Mumbai-based artist booking agency Krunk's Sohail Arora on what it means for city metal bands Scribe and Demonic Ressurection to tour Norway
Mumbai-based artist booking agency Krunk's Sohail Arora on what it means for city metal bands Scribe and Demonic Ressurection to tour NorwayNorway, home to some of the best-known metal bands including Emperor and Mayhem, has planned a music cooperation strategy where bands from the Scandinavian country will come here to perform and collaborate with Indian artistes and vice versa. As part of this tie-up indie folk group Real Ones toured India in February this year, and Mumbai bands Scribe and Demonic Ressurection recently flew down to the 10th anniversary of the Inferno metal fest held in Oslo last week. Says Sohail Arora of Krunk, the agency that has been instrumental is taking both bands to perform at the fest, "Scribe is a hardcore post hard rock band that really stands out because of the Indian-ness that you hear in their riffs." A festival organiser from Inferno was part of the audience at the Great Indian Rock show last year, where he first heard Scribe and expressed interest in having them at the metal fest. "The audiences have opened up. They no longer expect an 'Indian' sounding band," assures Sohail, who has in the past travelled with Mumbai electronica group Shaa'ir+Func to Norway. While Krunk has managed alternative acts in the past, Sohail offers that his love for metal goes back to the time when he led a metal band named Skincold. "There's no venue really that supports metal in the country and we're hoping to be able to push the genre a bit by being a part of festivals like Inferno," says Sohail of the fest that also featured biggies such as Mayhem.