"Last year, after we finished a gig at an awards show, I saw a guy with a broken arm and bloody nose, smiling at me,” says Abhimanyu Singh Negi, guitarist with Metal band Abraxas. A mosh pit — where the audience gets into a slam dance, punching and falling on top of each other — is a common sight at Metal concerts. In India, the genre was introduced in the late '80s but the notoriety began after Iron Maiden visited Bengaluru in 2007. The five-piece Metal group, an offshoot of that period, and influenced by Maiden, will play a gig in Mumbai this weekend.

Left to right: Karan Pote (vocals), Tiasunep Aier (guitar), Chinmay Bokil (bass), Abhimanyu Singh Negi (guitar) and Naman Sachdev (drums). Pic/SWITCH16