Metal Gig Series Scarfest Hosts ‘Freshblood’ with Shows in Mumbai and Pune in June

Mumbai metallers Zygnema have always packed in the crowd, especially when it comes to performing on home ground. With their gig series Scarfest, they made it one big celebration of metal music in the city. Now, they’re stepping aside to put the spotlight on everyone else but them at Scarfest’s latest gig series Freshblood, which takes place on June 4th in Mumbai and on June 11th in Pune.

With a headline set by brutal death metallers Gutslit (ahead of the launch of their album Carnal) in both cities, the main focus will be on five up and coming metal bands who are taking the stage.

On June 4th in Mumbai, death metal band Oblitera will make their live debut alongside thrash/groove metallers Bloodkill. Also on the lineup with Gutslit are a Megadeth tribute act called Meghadutt, featuring members like Zygnema’s Sidharth Kadadi, guitarists like Nishith Hegde and vocalist-guitarist Arjun Dhanraj, bassist Janus Sanyal and drummer Atish Thomas playing the thrash legends’ greatest hits.

A week later on June 11th in Pune, Gutslit will be joined by old-school metallers Splinter, thrash band Kill The King and melodic death metal band Cladinshadows. From the five support acts, Bloodkill has been around since 2016, but they all agree that it’s challenging to build an audience as a metal band in India. The band’s drummer Jay Patil says they’ll play from their 2021 album Throne of Control, which they missed promoting through gigs majorly due to the pandemic. “Nonetheless, Freshblood is a great opportunity for us to return and so, we’ll be playing songs that we’ve never played live before from the album as well as some of our older tracks.”

Splinter – who have just released their single “Kill The Parasite” – say that the Internet helps. Bassist-vocalist Nilabja Banerjee adds, “In the age of social media it’s pretty much a level playing field for all. As long as you have music that sounds original and you create enough content around it, you will always be able to find your niche audience.” The band will also perform an upcoming single called “Weapon X” at their gig in Pune.

Kill The King’s guitarist Aditya Swaminathan says there’s a lot of new talent in heavy music in the country and he sees everyone backed by the community. Freshblood is an extension of that, in a sense. The guitarist adds, “Even walking out with one new fan from a show goes a long way for newer bands like us and that’s a win. It’s a great initiative by the Scarfest team and we need more of this happening on a regular basis.” The band have songs off their upcoming album (due later this year) as part of their setlist, including “Regicide,” “In The Name of Culture” and more.

Oblitera’s guitarist Ishan ‘Wildchild’ Shah knows their journey is just about to start, that too in the presence of established bands and upcoming acts on the lineup. They’re focusing on playing their own music and have an album in the works. “All our tracks are themed on the ontological horrors of the being and orchestrated with the sound of obliteration,” Shah says.

For Cladinshadows, who have been performing at DIY gigs in Mumbai and Pune, Scarfest is a “reputed franchise” that they’re happy for. Bassist Neil Sewak adds, “Our debut single, ‘The Morgue’ which is exclusively out on YouTube currently will definitely be a part of the setlist, and we’ve got a couple of numbers fresh from the vault which no one has heard as of yet! Apart from those we’ve planned a surprise cover which will only be revealed when we play it on the 11th.”

Get details on Scarfest presents Freshblood here.