonist of the song sometime in the coming few months.

Panaman also pointed out that ‘Strawberry Fields’ was one among the three or four favourite shows that the band had played in the two years of their existence.

They also spoke at length about the vibe of the show, which he said had not diminished since the first time he had attended the show in 1999.  Incidentally, most members of the current line-up have played at the show, as part of other competing bands before co-headlining as Bevar Sea.

About the music scene and the variety of genres played by artistes in Bangalore and other parts of India, the band spoke about how they stick to making music influenced by the heavy rock styles of the 1970s and early 1980s and account for the special
interests of the individual band members within the broad head that they have created for themselves.

Hoping to continue making music along these lines, Panaman stated that the future plans for the band include the shooting of the video and a second album, which the band aims to start recording by early 2014.