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We usually think of India as the land of yoga, overcrowded trains and holy cows, a country dominated by religious views, dating back to ages before the rise and fall of Rome and before the pyramids of Egypt. However, obviously, as with every country in the world, there is an extreme underground in India with some very surprising and refreshing bands, counteracting the religious oppression and promoting disbelief. These people claim that there is no god who controls your life. You, and you alone, are responsible for the way you choose to live your life and you will have to live with the consequences of that choice.
Heathen Beast is one of those bands who decided to go their own way. Not only in choice of religion but also in musical style. They hail from Calcutta and name their music 'atheistic black metal'. Yet, there's more going on in the three songs on this album. For starters, the music isn't as raw and hellish as their Scandinavian counterparts and it's not as avant-garde and bleak as the modern day American version. No, this is very melodic but extremely aggresive black metal with a touch of sludge and some Indian elements.
The album opens with vocal samples, every song on this e.p. does. Then some nice percussion comes in, quickly followed by some great guitar solos and melodies. It won't take long before the titletrack shows it's true face: a high quality black metal song with a lot of variation, melody and tempo shifts. Over all this controlled chaos, a demonic voice screeches and screams, a lot. It strikes me how much the vocalist is present. He also sounds a bit like vocalist from some sludge bands, hence the sludge reference earlier in this review.
'Ab Ki Baar Atyachar' brings more of the same and therefore is another very decent song. Yet, my favourite remains 'Gaurav Yatra (The Aftermath)', the one with some authentic Indian melodies and the theatrical sound of bands like Dimmu Borgir, The Kovenant or Cradle Of Filth. The combination of these elements is just brilliant. This is great stuff to headbang to and actually a very promising e.p. I'm quite curious about this band and I'm hungry for more. Not only from Heathen Beast but from the entire Indian underground. There's some awesome stuff to be found here...
Serge
Heathen Beast is one of those bands who decided to go their own way. Not only in choice of religion but also in musical style. They hail from Calcutta and name their music 'atheistic black metal'. Yet, there's more going on in the three songs on this album. For starters, the music isn't as raw and hellish as their Scandinavian counterparts and it's not as avant-garde and bleak as the modern day American version. No, this is very melodic but extremely aggresive black metal with a touch of sludge and some Indian elements.
The album opens with vocal samples, every song on this e.p. does. Then some nice percussion comes in, quickly followed by some great guitar solos and melodies. It won't take long before the titletrack shows it's true face: a high quality black metal song with a lot of variation, melody and tempo shifts. Over all this controlled chaos, a demonic voice screeches and screams, a lot. It strikes me how much the vocalist is present. He also sounds a bit like vocalist from some sludge bands, hence the sludge reference earlier in this review.
'Ab Ki Baar Atyachar' brings more of the same and therefore is another very decent song. Yet, my favourite remains 'Gaurav Yatra (The Aftermath)', the one with some authentic Indian melodies and the theatrical sound of bands like Dimmu Borgir, The Kovenant or Cradle Of Filth. The combination of these elements is just brilliant. This is great stuff to headbang to and actually a very promising e.p. I'm quite curious about this band and I'm hungry for more. Not only from Heathen Beast but from the entire Indian underground. There's some awesome stuff to be found here...
Serge