Bands struggle to keep metal music alive and kicking in city

About a decade ago, any heavy metal concert I was part of saw over 400 people thronging the venue, which has now diminished significantly,” remarks Sivaramakrishnan G, a bass guitarist for a city-based hard core metal band named Frankendriver, when asked about the heavy metal scene in Chennai. The band, which started as a home project of writing songs and putting them out online, emerged over time as one of the groups keeping heavy metal music alive in the city. Frankendriver’s songs speak about a multitude of subjects — from dealing with the good and the bad in life, to calling people out on their wrongdoings.

“It hasn’t been a great scene until 2017 for heavy metal musicians in Chennai. It was nearly a dying scenario, and only over the last three years, it has picked up again. But still, most of the performances are confined to a handful of bars in the city. Many venues are not open to hosting metal concerts, as they think heavy metal shows are too intense. But, we are hopeful on seeing the new organisers trying to build a crowd for metal music, by bringing down big names to the city,” admits Sivaramakrishnan, who has been playing music for various bands since 2006. He is part of Frankendriver along with David Simon (vocal), Adithya Kota (guitar), Sashank Ravichandran (guitar) and Tom Gabriel (drums).

Heavy metal music is said to have taken its roots in the UK between 1960s and 70s. This genre of music witnessed a high popularity in Chennai between 2005-2010 with the rise of many bands, but now has less than 10 active groups.

Godia, which started as a college band by students from Madras Christian College in 2014, is one such band that decided to remain active even after college. “Metal music has played such a big role in the lives of all of us in the band. The community here in Chennai is very small, and there’s a dearth of venues. In cities like Bengaluru or in the North East, the turnout for metal concerts is much larger. Many metal bands in the south discontinue after college, but we decided to continue as a band because the community has wanted us to,” says Godia’s guitarist Isaiah Anderson.

Along with band members, Nehemiah Johnson (vocal), Tom Gabriel (drums) and Josh (bass), Godia has so far recorded its first album, which will soon be released, Isaiah says. “One of our songs talks about how not to get depressed, while the words of a few other songs are biblical. Metal bands explore a variety of themes in their songs. For instance, another band from the city named Moral Putrefaction talks about various societal issues through itsmusic,” he adds.

Heavy metal music is a culture of its own, asserts Sivaramakrishnan. “It is a place of freedom to talk about anything one wants to. Even though it’s commonly thought that metal musicians and followers must all have long hair, it is not necessary to have that. If we’re all head banging, it is only a part of enjoying the music,” says the musician.

For another 10-year-old city metal band Vidyut’s vocalist, Soumyajit Das, the genre is yet to gain enough exposure. “We do not have as many people playing metal music often. But, the city has also been seeing new bands coming in, and the crowd has been welcoming always. Bands are doing the best they can to make their music heard,” he remarks.