Sthoopa

The Indian metal scene has always been an enigma to the rest of the metal community, due to the lack of proper exposure, rapport and inadequate musical education. Yet India does have a plethora of subgenres, thriving in the underground scene. Apart from a few bands who've made it big on the world stage, the Indian metal wave lives off the country's college festival circuit and weekend gigs at the local pub or a patron club. Dhwesha is one such emerging powerhouse in the metal underground, and they've earned that status, which is evident in their debut disk 'Sthoopa'.

Heavily influenced by Bolt Thrower, Dead Congregation and the rich native South Indian folklore, this death doom act stands out of the crowd of generic sounding bands, with its near perfect fusion of technicality with the murky, ear-desecrating sound, which Congregation is praised for, and of course, the lyrics sung in the band's native Kannada dialect. No wonder they got signed up by Dunkelheit records with just a demo under their belts.

The first feature which sticks out, right off the first track of the album is the instrumentation. The band has created a cleverly balanced combination of string and skin work, without either the drums or the guitars gaining excess prominence over the other. They do all this, without losing the air of impending doom, death and destruction - the main subjects of interest in all the tracks on the album.

One more aspect of this album that anyone would find amazing, would be the guitar-work. Some tracks having catchy, but intricately played riffs, properly complimented by the drums, creating a mid-paced, but vicious wall of sound whose message of decay, war and blood-thirst becomes awfully contagious after just a few listens. This, coupled with expert production, muddied to spread the ungodly word of doom, creates an explosive formula, hard to best, yet the following track does just that. Prime examples of this kind would be 'Sabhe', 'Sattva Bali' and 'Dhwesha'.

So vile that it's unsettling, this album is definitely a major release, as far as the Indian underground is concerned, setting a lofty benchmark for upcoming future death & doom acts. At first glance, Dhwesha might seem like any other OSDM tribute band, but they maintain their connections to their dark & exotic Indian folk roots through their creative vocal delivery and some ingenious guitar work, creating a style endemic to their own but second to none.