Impending Doom metal fest was held on September 25, 2011 at one of Bangalore's most famous venues Kyra Theater and originally was supposed to have some of the best mainstream and not so mainstream Indian metal bands belt out their grooves in front of their fans.
The original line up had Exumation (Mumbai), Undying Inc (Delhi), 1833 AD (Delhi) play with local metal acts viz Gorified, Bevar Sea, Pillbox 666 and Kryptos.
However due to obvious reasons ,the Delhi and Mumbai bands changed their plans of coming here just a few days before the gig which meant that Prog Rockers from Assam, "Silver Tears" had a chance of Opening the show.
well for even more obvious reasons that plan too didnt really work out and we had an all Bangalore affair with Dark Desolation, Theorized and Final Surrender completing the line up.
Dark Desolation
I had seen DD perform at The Under Grind extreme metal gig in January this year and i was not too impressed with their sound the last time around. its also probably because i was down a few beers and was trying to sneak out of Kyra and get lunch, so i really didnt concentrate on what they had to offer back then.
this time around, having eaten by lunch well in advance, i decided to "focus" my attention on the band.
Oops i forgot to mention Dark Desolation play grim and brutal black metal. none of the cheesy sym "phonies" or melo "dick" music here. The MUSIC was heavily aggressive and their performance , tighter than a virgins snatch.
They certainly managed to win over most of the crowd that were present there, with their totally non commercial brand of extreme metal and if u didnt like the music, watching the guitarist with his colorful corpse paint and the vocalist who kept "fisting" his own head at every other moment was a treat to watch.
I loved every minute they were on stage and even ran like a girl and congratulated the band members after the gig.
u can view the facebook album here or check out the HIGH RES pics on my picasa page here
Gorified
If u have not heard of Gorified then u seriously suck. or u have heard of them, but not heard them, then u still suck. The gruesome twosome play guttural grind/death metal and i was pinching myself coz this form of brutality is something that i totally love. First Black Metal and now death grind. whatta start to Impending doom!!!
Gani's monstrous guitar riffs and Charlie's belching had some of their most loyal fans start a "mini mosh", but moving the bar counter just next to the stage did not really go well with psychotic fans who couldnt mosh a lot due to space constraints. so Gorified were content with people just banging their heads in air and occasionally going berserk and letting loose.
all together a kick ass set, however i was not really used to seeing Gorified play so early during a gig.
watch the facebook page here or check out the HIGH RES picasa page here
Pillbox666
India's best super group comprising members of Dying Embrace, Kryptos, Bevar Sea were next on the bill. so far it just kept getting better and the 300 bucks entry fee seemed so bloody worth it.
Pillbox666 played some of the best 'old school' covers surprising the fans with Motor head, Black Sabbath, Slayer, Sodom, Candlemass, and even Autopsy.
Vik doesnt seem to be growing in age, if one sees his antics live on stage and he is perfectly complimented by Nolan on guitars, Jack on bass and Deepak on drums. The crowd was easily the biggest during the show, and everyone had the best time. They had a surprise track up their sleeves , but i wont reveal it here, hoping they will be playing it LIVE again sometime soon. all i can tell ya is, its a classic British Heavy Metal track covered by A Legendary British Icon and Pillbox version would have really rocked the place if they were given 5 more minutes time.
oops, i almost forgot to mention, they also covered Metallica's Whiplash which made me want to throw my camera at Nolan for being so damn fucking good!!!
catch the facebook album here or watch the Picasa HIGH RES album here
Final Surrender
all the previous bands that played before Final Surrender hit the stage were known for being decadent and neck deep in debauchery, so it only made sense to have a band like Final Surrender to "cleanse" the stage of all the "evil left overs"
we were a bit stunned when Salman (co organizer of Impending Doom) came on stage and introduced the next band, also telling us that there were "cops" keeping an eye on the gig. I ended up bawling looking at the bands outfits. They came on stage wearing Police uniform.
Maybe they wanted to send a message about Moral Policing? "enough of u evil fuckers, now its white wash time with some good positive music"
for a band with a positive message, the vocalist seemed really pissed. then i observed his feet. he was not wearing any shoes. hmmm. maybe someone stole his shoes? is that why he has his band members dressed up like cops? they gonna search the place? all these crazy thoughts were getting implanted in my head while they churned out some hard hitting metal core with oodles of progressive melodies.
