Sunday 12 July 2015

Heathen Beast - The Carnage Of Godhra


Tracklist:-

1. The Carnage Of Godhra
2. Ab Ki Baar Atyachar
3. Gaurav Yatra (The Aftermath)

I had planned to take this coming week off, as well as next week but I needed some downtime from adult life. I say adult life, but I've still not reached those heady heights just yet (bare in mind that I am 29!). The pull of metal was just too strong and I find myself sitting in front of my laptop again, about to press play on the latest EP from Indian black metallers Heathen Beast. Yep, you read that right. After forming five years ago, Heathen Beast released their first EP "Ayodhya Burns" during the same year. Following it up in 2012 with "The Drowning Of The Elephant God" EP two years later. They've picked pace this year by releasing both this EP and their latest CD "Trident" via Transcending Obscurity India. It's not too often that you come across an anti-religious black metal band from the sub-continent but hey, it's a genre that's meant to break boundaries after all.

This is a completely new experience for me. I’ve not had the pleasure of listening to many metal bands from India. Heathen Beast are a great introduction to the country’s scene, as they fuse black metal with traditional instrumentation and musical textures to create something completely unexpected. The title-track that opens up the EP is full of traditional drum rhythms and caustic screams. Heathen Beast is only a trio but they make a real unholy racket, which is only punctuated by Eastern melody from the lone guitar of vocalist Carvaka. The tracks on The Carnage Of Godhra are split by native-tongue samples. Ab Ki Baar, Atyachar cuts one sample abruptly short as Heathen Beast launches into another hellish barrage of cold black/death. It’s hard to categorise them as solely a black metal band as they throw many different influences into their music. Either way though, it’s definitely extreme and very proficiently delivered. Things don’t get any easier on final song Gaurav Yatra (The Aftermath). The vocals are so loud that it’s sometimes hard to make out the riffs underneath, but that just makes them better when they’re allowed to breathe. Heathen Beast get progressively better as they move through this EP. Each song is longer than the last and they give a really good account of themselves. If this is the quality of metal that India is producing right now, sign me up!

Stream The Carnage Of Godhra here:-




Heathen Beast are offering it as a pay-what-you-want download.

The EP also appears on the CD "Trident" that's just been released via Transcending Obscurity India.

Grab a copy here - http://tometal.com

Heathen Beast Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HeathenBeast
Transcending Obscurity Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/transcendingobscurity

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