Phobia and Undying Inc Rendered Savage Sets At Blue Frog Delhi

Blue Frog Delhi’s first Metal Night decidedly calls for a repeat

By Varun Goswami | Gig Reviews November 12, 2012

Undying Inc bassist Reuben Bhattacharya. Photo: Blue Frog

Phobia and Undying Inc, November 9th, Blue Frog, Delhi: Can the chic fuchsia interiors of a venue, usually wub wub-ing with dubstep and progressive house, possibly contain moshpits? The answer was made palpable by Blue Frog Delhi’s very first Metal Night, which brought to stage what can mildly be termed as hardcore.

First on stage was Phobia, an experimental prog metal outfit from Delhi that has spent the last four years winning fans across the country and building arena cred with past masters of this genre like Undying Inc and Demonic Resurrection. Synchronized stage jumps and a savage twin-guitar onslaught from guitarists Jimmy Jacob and Aaquib Wani, kicked off a 40-minute set that stunned on impact. Shifting tempos on the standout “Composure” were punctuated by melodic refrains and an interesting split in vocal duties that saw Jacob take on the more clean singing parts. The growls, still a step short of guttural, gave the razor-sharp rhythm work of “Radical Contradictions” an edge.

The band tore through their folio of originals, before closing the set with a bunch of well-executed covers. The one worthy of notice, Threat Signal’s “Rational Eyes,” saw vocalist Shashank Bhatnagar, from Undying Inc join the band. A brief break, just long enough to stock up on beverages, ended with Undying Inc taking the stage.

Making their debut in 2006 with Preface to Erase, the quartet has come a long way in championing a menacing mix of prog metal and grindcore. Over the next 40 minutes, Undying Inc actioned a sonic assault that packed in a series of fan favorites like “Manimal” and “Membraneous.” The audience included a large number of devout followers including one who had flown in from Mumbai to catch the show. Standout tracks like “Pit Mechanics” and the title track off their 2010 release Aggressive World Dynasty, sounded even more unrelenting with drummer Nishant Hagjer pinning the monster groove down in just his second live gig with the band.

The night ended with adrenalin and endorphins cancelling out any traces of alcohol in the body as Blue Frog’s debut Metal Night gave [arguably] the heaviest form of this varied genre the stage it deserves.

Key tracks: “Composure,” “Radical Contradictions,” “Aggressive World Dynasty,” “Manimal”