Hear Shimla Metallers Deathknell’s Sonorous New Album ‘Can’t Stop, Can’t Kill’
The nine-track record covers spiritual themes as well as a Hindi song
Shimla death metal band Deathknell. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
When Shimla melodic death metal band Deathknell released their debut album Still to Decide in 2012, vocalist-guitarist Manish Kashyap recalls how he used an aux cable, “basic onboard soundcard and a headset mic” to record his growls.
Eight years on, Kashyap and Deathknell – formed in 2009 – are proud to say technology has helped them greatly in delivering a polished, diverse album like Can’t Stop, Can’t Kill, which released on August 15th. He says, “With Can’t Stop, Can’t Kill, we are progressing and our music is evolving. We have learned a lot, experienced a lot and we’ll continue to work hard, get better and give back more to the metal world.”
In terms of sonic direction, Deathknell borrow from groove metal and metalcore on songs like “Feel” and belt out incendiary solos on “I Will Return” while “Kamyaabi K Nishaan” is their first Hindi song that’s worthy of pumping fists. There are plenty of moments of traditional heavy metal as well, as heard on “Torment of Life” and “Struggles to Salvation” and there’s cutthroat riffage and pummeling drumwork leading “The Savior.”
Completed by guitarist Vinod Kashyap, drummer Manish Verma and bassist Sachin Verma, Deathknell run at an imposing speed throughout nine tracks, often digging into mostly instrumental songwriting like the title song which opens the album. While it’s “Feel” that raises philosophical and spiritual questions, Manish tells us “Who I Am?” is about how a common man is fooled by “the deceit of those in power, constantly being deceived by a false sense of security, hiding the truth, media propaganda and what not.”
Recorded entirely at their own Deathknell Studio in Shimla, drummer Verma notes that eight years on, the vocals were the easiest to nail for the album. Since videos for “Feel” and “Kamyaabi K Nishaan” are already out and garnering thousands of views, the drummer adds that the pandemic hasn’t completely affected the execution of Can’t Stop, Can’t Kill. Verma however says, “For future endeavors, it might prove to be a bit difficult to deal with, hopefully we all will emerge stronger than ever after these tough times […] If this pandemic subsides, we are planning to tour a few cities, maybe covering southern India this time as well. Let’s see what the future holds.”
Stream/buy ‘Can’t Stop, Can’t Kill’ below. Hear on more platforms here.
