Listen: Delhi Metallers Kraken’s Debut Single “Dance Jane Dance”

Kraken. Photo: Rudraksh Banerjie

Six-member-band Kraken maybe just a year old, but have been steadily working on finding their feet and building a following. “None of us make a contrived decision to play metal,” says Delhi band Kraken’s guitarist Moses Koul. The guitarist, who is also part of electro duo Mosko, formed Kraken in 2012, but says the lineup really came together only in 2013, when they played at The Gig Week in Delhi in October, alongside alt metallers Goddess Gagged. It was also at that gig when the band expanded to include two vocalists. Says Koul, “When we played with two vocalists, the songs came out in a way we didn’t expect.”

Drawing from math metal bands such as SikTh, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Protest The Hero, Kraken currently comprises, Koul, vocalists Vipul Verma and Shagun Trisal, bassist Rangarajan Venkatraman, keyboardist Reuben Das and drummer Reet Mukherjee. Says Koul about the band’s sound, “We try to combine all of it [metal]. We don’t want to sound too melodic or too technical either.” Their debut single “Dance Jane Dance,” which Koul admits has been titled as a homage to American post-hardcore band Dance Gavin Dance, is a mix of frenetic riffs and clean vocals dueling with growls packed into five minutes.

Koul says “Dance Jane Dance” will be reworked from its single version for their upcoming five-track EP, which is currently being recorded at Arcube Studios in Delhi by sound engineer Sahil Dhingra and mixed and mastered at the studio by Ramanan Venkatraman. While Kraken have performed all songs off their as yet untitled EP live, they have been changing parts around while tracking the album. Says Koul, “The way we’re working [on the EP], we want to pull off everything we record when we play live ”“ every single harmony and every single note. That’s the aim of this band.”

Listen to “Dance Jane Dance” by Kraken

Kraken perform at Blue Frog, New Delhi on September 18th alongside Providence, Phobia, Grammy Winning Effort and Guillotine. More details here.