Silent Night Chaos Night (21/12/08)

I was at the the underground (Taj Samudra) by 3.30 to find the bands still taking sound checks. It was approximately 5.00 when the first band finally got on.

LOA (www.myspace.com/loamelodeath) played an interesting set. This is a melo death band fronted by Sri Lankas first female growler who did a fantastic job with her shrieking and growling. And her stage presence has also improved since I last saw her on stage. She interacted well with the crowd this time and pulled off an awesome vocal performance. Unfortunately the rest of the band needs some tightening up to do. Especially when covering bands like arch enemy. While the vocalist does a good job, Izzy “Wildchilds” guitar playing especially in the solos of songs like “We will rise” by Arch Enemy was rather poor. It’s certainly not enough that a band has a good vocalist. The bass and drums were pretty tight, except few occasions when I heard drummer Nirodha (Of Sword of the Spirit) go off time and drop tempo etc. they also did a cover of “Revolution is m name” by Pantera. Now we all know that Pantera is not a band one covers unless they’re absolutely sure of what their doing with it. I must say though the band did a pretty good job in tackling the song. Not brilliant because there were a few glitches but an ok job nevertheless. In all honesty though I did not enjoy the vocals on the pantera cover. While Dinelli is a good shrieker/growler, hearing phil anselmo being taken on In only shrieks and growls didn’t appeal to me all that much. LOA also played two of their originals. One titled “The eye of the crown” and the other one I can’t remember the title. To LOA, Good job, but keep working on your stuff, especially the guitars.

Next up were Hela Black Metallers Funeral in Heaven (www.myspace.com/funeralinheaven) who opened their set with one of their first originals titled “The origin of Evil” which sounded really good and pumped the crowd up to a marvelous degree. They then moved to a cover, which was “Mother North” by the band Satyricon. Their other cover was a song called “Sterile Nails and Thunderbowels” by the band Silencer. They did an awesome job with the cover. Very trippy and atmospheric. Leaving the covers aside, they played more of their originals including “The winds of Uva”, which is a tribute to those who fought in the rebellion against the british, and also some of their earlier originals. FIH needs no detailed review. Everyone there had a blast watching them and they did an amazing job. Looking forward eagerly to watching these guys play again.

Tantrum (www.myspace.com/tantrumsl) was the next band on the list for the night. This was also their new guitarists debut gig. A young chap called malinda who is only 16 years old and on first glance will catch you by surprise if one was to tell you that he was the new Tantrum guitarist. Well that famous saying about not judging a book by its cover goes for him. He played really well and has a lot of promise. So the best of luck to Malinda and his time in Tantrum (Which we hope will last). Tantrum opened with an original titled “Purgatory of sinners”. They also played older originals like “The destroyer” and newer stuff like “Bleeding Compassion”, all of which were amazingly tight. Covers by Tantrum for the night. “Angel of Death” By Slayer, “Battery” by Metallica and and “Crystal Mountain” by Death as a tribute to the late great Chuck Schuldiner who’s death anniversary was in December. All three covers were pulled off excellently. I especially enjoyed Crystal Mountain. Javeens bass playing was always good anyway but his vocals have improved a lot. Awesome performance by Tantrum. And I think the crowd there would have agreed with me.

Then was a little surprise appearance by Keerthi Fernando of Rattlesnake and later Venom (Metal bands that existed in Sri Lanka during the 70’s and 80’s) and his daughter Chathurika who did some acoustic renditions of “Tears of the Dragon” by Bruce Dickinson, “Wasting Love” By Iron Maiden, “Catch the Rainbow” By Dio and “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC. He was accompanied by Andrew from stigs for a few songs and he also graced us with some tunes from his flute which was pretty different from what we usually see.

