They say heavy metal is noisy, he says, that's rubbish

Underground music artist Vishal J Singh of one-man project Amogh Symphony, is trying the impossible with his debut album, Abolishing the Obsolete System

"They thought it was madness. All the musicians told me it was impossible to combine heavy metal with other genres," says Vishal J Singh, who decided to do it anyway; on his own, when he couldn't find someone who shared his belief. In 2005 a one-man project titled Amogh Symphony (Amogh is Sanskrit for "invincible") was born, and since then, it has become a rage among Indian underground music fans.u00a0

Vishal's independent debut album, Abolishing the Obsolete System that releases this week, is a Tech Death/Experimental/Progressive Metal album. Jazz, Latin Jazz, Electronic, Progressive Rock, Drum and Bass bond with Metal in the seven tracks. "Metal gets a bad name. The general perception is that it's noisy and anti-social. My album tries to do away with this universal prejudice, and a few more," he says. Among them are global warming, pop groupism, anti-Islamism and cultural hypocrisy.u00a0

Sounds reflect the ideas

It's not a dumbed down album where lyrics do the talking. The sounds and rhythms are symbolic of the ideas. In Greenhouse Effect for instance, singer Prashant lends his voice to convert a call for prayer into a plea for tolerance.

"It says you need to separate a religion and its followers from militants exploiting religious beliefs for violence," says Vishal. On another level, the track is a warning about the despair that global warming will unleash on the world. Listening to Cyborg Activation (Last Human Civilization), feels like witnessing the last battle on planet earth. Another guest collaborator is Ramki from Chicago-based progressive death metal band Noesis. He has given the guest vocals on the fierce Swallowing the Infected Sun.u00a0

The dentist who didn't make it

Vishal has played the drums, guitar, bass and keyboard on all tracks, beside composing, arranging and programming the music. Diverse musical talents seem to come easily to this Assamese artist who began making his own compositions at age 14. "I started playing the guitar around the same time. Until then, I was crazy about drumming," he says. At 16, vocalist Vedant got him a gig as drummer in his Pune-based thrash metal band Infinite Ashes. "We were brutal. We would smash things and set the stage on fire," recalls Vishal. Some members opposed his compositions and lyrics too, since he was the youngest.

After attending one day of lectures at a dental college in Bangalore (yes, he almost became a dentist) he came clean to his parents about his musical ambitions and went back to Infinite Ashes. But the energy-fuelled fast life led to more ego clashes that ended in a big, ugly fight.

"I called it quits that day." His father Jitendra Singh gave him a ticket to Mumbai to study sound engineering and pursue music simultaneously. Music programming happened along the way. As did sound engineering gigs at various studios, and a new project with singer Vasundhara Das and instrumentalist Roberto Narain, who also introduced him to electronica.

Abolishing the Obsolete System by Amogh Symphony available for Rs 200 at Furtado's outlets across the country