Songs of social awareness

Together, they may be known to the world as ‘Chaos’, but as individuals, they are driven by a single-minded goal, which is to create awareness through their music.

With Jayakrishnan on vocals, Nikhil on guitars, Vishnu on bass and Manu on drums, each member has a clear-cut opinion on a variety of social and political evils that plague society, such as corruption, warfare, murder and communalism, which echo in their songs. This aggressive thrash metal band from Trivandrum recently performed in the City at the ‘Twisted Metal Festival 2015, Thrash Edition’, held at Pebble.  

The boys spent a good one year in the City before they moved to Trivandrum and are happy to find the weather here still salubrious. “We were only scared about the auto drivers here. They are just as scary,” Jayakrishnan says, laughing. But he loves coming back here to perform as metal garners a wider audience in the City. While there are more than 500 thrash metal fans at even a small gig in Bengaluru, he says that a show back in Kerala may attract only as many as 350 people. As most bands start (in college, of course) and disintegrate (after college) in the same manner, ‘Chaos’ prides itself in sticking together for a long time now. They came together in 2005, when Jayakrishnan showed Nikhil an arrangement of harmonies and asked him if he could play a couple of songs, and gained a cult status after releasing their first album, ‘Violent Redemption’.

It’s not for nothing that were they also awarded the best metal artiste — they deliver a heavy punch in a power-packed, quartet ensemble, with heavy guitar riffs, blood curdling screams and slow melodies. Thrash metal, which garnered a niche audience once, now sees a growing fanbase and Jayakrishnan credits the internet to having made it possible for this paradigm shift.

“The internet has done all sorts of things. It has made it possible for people to learn music online, opened various avenues and changed listeners’ choices. And this, however, hasn’t caused any decline in live performances. People still go and enjoy a concert because nothing can recreate a live performance-like experience.”

Still, he does talk dismally about a few thorns, especially the lack of funds in the industry. “It’s an expensive hobby. Even we are a self-funded band. There are no sponsors here and bands rely entirely on ticket sales. Fans become king as they run the show.” And though he would love to pursue music full time, he sees the opportunity as one that is far away. But ‘Chaos’ is not ready to give up just yet as they are on to recording their second album in September with their flamboyant craftsmanship, and this, they hope, will cook up high-brewing storms.