METAL BEYOND BORDERS #2: INDIA

The Sleeping Giant Awakened

INTRODUCTION

India, a nation with too much history and diversity in its cultures to even begin to unravel is also home to a burgeoning heavy metal movement. Despite the large population and place in the world, India has long been quiet in regards to heavy metal and hard rock music. According to Encyclopaedia Metallum, the first metal band from India was MILLENIUM, formed in 1988, but who didn’t release their debut record until 1995 on cassette. Throughout the 90s came a variety of other bands from all over the metal spectrum. Excluding bands whose date of formation is unknown, the number of active Indian metal bands went from 2 in 1990 to 25 by 2000 (it should be noted that EM isn’t perfect and also does not include much of the nu-metal or metalcore genres). And today there are over 200 metal bands active in India, meaning that the genre only continues to grow and flourish.

For this iteration of Metal Beyond Borders, because of the sheer breadth of India’s music scene, I’ll be focusing on 4 acts specifically and sort of christening them as the Big 4 of Indian NWOTHM (depending on reception, this might be my general format moving forward).

KRYPTOS: THE FOREFATHERS

While not the first Indian heavy metal band, KRYPTOS, who have been active since the late 1990s, boast quite the resume. Six full-length albums, with a 7th “Decimator” due for release on July 5th, and they were the first ever Indian metal band to play a full set at Wacken Open Air. Originally, and somewhat bizarrely, known as 8 ON THE RICHTER, KRYPTOS’ uncanny blend of thrash and traditional heavy metal is always a feast for the ears. Not only have they been active for over 25 years now in some form or fashion, that would also make them not only one of India’s first metal bands to achieve overseas success, but also one of the first NWOTHM bands period. Curiously, lead guitarist Rohit Chaturvedi has also been a part of MILLENIUM since 2013.

Fun fact: One of the first interviews on this site was actually with KRYPTOS! Which you can find here

AGAINST EVIL: THE CHAMPIONS

Hailing from Andhra Pradesh in India, AGAINST EVIL have only been active since 2014 (which I guess is still a decade, but I like to pretend that it’s not been that long), and already boast two killer full-length albums, a live album, and a debut EP to their name. Their style is less rooted in thrash than that of KRYPTOS, being a more traditional heavy metal style, but KRYPTOS’ influence can easily be felt and heard.

Given the youth of their career, I could easily see AGAINST EVIL becoming a major standard bearer for Indian metal and NWOTHM in general moving forward.

FALCUN: THE BARDS

Hailing from Kolkata, West Bengal, FALCUN burst onto the scene with their outstanding 2018 debut record “Kingdom Come”, but since then have been quiet on the studio side of things. Despite this gap in releases, the band is highly active in the live scene. In a recent interview with us here at TheNWOTHM, FALCUN maintained that they are at work on their second album, but that they’re evolving their sound and want each track perfect. Perfectionism strikes us all, and it often leads to the best creations.

You can check out the full interview with FALCUN here.

ILLUCIA: THE YOUNG LION

Choosing the fourth band in a Big 4 is always the toughest, as there are simply so many others who could occupy this spot. I chose to go with ILLUCIA, because I feel that they’ve flown a bit under the radar when compared to other young Indian metal bands. Boasting a surprisingly refined NWOTHM sound on their 2022 debut album “A New Reign”, ILLUCIA managed to sink their talons into me from the get-go. While young and fresh in their career, they’ve got quite the future ahead of them.

CONCLUSION

India has always been a hotbed for music of all kinds, and heavy metal is no exception, as proven here. These four bands were just a small taste of what’s on offer in India. Like all places, there’s something for every kind of metal fan. I would also like to give a shoutout to the Indian metal bands that I didn’t get to include here, such as MUSTANG and KREMMETH, among countless others.