Hear Devoid’s Breakneck Takedown of Social Media Influencers on ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’

When Mumbai thrash/death metallers Devoid got a call to perform at Bacardi NH7 Weekender this year – alongside other heavy bands like Gutslit, Bhayanak Maut and Underside – it coincided with their plans for a comeback. Vocalist-guitarist Arun Iyer says, “There was no real deadline though.”

Now splitting their time between Mumbai, Pune (bassist Abhishek Kamdar) and Dubai (drummer Shubham Kumar) as a trio, Devoid started jamming and writing new material around three months ago. It was in early 2015 that they decided to call time on the band, just around when they released a song called “God Complex.” Iyer says, “When we first met, it was like, ‘What instrument is this and how do I play it?’ Except for Shubham, who’d been playing drums for a while.”

Down at Blue Cassette Studios in Thane, the band regrouped regularly to write “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” a surprisingly fun-filled acerbic song about the vanity and hollowness of social media influencers and online bloggers. It’s still rooted in the hard-hitting style of metal Devoid can bring, but “Drop Dead Gorgeous” is miles away from their 2013 EP The Invasion. Iyer explains, “It’s weird but having written larger than life shit, we wanted to take a break from it. There was a time when that seemed to be the right way to go – write about fantastical things – A God’s Lie (2010) even has hints towards conspiracy theories. Now of late, we wanted to write about things we feel about right now, not just in society. We’ve changed as people and there are a few lifestyle changes.”

There are at least two or three more new songs in the pipeline, but Iyer says they could as well go back to writing about “a mass world exodus” on their next. At the same time, they’re focusing on their Weekender set on November 30th, plus more shows in the pipeline from January onwards. Iyer says about their upcoming performance, “With the old stuff, some things change since we’re a three-piece now. So now there’s something to look forward to with those songs as well, because it’s not exactly the same old, same old. The set is essentially our reunion set, we enjoy playing those songs and we’ve not had that chance to do that in the last three-four years.”

Hear “Drop Dead Gorgeous” below. Devoid performs at Bacardi NH7 Weekender at Mahalakshmi Lawns, Pune on November 30th. Get tickets here. Buy the new “Drop Dead Gorgeous” t-shirt here.