Sarfaad Blend Hip-Hop, Electronic and Metal on Gritty New Song ‘Dog Days’

With their continual intention to “express, surprise and question” through music, Mumbai metal band Sarfaad deliver a gnarly second single “Dog Days.”

The song – which starts off with a noisy hip-hop leaning verse from vocalist Arbaaz Khan and also incorporates electronic elements – ramps up on chunky riffs in the space of three minutes. “Dog Days” follows up their April debut single “Painting A Villain,” with both releases supplied with a visualizer crafted by guitarist Sushant Vohra. “Dog Days” points to the world of decay and bloom in a constant tussle but how we must “oppose this state of stagnation.”

Vohra says that the band was “fairly surprised” by the reception that “Painting a Villain” was met with, making them happy to make a mark in the independent space. About the hip-hop elements on “Dog Days,” Vohra mentions that he and drummer Reeshav Gohain have been writing electronic music in their free time. He adds, “Arbaaz’s vocals take a lot of influences from the early Nu-metal and hip-hop in terms of themes and delivery. We started asking ourselves, how might we bring this to Sarfaad? I think having band members that are always open to experiment and are not afraid to try something new is what keeps things fresh in the Sarfaad camp.” The guitarist says with a laugh that he doesn’t rule out a collaboration with hip-hop artists in India.

With two singles out, Sarfaad confirm that they have set an EP as their goal for the year, despite the coronavirus pandemic curtailing promotional and studio activities. Vohra adds, “In the meantime, we are working hard to bring more music and content regularly to the small community of metalheads, friends and family that strongly support us. We will follow up the release with a Sarfaad TV episode which is an ongoing series about our stories and showcases behind the scenes of us writing music. We are also working on bringing more value in the form of merchandize, playthroughs and digital content that our supporters can get their hands on.”

Watch the video for “Dog Days” below. Stream on Spotify and Apple Music.