And finally there were the stiggies, who started this set with a bit of a seasonal touch with Andrew playing a bit of “Oh come all ye faithful” on the guitar and then moving to that all familiar count from the cymbals which is “Forgiven Forgotten”. It was explosive as always and instantly got the crowd moshing and going wild. They also played a number of songs from their first record “Hollow Dreams” like “Voices”, “Dezra”, “Extinction” and of course that Funky Anthem “Andura”. The new tracks that will be on the next album were also played. Out of these my favourite that night was “Nothing”. A Tripped out Prog Metal masterpiece where a listener can dance, mosh, sway with lighters and just watch in awe all in one song. Those were all the things I was doing when they were playing this anyway. “Spiral Coma” and “The Summoning cry of Aries” were also delightfully trippy to watch. “A Dead Rose wails for light”, the single that was released on that night as a special Christmas gift from the Stigs was also played. The Covers that the Stigs took on that night made me jump for joy. One was “Fear of the Dark” by Iron Maiden which got me going psychotic seeing as Maiden is my favourite band of all time and also “Painkiller” by Judas Priest, which was also tackled brilliantly. The Closer for the night as always was “March of the Saints” (Which is also due to be on their upcoming record) which was as always a fitting climax. Amazing job by the Stigs and the rest of the bands. Hope you keep delivering the way you do for the sake of all of us fans.

\m/

Stigmata – A dead rose wails for light – Pre Launch review

The Single artwork

 

 

Well I have had the privilege among a few others to have heard Stigmatas killer new single titled “A dead rose wails for light” before its release. The stiggies will be releasing the single at their gig this Sunday. The first lucky few to arrive at Silent Night Chaos Night (To be held at The Underground, Taj Samudra) will receive a free copy of the Single and it will also be available for download on their myspace page (www.myspace.com/stigmatasrilanka) after the 21^st of December.

            I think that this is the tamest song out of all their new material and that really isn’t saying much. The song starts with Skin man Jackie giving a count from the sticks giving it kind of an old school feel. It then moves to a brutal yet melodic riff backed by killer double bass work and topped off by a long high shriek from Suresh all combining to create an extremely powerful and gripping intro.    

            I have said before that Suresh keeps getting better and better with his vocals and finally hearing him after ages on record proved without a doubt that I’m right. The verse is sung in a high Falsetto and the vocal melodies he uses are rather unconventional. For the Chorus he employs a mid range baritone type voice that creates a haunting feel and also a very powerful hook. He further goes on to use Low range growling techniques later in the song with some backing assistance provided by Bassist Javeen.

            The drum work is amazing. Jackson has really outdone himself this time. Fast and consistent double bass work as well as various little gimmicks here and there will definitely make people go wide eyed with awe. Well it did that to me anyway. The guitar playing by both axe grinders Andrew and Tenny are phenomenal. Tenny’s powerful and unorthodox rhythm riffs and Andrews face melting (and Soulful at the same time) lead solos made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The bass lines also are really interesting and an awesome job by Javeen on his recording debut with Stigmata

            The structure of the song although being much tamer than their other songs as I said before nevertheless will require a couple of listens to absorb properly. Lots of changes and transitions and stops. Quite an interesting listen and very very loud and powerful.

            Talking about the production, let me first say that I don’t know squat about EQs and tones and mixing and all of that, but judging by the earlier two albums I can safely say that this recording in terms of production is leagues and leagues ahead. Shobi Perera, Producer and bass player extrodinaire (who incidentally produced both of the earlier albums) has really outdone himself with this track in my opinion. The separation of the instruments is almost flawless. I could hear all the instruments crystal clear. The balance is brilliant and the overall volume will be soothing for any metalheads ears. Meaning its fucking loud. I cant really explain in detail about the feeling that this song strikes in me. It’s brutal, it’s trippy, it’s haunting, it’s melodic. Yeah it was all these things to me when I heard it. But these explanations won’t mean anything till you sit down and listen to it. Which you will be able to do after the 21^st of this month.

 

An appropriate teaser before a full on metal assault. Good work Stigs. Awaiting with much anticipation for the entire album to be released.

