Gig review Ruia High Voltage

Mumbai University sucks all right. Call me a whining dog, if you will, but how could you possibly justify 35 days of exams which leaves me with almost 4-6 days for every exam. And in any case I study only 2 days before the exam. (Hey, I’m just being faithful to my tribe.) I was going nuts with all the tension flying around. Thankfully, Ruia’s annual fest couldn’t have been at a better time. And with top notch bands headlining, I just couldn’t give it a miss. Just what the doctor ordered.

 

Necrosis were first, and I was told they are famous for their Slayer covers. Heck, even their bass player looked like a Tom Araya-me-too. But what you see is not what you always get. Don’t get me wrong, their musicians were spot on, only the vocalist disappointed. I mean, someone go tell that chimp, Tom Araya shouts, doesn’t screech, for heavens sake. It sounded more like Lamb of God or worse Cradle of Filth. The drummer too, I must add, wasn’t quite in the groove. The covers were good, but the OC’s were not.

In the end they covered Raining Blood, and there was a bottle of cranberry juice (me thinks) which the vocalist poured all over himself. The girls went crazy at that but I found it quite amusing. I’m pretty sure; the lice in his head must have had a “dry day”.

Up next were Demonic Resurrection. They’ve been keeping a low profile since March, when they couldn’t find a good enough drummer. They are back now, with Viru of PDV. And after their first track, I had to conclude, they sound good only on the CD, and what they did live didn’t even make my head move even one bit. Every passing song just reaffirmed my conclusions. I just couldn’t understand why the hell people were mosh-ing and head banging their asses off.

Every song sounded like a collection of riffs, and there was no flow whatsoever. Vocals weren’t very much on the pitch and the lead parts bored me to death. Like a Wiseman once said “When you follow a chord family, you get a nice song. If you don’t, you get a Demonic song.” Now I fully get what that means…One more thing I would like to mention were their rather funny song titles “Spirits of the Mystic Mountains”. Right, we have only hillocks in Bombay and a Plateau at best in Matheran. DR really curdled my brains, or “dimaag ki dahi” to be Bombay-cally correct.

The only saving grace was Viru’s drumming, which was spot on and thunderous to boot.

Sceptre were up next and you could feel the anxiety go up by a mile. Did they deliver, this time around? Hell, yes! Read on to know more.

The first track they played was an inch perfect cover of Slayer’s Stain of Mind. And to my surprise (that’s a bit of an understatement actually), Teemeer (vocals and lead guitar) dedicated that song to me!! Guruji, you’re the fuckin best! Only problem was, the chicks(or everyone else, for that matter) didn’t know, “I” was Satish. Should have rather said “SatishSays dot Com”. Would have got me some traffic. Er. he he.

Corny jokes apart, Sceptre showed the kids, how exactly Slayer is covered. Blood curdling screams, perfect drumming and sync in the band, the jaws had to drop.

I screamed my lungs out and lost my voice in the very first track itself! They proceeded to play some of their originals and some Metallica covers (One, Fuel and NEM). You should have seen the girls screaming during Nothing Else Matters, everybody sang! If anyone’s questioning their logic of doing Metallica, you should have seen the crowd reaction. It was a college gig after all. They topped of their set with their hugely popular anti-smoking metal anthem, Charred. There was a 4-way wall of death, and I just wish I could have jumped in! But then I’ve got exams to give, and swollen body parts are not a very pleasant thing. Everybody enjoyed their set, and if not for Sceptre, I am sure half the people would queued up for a refund.

Vayu were the last band to play for the evening. I was seeing them after a real long time, and 2Blue’s voice was re-assuring to say the very least. Ravi Iyer too was all-guns-blazing with his guitar and wowed the crowd with his skills. I loved their Pink Floyd covers and all was well, when the mike suddenly started going off every few seconds.

2Blue had enough of it, smashed the mike and the band evacuated the stage. Shame, they couldn’t play their complete set. Some classic therapy is always good after metal.

That was the end of the gig and a really worthwhile day. I must congratulate Ruia’s organizing committee, for I heard, it was your first attempt at a rock gig. Not bad at all. Do try to focus on giving better sound, next time around. Get a proper sound engineer or something. The vocals and the guitars did get a bit drowned out by the drums at times. Do this much and I’ll put you guys on my “Gigs-to-attend-list”. Kudos.

As for me, I’ll return to my “beloved” books. Do post your comments on the gig and this review. Adios.

SatishSays dot Com rating 7/10

 

Band Interview - Zohak

Zohak has been on the metal scene for quite some time now, but they have really got their act together now and with the Megadeth Tribute Night coming, the buzz is really on. I caught up with the founder and lead guitarist for a small talk.

Me:  Who are Zohak’s major influences?

Shezan: Everybody in the band are fans of Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera, Sepultura and Carcass. You can find a bit of all this and, of course our own style in our music

Me: What is Zohak’s current line up and also highlight the changes you have made till now.
Shezan: What can I say, we’re every bit the hardcore Megadeth fans. Jokes apart,the thing is we’ve changed around 2 guitar players,4 bass players,2 drummers,1 vocalist. That leaves only me from the original line up.Its a tough job to get like minded people together…and I think this lineup is the strongest…me on guitar, Jimmy on vocals, Ravi on bass and Tao on drums. It’s all about thrash and speed metal.
This line up is all about anger and aggression…We are all fired up to go out there and screw some new age balls with our music.