Now anyone who knows me, also knows how much i dislike metalcore, well i dont hate it, but i do have a saturation point after which i get intensely bored. all those breakdowns give me a nervous breakdown every time! but the bands playing and virtuosity was never boring. In fact the guitar solos were some of the best i had heard that night . both the cops or constables or whatever they were dressed up to be, played their axe with extreme finesse. they got the crowd support as well, except for the Satanic horde that were guzzling down liquid gold and passing blasphemous comments , which i must confess, amused me to the bone.
another good performance, based on the crowd response. Final Surrender finally left for the next band to wreck the place
check the facebook album here or check the HIGH RES picasa album here
 |
| Final Surrender at Impending doom |
Theorized
This band just gave me the creeps!! from their alien esq band logo to the "Jack Owen" look alike guitarist, Ankith, Theorized play a twisted kind of thrash/death metal hybrid which doesnt go very well with old school fans. The influences of "Old Monk "rum and "Haywards 5000" beer clearly shows on most of their tracks, and even though the band themselves are comprised of pretty down to earth guys, their music really makes u wanna hate them or love them depending on which side of the fence u wanna jump. again, they had the massive crowd support and they all played their instruments with such minimal effort, u really are made to wonder, if guitar playing is really that easy.
The crowd almost forgot the episode when the other guitarist's string broke and he had to borrow another band mates guitar and tuning and sound check really took a very long time before they got to start properly. and me thinks they really had a good long set list, in spite of having the sound check problems.
Musically, again not something i would listen to on my ipod the whole day, but they are an excellent set of musicians no doubt. and there cant really be a win win situation all the times and given the mix of fans that had shown up for Impending Doom, Theorized did a remarkable job. personally i just wished they stuck more to the traditional thrash metal roots rather than go all out prog with very complex riffs and techniques that would induce leprosy, if i ever tried to mimic those guitar scales. i even over heard someone saying "damn i cant even remember one riff of theirs, the show offs"
another cool thing which i had not seen before, the vocalist jumped in the "pit" and sang with the crowd! that i thought was pretty cool...
check the pics on facebook here or view the HIGH RES picasa album here
 |
| Theroized at Impending doom |
Bevar Sea
Bevar Sea are one of my favorite bands live, and their brand of stoner doom metal is just stuff legends are made of. The classic heavy metal line up, 2 guitarists, one talented bass player, drummer extraordinaire and a front man that would give Lee Dorian a run for his money, Bevar Sea's performance at Impending Doom is something i plan to tell my grand children about.
This was their first show with the newly inducted bass played Avinash who has a fucking degree in Music and is one of the coolest , chilled out and nicest guys i have ever met.
the other guitarist looks like Jesus, while the music is pretty Sinfully wicked! and even though the music is pretty extreme in its own right, its really groovy and catchy and has that infectious hook to it, finally a band that pays rich tribute to magnificence that is Black Sabbath (read Doom) and their performance even had ex bass player JP, who was at the show, comment "Bevar Sea are truly epic tonight! Fuck i never got a chance to hear the band until now!"
Nuff said....
check the facebook album here or watch the HIGH RES picasa album here
 |
| bevar sea at impending doom |
Kryptos
aha! the final act for the night!
arguably the most well known metal band in India, and more than a decade old. I must confess at this point that me and Nolan have known each other since 1999 and the un holy trio of Sandy filth, nolu molu and p2 666 had their fare share of drunken nights and regenerating cockroaches story, but this was just the 4th time i had seen Kryptos live!! before this gig, i had seen Kryptos live when they were a 3 piece band comprising of Nolan on all guitars, Jack/Ganesh on bass and vocals and Chinglen wonton momos on drums, way back in 1999/2000.
Kryptos has evolved into planet devouring entity and every venue they perform has been a memorable one for the fans. and tonights performance was another feather in their cap of achievements.
for starters, Nolan had earlier thrashed the place playing for Pillbox 666 and now he was back again on stage with his headlining act, and the energy he and his crew had on stage was a 100 times more than the tired and flaccid crowd.
in all fairness to the crowd, they were supporting all the bands right from the start, so it was ok to feel lethargic. Kryptos belted some of their finest thrash meets heavy metal music and they ended their set list to a thunderous response from everyone there....(except the drunk guys who had slept off)
See the facebook album here or check the HIGH RES picasa album here
 |
| kryptos at Impending doom |
Conclusion: a great success! thats all i can say. the variety of music and different genres of metal one got to witness , pretty much stumped the critics. Black metal, Grind and Death Metal, Stoner doom, old school thrash and heavy metal, metal core, progressive and thrash.... almost every sub genre of metal was played under one roof that night.
and the crowd was well over 200 people and i had clicked over 900 pics at the event but had to select the best that would finally make it to my albums here online.
everyone got their moneys worth and one can only wonder how in Satan's name will Sallu Miyan and Gideon come up with a better line up at Impending Doom III, which hopefully wont be too long in the distant future....
Up Yours
Impending Doom Review written by Bed Pan Boy
Photography by Pritham "Metal Farmer" D'Souza
I like-u the show too. i had Mysore Neck syndrome the next day :P
ReplyDelete