Heavy metal returns to Bengaluru in second edition of ‘Uprising’ music festival | Bangalore News

The duo, who are also guitarists, spoke to The Indian Express about their hopes for the festival and metal as a music genre in India.

Chinappa said, “There is a lot of potential for us to invite international artists and curate events around them and have a lot of shows. Because suddenly India fell off the map for a lot of these international artists – even in Asia tours, India is not being considered and we want to make sure that we are able to bring India back to that level we had before.”

Chinappa noted that the metal scene had done well in the early 2000s up to 2014 or so with acts such as Metallica and Iron Maiden but had then gone into a downward turn, with not as many promoters organising events.

Chinappa said, “Uprising is trying to make sure that international acts see India, and Bangalore more specifically, as a definitive stop while touring across Asia.”

One of the big draws for this is the Italian metal act Fleshgod Apocalypse, who have been veterans of the metal scene since 2007.

Fleshgod Apocalypse’s unique sound might hark back to what members listened to as fans of music in the early days. (Photo/Instagram/@fleshgodofficial)

Mittal said, “One important aspect of having Fleshgod Apocalypse as a band playing is that they have the sounds of an orchestra or symphony which is the backing track for their entire performance. This is very unique because we don’t have too many bands who are able to club classical music and metal. It will give the audience a new and unique perspective on how metal can be clubbed with old-school western music.”

This is also Fleshgod Apocalypse’s second tour in the country after a 2015 Mumbai performance. Speaking with The Indian Express over text messages, lead vocalist Francesco Paoli said that with metal music being an up-and-coming genre in India, they hope for an overwhelming response in Bangalore.

He added, “As artists, we are constantly evolving and experimenting with new sounds. You should look out for our line-up this time!” He also had a piece of advice for young Indian metal artists and said, “Things take time – keep pushing yourselves and stay true to your art.”

Fleshgod Apocalypse’s unique sound might hark back to what members listened to as fans of music in the early days – in their case, Western classical music and new-wave British heavy metal.

The Italians have also been listening to Indian heavy metal, from artists such as Demonic Resurrection, Inner Sanctum, Bhayanak Maut and Bloodywood.

There is also a strong local presence at the Uprising, with Bengaluru-based Moral Collapse showcasing the extreme metal genre at their first live show.

The homegrown group consists of Arun Natarajan, Sudarshan Mankad and German drummer Hannes Grossman, a veteran of bands such as Obscura and Necrophagist.

Also present will be Hyderabad-based Septic Isle, who theme many of their songs around the Warhammer 40,000 sci-fi setting, as well as ANTT, a black metal group from Assam.

The event commences Friday 7 pm in Bengaluru’s White Lotus Club. Those who have not already booked tickets for the event at skillboxes.com can do so at the gates of the festival for a higher rate.