{"id":815,"date":"2012-06-11T10:52:20","date_gmt":"2012-06-11T05:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/Interviews\/?p=815"},"modified":"2012-06-11T10:52:20","modified_gmt":"2012-06-11T05:22:20","slug":"dying-embrace-frontman-talks-about-bands-comeback-bangalore-open-air-new-material","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/Interviews\/2012\/06\/11\/dying-embrace-frontman-talks-about-bands-comeback-bangalore-open-air-new-material\/","title":{"rendered":"Dying Embrace Frontman Talks About Band’s Comeback, Bangalore Open Air & New Material"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Aniruddh “Andrew” Bansal<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Veterans of the Indian death\/doom metal scene, Dying Embrace started out in 1991, and despite being absent for nearly 10 years between 2002 and 2011, the band has maintained a strong underground following, not only in India, but in other parts of the world as well, through the circulation of their demo and EP releases. In 2011, they made a much-awaited comeback by performing at the Undergrind Fest in Bangalore, and followed it up with a appearance at Trendslaughter Fest II in the same city in early 2012. Now, they are ready to take the stage at Bangalore Open Air next Saturday, and a few days ago I had a chance to catch up with vocalist Vikram Bhat to talk about the band’s comeback, the upcoming BOA gig, among other things. Read the conversation below, and check out Dying Embrace at Bangalore Open Air.<\/p>\n

First of all, tell me about last year\u2019s reunion gig at the Undergrind Fest. How did it feel to play a gig after such a long time?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Absolutely fantastic! It had been 10 years since we played live but the vibe and chemistry we shared back then was still the same, founder of the band Jimmy Palkhivala and I share a friendship of 20 years we are not a band of musicians who came together just to play music, we are friends first who share a common love for the music we worship, the energy was unmatched!<\/p>\n

How did the reunion come about in the first place?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dying Embrace disbanded in 2001, myself and Jim went on to create more musical abominations but that story is for another day, around 2007,Jim decided to take a break from writing new music and in fact completely stopped playing guitars for the next 3 years, I sat around twiddling my thumbs biding my time, around mid 2010, Jim told me he has started playing again but was really not sure if he wants to revive our projects (Conflicting Theories & Gruesome Malady) ,Deepak Raghu who was a good friend over the years had just got back from LA and told me he intends to move to Bangalore, if anyone could fit into Daniel Marc David\u2019s(original drummer) shoes, it was Deepak, the spark was lit, the fuse was already short\u2026.it couldn\u2019t have been a better Mark II line up!<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m sure some of the older fans, people who\u2019ve been supporting you since the start of the band in \u201991, turned up for that gig as well. How exciting was it for you to see those faces again?<\/strong><\/p>\n

To be honest we went into that gig with absolutely no expectations, we weren\u2019t sure we remembered how most of our own songs sounded live but when I saw familiar faces at the gig, many of them after a good 10 years, most of them older, wiser, grey hairs and salt n pepper beards it felt as if we hadn\u2019t gone away at all! There were fans from Kerala, Chennai, Mumbai, Goa, Hyderabad among other parts of India, we met some fans whom we were in touch with through the tape trading days back then, pure nostalgia and great memories came rolling back!<\/p>\n

Aside from the older fans, I heard that plenty of new fans showed up as well. Were you actually surprised by that kind of fan following, considering that the band had been absent for a while and hasn\u2019t put out any new material since 2002?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Totally shocking in fact, we play a brand of Doom laden Death Metal which is from an era gone by, we expected most of the younger generation into heavier extreme Metal wouldn\u2019t find our music very up to date with the latest sound but we were proved wrong, the response and support we got was amazing!<\/p>\n

Moving ahead to 2012, you are confirmed to participate in next month\u2019s Bangalore Open Air. That must be another fantastic opportunity to present Dying Embrace to the fans. How are you preparing for the gig?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It sure is an honour to be considered to play at the first edition of Bangalore Open Air, an awesome opportunity to play for a larger audience, share stage with some of the finest bands from India and a chance to interact with all our fans and friends and of course bang our heads for Kreator. We are all set to bring the Doom on the 16th<\/sup>! Primitive Death Metal Victory!<\/p>\n

