Eccentric Pendulum On Their Giant New Track

Eccentric Pendulum

Just like black metal songs pledge allegiance to Satan, progressive metal songs have a fixation with science and math. Bengaluru prog metallers Ec­centric Pendulum, who got to­gether in 2008, have been writing songs like “Mathematicians of Ambient Wa­ters” about a lonely mathematician and more recently, one called “Resisting An­other Equation.”

Part of the new material, slated for a January release, is a 20-minute three-part song titled “Tellurian Concepts,” which may not follow a mathematical theme, but is one of their most experimental releases yet. The track, which follows a f ive-track EP [2009’s Sculptor of Negative Emotions] and a full-length album [2011’s Winding The Optics], works like a mini-EP, accord­ing to the band. Says the band’s guitar­ist Arjun Mulky, “The earlier stuff had its boundaries, but with ”˜Tellurian Con­cepts’, we’re not afraid to even go clean [without growling].” Mulky, who replaced Ashish Kumar in 2010, has been writing the song with drummer Vibhas Venka­tram at the band’s DIY jam room-turned-home studio. While the studio was built just two months ago, Mulky says that the band has a long way to go before they can afford to buy their own mixing and mastering equipment.

Last year, Mulky spent time writing and performing on Bengaluru experi­mental metal band Limit Zero’s debut album, Gravestone Constellations, and began writing riffs for “Tellurian Con­cepts” in January this year. Like most progressive metal, writing for “Tellu­rian Concepts” started with the music first. Says Mulky, “The guitar and the drums came first, but there aren’t any se­rious lyrics as yet.” Mulky says one of the major inspirations for the idea of a multi-part song was American eclectic metal band Between The Buried and Me, who fuse everything from the harshest death metal growls to breakdowns to pop-in­spired choruses and electronica passag­es. “I like the idea of breaking up one song into parts and a chorus on repeat, which brings recall value to listeners,” says Mulky. Eccentric Pendulum aren’t going to be restricted to genres, but in­cluding trippy electronica sounds might prove difficult since none of the mem­bers are familiar with a synthesizer. Says Mulky, “We’re just at the beginning stag­es, though.” Drummer Venkatram, who is part of Bengaluru music school Taaqa­demy’s faculty, is adding patterns from Latin music to the mix as well.

Since September, the band has been performing in Bengaluru and Hyderabad alongside thrash metal band Theorized. Says Mulky, “People seem to enjoy the lineup [of Eccentric Pendulum and Theo­rized] so we’ve been talking to organizers and trying to set up a tour with both of us and go to other cities.”

The article appeared in the December 2013 issue of ROLLING STONE India.