Spectral Insight Rs. 90 (MP3)
What do young guitarists in an emerging scene have to lose by putting out a solo record? Bangalore’s Siddharth Chakravarty solo project Spectral Insight is not very different from another prog metal act which made waves nearly five years ago – guitarist Shreyas Skandan’s project Limit Zero , who released a three-track EP in 2009. The only difference is, djent and modern prog metal isn’t as fresh as it used to be five years ago. So how does Spectral Insight fare in the face of the oversaturated djent scene which has sprouted out across the globe, India included?
Chakravarty, because he is new on the block, knocks out one riff after another on his debut EP with enough confidence to make you sit up and take notice. Influenced primarily by the prog metal scene’s who’s who – Animals As Leaders, Periphery and Dream Theater – Spectral Insight also includes growled vocals on songs such as ‘Absolute’ and ‘Remnant’, courtesy singer Hait Parikh. The mix of vocals and instrumental tracks on six track EP is a wise choice, putting on offer more diversity than just the standard ambient intro-complicated riffing-breakdown-ambient outro you hear as often as ever these days. Although there is a certain amount you can predict with Spectral Insight , Chakravarty plays his hand well, dealing out an excellent instrumental closer to the EP in ‘Infinite’, which has just the right amount of light-headed ambient guitars and metal riffs set to drumming from Partha Dehingia. In addition to bassist Prateem Lahkar, Spectral Insight’s EP includes producer Uddipan Sarmah and keyboardist Shubham Gurung.
Interestingly, Spectral Insight was produced and recorded by Sarmah all the way in Ahmedabad, which is an interesting decision for Bangalore-based Chakravarty to take. Sarmah’s work as a producer and keyboardist on the EP puts the tracks on par with any prog metal release in the world, that’s a new advantage for Indian bands to have.
If you like your prog metal just how you liked it five years ago, Spectral Insight is worth your time for staying true to the roots of djent.
But just like the veterans of the genre, Spectral Insight too has a long way to go, to grow towards offering a fresh approach to prog metal for listeners.
Buy on >Oklisten.com/album/spectral_insight