 

Keep kicking ass till then

Peace, Love and Metal Baby

 

\m/

 

A Dead Rose Wails for Light – Lyrics By Suresh de Silva

Welcome now to my sickest delusion
I can’t decide; is this salvation or sacrifice?
We all run and we hide but the memories reminisce suicide
This bleeding soul is lost in an unmarked grave, wretched father time
I know that no martyred savior will ever come to save me from my plight

No more fear No more pain
No more faith to hold in ransom
No more fear No more shame
No more faith to hold in ransom

Candles burn on winter fields as roses bloom and chariots chase the light
Angels hover in mud and filth; some demons can never be exorcized
I’ve turned the other cheek to sycophants and fools too many times
The salt of the world never raped these eyes – walk on water to test the tide

No more fear  No more pain
No more faith to hold in ransom
No more fear No more rage
No more faith to hold in ransom

A Dead Rose Wails for Light
Blossomed, reincarnated, divine  
A Dead Rose Wails for Light
Walk on water to test the tide

Candles burn on winter fields as roses bloom and chariots chase the light
The salt of the world never raped these eyes – walk on water to test the tide

No more fear No more pain
No more faith to hold in ransom
No more fear No more hate
No more faith to hold in ransom

Civilization One at TNL Onstage Finals (29/11/08)

I walked into the Sri Lanka Exhibition and convention centre (SLECC) feeling as exited as a kid who was about to get a really fancy toy. In all honesty, I didn’t pay much attention to the competition. I was there for one reason and one reason alone. And practically all rockers and metalheads I met there had the same words in their mouths. “Chitral, Chitral, Chitral, He’s finally here.” We’re finally going to see him performing”. The energy was brilliant. But at this point all the rockers were scattered all over the place.

            For those of you who might not know who he is, Chitral ‘Chity’ Somapala is a Sri Lankan artiste who left to Germany 22 years ago to follow his dream of singing Rock ‘n’ roll and his own music. He has played for bands such as Avalon, Court Jester, Moonlight Agony, Firewind etc. I can safely say that despite whatever trials and tribulations he faced during those 22 years, Chity in my opinion has emerged as one of the best metal vocalists of his genre. And also without the doubt one of the most unique and distinct voices I have heard in a metal vocalist. Civilization one, Chitrals newest band, is a heavy/power metal outfit that recently released their first album titled “Revolution Rising” which was received with great enthusiasm by fans and critics alike. In my opinion the best Power Metal release of last year.

            Getting back to the event, I got word from a friend that Civilization One was on after the band that was playing at that time. I guess word went around pretty fast. As I was making my way to the front, looking around I saw many rockers coming together from all over the place at that enourmous hall and making their way right in front. Chitral is a legend among the local rock and metal community and he was going to play in his home country after 22 years. As I said before, the energy that was building up was amazing.

            Reaching the front of the stage, much to my dismay and everyone else, there was a line of security guards about 15 or 20 feet in front of the stage to prevent the crowd from going any further. I think they sensed danger because even before the band started, they started asking us to move even further back.

            So finally the compeer announces Civilization One and the crowd goes nuts. But nothing happens. The stage is dark. Then a recording of an oriental sounding melody begins. The stage remains empty. This piece of music continues for a few minutes and once again everything goes silent, only to explode a few seconds later as Civilization One finally comes on to the stage with a thunderous intro riff which is their song “Life of Agony”. The crowd at this point was going wild, and the security guards were still holding them at bay. When Chity finally came running onstage, myself and the horde of metalheads around me just lost it. The security guards could no longer keep us back. In an amazing display of unity, everyone in the crowd pushed past the line of guards and the sea of people made their way right in front of the stage. A perfect example to the statement “power of the people”. The mosh pit was intense, the crowd was so full of adrenaline.

            Civilization one played an amazing set of originals from the “Revolution Rising” album. The entire band was amazingly tight. And they performed with only one guitarist, whose leads and riffs were played brilliantly. The bassist was a pleasure to watch. His playing was really powerful and provided the perfect backbone for the lead guitars and the drums and his interaction skills with the crowd was brilliant. I could see he was having an absolute blast playing for the approximately 4,000 strong crowd. Chitys vocals were breathtaking. I wasn’t headbanging most of the time but just watching him in awe and just absorbed in the music. So passionate, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride to see this Sri Lankan ripping the stage with a band of international acclaim. and doing one killer job as well. They played songs from the album such as “Dream On” and “lost souls” (which is a song dedicated to the victims of the tsunami), and “Welcome to Paradise” among many others. They were to close their set with one of their songs titled “Wishing well” but the crowd wasn’t going to let them go just like that. For their encore they played another song from the Revolution Rising album titled “Legends of the past”, after which Chity sang that famous Tune “Nadee ganga Tharanaye”, which was recorded by him in Sinhalese and has become a favourite among metal fans and non metal fans alike. He sang this unaccompanied by the band and he got the crowd to sing lyrics. It was an amazing show and also an amazing statement. “My friends, you have made a change tonight”. Those were Chitys words after the very first song. The night made a statement to anyone who might have doubted the power of Heavy Metal and the impact it has on society even if it is a minority compared to the popular music in Sri Lanka right now.

