Defeated Sanity Set For India Debut This Week

Hyderabad-based gig promoter and metal artist Abbas Razvi admits it “might be the stupidest idea” but his way of gauging interest for international acts to bring to India was simply to book metal bands he wanted to see.

To that end, German death metal stalwarts Defeated Sanity are in India this week for two shows, part of Shillong for the open-air concert Hessian Aggression on July 17 and for Razvi’s gig series Aggressive Tendencies in Bengaluru on July 18. Billed as The Gathering, Razvi teamed up with his counterpart in Shillong, Nangsan Lyngwa to bring down the pummeling, intense live act that’s Defeated Sanity.

Formed in 1993 and soon carrying on with drummer and founder Lille Gruber and guitarist Wolfgang Teske (Gruber’s father), the band currently comprises bassist Jacob Schmidt, vocalist Josh Welshman and guitarist Vaughn Stoffey. With six albums and several EPs out, Defeated Sanity’s Schmidt says they’ve been “waiting for a long time to bring our music to India.”

He adds, “We can’t wait to play for the fans there, the closest we have played to India in the past was in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2017 and we met many Indian fans there who traveled for the show, as well as countless interactions with Indian fans around the world. They are always very friendly and passionate about the music and they represent their music scene and culture well.”

Unlike other promoters, Razvi says he has never looked at or cared about streaming numbers while booking an underground metal act. It seems more gut-based and informed by his friends circle. “I’m in a WhatsApp group with some super close friends and a bunch of friends from India and Dubai wanted to go to Turkey to watch Defeated Sanity. I’ve been meaning to do something bigger with Aggressive Tendencies this year and this seemed like the perfect time to work something out and get someone big down.”

The consideration to host them in Shillong was due to knowing Lyngwa for long, but also because Razvi’s understanding is that the “following for metal across the cities [in the North East] is super hardcore.” Ahead of the open-air event, Lyngwa admits it’s been difficult but they’ve gone in fully knowing the kind of loss the event will make. He says, “Most of it, it’s our money. We have like-minded friends who are willing to pool in whatever they can or help out at the gig just to make this happen.”

It’s a healthy kind of skepticism when Lyngwa says he’s not “expecting too much” since their venue is in Ri Bhoi, away from Shillong and logistics have become expensive. Still, he says if this edition goes well, they plan to do it annually and “make it bigger every year.” His reason for it is very simple – there aren’t as many emerging, young metal bands in Shillong as there used to be when Lyngwa and his band Plague Throat were on the rise, but he’s not one to sit around and lament it. “We just have to keep doing what we’re doing and if people are interested, they will come to the show. We’re doing this for the legacy. We didn’t have anyone doing it for us when we were a band. I wanted to do it for the future, so that they have a foundation,” Lyngwa adds.

Defeated Sanity’s Bengaluru show will see Razvi’s band, thrash-death metallers Godless play alongside the city’s seasoned grindcore act xRepeatx. In Shillong, Lyngwa and his band will play support, in addition to Godless, Sikkim noise/grindcore act Konflicts, Darjeeling brutal death metallers Estrotomy, Shillong’s thrash metallers Eternal Scorn, New Delhi artist Bruce Omega and local artists Varaska with Leesha Lyngdoh.

Schmidt says about Defeated Sanity’s setlist in India, “We have curated a diverse setlist of songs that span our entire discography from 2004 until 2024, as well as some completely new and unreleased material, and the Indian fans will be some of the first in the world to hear these songs, and we couldn’t be happier to showcase them in India for the first time.”

Aggressive Tendencies has hosted international artists like drummer Chris Adler and German guitarist Fountainhead, but now Razvi plans to expand on his own. In August, American death metallers Skeletal Remains will kick off their Fragments of the Ageless Asia tour in Mumbai and Hyderabad. Another international metal band will be announced later in July. “I eventually want to work the brand up towards hosting a tiny metal festival and these are baby steps towards that,” he says.

Get tickets for Aggressive Tendencies: The Gathering in Bengaluru and Hessian Aggression: The Gathering in Shillong.