Exclusive Premiere: Demonic Resurrection’s Sitar and Tabla-Laden New Single ‘Matsya ”“ The Fish’

 
After adapting Hindu mythology on their fourth album The Demon King, Mumbai extreme metallers Demonic Resurrection (DR) are taking things up a notch on their upcoming fifth album, Dashavatar.

Borrowing from the stories revolving around the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu, the album opens with a sonic surprise soon after frontman Sahil Makhija aka Demonstealer’s ominous spoken word intro. “Matsya ”“ The Fish” kicks in with sitar introduction courtesy New Delhi-based Indian classical prog metal artist Rishabh Seen. The harrowing double-bass rhythms are then pierced by a short swirl of harmonics by guitarist Nishith Hegde. The song also features tabla by Mumbai-based fusion-dabbling percussionist Devang Shinde. Makhija says of the collaboration, “Rishabh was the obvious choice because he understands the metal aesthetic.”

The Indian classical elements, the lyrics transposed from Sanskrit lore and the striking artwork depicting Vishnu in all his ten avatars by New Delhi visual illustrator Reuben Bhattacharya aka Visual Amnesia ”“ all this definitely signals a big change for Demonic Resurrection. Makhija says, “I knew would never do [this kind of fusion of Indian classical elements] for the heck of it or just to capitalize on a market. The riff that was constructed for this song was made with the sitar in mind. When you hear the album, everything has its place.”

The ten-track Dashavatar, set to release in March, will also feature a solo in every song by Hegde, backing vocals by bassist Ashwin Shriyan and even more technical, faster drumming by Virendra Kaith. Hegde says of contributing to his first DR album, “The whole change in vibe, I really like it. I just knew I had to go with it.”