 

To Chitral and Civilization one – Keep ripping always, keep it metal and see you guys again very soon (I hope).

Also check out :

www.myspace.com/civilizationone

and

www.somapala.com

 

Photos – Sandy N

\m/

 

 

 

 

 

SINHA NADA – 22/11/2008

Problems I had with the show – This was the first time I attended a gig at The Blackout (Swiss Residence Hotel, Kandy). It’s a nice place, nice setting and atmosphere for a show, but the acoustics are simply terrible and sounds no matter how good wont sound clear due to the way the stage is set and the way the club has been built. My advice to any band who wants to organize a rock gig there is, DON’T.

            My other problem was the sound guy. This guy while drinking at the mixer, acting like he knew what the bands were doing kept nodding his head to the music and pressing all sorts of buttons and turning all sorts of knobs and completely messing up the sounds of the bands in a place that already had horrible acoustics. And he didn’t listen to anyone who tried to tell him what to do. Or he pretended to listen but didn’t do anything.

 

Bands I didn’t see due to me not being in the venue at the time – Brazen Hearth and Drop City. My sincerest apologies to these guys. Wish you all the best for your future endeavours and looking forward to seeing you guys performing soon.

 

Moving on, I walked in to the venue when the band ‘Shut Down’ was playing. Think it was the latter half of their set. This is one of the newer bands to emerge from kandy and I think a lot of them are still in school. A metallica cover band, at least that’s what they’re doing currently. I hope to see these boys working on their own music in the future. Nothing wrong with playing Metallica of course since they’re a kick ass band and they weren’t playing any new songs from albums such as St. Anger as far as I heard.  The songs I heard from these guys were “For whom the bell tolls’, ‘One’ and ‘creeping death. They do have a lot to work on, but they show an incredible amount of promise. The frontman/guitarist has a good voice and although he doesn’t go nuts on stage there is a lot of personality in him and he addressed the crowd very well. I was especially impressed with the lead guitarist. This dude is really young. Still in school and out of the band he seemed to be the most competent in handling his instrument. The solos were quite tight. The main drawback in the band was the drummer. I’m not saying that he can’t improve but especially in the more difficult songs such as ‘one’ and ‘creeping death’ there were a lot of issues with timing and transitions from section to section and there were parts where he didn’t seem entirely sure of what was going on. All in all it was an alright set. Keep working on your stuff, practice more and everything will be cool. Hope to see a tighter Shut Down whenever their next performance maybe.

            Next band to take the stage was ‘Spectra Red’, another new band to pop out of Kandy in recent times. These guys too show a lot of promise. I wouldn’t really know how to label they’re genre but think its kind of a mix of Death Metal and a little bit of Black metal. The vocalists growling skills especially on his lower register was quite impressive. The bassist and the guitarists were all pretty tight with their instruments. My main focus during this bands set was the drummer. Very good with his feet and has a lot of potential to become a really good drummer if he keeps practicing. In my opinion what he needs to work on is his coordination. Although the feet are very fast and the double bass work was impressive, his hands seemed kind of unsure. I think he should work more on coordinating his hands and his feet together. All in all Spectra red played tight set and I enjoyed listening to them thoroughly. Good luck to you guys as well and hope to see you guys playing again soon.

