Full metal packet

Three city bands will launch albums at a gig this weekend, with two travelling acts from unusual locations joining them on stage

There is a house in Cherthala, a small town in Kerala’s Allappuzha district, which has a courtyard. Once in a while, the open area serves as the venue for an event that’s rather unusual for that part of the country — a thrash metal gig. It’s thanks to Vivek Prasad, who lives in that house, and his band Amorphia. They are unsurprisingly the only metal band in Cherthala. But the locals have become accustomed to the genre because of the heavy sound of Prasad’s drums that comes ringing in their ears when he practises the instrument on a regular evening.

The band, however, will get a bigger stage to showcase its musical prowess this weekend. They are part of a packed line-up that will perform in Mumbai as part of Black Blood, a yearly celebration of metal music held in the city. The gig will witness a whopping three album launches, by local acts Sceptre, Sabotage and Carnage Inc, with two outstation acts joining them — RAID from Hyderabad, apart from Amorphia.

The venue, The Habitat in Khar, is what excites Prasad about this performance. “We have played two shows in Mumbai before. But one was a college gig and the other was at Andheri’s Hard Rock Café. This is the first time that we will play at a proper pub that’s known for its metal programming,” he says, about a place that really is the only remaining flag-bearer for the genre in the city. So, The Habitat is not really different from Prasad’s own courtyard, in the sense that they are the only venues for people in either places to listen to quality metal music. Which begs the question, doesn’t a megacity like ours with way more metal acts than a town like Cherthala deserve more platforms for such artistes? The answer is yes, of course, but the bigger question is, are promoters and venue owners listening?

At September 8, 7 pm onwards
On The Habitat, OYO Townhouse, 3rd Road, next to Khar railway station, Khar West.
Log on to townscript.com
Cost Rs 500

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