Killchain to Release Debut EP

(L-R) Aditya Mohanan, Aashay Papnoi, Yash Pathak, Vineet Sharma and Niraj Chauhan from Killchain. Photo: Shubham Anjankar

It’s not tough to guess where Killchain frontman Vineet Sharma is coming from when he discusses the concept for his band’s debut EP Psychosis [a retired soldier who loses his grip on reality and sets out on a mindless slaughterfest]. The lyricist and ammunition enthusiast for the Mumbai-based death metal band ”” who also has a fondness for “learning how criminal minds work” ”” explains, “I come from an air force/military background so I’ve kind of automatically been inclined towards it.”

Psychosis comes after nearly two years of Sharma forming the band with guitarist Niraj Chauhan [guitarist Aditya Mohanan, bassist Aashay Papnoi and drummer Yash Pathak settled in after a few lineup changes] and gaining traction on the metal circuit with gigs like [extreme metal fest] Domination: The Deathfest and [Bengaluru-based gig series] Bangalore Doom Syndicate. The four-track release, which channels the likes of death metal giants Bolt Thrower [England], Hypocrisy [Sweden], Death and Obituary [both American], sees the band revisiting and reworking older live material: “We already had a good setlist that might have been an EP, but we realized we can do better, so we did the tracks all over again,” explains Sharma.

Psychosis follows a soldier through his return from the military [“Armed Lunacy”], his post-traumatic breakdown [“Mouldered”] and psychotic outbreak [“Fallout”] and the near schizophrenic conflict between life and death [“Psychosis”], all in four pounding killing-spree soundtracks. Says Sharma, “It’s about a person who has seen life very differently from what we usually absorb. He comes back home and is not really happy with how things are”¦ Eventually, he loses his mind, [and since] he has access to military grade equipment he goes out killing people.”