A heavy realisation

A veteran metal musician translated the sense of privilege he felt last year into a rock-solid EP that has eclectic tracks

Any conscientious person who inhabits the upper echelons of society would have been acutely aware of their sense of privilege given all that transpired last year in terms of the riots in Delhi, the lockdown and the resultant migrant crisis, farmers' protests, etc. Sahil Makhija is no different. The pioneering metal musician who fronts veteran act Demonic Resurrection tells us, "The pandemic gave me a different perspective on life in general. I come from a fairly privileged background and am not struggling. My job wasn't affected. So, seeing the situation in India - the migrants, the riots, the general political atmosphere and people suffering because of the situation - gave me a different outlook on how grateful I should be about what I have."

It's this feeling of gratitude that led Makhija, 38, to create And This Too Shall Pass, an EP that he has released in his solo avatar, Demonstealer, after a gap of two years. He says that he had become disillusioned with the indie scene in the intervening period (which is understandable, given how metal music is still somewhat of a pariah within a circuit that feeds off more approachable sounds). But he realised that others have way more reasons for disgruntlement, and that there is no point in moping when - apart from his economic privilege - he also has the added privilege of being able to create music. And he thus set his misgivings aside and did a one-man-army job of ensuring that this EP sees the light of day.

It's a four-track offering with eclectic tracks that oscillate between the gruffness that is typical of the overall genre to a more melodious turn in the final song, From flesh to ashes. The musician says that the beauty of his solo avatar is that there are no rules that he has to follow, unlike how it is with Demonic Resurrection. "I can be as out there as I want to be," he says, adding that he is already working on a new single with two unlikely collaborators -Gino Banks and Mohini Dey - who are normally as far removed from metal music as Rabindra Sangeet is from Yo Yo Honey Singh. Which is all for the best, really, since being a conscientious person, he has decided to channel his privilege into his art regardless of an unforgiving circuit where - even over two decades after Demonic Resurrection was formed -Makhija's chosen genre continues to get step-brotherly treatment.

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