Exclusive Premiere: Bengaluru Metal Act Clouded North’s Devastating New EP ‘Resilience’

When you spend most of your day recording, mixing and occasionally planning tutorials for your YouTube page, there’s bound to be inspiration. For Bengaluru-based sound engineer Thejus Nair, the tunes kept running in his head and when you have a recording setup at your disposal at all times, it’s a no-brainer. He says, “When I can’t really get a tune out of my head or feel really inspired, I just open up a session and record it immediately.”

The result ”“ after spending about two years on it ”“ is the four-track Resilience EP, released as Nair’s solo project Clouded North. Formerly the guitarist for Bengaluru metallers Cheisrah, Nair says that running his studio ”“ Eleven Gauge Recordings ”“ gave him little time to pick up the guitar, but working with musicians behind the console gave him inspiration. Resilience leans into modern metal in the vein of Veil of Maya and more, but packs in all the action succinctly, with no song over the three-minute mark. Nair says about the driving concept behind the EP, “[It’s] based on how every person has a lot of negativity and challenges thrown at him/her every day. But it’s all about getting yourself up, dusting yourself off and fighting through those challenges that help us achieve our goals.”

The closing heavy-hitter track “Race To The Surface” is the only one featuring vocals, for which Nair roped in fellow sound engineer Abijith Rao ”“ the vocalist of prog band Escher’s Knot. Says Nair, “I’ve always loved their songs and have always loved Abijith’s vocals. I just happened to ask him if he would be interested in possibly doing vocals for one of the songs, and after listening to all the songs, he thought his vocals would fit best for ‘Race To The Surface’. So, we tracked the vocals right here at the studio and it turned out great! Couldn’t thank him enough for doing it.”

Listen to ”˜Resilience’ EP. Artwork by Joanna Davala