Bringing back the lost sheen

Changes call for innovation and innovation leads to progress,’ said politician Li Keqiang.

This stands true for art forms too, especially music. The musical scene has gone through many changes and metal music, which was one of the city’s attractions initially, slowly took a backseat. Thankfully, passionate metal heads in the city haven’t given up and they continue to swim against the tide, trying different formats to get the genre the attention it deserves.

While metal music and its subgenres like death, melodic death, progressive, black, industrial and doom, are assumed to be more about sound than lyrics, city-based bands like ‘Pineapple Express’ have given importance to words and the verbal format. Yogeendra Hariprasad, who pens the lyrics for the band, says, “Metal had a core audience of its own but we wanted to reach out to a wider group. Apart from being a progressive metal band, we have brought in instruments like the violin and flute and added electronic elements. Our two new songs, ‘Money’ and ‘Underrated’, bring in an element of rap too.”

Having grown up listening to bands like ‘Agam’, Yogeendra believes that breaking barriers and mixing styles is the way to a wider audience. “The backing behind rap in the songs is metal, which is a unique sound. We’ve also introduced Latin percussion in ‘Money’,” he says.

For those who believe that metal music is all about heavy notes and dark material, Anirudh Sharma CA, who plays tabla with classical progressive metal band ‘The Lost Cassette’, says that mixing traditional sounds with heavy metal works. “People feel that metal music has reached a saturation point but they don’t realise that such fusions work well. Not many classical musicians identify themselves as metal heads and not many metal fans listen to classical music, which is where we stand out,” he says.

Every musician has loves live acts and is forever searching for newer venues to perform at. This is where the initiative ‘Bond By Blood’, a concert series by Jayanth Sridhar, Narayan Shrouthy and Siddharth Naidu, comes in.

Jayanth, lead guitarist with thrash metal band ‘Neolithic Silence’, says that most venues rope in Bollywood DJs as a safer bet rather than setting up a metal gig.

“We wanted to bring in a form of sustainability for metal artistes. That is why we introduced a platform, where the audience pays to be let in. The amount is split among the performing bands and artistes who are involved in the artwork and sound. We don’t rely on sponsorship; the event is entirely funded by the audience,” he explains.

This is turn also encourages amateur groups like college bands, he adds.

As for the band’s music, Jayanth says they are grateful to be known in the circuit, as they have been around for a decade. “We haven’t had to change our format. We did add a new person who brought in a modern twist to our music,” he says.

Unlike the image that one has of metal music, the band’s music is connected to current affairs. “We do storytelling through our music. Our music is a true form of expression,” he says.