Official Press Release of Trend Slaughter Fest II

Press Release:

ABIGAIL (Japan), CAUCHEMAR (Canada) and DYING EMBRACE (India) have just been confirmed to headline the second TRENDSLAUGHTER FEST on January 29th 2012, in Bangalore, India. According to the organizers (Cyclopean Eye Productions/Trendslaughter crew), the festival has been created to “bring Bangalore the best of underground metal by getting both foreign acts and local bands together and thereby creating a rock solid underground movement to spearhead the Heavy metal culture in India.” The fest will also have local support from Death/Grind band Gorified, old school Deathmetallers Dhwesha and Drone/Space Doom rockers Djinn and Miskatonic.

Last year the TRENDSLAUGHTER FEST was headlined by Bangladeshi bestial death/thrash metallers band Orator with local bands Dying Embrace, Bevar Sea, Culminant and Gorified and saw around 200+ fans congregate at the venue at Kyra Theatre, Bangalore, India for a good 8 hours Stoner, Thrash, Brutal Death metal, Death Grind, Doom and Old school Death metal!

Headliners Information :

About Abigail:
ABIGAIL is a Japanese black thrash metal outfit that was formed in January of 1992 by Yasuyuki (bass / vocals), Youhei (drums) and Yasunori (guitar) being inspired by early Black / Thrash Metal bands like BATHORY, VENOM, SODOM, BULLDOZER, HELLHAMMER, NME etc. From 1999, the band has heavily toured Europe, Asia, USA countless times appearing on big festivals like Hell Fest, and NWN Fest (Nuclear War Now) among others. The band has nearly 70 releases (which includes full length cds, splits, compilation and live cds/lps) and is one of the most well known bands in Japan today.

About Cauchemar:
Cauchemar was founded in 2007 as a collaboration between vocalist Annick Giroux and guitarist François Patry. With the goal of producing eerie, no-frills doomy Heavy Metal, the project eventually turned into a band with the addition of Patrick Pageau (ASILE, ex-BASTARDATOR guitarist) on drums. They have released in 2010 the "La Vierge Noire" MLP on American label Nuclear War Now! Productions, toured Canada, Colombia, Chile and Peru, and are currently writing material for a new album.

About Dying Embrace:
Legendary pioneering Death/Doom act from Bangalore have been in existence for twenty years with releases on international labels (7” vinyl on Legion Of Death Records, France, compliation CD on Psychic Scream, Malaysia) and have had the title of being India’s oldest Death Metal band. This is one band that brings both old metal heads (30+ years olds into Sabbath, Maiden, Priest) and the new breed of metal heads together.

Links to all bands:
Abigail - www.myspace.com/666abigail
Cauchemar- www.facebook.com/cauchemarmetal
Dying Embrace - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HJGT9YYDSo&feature=related
Gorified - http://www.myspace.com/gorifiedcorpses
Dhwesha - http://www.myspace.com/dhwesha
Djinn and Miskatonic - http://soundcloud.com/djinnandmiskatonic

Trend Slaughter Fest II...The Slaughter Continues

The first edition of Trend Slaughter Fest featuring some of Asia's best underground bands was a roaring success and its no surprise that the organizers of the show decided to give the fans another blow of extreme underground madness. 

i am super thrilled to be covering the event as the self declared "official photographer" but enough of that and here's a brief description of the bands that are gonna be sharing the stage on that day.

Mehandi designs captured using Canon 24 to 105 mm f 4 L IS lens

From mehandi

My first Mehandi shoot. For those of u who dunno what it means, here is what wiki says " Weddings in the India can often be long ritualistic and elaborate affairs with many pre-wedding, wedding and post wedding ceremonies. The occasion of Mehndi ceremony is often one of the most important pre-wedding rituals especially for the bride. It is a fun filled ritual, which is celebrated mainly by the bride's family. Different regions of the country celebrate the ritual in a different way according to their own marriage customs, rituals, and culture. Mehndi ceremonies take place outside the India amongst the Indian community and places like Birmingham in the UK are such known hotspots for lavish Mehndi celebrations.

The ceremony is mainly held at the bride's house or at a banquet hall on the eve of the marriage ceremony or few days before the marriage. Generally the bride and groom attend the event together and on the occasion a professional henna artist or a relative applies mehndi to the bride's hands and feet the designs are very intricate. Often hidden within the mehndi pattern the name or initials of the groom are applied. The event generally has a celebratory festival feel to it with the women dancing and singing traditional songs and the girls wearing vivid colours such as hot pink and yellow, often if the bride to be wishes to tease her future groom she will make him wear purple."

Now that we know what it means now, here are some moments i captured at my friends Mehandi ceremony

gear used Canon 60D + EF 24 to 105 mm f 4 L IS USM glass + Canon Speedlite 580EX II

and to get better results i bounced the flash of the ceiling.

Bangalore Thrashers Culminant captured live at Trend Slaughter Fest 2011

From culminant @ TSF , March 19, 2011

Culminant are a Bangalore based thrash metal band and i got to see them for the first time at The Undergrind fest a few months before i clicked these pics.

Armed with my 60D and the under rated kit lens Ef 18 to 200 mm f 3.5 to 5.6 IS USM lens, i got some really good pics at low light. the IS or Image Stabilization helped me to get very good shots without the crappy camera shake.

Brahmin Wedding Rituals Explained with Photos

A series of 19 photos explaining the rituals involved in Brahmin weddings.

1. Vratham
2. Janavasam
3. Upanayanam
4. Gowri Pooja
5. Kasi Yatra (Pilgrimage to Kasi)
6. Oonchal
7. Kanya Danam
8. Sumuhurtam (The Auspicious Moment)
9. Malai Mathal
10. Kankana Dhaarana
11. Mangalya Dharanam
12. Binding in Thread
13. Talambralu (Rice and Petal Shower)
14. Paani Graharam
15. Saptha Padhi
16. Pradhana Homam
17. Treading on Grindstone
18. Laaja Homam
19. Finale

I definitely would have missed a few rituals in the middle or even at the end, but i have tried my best to explain why the whole wedding ceremony takes a few hours to finish.

From Typical South Indian Brahmin Wedding

The marriage ceremonies begin with vratham performed separately by the bride and the groom. For the bride, it means the tying of the kappu, the holy thread on her wrists, which is meant to ward off all evil sprits. It symbolizes a kind of protective armor for the bride

Portrait and Wedding close ups

My first attempt at taking wedding candid portraits... sounds pretty weird to have the words portraits and candid in the same sentence. but thats exactly what i did.

equipped with my newly acquired EF 24 to 105 mm 4L IS lens and Canon speedlite 580EX II, the results were much better than i expected.