Exclusive Release: Reverrse Polarity’s Cheeky New Single ‘Suck on These!’

Reverrse Polarity at the second edition of metal series Roots in Mumbai. Photo: Bryan Jacob Daniel.

If you want to know what metal in India has been missing in recent times, it won’t take too many people to point out that it’s the bands like Scribe and Reverrse Polarity, who always served heavy with a side of quirky. While Scribe’s post-hardcore shenanigans seem to have come to a halt, we’re glad that Reverrse Polarity are still at it.

The Mumbai post-hardcore/prog band performed in Mumbai in June, at monthly metal gig series Roots, but the shows have been on and off ever since their debut self-titled album was out in 2013. Drummer Gautam Deb says, “At that time, we were all figuring out our lives and more importantly, our livelihood, as it isn’t practical to let Metal be your only source of income in India yet.” They shuffled around their lineup, which at one point included a second guitarist (Sameer Suri) and now have bassist Bob Alex (Deb’s bandmate from post-rock band Aswekeepsearching and experimental metallers Noiseware) replacing founder member Jordan Veigas.

During their downtime, guitarist Shikhar Manchanda attended a few summer courses in electronic music production and DJing at the Dubspot school in New York in 2014. Says Manchanda, “It certainly opened up a lot of other genres and ideas and inspirations to be added to my skill set.”

The band then pulled out a years-old idea from what vocalist Gaurav Kataria calls “the Manchanda beats bank” and named it “Suck On These!” Their first new release in three years also features a verse from pop singer Anushka Manchanda, who is Shikhar’s sister.

Recorded, mixed and mastered by the band, the rap metal song whirlwinds into thumping grooves, with Deb filling in nearly every empty space with his clockwork drumming. The song dips in and out of electronic-infused movements. Deb ”“ who won Best Drummer at the Rolling Stone Metal Awards in 2014 ”“ says, “We realized that we listen to a lot of genres other than just metal. Gaurav is heavily into hip-hop and beatboxing and is influenced by artists like Anderson Paak, Kendrick Lamar and Big Gigantic. Bob and I come from a metal/post-rock background. Shikhar is influenced by bass-heavy electronic music.”

Although a one-off single to test the waters, the band assures that there will be a lot more activity in the band. Kataria says, “Expect a whole load of new music writing, because now I feel that Reverrse has got its dynamics back for a live set. It’s all about going live and playing for the people now.”

Listen to “Suck on These!”  Use the hashtag #Reverrse on social media for a free download of the track.