The resurrection: Chennai’s death metal scene comes to life after two years

The pandemic silenced their gigs for two years, but it could not arrest the flight of their talent. In August, Chennai-based metal act The Moral Putrefaction became Tamil Nadu’s first band to play on the same stage as Judas Priest and Slipknot, performing to a packed venue at Germany’s Wacken Open Air (WOA).

Back home, the four-member band is set to end a two-year drought of live metal shows in the city, as it will headline at the sixth edition of Brutal Carnage, which will also have performances by GODIA and Avekn. Armaan RM, one of the co-founders of Brutal Carnage, says this edition of the metal show has been themed ‘homecoming’. “It marks many milestones in Chennai’s metal scene: the return of live metal music to the city after two years, The Moral Putrefaction’s big win at the Wacken Metal Battle India, GODIA’s first full-length album (to be out in October) and Avekn’s first performance of its EP,” adds Armaan.

Testing their mettle

Manu Krishnan and Armaan started Metal Chennai in 2018 to provide a platform to independent acts in Chennai, and Srikanth Natrajan joined them in 2019. “We chose three local bands because they have performed huge feats and reached big milestones in the metal circuit,” says Armaan.

The Moral Putrefaction is an ‘old school death metal’ band formed in 2015, which finds influences from Bloodbath, Immolation, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse and Carcass. It released its first demo,  Scum of the Earth, in April 2019 and is now working on an album to be released later this year. “Our songs focus on decay in Indian society. The album comprises six songs, exploring themes of bigotry, hatred, religion and god,” says lead guitarist-vocalist Shiva Moorthy.

In comparison, Chennai’s headbanger community is small. “Metal is a lot more mainstream in Germany. There’s a lot more infrastructure and there are more shows,” says Shiva.

Moral Putrefaction comprises Shiva, Hemanth Vinod, Beeto Jerrin and Nithin Peter.

New beginnings

GODIA, a progressive metalcore band formed at Madras Christian College in 2014, is going to release its debut album, End of Ages, on October 14. A concept album produced by Texas-based label Rottweiler Records, the tracks portray the story of the final seven years of Earth before the biblical Judgment Day. Inspired by metalcore bands like August Burns Red, As I Lay Dying and Bring Me The Horizon, GODIA explores themes of depression and betrayal.

Optimistic about metal music in India, considering the recent success of the band Bloodywood, the band’s lead guitarist Isaiah Anderson says, “Bloodywood, Gutslit, Kryptos, Amorphia, Project Mishram have been doing international tours. Indian metal scene and fans in general are more inclined towards old school metal and this has also been one of the reasons bands hesitate to experiment.”

The four-member GODIA has Nehemiah Johnson on vocals, Tom Gabriel on drums and Josh Allen on bass.

The two-member Avekn is a woman-fronted metal band to have been featured on a Spotify-curated playlist, ‘Metal in India’. Formed by Keshav (guitar) and Anusha Rema (vocals) in 2019, the alternative metal outfit released its debut EP, ‘Rude Awakening’, in 2021. Its members are now working on their first album. “We focus on melody and riffs in our songwriting to a point where the mix between growls and clean vocals hits a sweet spot,” says Anusha. Nikhil Rajkumar is their session drummer for live performances and the new album.

After the pandemic, Anusha feels that the metal scene in India has grown rapidly. “There have been many underground metal shows. Also, The Moral Putrefaction put Chennai’s metal scene on the international map.”

The Brutal Carnage is being held on Saturday, 6pm at Gears & Garage Restobar, Chennai. Mandatory cover charge of ₹300 is payable at the gate.