Photos: G-Shock Rolling Stone Metal Awards 2016 Pre-Show ”“ Insurrection 6.0

Bengaluru folk/groove metallers The Down Troddence at the Rolling Stone Metal Awards pre-show Insurrection 6.0 at the Humming Tree. Photo: Sairaj Kamath

Whether old or new, Bengaluru’s metal audience were more than happy to lose themselves to everything they heard at the first G-Shock Rolling Stone Metal Awards pre-gig, which was also the sixth edition of gig series Insurrection, held at the Humming Tree.

Local metal bands The Down Troddence, Escher’s Knot, Threinody and Necrophilia, along with Bhopal death metal band Elemental, drew over 200 fans. There was the high-intensity performance delivered by folk/groove metal band The Down Troddence, but frontman Mithun Raj aka Munz cheered on brazenly, “I know it’s the new year and all, but we don’t have any new shit. Who wants to hear the same old shit? I made that sound so cool.” The band, big winners at the 2014 edition for their debut full-length How Are You? We Are Fine, Thank You, pummeled through groove-heavy songs such as “Nagavalli,” “Shiva” and mixing it up with the experimental metal-leaning “Perpetual Emotion.” Munz egged on the crowd during their closing cover of Sepultura’s “Roots Bloody Roots,” saying, “Do something crazy like you don’t have to go to office tomorrow.”

Bhopal death metal band Elemental, who made their Bengaluru debut at the gig, slammed and stomped through first impressions. Frontman Anchal Bhargava was at his uninhibited best ”“ crawling around on the floor, getting into the moshpit and even blowing out a snot rocket from his nose, a la Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo.

Death metal band Necrophilia, who opened the gig, tried their best to get the crowd moving to songs such as “The Harlot” and a cover of Polish death metallers Decapitated’s “Nihility” but it was Elemental that raised the energy levels. They were almost too tense for their own drummer Divyaraj Bhatnagar, who requested for a breather as the band launched into “Devil’s Incest,” “Arrey nahi yaar.”

Old school/thrash metal veterans Threinody had a few sound problems; guitarist Siddhart Kamath had to walk off for a part of their opening song “Disembodiment” to overcome technical difficulties. But they joked their way through the rest of the set, with frontman Siddharth Naidu explaining his guitarist Premik Jolly’s need to live a double life as a father of a two-year-old and a musician before kicking into “Existential Schism.” Naidu added, “Premik is going through his Terrible Twos.” They closed with a tribute to Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister, racing through their 1993 hit “Born to Raise Hell.”

Just as The Down Troddence played their crowd-pulling strength, prog metallers Escher’s Knot got the crowd moving with everything from their 2014 single “The Grand Design” to a cover of Swedish prog metal band Meshuggah’s “Humiliative,” all while playing minus their second guitarist Anshuman Mishra. In addition to the set staples such as “Mayan Calendar” and “Break the Cypher,” the band dedicated “a love song called ”˜Hyperspace’” to bassist Madhav Ayachit, who’s going to get married soon.

Photos: Sairaj Kamath/Centuries of Sin

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