Delhi Prog Metallers Guillotine Regroup for New Album

Guillotine. Photo: Courtesy of Hornbill Rock Contest.

Is it possible to get a mosh pit going in a swimming a pool? You have to get to this week’s metal gig in Gurgaon to find out. Delhi prog metal band Guillotine is among seven bands including Providence from Mumbai and Delhi’s Colossal Figures, which will perform poolside sets at the second edition of Outrage Festival. Says vocalist and frontman Karan Nambiar, “There are going to be a lot of black T-shirts in the pool.” For a band that is in the middle of a lineup crisis just ahead of a gig, Nambiar sounds rather upbeat. Guillotine parted ways with its drummer Kabir Mahajan last year. Mahajan, who wanted to focus on work commitments, had been with the band since they formed in 2007 and also contributed to their debut album The Cynic, released in 2010.

The Outrage Festival also marks Guillotine’s return to stage after almost a year. Says Nambiar, “We still have that chemistry. Just getting the vibe back together is something we’re looking forward to.” The band have roped in Delhi-based drummer Dan Thomas to fill in as a live drummer, but Nambiar says they’re not recruiting a permanent drummer just yet.

Despite the fact that the rest of the band members also perform with other bands, Guillotine won second place at the Hornbill National Rock Contest in 2010. Guillotine’s bassist Rohit Bhattacharya is also a part of electronica group Tankbund, which was formed in 2011, and keyboardist Akshat Taneja plays with psychedelic pop rock band Faridkot, while guitarist Takar Nabam performs with a jazz project named Takatrio. Says Nambiar, “Despite all those projects, this [Guillotine] was the main focus. The vibe’s still going.” He adds, “We took a year off when our guitarist went to SAM [Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music, Chennai] in 2012 and went in different directions. We took another year to regroup.”

The prog metallers will perform their latest single “The Aftermath,” which was recorded earlier this year with prog metalcore band Colossal Figures’ drummer Rijul Victor. Guillotine have also begun work on their next album, titled Politically Baked, with Delhi-based Anupam Roy helming production. “The Aftermath,” their first new song in four years, is a shift in sound from progressive death metal influences to more groove-oriented songs, according to Nambiar. While “The Aftermath” has been on the band’s setlist since last year, Guillotine only started writing and recording demos for new material earlier this year. Says Nambiar, “We’ll have a second track out soon.”

Listen to “The Aftermath” here