            The next band to play was also the last act from Kandy for the night. ‘Forsaken’ opened their set with an original titled ‘Destiny’. Here’s the deal with forsaken. The last time I saw them playing they had a lot of issues. The guitar tones were not controlled enough and I had a huge issue with the drummer who seemed to be playing without any feeling whatsoever. But it’s quite obvious that these guys have been practicing hard. Frontman Delaines vocals have improved and his lead playing too was really leagues ahead of when I last saw them live. The drummer actually seemed to be a more into what he was doing so it was obvious that he too has been working on his drumming. Out of the Kandy bands I saw that night forsaken was without a doubt the tightest. Their cover of metallicas’ ‘Motor Breath’ was pulled of extremely well and got the crowd going nuts. Apart from the cover, they played an all original set and I was truly proud watching them especially since I spoke to delaine after their last performance and told him what I thought the problems were. Kudos to Forsaken for an awesome set and waiting eagerly for their recorded material which Delaine promised will be out soon.

            The next band for the night was ‘Merlock’ A Thrash/Power with a hint of Prog act from Colombo. They opened with an original titled ‘Chamber of Pain’, then moved to another original titled ‘Crimson Skies’. Merlock have been around for a couple of years now and their sound and quality has improved a lot. The only problem with their set was vocalist/guitarist Dumidus’ vocals could barely be heard and despite me and a lot of others telling the guy at the mixer to increase his mic volume, he was not heard that well. Niroshan, the boy on the skins was very impressive. I remember seeing him ages ago and his drumming always to me seemed to be on quite a narrow frame. Meaning he would play the double bass well and there would be no issues with his hands, but not a lot of variation. But this show proved to me that he too was working hard. He played with a lot of feel and passion and he has also branched out from that narrow mindset which I was talking about earlier. The highlight of merlocks set was their cover. ‘Reign in Blood’ by slayer, which I was doubting that they would play properly was pulled off with minimum glitches. The other noteworthy fact was the guest appearance by Funeral in Heaven frontman Chaturanga Fonseka who stepped in for vocals for the slayer cover. Merlock too was better than when I saw them last. Tight set, awesome stage act, good work guys.

            The last band for the night was none other than Melodic Death Metallers ‘Fallen Grace’. This band has always been one of my favourites in the scene and they always deliver. But there were issues with their sounds and like Merlocks performance, the Vocals couldn’t be heard properly a lot of the time. They played originals such as ‘Preach me dark’, ‘scattered grief, Putrid remains and ‘The illusionist’, all of which are favourites of many a metal head in the country. Covers by FG were ‘Ace of spades’ by Motorhead, which got everyone going bonkers and When they were asked for an encore, they played their own rendition of that timeless classic ‘Smoke on the water’ By Deep purple. Fallen Grace provided a fitting climax for the end of the show and left all of us feeling rather proud that Sri Lankan heavy Metal was moving from strength to strength.

            In a nutshell, the Show was certainly enjoyable, but the as I mentioned at the beginning, the venue is not the most appropriate for a gig. Best of luck once again to the All the new bands from Kandy and also the boys from Colombo. Hope to bang some head again soon to all of your music.

 

Long Live Sri Lankan Heavy Metal

 

The flame has been lit, it will keep burning.

PARANOID EARTHLING TO RELEASE ‘BRINGING DOWN THE SUN’ VIDEO FOR WORLD PEACE DAY

Lost in the dirt
Was mom and dad
In this nation turned to sand
The reality is not what we see
It’s just a story on TV
Authorities stand free
Majority will bleed…

A song that inspires.
Music that could spark a revolution.
musicians who are taking a stand against Sri Lanka’s conflict.

Written and performed by Paranoid Earthling, Bringing Down the Sun is a song written in honour of World Peace Day, which falls on the 21st of September.

This video was a combined effort by the band, Young Asia Television and the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC)

The Earthlings – Mirshad, Dhanushka, Asela and Shanka – have been using the rock music genre to express their political views since the inception of the band 7 years ago. Now, with a loyal and extensive fan base, they have established themselves as one of the foremost rock bands in Sri Lanka. Influenced by international artists such as Rage Against the Machine, their songs have always fearlessly tackled issues of political and social importance.

Think of people putting chains around the sun and pulling it closer towards the earth. As the sun gets closer, everything around it will be destroyed. The phrase ‘Bringing down the sun’ and the song itself reflects on this thought. Mankind is creating divides among themselves and creating disorder when its not necessary, which results in us destroying the world in the process.

