A Staunch DIY Metal Artist, Demonstealer is Doing Things Differently on New Album ‘The Propaganda Machine’

In the span of the last two decades that he’s been making extreme metal music, Mumbai-based Demonstealer aka Sahil Makhija has been in and out of a lot of different permutations and combinations for his releases.

From starting his own label – Demonstealer Records – to signing with U.K.’s Candlelight Records and Universal Music in India, it’s safe to say the multi-instrumentalist metal artist has tried it all across projects, including extreme metal band Demonic Resurrection, death metal band Reptilian Death and comedy-rock/metal act Workshop. With his long-running solo project Demonstealer, his upcoming album The Propaganda Machine will be out via Sweden’s Black Lion Records, who are putting out his music on CD, vinyl and even cassette tape on March 31st.

With the lead single “Monolith of Hate” out now and the second of four singles – “The Fear Campaign” –  expected on February 17th, Makhija clarifies that the deal with Black Lion Records was more to do with distribution of the physical editions of The Propaganda Machine. “At the same time, the label is treating me as they would any other artist on their roster. They’re really investing in the album as well,” he says. A big chunk of work involving shipping and handling physical editions of the music is now off his plate thanks to Black Lion Records, which is exactly what he wanted. “It definitely allows me to focus on other things. I now know there’s somebody who’s got everything covered,” Makhija adds.

Thematically, The Propaganda Machine is intended as a follow-up to 2018 album The Last Reptilian Warrior. But while gathering featured artists took time and the pandemic struck, Makhija put it on the backburner and went on to release two EPs – This Too Shall Pass in 2020 and The Holocene Termination in 2021 along with the single “Sic Semper Tyrannis.” On “Monolith of Hate,” Demonstealer pulls back the curtain on a socio-politically conscious album and addresses the hatred birthed by organized religions around the world, going deep into referencing “state-sponsored killings,” while questioning how we let “hate in our hearts.” He points to the Delhi riots of 2020, the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act bill and National Register of Citizens initiative and even the Covid-19 pandemic as things he drew from for lyrics.

The song wreaks havoc in a familiar melodic-death metal mix that Demonstealer has been known for, with his clean vocal game reaching new heights (it’s something he says has been finessed after years of working with guitarist-producer Daniel Kenneth Rego, formerly of Demonic Resurrection). There are a total of 12 artists featuring across eight tracks, with “Monolith of Hate” bringing together Los Angeles-based James Payne, part of Canadian death metal band Kataklysm, Italian bassist Martino Garattoni from Australian metallers Ne Oblviscaris and Keyboardist and vocalist Anabelle Iratni, formerly of British extreme metallers Cradle of Filth.

The next single, “The Fear Campaign,” introduces another heavyweight to the album, drummer Hannes Grossmann, bassist Dominic ‘Forest’ Lapointe, guitarist Dean Paul Arnold and Iratni returning. “It’s one of the longer more intricate songs on the album. So it’s going to have plenty of blast beats and it’s going to have some guitar solos, as well,” Makhija adds.

Listen to “Monolith of Hate” below. Pre-order ‘The Propaganda Machine’ here.