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Have you written or thought of writing any new material since the reunion?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have written a new single \u201cThe Ascendance Of Namtar\u201d after 10 years, we played it at Trendslaughter Fest II in January and our fans appreciated it a lot.<\/p>\n

Musically, how would you compare the new material to your old stuff?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the band hadn\u2019t disbanded and continued to write material over the years this is how we would have sounded now ( the new single), we are fans first, a band next, just because we went away for 10 years we didn\u2019t stop listening to music, on the contrary we have listened to so much of it that the gradual progression which takes place in a musician\/band happened, so when the new song was written those influences naturally seeped in and the result is very satisfying.<\/p>\n

What are the band\u2019s plans for the immediate and long-term future?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We intend to release the new track we have written, The Ascendance Of Namtar as a single sometime by the end of this year and we are also thinking of a miniCD next year but nothing concrete yet, we don\u2019t plan too much ahead for the future, we are the flagbearers of Doom after all.<\/p>\n

How do you rate the doom metal scene in India that\u2019s in existence now? Do you think it has developed in the 20 years that have gone by since Dying Embrace\u2019s inception?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We stuck out like a sore thumb back then, we were playing gigs with all original set lists instead of popular covers, most people completely disapproved and others wrote us off, I think the Doom Metal scene is still in its very nascent stage here, apart from Bangalore bands Bevar Sea who are playing Stoner Doom, Djinn & Miskatonic who play an almost Drone variant and Mumbai\u2019s Dormant Inferno who play Funeral Doom ( all three bands mentioned have been around for a year or slightly longer) I don\u2019t think anybody else is doing anything in this genre, so its still a very niche genre catering to an equally selective audience, we are very lucky that the fans in Bangalore are very open now and accepting Doom Metal dished out in its various forms and diving into the unfathomable abyss with us.<\/p>\n

You put out the Misanthrope demo in \u201993, and two other releases after that. Is there any plan to re-issue that material for newer fans, or do you want to maintain the underground nature of those releases?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our entire discography titled \u201cEra Of Tribulation\u201d will be released on noble 12\u201d vinyl sometime this year by French label Legion Of Death Records, it will contain the \u201cSerenades Of Depravity\u201d mini album, and both our EP\u2019s ,\u201dGrotesque\u201d and \u201cMisanthrope\u201d, it will still be very much in the underground spirit of the past and fans who are interested to get hold of our material from our first ten years can look forward to this release.<\/p>\n

Your Misanthrope 7-inch EP was released in 2002 on the French label Legion Of Death Records. Do you think you might have been able to develop a following in Europe and do some shows over there, had Dying Embrace not disbanded soon after that release?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It sure was very unfortunate that we disbanded just around the time the Misanthrope EP was released, there were plenty of offers and some great underground gigs and festivals offered to us around then but then life\u2019s a bitch! We still have a small albeit strong following around the world, fans in Japan, South East Asia, Europe and South America, a lot of fans have still kept in touch and are looking forward to the discography vinyl release later this year, its definitely good to be back for the attack!<\/p>\n

The band\u2019s lineup has suffered changes and breakups in the past. Going forward, would that be the most important thing for you more than anything else, to keep the lineup steady?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The band never broke up, back then when 2 of the members had to move out of town due to work related reasons we preferred to disband than get new members in, Our music has a certain essence and spirit which has lasted 20 years, when we play some of our songs which we wrote 20 years ago the fans can still relate to them, that quality of song writing couldn\u2019t and will never be compromised. You can say we waited for a good 10 years to get the right members, first Deepak on the Drums and now Pritham on the Bass, finally Mark II is complete and ready to Rot N Roll!<\/p>\n

Dying Embrace Facebook<\/a> | Bangalore Open Air tickets<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Aniruddh “Andrew” Bansal Veterans of the Indian death\/doom metal scene, Dying Embrace started out in 1991, and despite being absent for nearly 10 years between 2002 and 2011, the band has maintained a strong underground following, not only in India, but in other parts of the world as well, through the circulation of their … <\/p>\n

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