Djinn & Miskatonic To Release Debut Full-Length Album

Djinn and Miskatonic. Photo: Uday Shanker

It was the common love for American horror writer, H.P. Lovecraft, Seventies Italian horror films and sword and sorcery fantasy tales that brought members of Bengaluru doom band Djinn & Miskatonic together. And these tales are cooked to a bubbling broth on their debut full-length album, Forever In the Realm.

Similar to their peers in stoner/doom band Bevar Sea [who released their self-titled debut in November last year], Djinn & Miskatonic keep their riffs lengthy and heavy, with the 17-minute doom/sludge number “Weird Tales,” which guitarist Sriram K.R. says is a homage to the horror magazine by the same name. The band, which formed in 2010, began performing in 2011 as a three-piece band comprising vocalist Gautham Khandige, bassist Jayaprakash Satyamurthy and drummer Siddharth Manoharan. Sriram joined late last year, when Djinn & Miskatonic began recording their version of Motorhead’s “I Don’t Believe A Word” for the aptly titled tribute album, Motorhead Tribute India. Says the guitarist, “I was originally just supposed to guest on guitars [for the song], but our similar tastes in literature, music and movies brought us together.”

After recruiting Sriram, the band spent about eight months “trying to get the guitars to fit in” as Sriram puts it. “It’s not complex or technical music. It’s riff-driven metal, tuned low and played slow. After we started adding guitar parts, we made the songs longer and added layers to make it sound very crunchy and very massive,” says Sriram. Forever In the Realm was tracked and recorded between April and May with Bengaluru metal vets Threinody’s Premik Jolly producing the band at his Area 51 studio

To promote Forever in the Realm, Djinn & Miskatonic play two back-to-back shows in Bengaluru and Mumbai, launching the album at the gig series Echoes From Beneath at No Limmits, Bengaluru on September 7th, and then catching an early morning flight to Mumbai the next day for a set at the annual gig series Metal at the Tavern at United 21 in Thane on September 8th. Though the band has eight songs ready and three more in the works, they will play all four songs from the album at both gigs, from the 12-minute “7 Year Witch,” which talks about ostracized witches to the catchier drinking song, “Vulcan’s Forge.” 

Sriram, who has played only a couple of shows with Djinn so far, says, “Even in Bangalore, half the crowd goes like ”˜WTF?’ and half the crowd gets it. I know Bombay has always been more about speed and death metal, but it’s quite exciting to play there.”

 Djinn & Miskatonic performs at Echoes from Beneath alongside Sri Lankan metal bands Manifestator and Genocide Shrines, Bevar Sea, Witchgoat and Shepherd on September 7th, 2013. Entry Rs 700 (early bird, before September 2nd) and Rs 900. Details here.

Metal at the Tavern featuring Djinn & Miskatonic, Hellwind, Solar Deity, Albatross, Demonic Resurrection, Atmosfear and Halahkuh takes place on September 8th, 2013. Entry Rs 400. More event details here.