New Music: From Kolkata Electro-Fusion to Pune Instrumental Rock

“Biblical” by Crazy Weather

The Delhi rockers Crazy Weather, comprising Gucci Singh [previously from Them Clones], drummer Siddharth Kaushik and bassist Arpan Guhathakurta, have roped in guitarist Moses Koul [from math rock/metallers Kraken] for their latest single “Biblical.” The track has got the right amount of groove set to a lot of guitar noodling courtesy Koul, something that the band prefers to categorize as post-rock. We’re not entirely sure about that, but the song’s definitely more experimental compared to any of tracks on their 2014 debut album Half Life.

One Big Sky by Celestial Teapot

The Pune instrumental rock band won the Harley Rock Riders Find Your Freedom contest this year and they know how to keep the momentum going. Their debut album One Big Sky is that combination of prog, post-rock and post-metal that fans of Cloudkicker and Isis would definitely enjoy. There’s no dearth of crescendos or calculated riffage, especially on songs such as “Say When?” and “Sounds of Gef.”

“Inhumane Purge” by Elemental

You’d be living under a rock [or become too much of a metal elitist] if you haven’t caught Bhopal death metal band Elemental live this past year. Their new single “Inhumane Purge” has everything there is ”“ from stomp-heavy beatdowns to vocalist Anchal Bhargava’s pig squeals. Elemental plan to release their debut album, Creation of the Damned, influenced by the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1984, in early 2016.

Centurion Relay by Sukanti & Anushree

The Kolkata folktronica duo, comprising vocalist Anushree Gupta and guitarist/producer Sukanti Roy from rockers Cassini’s Division, take to pan-India folk music rather than just any one particular style on their eight-track album. From the club-friendly Punjabi rendition of “Jugni Ji” and “Damadam Mast Kalandar” to Nepali [“Rinke Bunko”] and of course, Bengali [“Shundori Komola,” “Krishno Preme.”]

Beach Party EP by Reggae Rajahs

Going by their website, their first EP Beach Party isn’t the only big news coming from the Delhi party-starters. Turns out Raghav Dang aka Diggy Dang, General Zoozaka Zorawar Shukla and Rahul Gairolahave aka Ziggy B have relocated to Goa, while DJ MoCity still operates out of Dubai. Regardless, Beach Party is exactly like a Reggae Rajahs set ”“ it’ll make you move and have a bit of a laugh at the cheeky lyrics about weed [“Pass the Lighter”], women [“The First Time,” “Come Next to Me”] and partying down [“Dancing Mood.”]

Sovereign Name by Whitenoiz

We know of Whitenoiz because of one of the best keyboardists in metal ”“ Taz James, from Thiruvananthapuram symphonic metallers Chaotic Years. He’s also part of Christian metal/”spiritual warfare” band Whitenoiz, who have released their new album Sovereign Name. While the band has its own share of shred on tracks like “In Your Face,” James leads the way on songs such as “Father God.” Our top pick is the videogame-themed “God Mode,” which is all chaos and gunfire samples matching double-bass madness.

“Main Hoon Doga” by Warwan

A modern prog metal band singing in Hindi would not be unheard of, but the idea that their first single would be a tribute to Indian comic book hero Doga definitely sounds farfetched on paper. But Delhi band Warwan, which started out in 2013 with guitarist Kushagra Nautiyal, bring the heavy a la djent bands Tesseract and Periphery set to a near-anthem for Doga, which was created by Raj Comics in the Nineties. Tributes aside, the band ”“ now also comprising guitarist-producer Karan Singh Braria [from Define Destiny], drummer Samarth Trehan [from Pyramids], bassist Anirudh Rai and vocalist Aditya Paul ”“ is set to release their debut EP this month.

Mrigya by Mrigya

The Delhi fusion band, who have been around since 1999, are out with their self-titled album, which features everything from rock to raagas to Latin and jazz. They tapped Glasgow bagpiper Ross Ainslie to lend his whistle, flute and more to the meditative “My Guru My God.” Other notables on the album include the ode to poet-saint Kabir on the Sufi rock-tinged “Kabeera” and the East-West jam topped with a violin lead on “By the Nile.”