Exclusive Stream: Listen to Mumbai artist Silent Voyage’s Brooding New EP

Mumbai-based bassist and composer Paresh Garude. Photo: Courtesy of the Artist

After stints in several metal bands in Mumbai ranging from symphonic black metallers Cosmic Infusion to doom band Dormant Inferno and to his current black metal band Stark Denial, bassist Paresh Garude found stability in his own solo project, Silent Voyage. He says, “I wanted to keep the engines running and not rely on anybody but myself.”

But that doesn’t necessarily mean Garude wouldn’t reach out to others. Silent Voyage’s debut three-track EP Eternity features a host of musicians picked from Mumbai and Pune. There’s vocalist Nitin Rajan [from stone age metallers Primitiv] kicking off with the eerie-symphonic track “Wandering In Nothingness,” which Garude says the vocalist nailed in a single five-minute take. Even more surprising is the powerhouse frontman of heavy metal band Albatross, Biprorshee Das, almost meditatively singing about accepting “the darkness” over tabla parts by Pushkar Joshi [from Primitiv] and sprawling guitar and synth lines on “Ocean Of Silence.” The EP closes with Garude’s 2015 single “Whispering Shadows,” a doom number of epic proportions, featuring the highs of vocalist Gareth Mankoo [from Mumbai extreme metal band Spiked Crib].

The Eternity lineup is completed by producer Vishal J Singh, who programmed drums, mixed and mastered the record, guitarists Ashish Niraj Dharkar [from Pune doom metal band Dirge] and Abhimanue Gautam [Spiked Crib] and 17-year-old violinist and multi-instrumentalist Manash Saikia, with recording helmed by producers Ashwin Shriyan [from extreme metallers Demonic Resurrection], Prateek Rajagopal [from prog band The Minerva Conduct and death metal band Gutslit] and Nakul Rathod [from Cosmic Infusion].

The EP avoids any definite genre categorization, with Garude justifying his need to make a mood-based metal record, tying into the concept. He explains, “This whole EP revolves around a guy who feels very lonely in a city in spite of having people around. He always feels disconnected.”

With pre-orders and sales already looking positive for the studio-only project, Garude is already plotting a Silent Voyage album. He says, “The next release is going to be a full length and I’m going to try to make it sound grand. We are gifted with such history. India is a great place. My next release would revolve around 18 chapters of [Hindu holy scriptures] Bhagavad Gita. With grand sounds, distorted slow heavy guitars with chants/shlokas and more Indian elements.”

Listen to Eternity here. Buy the EP here.