Exclusive Premiere: Halahkuh’s Incendiary New Single ‘Indignant’

By Halahkuh frontman Subhrajyoti Sarkar’s own admission, the last couple of years for the Pune thrash metallers have been “discreet”. With the departure of bassist-vocalist Prakhar Soni and guitarist Chinmay Bokil in the last two years, Halahkuh had to find its footing once again.

Sarkar mentions that the band ”“ who released their debut EP Desecration in 2013 and “Break the Shackles” in 2014 ”“ have written three new songs, but decided to release one from the bank as their latest single. “Indignant,” recorded by the band’s go-to producer Adhiraj Singh at Refractor Studio in Pune, was written just after Desecration, in 2013. Sarkar adds, “I still remember laying down the skeleton in about one hour and we were jamming on it from the very next day. The monstrosity that you hear is definitely the collective effort of everyone.” The only new addition came from guitarist Aditya Swaminathan, who offers up a fiery solo to the staggering track.

The track ties into the band’s interest in Mongolian history (Halahkuh is a variation on “Halagu,” a 13th Century Mongol ruler), Sarkar snarling and growling about a tale of Genghis Khan’s vengeance. Sarkar says, “This song is about the hard times Genghis Khan, then known as Temujin, had to face after his father was killed by a rival tribe. He faced the betrayal of his own tribesmen, got captured and tortured by the rival tribes. But all these never broke his spirit and only made his belief stronger that the vengeance awaits.”

With regular gigs back on the menu for Halahkuh ”“ they played at Mumbai gig series Roots, Pune venue High Spirits Café’s metal series Mobscene and a few more in the works ”“ Sarkar says they are about to finish writing their fifth new song. He adds, “2017 looks a lot more busier than the last two years.”

Listen to “Indignant”