Mumbai’s extreme metal band Demonic Resurrection (DR) have arguably been the face of Indian metal. Of course it’s a different matter that their frontman Sahil Makhija aka The Demonstealer has been doing one hell of a marketing job since the mid-2000s on pretty much every social media and music platform.
But for all their marketing, the band did look like it was heading for a slump after their last album The Demon King in 2014. Plus, it’s not easy getting gigs when you’re dabbling in the extremities – DR has the friendliness of symphonic metal, yes, but also the immense speed of death metal and black metal – when the global interest of younger listeners has shifted to the more eclectic progressive sub-genres.
It’s safe to say that DR have made a move in the right direction on their latest album Dashavatar . For starters, the name and the album concept delves into the 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu, interpreting stories from the Upanishads . It wants to be educational while also maintaining a stance that – as the opening words lament – “God is nothing but man’s interpretation of that which he cannot understand.”
If you’re listening to this for the lyrics, though, there’s a lot more to pay attention to on Dashavatar . They take on the sitar and tabla on the fierce opening track ‘Matsya – The Fish’, turn to female vocals (the wonderfully melodic Pratika Prabhune) and tabla on ‘Kurma – The Tortoise’ and add a slight futuristic digital synth patch all along ‘Varaha – The Boar’. There’s a new kind of conviction in The Demonstealer’s vocals – whether it’s the deep growls, the anguished cleans or the gravelly shouts. The rest of the band – drummer Virendra Kaith, lead guitarist Nishith Hegde and bassist Ashwin Shriyan – match up perfectly on cut-throat tracks like ‘Narasimha – The Man-Lion’.
The blistering work on tracks like ‘Parashurama - The Axe Wielder’ is a tad bit on the predictable side, perhaps something to still show DR’s signature sound, but it’s followed by two stand-out tracks that are arguably DR at its most fastest, gutting, abrasive – ‘Rama – The Prince’ and ‘Krishna – The Cowherd’. Then, a complete turn into their experimental side, using a meditative chant on ‘Buddha – The Teacher’. This is DR possibly turning the corner to a new sound – even if it’s influenced by Indian-elements, it’s not the least bit gimmicky.
