Beatstreet: A heady mix of live sounds

Artist: Bevar Sea Album: Invoke the Bizarre

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You know how Bengaluru likes its metal? Look no further than stoner/doom band Bevar Sea’s second full-length album Invoke the Bizarre . The makings of a favourite are all in it - six tracks that range from psychedelic to slow to heavy. That’s more of a Venn diagram of descriptions we’re drawing out for the sound, though. A mix of dense, evil and trippy metal, Bevar Sea have been getting international and national recognition for being one of the heaviest bands around.

Yes, it’s a pity they don’t play very often, but when you mouse over the play button for this six-track album, you’d immediately make a note to see them perform live. Invoke the Bizarre , more or less, captures the band’s intense live show, which piles on riff after crunching, chunky riffs. With drummer Deepak Raghu leading the way on the opening track ‘Bearded and Bizarre’, vocalist Ganesh Krishnaswamy can snarl and growl his way through to match a lot of the twin-guitar attack of Srikanth Panaman and Rahul Chacko. And when you’re carving out of a dense stoner/doom sound like Bevar Sea, they’ve got bassist Avinash Ramchander adding grooves.

While their first self-titled album from 2012 was a varied collection of songs, there seems to be an overarching concept (at least sonically) on

Invoke the Bizarre . Bevar Sea run through the slow movements on songs like ‘Bury Me in NOLA’ and ‘Sleeping Pool’, but there’s more to it than just a steady beat. These massive songs have wah-ed out guitar solos and a hypnotic quality to them. They speed things up on the cheekily-titled ‘Where There’s Smoke (There is a Pyre)’, adding a bit of familiar stoner influences such as American bands High on Fire and early Mastodon. It’s fast, catchy and, of course, wraps up with another shred-heavy guitar solo section.

After an acoustic guitar interlude called ‘Heathen’ (more new territory for Bevar Sea), they head into the 11-minute closer ‘The Grand Alignment’, which lives up to its epic name, Raghu going all sticks blazing on the drums.

Invoke the Bizarre is a heady heavy metal trip that won’t disappoint the fans, and opens up a new world beyond just traditional metal for newbies.

Get the album on bevarsea.bandcamp.com