Live
Resurrection VI: Death Metal Mayhem
Date: October 1, 2006 | Venue: Razzberry Rhinoceros, Mumbai
Being that it was my first time seeing all the bands play, I was keen to reach the venue on time, heavy rains and traffic notwithstanding. I was told that at Resurrection V there was serious moshing, and that the crowd even demolished some wooden barricades. This time, Sahil & Co. took extra precautions by putting metal barricades in front of the stage and speakers. While things were being set up and the scheduled bands checking their sound, I started to flip through the Resurrection ‘zine being distributed at the entrance to bide my time.
Cosmic Infusion: The Mumbai band kicked off the show with a couple of originals, “Burial of Thy Own” and “Acronychal Eloge”, during which bassist Vian tried to crowd surf without much success. The band has some good arrangements and the keyboards and bass are really strong but the vocalist really grated on the ears. His constant growling (even in-between songs) was highly irritating and addressing the crowd as “motherfuckers” after every song just made him sound like an idiot. Their set-list also included “Mourning Palace” (Dimmu Borgir) followed by originals “Devil’s Shoes”, “Gothica”, “Into the Womb of the Winter Forest” and finishing with Emperor’s “I am the Black Wizards”.
BlackHole Theory: The band sounded raw and incomplete without guitarist Kuber who is leaving for the UK. Playing a short set of two covers (”Phobia” by Kreator and “Bloodline” by Slayer) and two originals (”Elixir to Eternity” and “Dawn of the New Era”), the latter dedicated to the departing axe man. While they played with finesse (the drummer was especially good), I’d think it wasn’t the best night to judge them by. I believe they are currently recording and that will probably be a better assessment of their talent.
Narsil: The first moshpit of the night took place when Narsil took stage — as usual, there was one idiot who slammed into someone and a small fight ensued to the delight of the crowd. Thankfully, it was short-lived and the focus was back on the band — and what a mighty sound they have! The rhythm section of Jonah (bass) and Reuben (drums), also of Third Sovereign, is like roaring thunder and add to that the cloud burst of vocalist Shashwat, who has perfected the death/grind growl. Their set-list began with a “kvlt” cover of “Smoke on the Water” and ended with “Praise the Lord” (Dying Fetus), with originals such as “Carcinogenia”, “Depletion of Vital Forces”, “Incarnated Solvent Abuse of Carcass”, “Prelude to Execution” and “Derelict Deranged” in between.
Demonic Resurrection: DR started their set with “A Darkness Descends” to loud cheers from the crowd. A slightly different version of “Spirits of the Mystic Mountains” followed, with some new guitar parts that aren’t present on the album version of the song. The band sounded tight for the most part but I feel they missed JP on drums — although Rahul from Bhayanak Maut filled in admirably. The clean vocals that are present on the album (contributed by various guest vocalists) give the songs another dynamic altogether and I feel that it is compromised when Sahil does all the vocals. Mephisto got to shine on “Apocalyptic Dawn”, followed by the song everyone was waiting for — “Frozen Portrait”. Dimmu Borgir again featured in the choice of covers, with “Spellbound” and “Puritania”, with original “Where Shadows Lie” slipped in between.
Kryptos: Playing an all-original set with hints of Dio, Iron Maiden, High on Fire and good ol’ thrash metal, Kryptos was a welcome change from the symphonic black and death metal bands that were a part of Resurrection VI. Nolan (guitar) had some feedback issues but all his solos were top-notch. Although the crowd had started to wane, those who stuck around were headbanging throughout Kryptos‘ set to songs from their debut album ‘Spiral Ascent’ (”Expedition to Abnormalia”, “In Twilight’s Grace”, “Altered Destinies”, “Forgotten Land of Ice”, “Descension” and “Clandestine Elements”), in addition to some new material (”Order of the DNA”, “Liquid Grave”).
Reptilian Death: Coming back from a hiatus of close to two years, RD was hampered by sound problems through most of their set. Featuring new additions Arjun on guitar and Sugath on vocals (doing the guttural vocals to maximum effect), the setlist included originals such as “Intestinal Feast”, “Ghouls of War”, “A Cranial Funeral” and “The Grasp of the Anaconda” (which was awesome). Good performance, but got boring soon and all the songs sounded too similar.
Third Sovereign: What a fucking monster! Those who left before seeing Third Sovereign missed the best band on show. I�ve already written about Jonah and Reuben, but no amount of praise is enough for these guys. Reuben’s precise and relentless drumming and the thick sound of Jonah’s bass have to be heard to be believed. Mala on vocals roared and gnarled like a crazy motherfucker and the guitars were piercing and loud — and I mean LOUD. Kicking off with “Pulverised” (Cannibal Corpse) and then rolling out a few originals (”Of Mortal”, “Destined to Suffer”, “Everlasting Burn”, “Suicidal Corpse”, “Pathetic Ignorance”, “Time to Face Your Death”), each song seemed to be heavier than the previous one. Needless to say, the crowd went berserk and requested an encore as the band finished their last song. The band graciously complied with “Mandatory Suicide” (Slayer) to violent headbanging of the now thinned-out crowd to close out the show.
the only good bands in ressurection VI were Cosmic Infusion and IIIrd Sovereign.what the hell……how come black hole theory got good reviews…their drummer is the most shittiest drummer ive ever seen in my life.jesus….awful vocals…i don’t know why do they always fuck with our ears…bunch of losers..they need to practise a fucking lot….
how come i forgot narsil?fuck yes….they are killers.they slay man.