Mumbai/Pune Prog Rock Act ShredxXx Release Epic Concept Album ‘Celestial Prophecies, Vol. 1’

A 49-minute cinematic prog rock record like Celestial Prophecies, Vol. 1 by Mumbai/Pune band ShredxXx had its origins in a document which outlined a story. Vocalist Sankalan Samaddar even recounts the exact file size – 150KB – before the band expanded it into lyrics for 13 tracks. He says, “When I started on it, I was as skeptical as I was excited, as afraid as hopeful.”

The result is now out there, with Celestial Prophecies, Vol. 1 released in January and giving us six tracks and a story which revolves around “a fantasy world of zodiac signs ruling over the galaxy, filled with stories of love, lust, betrayal, desire, war and madness.” Beyond lyrics and songwriting, guitarist (and sitarist) Swarnabha Gupta says they wanted to take their time with production, working with Keshav Dhar (from prog frontrunners Skyharbor), who co-produced, mixed and mastered the final version of six tracks across 49 minutes. Bassist Swarnava Sengupta adds, “I like to think that because of this album, we all had a chance to evolve and grow as individuals/musicians and as a band, so the destination couldn’t have been more perfect.”

Each song takes on a sojourn of its own, anchored in slick prog melodies and airy ambient elements, plus the refreshing addition of sitar on “The Prodigal Sons.” There are recurring sonic motifs and plenty of virtuoso movements. With the tracks ranging from the seven to 10-minute mark, ShredxXx also enlisted keyboardist Nabarun Bose for “Unrequited: Desires” and “The Sorcerer and “The Idealist,” both of which also feature backing vocals from Diya Bhattacharya. Elsewhere drummer Akshat Shinde features on “Unrequited: Desires” and “The Prodigal Sons.”

ShredxXx – who started out in Kolkata and released an EP in 2016 – began crowdfunding for Celestial Prophecies in 2019 via preorders. Sengupta adds, “Even though our target audience is a very niche one, every listener has thoroughly enjoyed the album irrespective of their individual taste and returned to us with nothing but appreciation.” That said, the band is being realistic in their pursuit of a second volume to the Celestial Prophecies concept. Guitarist Nabhoneil Samajdar points out that budget and time issues stood in the way of releasing a two-part album. “We realized that the urgency to release material as soon as possible was much more important than anything else,” he adds.

The second part of the album is still in the works, but ShredxXx haven’t put a timeline for its completion just yet. Samaddar adds, “Vol. 2 is indeed a continuation of the album thematically. But sonically, as we hate stagnation, there surely will be some more experimentations to look forward to.”

Listen to ‘Celestial Prophecies, Vol. 1’ below. Buy on Bandcamp.