Me: Enlighten us on the bands musical direction and where the band is headed now

Shezan: Earlier we tried focusing on melodies, which worked, to a certain extent. But something was missing all along…but now with the inclusion of Jimmy and Ravi….we are going for more speed and grooves along with melodies. We’re experimenting a lot more these days…and just hope it works. What we are ultimately trying to do is get our own sound. Its a bit tough, but eventually we will get there. Lets just say we’ve taken the faster and heavier route

Me: Tell us more about your album and live performances
Shezan: We need to save up to record our songs first and I don’t see it coming for the next 4 months. We’ve got around 6 originals, to which the crowd has responded well. But we want to make sure the songs we put on our album are the songs we all believe in.

As for the performances, while playing live we try to have fun. If we have 30 minutes onstage, we know no one can take them away from us and we love to play live. What we are trying to do is establish ourselves as a live act. After all it is all about playing live.

Me: Tell us more about the Megadeth Tribute Night. Its been a long time coming now.

Shezan: Ahhh..the Megadeth night….everyone knows how we idolize the band….and we so wanted to do the Megadeth night. In fact its been 4 months overdue…but as my luck has it, with the line up changes and all, its been really hard for us to get our act together. We had planned it with Ninad in the band…but he had to leave due to his personal problems….that sort of left us high and dry. We had finished about 7 songs by then….

Then came in Mizad. We re-worked the whole set with him…but he had to leave because of his personal problems. That left me and Tao hanging and wondering what next?
Now there is no rhythm guitarist in Zohak and I’ll be playing using the rhythm of the bass guitar. It’s quite scary but I’ll manage and I think its going to take a month or so…because the night is for us and more for the Megadeth fans. We want to make sure that we have to be so tight that even a cockroach can’t squeeze through!

Me: Which are the Indian bands and musicians you idolize?
Shezan: Well there’s Xenon, but they don’t exist any more. I like Sceptre…the grand daddy’s of Indian thrash metal. I’m desperately waiting for their album. They have awesome musical sense.

From the newer bands I really like Brute Force. I think they have done something which no other band has done. They have won every major competition they have entered and have come out with some kick ass music. Wayne, Anand and Akshay are kick ass musicians and they make a great live act too….
I am not a hardcore Brute Force fan to say the very least…but they have kept the metal flag flying in the face of all this nu-age and grindcore nonsense.

But…one thing we want to do is open for Sceptre.On a good day and stage, that should be fun.

On that note we part and thats the end of my interview with Shezan. Hope to see you at the Tribue Night. Please do post your comments.

Independence Rock XXII Day 2

You know, when you are walking to the iRock venue, its always a special feeling… black tees in abundance, chicks and the excitement in the air, so thick, you can slice it with a knife, if you so wished.

When I walked in, Dream Out Loud were playing their set. What I noticed first, was the sound.. After so long, was a gig sounding this good.. Kudos, SoundMen! DOL were playing their OC’s in full force. Thunderous vocals and good guitaring by the South Indian man, Chandresh.(actually only one solo impressed me..) They were good, but the crowd wanted some more energetic stuff and were in no mood for alt-stuff. But they left in style when Chandresh played the Indian National Anthem on his guitar. Everybody stood straight for a change.

Them Clones were up next and i was expecting them to do something different after watching them at iRock 2006 and Livewire 2006. But it was the exact same thing with their OC’s, RATM’s Killin’ In The Name Of etc etc I was plesantly surprised when they played Stupefy by Disturbed. I’m not much of a Disturbed fan, but I loved their cover. A mosh pit erupted and the vocalist had to say that “Bombay moshpits are the best in the country” \\m/.

I absolutely loved it when they played Zephyrreta. Really soothing. But the crowd was filled with metalheads and they really were in no mood to listen to Them Clones’s brand of music. They ended with their hugely popular “My Life”. Everybody was being conservative and saving their calories for PDV.

I went to this year’s iRock only to see what havoc they wreck in an open air venue with around 5k people.The anticipation reached a crazy high when they touched the stage. They opened with Get ‘em Off, and that signalled the initiation of India’s biggest mosh pit. Madness!! It was huge enough to swallow everybody right in. Everyone banged their heads off their music. I wouldnt be too surprised to see someone getting minor spondilytis after PDV gigs.. And oh, the liquor shops near the venue must have had quite a killing that day.. ha ha!

Apart from their OC’s, they played covers of Chimara’s Powertrip and Machine Head’s Davidian. I’m pretty sure they goofed up somewhere, i just dont remember which part they skipped. But the drumming this time was spot on. Veeru was sounding absolutely thunderous. \\m/ PDV’s set felt really short and I sincerely wished they could play some more.

Up next were Dinos of Rock. I didnt like what they did last year, but 2 mins into their set and I wanted to see every song they played this time. They felt quite tight this time and played all the covers a classic-rock fan would want. Pink Floyd, Led Zep, U2, Queen etc etc.. they covered it all. It was so freaking soothing man!! You sincerely need this kinda music after some heavy metal!

Pervez (what a Floyd-y voice on the cover of Coming Back To Life), Shazneen, Farhad (Bin Laden, cootchie mootchie…LOL!!) and the others really put up a brilliant show. Special mention to Shazneen, she really is the best singer i’ve heard on the Mumbai rock scene! What a psychedellic voice!! Gary Lawyer, unfortunately couldnt quite play his complete set, due to time restrictions set by our very own Mumbai Police.

On my way out, I purchased the PDVCD and a copy of Pentagram Its Ok, Its All Good(review coming soon). All in all it was a good gig, I only wish there was some more metal. But then, this is iRock not iMetal, so Thank You For The Music!

I give the gig a 8/10, what about you?(use the poll below to vote)

Also vote for your band of the day

For pics head to (This is Ashwin Sharma’s FaceBook gallery)

Day 1 Gallery 1 Gallery 2

Day 2 Gallery 1 Gallery 2