Listen: Mumbai/Jabalpur Metallers AfterLife Return with New Single “Focus 23”

AfterLife (from left) Sourabh Pateriya, Ankit Dhimole, Manish Reddy and Gisho Gajbhiye. Photo: Satya Naren

It’s not easy to sustain a band when its members are spread across the country. Metal band AfterLife’s musicians are spread across three cities ”“ with founding member and guitarist-keyboardist Sourabh Pateriya based in Bengaluru, vocalist Manish Reddy and drummer Gisho Gajbhiye based in Mumbai, and guitarist Ankit Dhimole all the way in Jabalpur.

Guitarist Pateriya says the band came together in 2009 in Jabalpur, but with a different lineup. The guitarist moved to Mumbai in 2012 for his master’s degree and began looking for new members and put together the current lineup. Says Pateriya, “We did a couple of shows last year, but we weren’t really active.” Along with lineup and location changes, AfterLife also began searching for a new sound. Says Pateriya, “We used to perform in small venues across Jabalpur. Then when I moved to Mumbai, I got a better idea of the scene outside.” Last year, when the guitarist was in Germany and Singapore to study, he witnessed bands such as Brit metalcore group Bring Me The Horizon and American deathcore band Veil of Maya, which changed his perception of writing and performing music. Although AfterLife played just a few gigs in 2013, the band is now concentrating on polished, well-produced studio material that they hope will get them gigs.

Sound-wise, AfterLife started out with elements of death metal, thrash metal and metalcore, but their new single “Focus 23,” [their first material in two years] puts them in the prog metal zone, synth-led backing layers and chaotic riffing included. Says Pateriya, “Our influences keep changing. We don’t know what we’ll sound like one year later.” Recorded in Pateriya’s room early this year, “Focus 23” was mixed and mastered by producer Adhiraj Singh [from Pune experimental metal band Noiseware] and features clean vocals by Mumbai-based singer Joshua Matthews. Says Pateriya on the band’s evolution, “It [the sound] was very raw back then, but we’re always experimenting with the music.”

Listen to “Focus 23” here