Today I spoke to Raw from Nightgrave – Experimental Black metal from New Delhi India. We spoke about the Black metal scene in New Delhi, Musical Equipment in India and much more – check it out
* Can you tell me a little bit about life in New Delhi?
Life’s hard. It would be a huge surprise if it wasn’t. Living, at least, in the capital of a country gone awry would seem to have a few perks. And they are there, it’s just that the prevalent shitty stuff far outweighs the handful of pleasures out here. Ludicrous traditions, arrogance in ignorance is sadly the norm. Mainstream art is guaranteed to be utter shit. Clubs, pubs only serve the purpose of dishing out exorbitant prices and cringeworthy bollywood hip hop at all times. Live performances mostly revolve around some douchebag pressing play on his laptop and sadly, the hapless, helpless youth eat that up because they have hardly ever known or understood the crushing depth of originality or maybe the mainstream media has them ever so successfully blinded. And the rate at which dumb cunts in the country reproduce is just off the charts. There’s a good chance of getting stuck in a jam whenever you plan to drive. The tube is always a better option but that too is massively crowded more often than not. People aren’t all that bad though or so I would like to think. Nature is within reach. Food’s good too.
* Is there much of a black metal scene in New Delhi?
If there is one, I haven’t seen it. Although I did catch a few black-ish acts about a year ago. It was in a small pub in Vasant Vihar. I can’t seem to place their names but a couple of those bands were good. I don’t think any of them were from Delhi though.
* Are there Indian brand guitars and musical instruments available to play Black metal or do you have all the brand names we use in the USA?
I haven’t been able to invest much time into trying out Indian guitar brands. I don’t think there are any good ones but I could be wrong about this. For now, what I’ve got is a Schecter Demon-7, an Ibanez Rg and a Takamine acoustic.
* How about recording studios? Many bands record at home using their laptop but some people prefer hiring a recording studio – what do you guys use?
As of now, it’s a home studio set up with a fairly decent effects processor running through an equally decent DAW.
* How did you find out about Black Metal?
The introductory phase was initiated by the legendary Emperor. Thank human for the interwebs.
* Which bands are your influences?
Plenty – Emperor, Drudkh, Katatonia, Neurosis – to name some
* Have you seen any European Black metal bands live?
Satyricon and Enslaved about a decade ago. Outside Black, seen Meshuggah, Megadeth in recent times.
* What are your favorite Indian Metal Bands?
I’m sure there are some good ones but nothing springs to mind.
* Can you recommend some Indian black metal bands for our readers to check out?
‘Kouros’, my erstwhile project. It’s not specifically black metal but it somewhat stems from it. ‘Fragarak’, blackened death.
* Do you play live at all? If so do you have any plans to tour India?
Since it’s a solo project, a gig is something that would require a live line-up. I’m looking forward to working towards that and making touring possible as and when the upcoming album is completed.
* How did your record deal with Transcending Obscurity come about?
The usual process, I sent them the links and hoped they liked the tunes which, as it turns out, they did. Mr Choksi got in touch promptly.
* What can we expect from Nightgrave in 2017?
A couple of full lengths and a couple of EPs.
* Any final words to your friends and fans?
Thank you very much for the support.
https://nightgrave.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/nightgraveofficial