In 2015, another rampaging name was added to Bengaluru’s old-school extreme underground – Aempyrean. Frontman BR aka Bharad Ravi says, “The original idea was (and still is) to make absolutely punishing and uncompromising extreme metal the old school way, how it was in the 80s and 90s.”
And in true style of death and black metal bands from those eras, Aempyrean stick to no-holds-barred, abrasive and infernal metal on their debut EP Fireborn , released via city-based label Cyclopean Eye Productions. In the span of five tracks, there is piercing solos, relentless drum work and the harshest vocals.
Completed by Ajay N, Sailesh K, Clint SS and Avi S, Aempyrean got into Bangalore’s metal circuit only in 2016, by when they were also recording for Fireborn .
According to Bharad, everything starts with a riff for the band’s material, but that is not the end of it. “We are actually self-critical and tend to weed out riffs and ideas that do not fit or do not sound strong enough in the process of writing.
“So basically, the three originals – ‘On the Warpath’, ‘Fireborn’ and ‘Undying Scourge’ – were the first songs we ever wrote, felt they were good enough and put them on record. Once we finished recording ‘Undying Scourge’, we felt the track needed a sample/instrumental leading into it, so we put together ‘The Devourer’. The eerie instrumental track creates a hellish atmosphere that’s just perfect for the closing track ‘Undying Scourge’.”
The only other addition on the EP was a salute to metal legends Morbid Angel with a cover of their 1991 song ‘Chapel of Ghouls’. Bharad extols the veterans, saying, “Morbid Angel between 1986 and 1993 were one of the best extreme acts that ever existed and influenced us.”
While that Morbid Angel song is violently anti-religious and in praise of Satan, Aempyrean’s own song lyrics and themes are informed by occult literature. Bharad reels off the names, “A bit of Friedrich Nietzsche, Sun Tzu, Thomas Ligotti, HP Lovecraft, Miyamoto Musashi, even the written works of Pete Helmkamp ( Order from Chaos, Revenge, Angelcorpse , etc.)”
With Fireborn out a few weeks ago and merchandize officially shipping out now, Bharad says Aempyrean have got a decent global reach for what is essentially their first record. He says, “We are getting a lot of good reviews from zines/publications globally, our stuff has been on radio in places like the US, South America and Europe, and dedicated metal maniacs worldwide are writing to us with great feedback.”