This song is a statement that screams for unity among a divided nation. It is the first rock video of its kind that reflects on the emotion of people affected by the 25 year bloodbath. And hopefully this effort will inspire more of the younger generation to speak out against the conflict. So all you music enthusiasts, keep your eyes and ears open for the release of ‘Bringing down the sun’ which will officially go out on World Peace Day.

“We are sick of asking for peace nicely, it is time to rise up and make a stand” –Mirshad Buckman (Vocals/lead guitar – Paranoid Earthling)

The Earthlings

WHIPLASH – 30/08/08

I arrived at the venue at roughly 7.00 p.m at Club Nuovo to find the venue almost empty and the “surprise band” making their final adjustments for the performance. I was thinking whether the explosion that occurred not that far from the venue would affect the turn up. At about 7.30 the people started arriving and the general atmosphere in the place started getting more and more pumped up. Fans from all over the Colombo and some out from outside all gathered for one purpose. Go nuts with the music. I could feel the electricity rushing through all the eager attendees, me being one of them.

            Before this event, it was announced that the organizers of the gig, Stigmata and Serenity Dies were looking for a third band to play at their show. They did this by means of a competition that required all bands to send in profiles, recorded demos and videos etc. and the band chosen was to be announced at the event. Initially, I found many people asking who the opening act is, but I guess that the news either leaked out of people just figured it out but after a while, pretty much everyone knew who the third band was. At roughly 8.15 p.m, Sword of the Spirit made their way to the stage.

            SOS (www.myspace.com/swordofthespiritsl) has been a band that has gone through many drastic lineup changes since they began in 2004. But they’re a different band from what they started out as. I’m not talking about the members, I’m talking about the sound. They weren’t however greeted that enthusiastically by the crowd. I was rather pissed off to hear many “funny” remarks being passed as they were setting up, but they just left the music to do the talking. They started out with an original titled “Blinded by the wrong eye,” an extremely powerful song that involves a lot of gut, so the first shot was fired. I loved the song and the fact that the delivery was very tight, and the general response towards the band from the crowd started changing. The music was doing the talking as frontman Hasyth said. My favourite song that night by SOS was their original “hypocrite”. This song as a gripping intro and can get anyone’s attention in a heart beat. And the lyrics and the overall composition is brilliant. Love the grooves, the riffs, and the feeling the song creates. I’m sad to say I missed the cover they played that night as it was one ripper of a track. “Blacken the cursed sun” by “Lamb of God” was the SOS cover choice for the night, and this broke through any ice with the crowd. Shame I didn’t get to see it. Their other originals like Pit Decorum, the Wrath and broken chains that bound us were all very well executed and if I had more space I would go on about, but overall, Sword of the Spirit played a very tight set and set the venue up with the perfect atmosphere for the next two bands.

            Next to take the stage were Maldivian Thrash Metal giants Serenity Dies (www.myspace.com/serenitydies). Since their debut performance in 2004, this band has made a mark as one of the bands that kept metal alive in the Maldives during a phase of pop/alternative/grunge madness in the country. With one album to their credit, titled “murder,” which was released in 2006, the thrash metallers have gone on to grab their country and the rest of Asia by storm. The Band was greeted with a round of applause that was far too polite for a metal gig. Mainly because I guess a lot of people haven’t heard a lot of their material. And we all know Sri Lankan crowds take a while to warm up to new things. Serenity Dies performed a wide selection of music, which included their own material and some kickass covers. I don’t remember the exact order of the songs they played, but thanks to their myspace and some other music sites I was able to listen to some of their music and I recognised most of what I heard at the concert through the tracks I heard later. When I saw the guys right before they started playing, I sensed a bit of nervousness. Right after the first song however, I stopped getting that vibe. Serenity dies were delivering and the crowd was starting to get more and more pumped up. My personal favourite from the originals was their track “Prisoner of Mayhem” I love the energy of this song and the attitude displayed by frontman Chuck when he sang. Other originals like “Hatred within”, “The Deceiver” and their album title track “murder” were all instant in the reaction they grabbed from the audience. The venue was going insane. Their first cover for the night, unless I’m mistaken was “DNR” by Testament. In all honesty I’m not that familiar with a lot of testaments music but I knew enough to say that they did perfect justice to the cover. This song managed to get all the metalheads in the place on their feet. Slayers “Angel of Death” was also on the list of covers that night. Wow…What can I say? If I was listening to an audio of these guys performing this song, I would have a hard time figuring out that it’s a band covering it and not the real thing. Really, it was that damn brilliant. By now the moshpit was raging in full swing and the Slayer cover added even more to the ambience of absolute mayhem that was residing in the place. Also on their cover list was that well loved Heavy Metal classic “Holy Wars” by Megadeth. This too was tackled brilliantly and personally, my favourite cover Serenity Dies played that night. Their other cover was “Walk with me in hell” by Lamb of God. Another kicker that got the crowd going nuts considering the fact that Lamb of God is a band that gained fast popularity among Sri Lankan Metalheads. All in all Serenity dies in my opinion played an impeccably tight set. Kudos to the boys and hope we get to see you guys here again very soon.

