The heavy metallers, who have been around since the early Nineties, are releasing their debut EP ‘Ballox’ in March
'Ballox' EP artwork by Vamsi Krishna
Bengaluru heavy metal band Lucidreams. Photo: Vamsi Krishna
For a band that can claim peerage among India’s earliest metal bands like Millennium, Bengaluru heavy metallers Lucidreams know the struggle all too well. They cycled through numerous lineups ”“ one that even included Thermal and a Quarter’s Bruce Lee Mani on guitars ”“ and gigs, even trying to record material over the years on tape. Founding member and vocalist Vineesh Venugopal says, “Recording was close to impossible. It was very rare to track a guitar with distortion.”
There’s no comparison to today, though, when they’ve finally got their debut five-track EP Ballox set to release on Transcending Obscurity India/Asia on March 30th. They take aim at religious fanaticism (the two-part “Father Forgive Them”), how cities are becoming concrete jungles (“Brains Collide”), the depleting number of tigers (“Mighty Stripes”) all with Venugopal’s Ozzy-esque tenor and balls-to-the-wall heavy metal. Guitarist Jayanth Sridhar says of the themes, “It’s very current affairs-related, even though these songs were written 10 years ago. That’s the sad part.”
While the shred-heavy title track was one of the oldest ”“ written in 2001 ”“ Venugopal says the most recent one was “Mighty Stripes.” Regulars on the live circuit in Bengaluru, Lucidreams faced a major hurdle in 2014, the sudden passing of guitarist Suraj Dutt. Sridhar says, “It’s quite a sad thing, to replace someone I really looked up to.”
But the new guitarist has been working on putting together a major tour for Lucidreams to promote Ballox, with at least seven cities on the anvil. Venugopal says their base following comes from the fact that they play heavy metal, even if the audience has changed over the years. “They’re very educated now. Before, they had nothing to compare you with. There are a hell of a lot more fans now, but the old guys still drop in to our gigs.”
Hear “Father Forgive Them ”“ Prologue.” Preorder the EP here.
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