If you have not listened to these guys you simply need too! If you love over the top metal screams, melting metal riffs and ideas that are truly daring then check India’s very own Mustang! They have recently released their epic new album “Beyond Raging Thunder” and we thought what a great time it would be to speak to the band about their history and their new album!

THENWOTHM: First up can you introduce us to the band and where you are from?

Mustang: Well  MUSTANG is an ol’ school traditional heavy metal band hailing from – Kolkata, India. The foundation of MUSTANG was formed in 2015 but things finally started to fall into places in the year of 2018. At first MUSTANG was a four piece band . ‘Piercer’ on Vocals, ‘Styx’ on Guitars , ‘Thunderbastard’ on Bass and ‘Maniac’ on Drums.

The first  single ” Terror Striker” was  released in January 2018 with this line up . Then ‘Sorcerer’ joined in as a second guitarist and we became a five piece band and we released another single called – “Black Steel”  in the August of 2018. After that in the year of 2021 Thunderbastard left the band to pursue his academic career and ‘Scorcher’ joined the band taking up the axe duties and ‘ Sorcerer ‘ shifted to take care of Bass. While composing and recording our debut album – ” Beyond Raging Thunder” the line up was- Vocals – Arijit ‘ Piercer’ Dutta, Guitars – Snehashis ‘Styx’ Nag, Guitars – Scorcher, Bass- Soubhik ‘Sorcerer’ Mondal, Drums – Anoubhav ‘Maniac’ Bhaduri .

Later on Sorcerer left the band cause he moved to a different city and Saswata ‘Impaler’ Sinha joined in a very short notice and took care of the Bass duties. He also accompanied us on our official music video of – “Children of Thunder”.

THENWOTHM: And how did you form? Were any of you in bands previously?

Mustang: MUSTANG is our first band . We never been into any bands before except Sorcerer and Scorcher.

THENWOTHM: What inspired you all to pursue a career in heavy metal music?

Mustang: To be very honest we are still doing this genre of music out of our sheer passion and unfathomable love. We are not yet reached that place where we can choose it as a career maybe in near future we can proudly say that yeah we are paying our bills and fulfilling our daily needs doing heavy metal music and we are working towards it. You know what they say, ” It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock n roll ” haha..

THENWOTHM: It is great to see more and more talent coming from India! What is the heavy metal scene like over there?

Mustang: The traditional heavy metal scene here is growing slowly but steadily. Bands like Kryptos played a very crucial and significant role in putting Indian heavy metal in the world map and inspiring many groups here. There are also gigs and festivals happening on a regular basis, more big bands from the overseas coming down. So overall the scene is growing bigger with every passing days.

THENWOTHM: Which metal bands or musicians have had the biggest influence on your music?

Mustang: Well we derive our musical influences from so many bands. I (Piercer) love 70’s – early 80’s era and complete sucker for bands like Uriah Heep, early Judas Priest, early Scorpions (Uli Roth era). Along with that there are so many bands that has influenced us very strongly. Bands like – Mercyful Fate, Agent Steel, Crimson Glory, Manilla Road to name a few. We all just fuckin’ love ol’ school heavy metal and classic stuffs man.

THENWOTHM: Tell us more about your 2018 release “Terror Striker.” How did that come about?

Mustang: Back then we were 4 piece band and we were searching for a song which can create an impact, which has the striking force and  Styx,  our guitarist came up with one banger of a riff. Even before we released the song we knew that this song is gonna be a hit in the local scene  and it’s gonna create quite a buzz which we were looking for as a new band who were releasing their first song and 5 years after the release it still carries the charm and already earned a ‘Cult’ tag in the underground scene.

THENWOTHM: What do you all like to do when you are not making or performing music?

Mustang: We all are music freak. So either we try to write something new or listening to some new music or watching our favourite bands live shows on YouTube. Our drummer and bassist love to watch anime. I personally love to write so I write stories, poems etc . That’s it , nothing fancy hahaha…

THENWOTHM: What is your most prized possession in your metal collections? It doesn’t have to be music!

Mustang: There are few . One of them is I have a signed poster of one of my all time favourite heavy metal band from France – Sortilége. What makes it special is it is signed by their original members including  my favourite heavy metal vocalist – Zouille. I am the only person to hold this in a country of 1.4 billions. Isn’t it cool hahahah. The gift was sent by one of my good friend from France , Cristi . She signed the poster for me from mighty Keep It True festival where the band reunites and send it to me. Forever in debt for this memorable gift.

