RSMA Pre-Gig, Bengaluru: The Down Troddence, Threinody and Escher’s Knot to Take Stage

The Down Troddence at the RSMA 2015 Bengaluru pre-gig | Photo Courtesy: Abrahams’s Creations – Ashish Varughese Abraham

After calling off their last edition due to “unforeseen circumstances” brought upon by the floods in Chennai in December, Bengaluru gig organizers Sound Awake return with their metal gig series Insurrection and this time, it’s confirmed to take place on February 7th at the Humming Tree.

Even better, like their fourth edition last year, Insurrection will be a pre-gig to the seventh annual Rolling Stone Metal Awards [RSMA], slated to take place in February in Mumbai. The RSMA pre-gig even includes bands from Insurrection 4.0, such as folk/groove metallers and multiple award-winners The Down Troddence and thrash veterans Threinody. Adding to the lineup are prog metallers Escher’s Knot, Bhopal death metal band Elemental and Bengaluru experimental death metallers Necrophilia.

Sound Awake co-founder Sangeeth Ram, who also manages The Down Troddence, says there were plans on to have a special set with south Indian percussionists joining the band on stage, but owing to space constraints, they’re going to stick to playing their firestarter set comprising material from 2014’s How Are You? We Are Fine, Thank You. Meanwhile, Threinody are throwing in “all the faster songs” from their upcoming album The Toxic Age, which is due for release in March. Guitarist Premik Jolly says, “The album is complete, so we’re just waiting for Kunal [Choksi, from record label Transcending Obscurity India] to release it.” Their 45-minute set will include all-out thrash songs such as “Soul Eater, “In Extremis” and their 2014 single “Surrender to the Blade.” Jolly adds, “It’s all going to be 160-200 BPM upwards.”

Insurrection was set to be Against Evil’s debut gig, but the band has backed out of the gig owing to personal commitments. Taking their place are Bhopal death metallers Elemental, who have been racking up miles across the country for the past year, performing everywhere from Delhi to Shillong to Chennai. The band, who recently released their single “Inhumane Purge,” are currently wrapping up their debut full-length Creation of the Damned, with producer-guitarist Sidharth Kadadi [from Mumbai thrash/groove metal band Zygnema] in Bhopal.

As for Sound Awake, the organizers hope that fans will turn up despite the lineup change from the original billing which featured Aizawl death metallers Third Sovereign and Shillong death metal band Plague Throat. Ram says, “This is best we could come up with, with finance, time and other criterion in mind. We would love to see people coming in for this one and support the artists, venue and the organizers.”

Rolling Stone Metal Awards presents Insurrection 6.0 takes place on February 7th at the Humming Tree, Bengaluru. Event details here. Stay tuned for more RSMA pre-gigs.