First of all Global Metal Apocalypse welcomes on board our first contributor and Indian Metal correspondent Mr. Farzand Ali Bawa. He will be giving us the low down on what is surging through the streets of this sensational emerging scene, from gig reports to interviews, news and reviews, I as owner of the site welcome him with open arms and hope our fellow readers will enjoy his input into the Global Metal Apocalypse. 

Report by Farzand Ali Bawa.

Metal in India? Surprising, isn't it? People often associate this land with culture, heritage and lots and lots of people! Well, although all of that is really the essence of India but no way can one ignore the small but ever growing clan of heavy, fast-paced music in India. Yes, the music we all love, METAL!!

What might come as even a bigger shock is that the first ever heavy metal band in existence started almost 3 decades ago in the year 1988! Millennium, from Bangalore was present when most of the people out here had not even heard anything quite like metal. But then it's never a fairy tale journey in the world of heavy metal music and this was the case here. Not many people in the scene and major problems with the locations meant heavy metal stayed low on the radar. But credit must be given to them as Millennium stuck to their guns and went on to headline International acts such as Deep Purple and No Doubt.

Watch Millennium - "Metal Army" here.
 
And then came the 90's, the decade where the Bangalore scene exploded. Band's like Dying Embrace (formed as Misanthrope in 1991) and Kryptos (1998), went on to become legends of Indian Metal.

In April 2006, Kryptos signed with Old School Metal Records from California, USA and became one of the first metal bands from India to be signed by an international label. Kryptos having completed 15 years of pure f**king thrash and with the release of their 3rd album, 'The Coils of Apollyon', are now on the verge of history as they become the first band to be invited from India to play at the biggest festival in the world, the Wacken Open Air on 03.08.2013.

But then similar problems existed. Communication problems as not many people used cellular phones or the internet. “Back then, all communication was limited to the land line” says Nolan Lewis, vocalist and guitarist of Kryptos, which tells us how small the scene was back then, just like a small family!
 
Watch Kryptos - "The Mask of Anubis" here.

As the new millennium came upon us four teenagers went on to form the most well known Metal band from India, Demonic Resurrection (2000) and what's more it gave India it's most recognizable face in Metal, Sahil 'Demonstealer’ Makhija. He gave India it's first dedicated record label to extreme metal in the form of Demonstealer Records, at the age of 19!!

Demonic Resurrection after almost 13 years of existence and 3 studio albums in, have enjoyed major success as they became the first Indian band to have their official video which gets airtime on channels like VH1, they also became one of the first Indian bands to have performed internationally at the Inferno Metal Festival in Norway in April 2010. And are not surprisingly the torch bearers for new age metal in India. They also played Bloodstock Open Air in 2012.

Watch Demonic Resurrection - "The Unrelenting Surge Of Vengeance" here

The Indian scene has seen a revolution as bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Testament, Kreator, Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, Guns N Roses, Opeth, Amon Amarth, Dark Tranquillity, Cradle of Filth, Korn and Parkway Drive have all performed here.

Now comes the present day. India has its own dedicated heavy metal festival, the Bangalore Open Air, in association with Wacken Open Air, where the all-mighty Sodom along with Iced Earth, Dark Tranquility and Animals As Leaders are going to perform with the ever dependent Millennium and Demonic Resurrection.

Watch Sodom Live at Bangalore Open Air 2013 here

There are numerous bands knocking on the doors of greatness like Lucid Recess, Dark Carnage from the Northeast; Albatross, Bhayanak Maut, Devoid, Scribe, Zygnema, Providence from Mumbai; Bevar Sea, Dhwesha, Inner Sanctum, Eccentric Pendulum from Bangalore; Skyharbour, Undying Inc. from Delhi; Blind Image, Escher’s Knot and Wolf’s Lair from Chennai; Mortar, Armament, Dead Veneration,Chronic Xorn, Yonsample from Kolkata. But then we ought not to forget Indian's are diverse people and the metalheads here are as diverse as their cultures!!
 
Watch Bevar Sea - "Abhistu" here

Watch Albatross - "Uncle Sunny At The Tavern" here

Watch Mortar - "Ground Reality" here

Watch Armament - "Hammer of God" here

Watch Dhwesha - "Hoy! Sala" here

Coming to this very day, we can never ignore the unheard help of social networking sites like Orkut and Facebook to help the music spread and the scene to grow. They have been very helpful to bring people together and to raise the music and to bring Metal to the masses!! Another important milestone was Sam Dunn's "Global Metal" documentary which featured the scene in India and people like Nolan Lewis, Sahil Makhija, and the 1st Iron Maiden show in Bangalore!! That helped widely in putting India on the global scene.

To top it off India will soon be giving it's own tribute to the most influential band ever Motörhead!! Re-creating the magic through the various genres and sending a tribute of the utmost quality.

Motorhead Tribute - India
http://motorheadtribute.bandcamp.com/music

As the days are rolling by we are getting more and more accustomed to seeing that guy with the band printed tee, with generally long hair and flaunting the devil's horns! Keep banging your head and let the good times rolling! \m/