Watch: Paradigm Shift’s Haunting Video for ‘Banjaara’

Paradigm Shift make a dark debut with “Banjaara,” as they pack in clouds of floating ink, planetary bodies and disturbing facial deformations on the almost-seven-minute-long single. The video [directed by independent filmmaker Srinivas Sunderrajan], sees the Mumbai prog/fusion rock band step away from their previous live performances and playthroughs towards a storyline that, as vocalist Kaushik Ramachandran describes, is “about how we get influenced by external things in life and lose track of what we are meant to do and who we are. Because of that, we lose our identity and become a banjaara or nomad.”

The song itself has been mixed by Bruce Soord and mastered by Steve Kitch [of prog band The Pineapple Thief], and it stays true to the band’s signature sound that they launched with their debut album Coalescence in 2012. The groove-heavy track mashes up prog metal-esque riffwork with wistful violin solos but takes a more ominous turn around four-and-a-half minutes in–the band members’ faces distort as they launch into a menacing breakdown.

Paradigm Shift–which comprises Ramachandran, guitarists Chinmay Agharkar and Desikan Gopalan, violinist Ajay Jayanthi, bassist Ariel Samson and drummer Aamir Ismail Shaikh–are currently working on their second album Sammukh, which is due later this year.