Beside this one of my good friend – Late Andy D’Urso from legendary NWOBHM band – Traitors Gate sent me a CD copy of their second album ‘Fallen’ all the way from England. He was a great man and a great friend, he always supported Mustang. He would have been very happy today to see our album is coming out. R.I.P Andy I know you are seeing everything and I miss you my friend.

THENWOTHM: Congratulations on signing with Fighter Records! That must feel pretty awesome! How did that all come about?

Mustang: Thank you so much. We have mailed our EPK to Fighter Records and I remember, Dave Rotten (the head of Fighter Records) replied to our mail very soon and his excitement can be seen clearly through his mail. He liked our album and offered us a contract deal on the spot. We also agreed to the proposal and signed the deal and it’s looking good so far. Dave is a very professional and focused guy he knows what he wants and we also have our vision very clear from the beginning so it’s a great experience working with him altogether.

THENWOTHM: It is exciting to learn that your debut album “Beyond Raging Thunder” is on its way! What can you tell us about the new album?

Mustang: Okay so now it is going to be a very emotional and personal question for all of us hahaha..
” Beyond Raging Thunder ” is our debut full length album and i guess you can understand what a ‘debut album’ stands for to any artist/band. Years of hardwork, passion and ideas were poured in to make this album. We didn’t compromise with anything while crafting this album. We have booked the best recording studio of our city, worked with engineers who have experienced working with bands like – modern day sensation Riot City, Traveler to metal legends like – Sodom, Exumer, Lacuna Coil etc.
The soundscape of this album is very vast. It has high velocity lightning fast speed metal bangers to sing along heavy metal anthems. It has classic sounding heavy metal tunes to deeply evocative ballads. So this album has everything a classic heavy metal maniac can dream of. Every songs has its own direction and story. There is no song on this album which was composed for the sake of composing a song that I can tell.

We have pushed ourselves to the extreme limit to give this record the very best treatment it deserves. This album is our first child and we can happily say that it is made out of unfathomable love and sheer passion and we hope the audience will enjoy the music and recognise our tireless efforts.

THENWOTHM: Can you describe the journey of creating and recording your debut album?

Mustang: It was a rollercoaster ride but I like the thrill of it all. At first everything seems like a huge task then gradually through all the darkness somehow we saw a blink of a light and it guided us to the shore.  That’s it.

THENWOTHM: And who is the team behind the record?

Mustang: We have worked with engineers who are the best in the business.
Our album is mixed and produced by – Jan Loncik at Rich Hobo Studios Calgary, Canada. He is the guy who mixed the first Riot City and first two Traveler albums. Dennis Koehne mastered our album in Dortmund, Germany. Who previously worked with very big shots like – Sodom, Exumer, Lacuna Coil and  modern day bands like Wheel, Roadwolf etc.

We are very lucky to have these brilliant gentlemen with us in our first album. We never compromised with anything no master how big or ambitious it looks and maybe that’s why at the end of the day we got the sound which we have always looking for.

THENWOTHM: Who designed the awesome artwork?

Mustang: I had a tough time finding a good artist who can paint my imagination. After a long search I came to know of an artist namely – Soham Dutta referred by another famous tatoo artist of our city and k e of my close friend called, Kaivalya. Soham did a brilliant job with his work and he nailed it and  delivered the goods .

THENWOTHM: What are your aspirations and goals for the future as a band that has only been around a short period of time?

Mustang: To write as much album as possible keeping the quality intact. To tour Europe. To play in mighty – KEEP IT TRUE festivals if we ever get the chance. We are simple men with simple dreams hahaha…

THENWOTHM: Where can people buy your music and merch?

Mustang: For buying our music and merch you can visit the following:

Bandcamp page: mustangindia.bandcamp.com.

Our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram and directly place an order through messages!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mustangindia666

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mustangfury_india

THENWOTHM: Anything else you would like to mention?

Mustang: It’s been a pleasure to do this fun session with you guys. I wish THE NWOTHM all the very best for their future adventures. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to express ourselves.

I have already ended up writing  “The Iliad” above so don’t want to make it more lengthy. You only get one lifetime so do something which can be remembered after you leave this earth. Don’t be afraid of dreaming big , have faith, fight a good fight and NEVER SURRENDER.

 

With love,

Piercer.