Hailing from the land of the British call centre otherwise known as Mumbai in India, Demonic Resurrection are one of a handful of extreme bands from the area getting the attention of labels and people further afield. They have now been going for a decade and in 2010 they have played some pretty high key festivals including Norway’s Inferno and in August Brutal Assault in The Czech Republic. Obviously they must be doing something right for this and their signing to Candlelight Records. Although this is preceded by a couple of albums an EP and split it is the first release that is really seeing the light of day for us Westerners, the others being basically self-released affairs.
I must admit I was intrigued to give ‘Return To Darkness’ a spin, it was labelled as symphonic death and black metal which it basically is and I was anticipating something as exotic as Chthonic although obviously from a very different country, perhaps with some ethnic trappings to give it character. After a symphonic soundtrack enhanced beginning which sounds like it has escaped from a Predator or Alien movie we are thrust headlong into ‘Where Dreams and Darkness Unite’ with heavyset battering mindset behind it. Singer Sahil ‘The Demonstealer’ Makhija gives it a death-laden feel with low growled vocals and this is pretty damn impressive stuff, certainly extreme and delivering the brutality in spades. Guitars flurry and keyboards sparkle from within and it is quickly clear the album, which is well over an hour long, is going to have a lot of ideas as we progress. It is not all brutality though as some unexpected clean vocals suddenly catch the listener by surprise. I can’t say that I am a fan of these and would prefer the more extreme elements to stay constant, that aside they do not crop up every song and do not detract from the overall listening experience.
Musically it is clear that this lot can play and very well. The symphonic aspect is handled well adding weight and a fantastical feel to numbers like ‘The Warriors Return.’ They also decide to wrap this particular track up with a brief burst of progressiveness, almost as if they are showing off yet making it work before heading down a neo-classical battery for the next number. The clean vocals coming back remind of In Flames, sure I don’t like but can see why the band are if anything hedging their bets and spreading the appeal. Having said that and also swapped questions with the band recently it is in actual fact due to the fact that the singer is a massive power metal fan and likes being able to inject the clean vocals into his songs. Those ethnic twists I expected are not to be found here, listening to this album I think you would be hard pressed to guess country of origin unless you were in the know. Perhaps this would have made things a bit more diverse and dare I say spicier but again there is enough going on to keep you on your toes as it is.
The fact that they manage to keep attention levels over an epic eleven minute song shows that the band are skilled at what they do and although the album is one that I could have done with being a bit shorter, there is nothing that is completely dross about it demanding it be cut out. It would certainly be interesting seeing this lot live. Metal Forces lists 84 bands from India (although there are certainly many more) and considering the size and population of the country that is simply staggering. We know that a lot of people there are well into their metal having read about festivals and shows with Iron Maiden as well as visits by our own very India friendly export De Profundis. So in closing despite a few things I may not like about this lot I can only salute the band for getting somewhere and suggest you check them out and show some support too.
http://www.myspace.com/demonicresurrection
