Independence Rock 2009 - Day 1

It was that time of the year again when Independence Rock forces its way back into our lives almost as an afterthought – this year, being postmature by a healthy month and half. Thanks to uncermenious deferrals, techincal snags, and mangagerial mishaps, the month-long elimination stage across five cities went almost unnoticed – except by those participating themselves. Disturbing indeed, especially considering its behemothic stature and the adjectival hyperboles assigned to it. Did the I-Rock XXIV finals live up to the expectations? We decided to find out.

Day 1 (October 3, 2009) featured the finals of the competition stage featuring the five winning bands from the elimination legs: Inner Sanctum (Bangalore), Gravy Theory (Kolkata), Abraxas (Pune), Seize Her (Delhi), and Zygnema (Mumbai). They were followed by the two headlining acts for the night; Infernal Wrath and Demonic Resurrection.

Gravy Theory, an alternative rock band from Kolkata, were up first. Raul (vocals), Kuntal (guitar), Prince (guitar), Cuppa (bass), and Ricko (drums) seemed to have done their homework well – at least with their choice of songs and garb. Their power chord version of “Popeye the Sailor Man” was cheeky considering the assemblage of mosh-rockers. Their cover of Zero’s PSP 12” was a warm gesture acknowledging the fact that the younger lot of bands are being increasingly influenced by original Indian rock music. Their music (epitomized by their OC “Strangers”) can be defined as groovy rock, and in retrospect, was a refreshing change.

Mumbai’s raging metal act Zygnema was up next. After a brief delay during set up due to some stage monitoring issues, which probably went against them from the judging point of view, Zygnema gave the 500-strong crowd their first serving of what they had come for – metal! Jimmy (vocals), Siddharth (guitar), Ravi (bass), and Mayank (drum) performed a all-OC set of five songs (Scarface, Discriminate, Theory of Lies and Destruction, 59, Machine Stayed Hibernate) to the boisterous crowd. Judging by their past gigs, this was not their best performance. However, rest assured – don’t be surprised if you see them on bigger, grander stages soon.

Seize Her, a hard rock band from Delhi came up next. Modelling themselves from many of of the acts from the ‘80s (they covered Judas Priest’s “Hell Bent For”), the band comprising Akshat (vocals), Prerit (guitar), Varun (guitar), Sahil (Bass), and Bhim (Drums) were tight and groovy. Unfortunately, Seizer Her’s hard rock set list (including OCs “That’s the Way,” “Mistaken,” and “Play This Song Along”) didn’t go well the metal-guzzlers in the audience who started catapulting sticks and bottles to the stage, apart from singing the ubiquitous “swear” song. Things went from bad to worse after Akshat reciprocated in an uber-pubescent manner. Everyone makes mistakes. Most are smart enough to learn and don’t repeat. Let’s hope both parties were smart enough.

The Bangalorean (or is it Bengalur-ean?) metal quintet Inner Sanctum, comprising Gaurav (vocals), Chintan (guitar), Ashish (guitar), Abhishek (bass), and Abhinav (drums), took the rather defamed stage next. However, they proceeded to own it. Judging by their performance, the many years of practice between the founding members of the band Chintan and Abhishek formed the perfect foundation on which this “classy” act is built – their latest song is apparently inspired by The Joker played by Heath Ledger. Guarav stomped around the stage like a driven soul inspiring a moshpit in the crowd. Abhinav, quite possibly the youngest drummer on stage on the night, was as smooth as aged red wine. Their set list included OCs “Eye of the False,” “Quarantine,” “Agent of Chaos,” “Human Disregard” and a cover of Arch Enemy’s “Dead Eyes See No Future.” Quite honestly, they deserved to win it – and they did!

Abraxas (pronounced uh-brak-sahs), who had apparently stormed into the finals after creating a mosh pit in the Pune elims, were the last band in the competition fray. Their heavy metal all-OC set list (“Eyes of Disgrace,” “Immaculation,” “Deviation,” “Blackened Memories,” and “Sweet Suffering”) breathed fuel into the mosh pit further. The band comprising Karan (vocals), Abhimanyu (guitar), Vinay (guitar), Kenneth (bass), and Naman (drums), with their indomitable stage act, probably just fell short of the performance given by their friends from Bengaluru. Watch out for them - like Zygnema, they seem to be destined for a depressurized ascent up the Indian metal-space.

Infernal Wrath took the stage as the first of the two headlining acts. Incidentally, this was the Mumbai-leg of the release their album “Inside of Me.” At least a few in the audience must have been surprised to see an Indian metal band starting their set with acoustic guitars, chimes, tabla, and hindustani raagas – but hey, that’s what Infernal are known for -  melodic ambient metal. Their set, consisting of the songs from their new album (“Truth,” “Inside of Me”, “Behold Ezieckel”, “Creation of the Lotus,” and “Destruction of the Third Temple”) was an enjoyable mix of aggression and harmony executed with skill and precision. [Afaque (vocals), Pradeep (guitar), Amnish (guitars), Vian (bass), Sushant (keys), JP (drums).]

Demonic Resurrection had the honor of closing Day 1. Their set list included DR-classics such as “Spirits of the Mystic Mountains,” “Apocalyptic Dawn,” and “Frozen Portrait” along with new material such as “Where Dreams and Darkness Unite,” and “Warriors Return” from their upcoming third full-length studio album. It was an apt culmination to an evening which saw the resurgence of metal at I-Rock.

Krishna Kumar Venkitachalam (KK) is a surgeon, bass guitar player, songwriter, editor, freelance writer, performance photographer and a human rights activist. His musings have appeared in newspapers, web magazines, and music blogs. Visit Engaying Life for your fix.