Watch Gutslit’s Prateek Rajagopal Rip It on ‘Son of Sam’ Playthrough Video

Mumbai death metal band Gutslit’s third album Carnal delves into the minds of serial killers and their guitarist-compose Prateek Rajagopal might be all the way out in Los Angeles, but it doesn’t stop him from bringing the riffs just as sonorously in the new “Son of Sam” playthrough video.

Donning a black leather jacket and riffing incisively on the song inspired by the American serial killer David Berkowitz from the Seventies, “Son of Sam” is directed, produced, shot and edited by filmmaker and photographer Red Gaskell and comes as another visual offering from Carnal. Previously Gutslit have released wicked music videos for “Altar of Putridity” and “The Killing Joke.”

Rajagopal says that the look and intensity of the playthrough video is all thanks to Gaskell. The guitarist sent the filmmaker the song and received immediate ideas about what the visual would feel like. “We tried red (pun intended) initially, but I think that made it really demonic. Most importantly, we’re both the kind of people who love to experiment on the spot and make changes on the fly. What we ended up is what you see, and it was really just him having fun. He said he wanted it to feel like a ‘movie’ and not a regular playthrough video,” Rajagopal adds.

The take they used was the final one they shot for the day, with Gaskell taking the handheld camera approach to instill a sense of urgency. “Son of Sam” was Rajagopal’s way of writing a song that fused grooves, modern metal and old-school death metal all in one, something that the guitarist also had help from drummer Aaron Pinto for in the song. He adds, “It’s personally my fav song on the album because it has everything Gutslit is known for – brutal and technical but also fun and groovy.”

The video is perhaps Rajagopal’s way of performing the song, even as Gutslit has enlisted guitarists Ishwar Hariharan and Aditya Swaminathan to take over in the current lineup. Bassist and founder Gurdip Singh Narang calls “Son of Sam” a “banger of a song” to perform live so far and credits Pinto and Rajagopal for coming up with it. He adds, “I have always loved the way Vignesh [Venkatraman, lyricist on Carnal] and his twisted mind conceptualized the whole vocal spectrum and designed the lyrics according to the theme of the track. [Vocalist Aditya] Barve brought in the depth and killed it equally on this. The audience response to the same has been amazing.”

They’re taking that forward with two Gutslit shows this month, on December 10th at Arunachal Pradesh gig series Capital Chaos in Itanagar and on December 17th at Mumbai-origin gig series Scarfest. Both gigs, interestingly, also serve as regional rounds for the upcoming Wacken Metal Battle competition to send a band from the Indian subcontinent to Germany’s metal mainstay festival, Wacken Open Air in 2024.

Narang says about their upcoming gigs, “It’s the first time for us at Arunachal Pradesh. As always, North East is quite exciting to play at. They have a different high all together when it comes to metal. And that energy just flows on stage with us. Post that is Bombay and nothing is better than playing at home. We will be doing Bombay as a five piece again and solidifying that feel all the more.”

Watch the playthrough video for “Son of Sam” below.