Exclusive Premiere: Nu-Metal Project GrooveBot’s Debut Single ‘Toxic’

Just at the start of the new millennium, something about the nu-metal and industrial metal sound made it a part of mainstream music culture, albeit briefly. While the antics of some rap-rock bands like Limp Bizkit remained somewhat ridiculed, the heavily down-tuned guitar riffs and frantic electronic glitches and turntablism has had a lasting influence.

After stints in rock bands such as Funk the System and currently part of prog-fusion band Paradigm Shift and rock band Hook, Mumbai-based guitarist-composer Chinmay Agharkar wanted to put his “affinity for heavy/chunky guitar driven music, fascination with synths and my love for gaming all coalescing into one.” Creating a new project called GrooveBot earlier this year, Agharkar says however that he never intended to aim to fit into the industrial and nu-metal space but his debut single “Toxic” lands a blow squarely in that space.

Featuring vocalist Pratika (from erstwhile metallers Chronic Phobia), “Toxic” bludgeons with hectic riffage and menacing electronic elements that are seemingly informed by the likes of Static-X, Linkin Park, Mushroomhead and the like. Pratika, who has been releasing music more often recently, pairs growls with sinister vocal harmonies about habitually doomed behavior patterns. The vocalist says about releasing more music recently, “While many aren’t having a good time indoors, it’s actually been a boon to me, and is exactly what I needed. At the same time, I’ve learned to manage work, writing music and entertainment pretty well, so this isn’t going to stop.”

As for GrooveBot, it’s a collaborative project with an EP in the works, but Agharkar says he’s not looking at a “fixed timeline” for release just yet. “The collaborators are sending over their parts and the deliberations that follow take time. Better to do it right than rush it. As far the collaborators go, I’d rather remain hush for now. All I can say is all of them are people I am a fan of and have immense respect for.”

Watch the lyric video for “Toxic” below. The song is out on all platforms tomorrow, June 12th.