Blue Frog Metal Nights return to the Mumbai venue after being absent for a couple of months, to host a night that will feature three metal bands that wear costumes of some sort or the other. The concert, taking place on Sunday, May 19, w...
Blue Frog Metal Nights return to the Mumbai venue after being absent for a couple of months, to host a night that will feature three metal bands that wear costumes of some sort or the other. The concert, taking place on Sunday, May 19, will feature performances by Mumbai black metallers Solar Deity (pictured outside; fronted by Exhumation man Aditya Mehta), costumed death metallers Reptilian Death (pictured inside; who are also launching their new album The Dawn Of Consummation And Emergence) and old school horror metal band Albatross. We at NH7 are big fans of the Metal Nights (check out our coverage of a few previous gigs here), and we decided to get a lowdown of the br00tality that one can expect at the Frog on Sunday.
Reptilian Death
Mumbai metal band Reptilian Death have been around for almost as long as drummer Sahil Makhija’s Demonic Resurrection (read about their 13-year-long journey here) but for most of those years, they spoofed death metal more than anything else. In 2012, after Bhayanak Maut frontman Vinay Venkatesh took over vocal duties, the band underwent a metamorphosis that has given them a strongly distinct identity in the Indian metal scene. The revamped band played their first ever set at Domination: The Deathfest 2013 and according attendees, left the audience shell-shocked by their stage presence. The music too has taken on a stronger, more focussed edge and Reptilian Death will definitely be one of the reasons why you should attend the gig on Sunday. We spoke to Makhija to find out what the band is planning to do once they are on stage
We will play an extended setlist which will feature almost all of the entire new album. We haven’t planned anything special apart from that. This is the first time a lot of people will actually be watching the new Reptilian Death properly so we plan to deliver our music with utmost precision and brutality.
Check out a video of Reptilian Death at Domination: The Deathfest 2013 below to get an idea of what we are talking about.
Reptilian Death take the stage at 9pm and will play a 45-minute set.
Solar Deity
Mumbai black metal band Solar Deity will follow Reptilian Death. Solar Deity are one of those kvlt black metal bands that are satanic and br00tal and all of that stuff. Apart from Exhumation frontman Aditya Mehta, Solar Deity also comprise drummer Yash Pathak and bassist Animesh Das (formerly of The Riot Peddlers). The band have only played two other shows live but have released enough material to play a lengthy set. The band’s dizzyingly fast brand of black metal is impressive on record, consisting of a wall of blast beats, efficient guitars and growled vocals (as opposed to the screechy variety associated with the genre), but can still retain a melodic structure strong enough to sustain interest in the song. Never having seen them live, we don’t really know what to expect from them in terms of performance. We did, however, speak to Mehta to find out more about what we can expect from the band
We haven’t really planned anything super special. Our manager, Aaskash Dwivedi, will be doing some crazy visuals when we are on stage so that having that sort of audio-visual setup will be one of the highlights of the gig. We’ll be playing material from the first two albums. Since we will also be wearing costumes on stage and they’re kind of similar to the getup that Reptilian Death have, I hope people won’t get confused between the both of us.
Stream Solar Deity’s ‘Snowless’ below.
Solar Deity will kick off their performance at 10pm.
Albatross
Rounding up the night will be Thane horror metal stalwarts Albatross. Performing in Mumbai almost after a year, the band will be bringing their brand of concept story-based old school metal to the stage at Blue Frog, Mumbai. The band can be expected to preview some new material from their upcoming release The Flight Of The Assassin at the concert and just generally have a gr
