Rolling Stone Metal Awards 2012 Winners List

Most dry days can spell doom for a big night. But last night spelt mayhem of a different kind as the annual Rolling Stone Metal Awards 2012 got underway at The Blue Frog, Mumbai. Throwing caution to the impending downpour and shrugging off the sorry-no-beer-but-have-some-juice-today bar, a consistently growing crowd packed the South Mumbai nightclub.

P-Man aka Rohit Pereira held the show together as a gag-a-minute host. Providence’s brutal set, Pangea’s  heavily hyped debut, Pune band Abraxas’s much-awaited Mumbai show, Bengaluru act Eccentric Pendulum’s impressive showmanship and Zygnema’s hyper-charged closing act that inspired some stage diving - the night packed in many memorable moments.

Pangea opened the night, with a 20-minute set debuting their layered, instrumental melodic metal tunes. Akshay Rajpurohit, Kuber Sharma and Shadaab Kadri were joined by Jai Row Kavi on drums and Rushad Mistry on bass. But it was Providence, who clearly owned the night with vocalist Karan Pote marking his band debut. Taut and robust, Pote’s vocals lived upto former vocalist Sunneith Revankar’s fierce growls. Revankar joined the band on “Prosthetic” with Pote, which further fuelled the moshpits. The band also picked up the most awards including Best Album Art for Vanguard, Best Vocalist (Revankar), Best Band (popular choice) and Best Album (popular choice) for Vanguard.

Keshav Dhar’s bedroom metal project, Skyharbor attempted a clean sweep as well with Best Song (both critics and popular choice), Best Guitarist for Dhar and Best Emerging band. Eccentric Pendulum’s Winding the Optics picked up three awards with Best Album (critics choice), Best Drummer for Vibhas Venkatram and Best Bassist for Arun Natrajan.

 Winners

Best Band: Goddess Gagged

Best Album: Winding the Optics (Eccentric Pendulum)

Best Song: “Maeva” (Skyharbor)

Best Band (Popular Choice): Providence

Best Album (Popular Choice): Vanguard (Providence)

Best Song (Popular Choice): “Maeva”(Skyharbor)

Best Vocalist: Sunneith Revankar (Providence)

Best Guitarist: Keshav Dhar (Skyharbor)

Best Drummer: Vibhas Venkatram (Eccentric Pendulum)

Best Bassist: Arun Natrajan (Eccentric Pendulum)

Best Keyboardist: Taz James (Chaotic Years)

Best Album Art: Aaron Pinto (Providence ”“ Vanguard)

Best Emerging Band: Skyharbor

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Photos: Roycin D’Souza