Listen: Bengaluru Prog Metal Act Spectral Insight’s New Single “Infinite”

Spectral Insight frontman Siddharth Chakravarty | Photo: Ramya KV and Himanish Bhattacharjee

In the last three years, Bengaluru-based guitarist Siddharth Chakravarty went from being a hardcore thrash metal fan to a prog metal convert. Says Chakravarty, who started working on experimental metal tracks as Spectral Insight in 2011, “The amount of freedom to experiment was what attracted me toward prog metal. I felt there was nothing much left to do with thrash metal. If you deviate even a little bit [from thrash metal], people will say it’s not thrash.”

Chakravarty teamed up with producer Uddipan Sarmah ”“ formerly part of Chakravarty’s thrash metal band Downcast Deceit in Bengaluru in 2010 and now part of Ahmedabad-based post-rock band As We Keep Searching ”“ to record initial demos for Spectral Insight. In July last year, after Sarmah moved to Ahmedabad, Chakravarty spent a week with the producer to record five tracks, including his first single, “Absolute,” which released last week. At Sarmah’s BlueTree Studios, Chakravarty recorded three tracks with Ahmedabad vocalist Hait Parik and two instrumental tracks.

Spectral Insight’s new instrumental metal single, “Infinite,” is the second release, one that draws from Chakravarty’s main prog metal influences, including bands such as Periphery, Animals as Leaders and Polarization. But just like thrash metal’s dominant style, Chakravarty says he doesn’t want to follow the palm-muted djent riffs which are thrown into every new prog metal band’s songs. Says Chakravarty, “That whole new wave [of prog metal bands] who just play one string and have no singing ”“ that’s not what I liked.” After releasing his six-track EP online on June 12th, Chakravarty wants to take Spectral Insight to stage. Says Chakravarty, “A lot of people create stuff they can’t pull off live, but I really want to make sure it sounds good.”

Listen to Spectral Insight’s new single “Infinite”