Limit Zero Readies Debut Album

Musician Shreyas Skandan has found an inventive way of combining his love for math, metal and unsolved mysteries of the universe. The 20-year-old’s solo outing, Limit Zero, is an amalgamation of all this. For starters, the progressive metal project is an offshoot of Skandan’s observations during a calculus class, about four years ago, which led to songs based on science fiction for a metal band.

Later, vocalist Sachin Rajmohan seemed to share Skandan’s musical and scientific bent. “I started making music sitting in my bedroom and found a friend in Sachin. We would lock ourselves in the room and record all day,” says Skandan, who has previously played the guitar for multiple college bands in Bengaluru. By 2009, Limit Zero had released an eponymous three-track demo EP. It even found a place on French metal band Uneven Structure’s website for free download. Within months, the EP hit 3,000 downloads, winning instant recognition for the band, for their space-y, djent-influenced, experimental, progressive sound.

However, it was not until last year that the two-piece act made it to the gigging circuit. The duo managed to put together a full-fledged band with Eccentric Pendulum’s Arjun Mulky on guitars, Srivathsan Jayaram on drums and Shiv on bass. But after a few gigs, vocalist Rajmohan left Limit Zero, pushing the band off stage and back into Skandan’s bedroom studio. “We must have played all of seven gigs after which we didn’t have a vocalist. I was back to the drawing board and making music,” explains Skandan, who started work on the band’s nine-track debut album, Gravestone Constellations, in December 2011.

Filling the vacant spaces with the all-important growls, Skandan roped in Bhayank Maut vocalist Sunneith Revankar on vocals for a few tracks. Goddess Gagged’s Siddharth Basrur and Dutch progressive metal band Toxic Grind Machine’s Trevor Marks too also lent their vocals for the album. Skyharbor’s Keshav Dhar is mixing and mastering the album. While the band has recently released two singles, “Portals” and “Approaching Infinity” on Soundcloud, both featuring Revankar on vocals, Skandan is hoping to ready the album by September this year. “We also want to perform more. We haven’t done enough of that. We are working towards a tour soon,” he adds.

Complete tracklist of Gravestone Constellations:

“Galaxies Bleed”

“Time Bending Patterns”

“Approaching Infinity”

“Within The Beyond”

“Portals”

“Arcturus”

“Focus”

“Pulsar”

“Gravestone Constellations”

Listen to “Approaching Infinity”: