Exclusive Premiere: Jaipur Prog Metallers Elixirore Soar on ‘Guardian Down’

Originally started as a two-man project, Jaipur prog metal band Elixirore began expanding to the point that they went from an instrumental act to one with a vocalist. Adding Ravneet Singh – part of fellow modern metallers Demigod – the band has now released their first song with vocals, a surging djent and metalcore offering called “Guardian Down.”

Part of their upcoming album Enervate, Elixirore had previously released Dead Man’s Destiny, an instrumental album – inspired by artists such as Cloudkicker, Periphery, Monuments and Meshuggah – in 2018. The six-member band currently comprises Singh on vocals, guitarists Tarunaditya Singh Shekhawat, Jeevesh Kumar Laduna and Gaurav Pandey, plus bassist Suvan Mathur and drummer Puru Sharma. Knowing the growing yet tight-knit Jaipur metal scene, Elixirore’s members are also part of other bands like War Cry and Mordare.

Evoking the emphatic melodic metal of bands like Killswitch Engage as well as the flittering rhythmic tenacity of Monuments, “Guardian Down” is a strong indicator of Elixirore bearing all the makings of a formidable act. Shekhawat says the track was originally written without lyrics and that made it tougher for Singh to come in and write lyrics. The guitarist adds, “Even though Ravneet had his fair share of experience as a vocalist when we called him in to record vocals for the track, his first reaction was, ‘What do we write on this?’”

The song takes the perspective of angst and being misunderstood, particularly drawing from school shootings in the U.S. and the mind of a shooter. “It was a collaborative effort and our first time writing lyrics together as a band. We have tried to express the emotions of the protagonist and how he still wants to keep hope alive at all costs, no matter how broken he really is,” Shekhawat adds.

Other songs on Enervate include one that’s inspired by twisted American thriller film Se7en and Elixirore will go one song at a time until the end of July. Shekhawat says, “We have a lot of our old demos to work on and if we continue to work on them they would be enough to make a new album, so there is quite a lot in store once we get started.”

Watch the video for “Guardian Down” below. Stream here.