            Last but not least, Stigmata (www.myspace.com/stigmatasrilanka) got on to the stage. First of all I need to say that this was not the tightest set I’ve seen the stiggies perform. I noticed there were issues with timing in certain sections and also there were times I couldn’t hear the guitars and vocals. Very few instances I might add. That being said, as always the stiggies delivered right to the core (“Bokkeng Dunna” as we Sri Lankans like to call it). Opening with their original “Swinemaker” from the album “Silent Chaos Serpentine”, the Stigs got the moshpit raging once more. I always find something new to admire about these guys every time I see them play. While I know that all of the guys are improving by leaps and bounds at what they do, Suresh’s vocals, I feel are something to marvel at. I heard him doing some really crazy variations and improvisations in his screams and growls as well as his clean highs. Especially in the newer tracks, the vocal melodies and the phrasings are really unique. The dude just keeps better and better. They went on to perform most of their songs from Serpentine like “Jazz Theory”, Solitude and My Malice and also, in celebration for the five year anniversary of their first album “Hollow Dreams’, the stigs went back to give us some favourites such as “Dezra” and of course that cult anthem “Andura”. The newer songs are something else all together. Material that the stiggies are composing for their third record really proves that this band is all about progression. “The summoning cry of Aries” is an amazing track that carries in it all the ingredients for an insane trip. Heavy as fuck with Psychedelic and tripped out elements, this song really got me going. The same, if not more can be said about their song “Spiral Coma” this song literally makes me feel like I’m going on a journey out of my body. The way the music is structured and also the lyrics and that unexpectedly melodic guitar solo Andrew plays really does have the power to take you somewhere else. The most recent composition the Stigs have performed live is “Nothing”. This song starts out with a really groovy tribal sounding drum and bass line that made me start dancing and jumping all over the place. It then intensifies and progresses to an insane riff and from there, the song goes all over the place, quite literally. Notable fact is that this is the first Stigs original where Axeman Tenny plays a guitar solo. And what a solo it is. It literally sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard before further adding to widely acclaimed speculations that this guy is not from this planet. The cover for the night began with that all familiar drum solo. “Pain Killer” by Judas Priest was amazing. Everything from the drumming to the vocals was simply amazing. No other way to describe it. Word was that the boys had another cover and a few other earlier songs lined up, but passing midnight, the club insisted that the band stops and so things turned a bit sour. Initially it was said that after the gig, there would be a metal after party, but it appeared that that wasn’t going to happen and the Stigs performed their final two songs much to the dismay of the onlookers who started booing at the employees of the club and creating quite a stir. The last two songs for the night were “If Alpha meets Omega”, an amazing burst of energy in the form of an instrumental with some amazing guitar work by Andrew and a killer bass line, and “March of the Saints”, the traditional Stigmata closer. Apart from that bit of ill feeling towards the end of the show, it was one hell of a night for Sri Lankan Heavy Metal. And a statement to all non believers and enemies of the cause. Heavy metal lives. It rushes through our veins as one common stream that feeds us all. And it will not be stopped no matter how much shit it gets from anyone.

 

Horns  to you all

 

The Rebel Maniac